Azure Communication Services is now Generally Available in Azure Government
We’re excited to announce that Azure Communication Services (ACS) is now Generally Available in Azure Government, including Video and Chat capabilities. This milestone empowers U.S. government agencies and their partners to deliver modern, secure, and compliant communication experiences - all within their own applications. From telehealth and virtual hearings to workforce collaboration and citizen engagement, ACS makes it possible to build trusted digital services that bring people together wherever they are. Empowering Government Missions With ACS now available in Azure Government, agencies can: Enhance citizen experiences – Enable secure video appointments, real-time case updates, and virtual assistance that improve accessibility and satisfaction. Support mission-critical operations – Facilitate remote collaboration for defense, justice, and healthcare agencies while maintaining the highest standards of security. Accelerate digital transformation – Embed communications directly into existing apps and workflows to reduce complexity and improve efficiency. Stay compliant by design – ACS in Azure Government inherits critical certifications, including FedRAMP High, giving agencies confidence in meeting regulatory and compliance obligations. Why this matters Government agencies are under pressure to deliver services faster, more securely, and more inclusively. ACS in Azure Government provides the tools to do just that—helping leaders modernize engagement, empower employees, and deliver better outcomes for citizens and mission partners. Get started today Learn how your organization can take advantage of ACS in Azure Government by visiting the Azure Communication Services documentation. With Azure Communication Services now generally available in Azure Government, agencies have a powerful new way to build secure, scalable, and citizen-centric communication solutions - all backed by the trusted Azure Government cloud.ACS Email now Generally Available in Azure Government
Microsoft today announced the General Availability (GA) of its Email Communication Service within Azure Government, a milestone that marks a significant advancement in secure and compliant digital communication for U.S. federal, state, and local government agencies. This release also includes FedRAMP High authorization, aligning the service with the most rigorous standards for cloud security and data protection. The Email Communication Service, part of Azure Communication Services (ACS), enables government customers to reliably send high-scale, programmatic email communications -- whether transactional, informational, promotional, or mission-critical -- while ensuring compliance with federal mandates and cybersecurity frameworks. Key Benefits for Government Customers: FedRAMP High Authorization: Provides assurance for handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and other sensitive government data. Built for Mission-Critical Communication: Enables reliable email delivery for scenarios like citizen engagement, emergency notifications, program updates, and case management. Scalable, Secure, and Compliant: Leverages the resiliency and compliance of Azure Government infrastructure, including FIPS 140-2 encryption, data residency, and advanced DDoS protection. Integration Ready: Seamlessly integrates with existing systems, applications, and services through REST APIs and SDKs, enabling faster modernization of legacy communication workflows. For more information, detailed guidance, or to get started, government customers are encouraged to explore Azure Communication Services documentation for additional support.
Identities with Custom ID: A Simpler, Smarter Way to Manage Communication Users
In today's multi-modal communication landscape, both humans and AI agents can interact across multiple sessions—via chat, voice, or other communication channels. Managing those user sessions securely and consistently has been a challenge when using short-lived, ephemeral identities. Azure Communication Services (ACS) now solves that with Identities with Custom IDs. This new feature allows developers to associate ACS-generated identities with custom application-defined identifiers (like emails or usernames). These custom identifiers make it easy to recognize and reuse an ACS user identity across multiple sessions — enabling smoother experiences, stronger data consistency, and more intelligent engagement across the entire customer journey. 💡 With Custom IDs, developers can now unlock deeper intelligence across customer journeys — from onboarding to support to re-engagement — all powered by consistent identity data. Imagine a telehealth platform where patients log in using their email addresses. Previously, developers had to build and maintain a custom mapping layer to associate those emails with ACS identities. Now, with Custom IDs, that mapping is handled automatically—developers can use the email (or any custom identifier) directly using the customId attribute when creating an Identity, and ACS ensures it consistently maps to the same ACS-generated identity across sessions. How Identity Management is Simplified with Custom IDs: The diagram compares two approaches to identity management in Azure Communication Services: Traditional Identity Flow (Left Diagram): Authentication Initiation – The customer starts the process by logging into the Woodgrove Client App. Token Retrieval – The client app authenticates the user and retrieves a secure token from the Identity and Access Management system (IAM). Identity Mapping – The client app sends an identifier to a back-end identity mapping service, which maps such identifier to an ACS identity. ACS Token Retrieval – The client app obtains an ACS authentication token from the IAM for the mapped ACS identity. Start communication – The client app uses the ACS token to start communication through the different services (chat, calling, etc.) This traditional flow requires the app to manage ACS identity creation and short-lived identifiers for each session. Custom ID Flow with Durable Identity (Right Diagram): Authentication Initiation – The customer starts the process by logging into the Woodgrove Client App. Token Retrieval – The client app authenticates the user and retrieves a secure token from the Identity and Access Management system (IAM). ACS Token creation with custom Id – The client app creates an authentication token using the custom Id and gets an access token for a consistent ACS identity. Start communication – The client app uses the ACS token to start communication through the different services (chat, calling, etc.) This flow eliminates the need to manage ACS identity mapping or short-lived identifiers for each session. Example Code: How Custom ID Works //Authenticate the client var client = new CommunicationIdentityClient(connectionString); // Alphanumeric custom ID string customId = "alice@contoso.com"; // Create Access Tokens with using an Identity with Custom Id var userAndTokenResponse = await client.CreateUserAndTokenAsync(scopes: new[] { CommunicationTokenScope.Chat }, customId: customId); var user = userAndTokenResponse.Value.User; Console.WriteLine($"\nUser ID: {user.Id}"); // Create another token with the same customId and validate that the same user is returned var userAndTokenResponse2 = await client.CreateUserAndTokenAsync(scopes: new[] { CommunicationTokenScope.Chat }, customId: customId); var user2 = userAndTokenResponse2.Value.User; Console.WriteLine($"\nUser ID (second call): {user2.Id}"); // Validate they are the same Debug.Assert(user.Id == user2.Id); This confirms that custom IDs map consistently to the same durable ACS identity. 🔄 Repeated calls with alice@contoso.com return the same ACS user ID — demonstrating the reliability of Identities with Custom ID. 🔐 Custom IDs are handled securely and are never exposed beyond your own app’s context, ensuring that identity data remains protected and private. 📌 Explore the sample code and documentation to get started: Identity model, JS SDK, .NET SDK, QuickStart.
Moving Email Traffic from Exchange to Azure Communication Services
This article describes the important steps and considerations for transitioning from Exchange Online or other on-premises solutions to the Azure Communication Services email platform. It is also relevant for customers migrating from other mail solutions, whether on-premises or hybrid, to Azure Communication Services.
Create next-gen voice agents with Azure AI's Voice Live API and Azure Communication Services
Today at Microsoft Build, we’re excited to announce the General Availability of bidirectional audio streaming for Azure Communication Services Call Automation SDK. Unveiling the power of speech-to-speech AI through Azure Communication Services! As previously seen at Microsoft Ignite in November 2024 the Call Automation bidirectional streaming APIs already work with services like Azure OpenAI to build conversational voice agents through speech to speech integrations. Now with General Availability release of Call Automation bidirectional streaming API and Azure AI Speech Services Voice Live API (Preview), creating voice agents has never been easier. Imagine AI agents that deliver seamless, low-latency, and naturally fluent conversations, transforming the way businesses and customers interact. Bidirectional Streaming APIs allow customers to stream audio from ongoing calls to their webserver in near real-time, where their voice enabled Large Language Models (LLMs) can ingest the audio to reason over and provide voice responses to stream back into the call. In this release we have added support for extra security by adding JSON Web Token (JWT) based authentication for the websocket connection allowing developers to make sure they’re creating secure solutions. As industries like customer service, education, HR, gaming, and public services see a surge in demand for generative AI voice chatbots, businesses are seeking real-time, natural-sounding voice interactions with the latest and greatest GenAI models. Integrating Azure Communication Services with the new Voice Live API from Azure AI Speech Services provides a low-latency interface that facilitates streaming speech input and output with Azure AI Speech’s advanced audio and voice capabilities. It supports multiple languages, diverse voices, and customization, and can even integrate with avatars for enhanced engagement. On the server side, powerful language models interpret the caller's queries and stream human-like responses back in real time, ensuring fluid and engaging conversations. By integrating these two technologies customers can create new innovative solutions for: Multilingual agents Develop virtual customer service representatives capable of of having conversations with end customers in their preferred language, allowing customers creating solutions for multilingual regions to create one solution to serve multiple languages and regions. Noise suppression and echo cancellation For AI voice agents to be effective they need clear audio to understand what the user is requesting, in order to improve AI efficiency, you can use out of the box noise suppression and echo cancellation built into the Voice Live API to help provide your AI agent the best quality audio to be able to clearly understand the end users requests and assist them. Support for branded voices Build voice agents that stay on brand with custom voices that represent your brand in any interaction with the customer, use Azure AI Speech services to create custom voice models that represent your brand and provide familiarity for your customers. How to Integrate Azure Communication Services with Azure AI Speech Service Voice Live API Language support With the integration to Voice Live API, you can now create solutions for over 150+ locales for speech input and output with 600+ realistic voices out of the box. I if these voices don’t suit your needs, customers can take this one step further and create custom speech models for their brand. How to start bidirectional streaming var mediaStreamingOptions = new MediaStreamingOptions( new Uri(websocketUri), MediaStreamingContent.Audio, MediaStreamingAudioChannel.Mixed, startMediaStreaming: true ) { EnableBidirectional = true, AudioFormat = AudioFormat.Pcm24KMono }; How to connect to Voice Live API (Preview) string GetSessionUpdate() { var jsonObject = new { type = "session.update", session = new { turn_detection = new { type = "azure_semantic_vad", threshold = 0.3, prefix_padding_ms = 200, silence_duration_ms = 200, remove_filler_words = false }, input_audio_noise_reduction = new { type = "azure_deep_noise_suppression" }, input_audio_echo_cancellation = new { type = "server_echo_cancellation" }, voice = new { name = "en-US-Aria:DragonHDLatestNeural", type = "azure-standard", temperature = 0.8 } } }; Next Steps The SDK and documentation along will be available in the next few weeks following this announcement, allowing you to build your own solutions using Azure Communication Services and Azure AI Voice Live API. You can download our latest sample from GitHub to try this for yourself. To learn more about the Voice Live API and all its different capabilities, see Azure AI Blog.
Bringing AI to Meetings with the Sample Builder
We’re excited to share a significant update to the Azure Communication Services Sample Builder. This release integrates Azure’s latest AI and video calling capabilities, implementing meeting transcription and AI-generated call summaries to help organizations deliver insightful and effective meeting experiences. In just a few minutes, without the need for any coding, you can use the Sample Builder to start prototyping video calling with Azure AI integration. Click the link below to begin or continue reading for further information. 👉 Try the Sample Builder Note, this pattern of combining Azure Communication Services and Azure AI for meeting transcription and summarization is not limited to Sample Builder. You can take the code and overall design pattern and rebuild this experience using the underlying APIs and SDKs. What Is the Sample Builder? The Sample Builder is a no-code Azure Portal experience that you use to brand, customize, build, and deploy a GitHub based sample for prototyping. The sample integrates and deploys multiple Azure services for secure and engaging meetings: Application hosting of the meeting front-end is provided by Azure App Services High-definition video calling for mobile and desktop browsers is provided by Azure Communication Services Calling Role-based access for attendees and providers are implemented using Azure Communication Services Rooms Accessible, customizable, fluid user experience is built on the open-source Azure Communication Services UI library Designed for developers, IT teams, and solution architects, the Sample Builder gets you started quickly but doesn’t produce a production-ready application. After prototyping, you can take the code from GitHub, customize user experience, integrate your own systems, and fine-tune the AI interactions for production. Smarter Meetings with Transcription and Summarization Today’s update integrates Azure AI Speech and Azure AI Language services directly into your meetings, transforming how companies capture, understand, and act on conversations. You can fine-tune this integration and can take advantage of the latest innovation from Azure AI, ensuring your end-users benefit from advancements in LLM models, natural language understanding, and conversation summarization. Transcription and meeting summarization are valuable across industries. For example: Healthcare: Automatically document patient-provider interactions, reduce administrative burden, and support clinical accuracy. Financial Services: Capture detailed records of client meetings to meet regulatory requirements and improve transparency. Education: Provide students and instructors with accessible records of virtual sessions, supporting learning and retention. Real-Time Transcription With transcription enabled, Azure Communication Services uses Azure AI Speech to Text to convert spoken language into a live, speaker-attributed transcript. This allows participants to stay fully engaged in the conversation without worrying about taking notes. Key benefits include: Accurate, multilingual transcription for a wide variety of languages. You can see the full list of supported languages here Speaker attribution for clarity and accountability Searchable meeting records for easy reference and knowledge sharing Support for multilingual teams, with transcripts that can be translated or reviewed post-meeting Training and quality assurance, enabling review of real conversations to improve service delivery Transcripts can be stored securely and managed according to your organization’s compliance, privacy, and retention policies, making them suitable for regulated industries. AI-Generated Call Summaries After the meeting, the Azure AI Language Summarization API automatically analyzes the transcript and generates a concise, structured summary. This summary distills the conversation into key takeaways, including: Main discussion points Decisions made Action items and next steps This helps teams: Align quickly on outcomes and responsibilities Brief stakeholders who couldn’t attend Maintain consistent documentation for compliance, audits, or internal reporting Reduce meeting fatigue by eliminating the need to rewatch or reread entire transcripts How to Get Started You can try these new features today by following a few simple steps: Go through the Sample Builder using the official tutorial. Select the Rooms option in the booking and calling steps. Enable auto-transcription or allow users to turn on transcription in the booking and calling steps. Enable meeting summary in the post-call steps. Choose how you want to deploy and go through follow up steps. Once fully deployed, start a call to test. If not using auto-transcription, open the meeting controls and select “Start Transcription”. Choose the spoken language (Click here for the list of supported languages). After the meeting ends, participants can view the AI-generated summary and download the transcript. In the sample experience, transcripts and summaries are available temporarily. In production environments, you can store them securely and use them to support training, compliance, or analytics. Microsoft 365 Integration Today’s update focuses on integrating Azure AI with Azure hosted meetings. However Azure Communication Services are interoperable with Microsoft Teams, and you can use the Sample Builder to deploy a branded Azure application that joins Teams meetings. Interoperability can be incredibly helpful for organizations that are already using Microsoft Teams but want to build a custom meeting experience for business-2-consumer (B2C) interactions. Using Microsoft Teams as the meeting host allows you to leverage: Teams Premium AI features for generating meeting notes and recommending follow-ups. Teams Premium virtual appointment features for scheduling of B2C meetings and sending reminders across SMS, email, and other channels. Teams Phone capabilities so end-users can dial into the meeting using traditional telephony. Get Started Today Explore the new AI-powered features in the Sample Builder and start building smarter virtual appointment experiences: 👉 Try the Sample Builder With transcription and meeting summaries, your meetings can do more than connect people—they can capture insights, drive action, and deliver lasting value.Catch Up on the Azure Communication Services Fundamentals Series
This April, we partnered with Microsoft Reactor to deliver a four-part webcast series designed to help developers get started with Azure Communication Services. Each 20-minute episode focused on a different communication channel—giving developers the tools to build real-time, scalable, and secure communication experiences into their apps. If you missed the live sessions, don’t worry, they’re all available on-demand! Check out the full playlist here or see the following individual videos. Here’s a quick look at what each episode covered: Episode 1: WhatsApp Messaging We kicked off the series by showing how to integrate WhatsApp Business messaging into your Azure Communication Services applications. We walked through everything from sandbox testing to connecting a verified WhatsApp Business Account and sending messages with SDKs. For a deeper dive on what was covered, read about it here from Gloria herself! Episode 2: Exploring SMS Capabilities This session described how to provision a phone number, verify the number, and how to send/receive SMS messages. We also covered how to handle incoming messages with event grid listeners and code-based handlers. For a deeper dive on exactly what was covered, read about it here from Pranita herself! Episode 3: Maximizing Email Insights with Logs and Events Next, we dove into email analytics and telemetry setting up logs and events, understanding sender reputation, and using sample queries to gain insights. From basic sample queries to advanced Kusto Query Language (KQL) queries, this session covered everything you need to run a successful email marketing campaign with Azure Communication Services. Episode 4: Add Audio & Video Calling We wrapped the season with a demo-rich session on embedding calling features into your communications application using Azure Communication Services. Highlights included new AI-powered features like captions, noise suppression, grid views, and real-time translation. What’s Next? We’re already planning Season 2, launching later this year, with a focus on Azure Communication Services + AI. Expect deeper dives, new use cases, and more interactive demos. Want to stay in the loop? Sign up for season two updates to be the first to know when the new season launches and tell us what you want to learn about!April 2025 Feature Updates
The Azure Communication Services team is excited to share several new product and feature updates released in March and April 2025. (You can view previous blog articles.) Real Time Text Status: GA Real-Time Text (RTT), now in General Availability, is a transformative feature that enables text to be transmitted and displayed in real-time during voice and video calls. Unlike traditional messaging, where the recipient sees the full message only after it is sent, RTT ensures that each character appears on the recipient’s screen as it is typed. This creates a dynamic, conversational experience that mirrors spoken communication. For developers, integrating RTT into their applications can significantly enhance user engagement and accessibility. By providing immediate and continuous text communication, RTT bridges the gap between spoken and written interactions, making conversations more inclusive and effective. This is particularly valuable in scenarios where clarity and real-time feedback are crucial, such as telehealth, remote banking, and customer support. RTT also complies with European accessibility mandates, ensuring that voice and video calling services meet regulatory standards. By incorporating RTT, developers can offer a more inclusive communication experience, catering to users with diverse needs and preferences. For more information, see: Real Time Text (RTT) Overview - An Azure Communication Services concept document | Microsoft Learn Real Time Text - An Azure Communication Services how-to document | Microsoft Learn Mobile Numbers for SMS Status: Public Preview We are excited to announce the Public Preview of Mobile Numbers for SMS in Azure Communication Services. This feature is now available in 10 countries across Europe and Australia, providing businesses with locally trusted, two-way messaging capabilities. Key Benefits Dedicated Sender Identity: Supports conversational scenarios across industries like healthcare, retail, public sector, and finance. Interactive Conversations: Facilitates reply-enabled SMS flows with country-specific mobile numbers. Improved Deliverability: Uses number types accepted and prioritized by local carriers. Use Cases: Inbound Communication: Customers can reply to alerts, offers, or initiate conversations, ensuring a seamless and engaging communication experience. For more information, see: Phone number types - An Azure Communication Services article | Microsoft Learn 1080p Web Send Status: Public Preview The Azure Communication Services WebJS calling SDK now supports sending video at 1080p resolution. By enabling this advanced video quality, developers can build solutions that enable their customers to use higher quality and more detailed video presentations. This enhancement provides developers and end-users with improved calling experience. Developers can opt-in to this feature using the Video Constraints API (see the following example), enabling higher quality video streams in their applications. const callOptions = { videoOptions: { localVideoStreams: [...], constraints: { send: { height: { max: 1080 } } } }, audioOptions: { muted: false } }; // make a call this.callAgent.startCall(identitiesToCall, callOptions); For more information, see: Place video on a web page based on resolution size - An Azure Communication Services quickstart | Microsoft Learn Dual Pin 720p videos Status: Public Preview The Azure Communication Services Calling SDK now enables developers to spotlight up to two incoming video streams. These spotlighted streams can be sent at a higher resolution than other incoming streams, providing better quality for highlighted videos. This feature enables developers to deliver a more engaging and visually rich experience for end-users. For more information, see Place video on a web page based on resolution size - An Azure Communication Services quickstart | Microsoft Learn Background Blur for Android Mobile browsers Status: GA The Azure Communication Services Calling SDK for Android Web mobile now enables developers to implement background blur. By enabling background blur, end users can enjoy calls with increased privacy and confidence, knowing that their background is obscured and won’t cause any disruptions during the call. For more information, see Quickstart - Add video effects to your video calls - An Azure Communication Services quickstart | Microsoft Learn. Mobile Browsers support sending 720p resolution video Status: GA The Azure Communication Services Calling SDK for Web mobile browser now enables developers to send video by default at a 720p video resolution. Enabling a higher video resolution to be sent from mobile browsers provides all users with higher quality video and more intimate calling experience. For more information, see Azure Communication Services Calling SDK overview - An Azure Communication Services concept document | Microsoft Learn.Explore Azure Communication Services Email Telemetry: What You Can Do with Email Insights
We're halfway through our first season of the Azure Communication Services Fundamentals series, and we are excited to invite you to our next session - Maximizing Email Insights with Logs and Events on Azure Communication Services. Register here and join us on Thursday, April 17 @ 9 a.m. PT. What You Will Learn During this live session, we’ll guide you through the following key topics to help you make the most out your email communication service with Azure Communication Services. Introduction to Email Telemetry What email telemetry is and why it matters The differences between logs and events in the Azure portal Understanding Sender Reputation Gain insights into sender reputation and its impact on email delivery and engagement Explore how Azure Communication Services helps you manage sender reputation Live Demo: Email Insights & Logs Discover how to use sample log queries to analyze email performance and troubleshoot delivery issues Learn how to create custom queries and workbooks to visualize and understand the data available in your logs Live Demo: Email events Deploy and view live events in Event Grid Viewer Real-time monitoring and analysis of email events Why You Should Attend This session is perfect for developers, IT professionals, and tech enthusiasts who want to better understand email analytics. You'll gain practical knowledge on using Azure Communication Services to extract insights from email logs and events, helping you improve your email communication. How to Join To register for this event, sign up here on the Reactor event homepage. If you want to engage with members of the Email product team live during the session, log into a YouTube account during the live session and ask questions directly in the chat. If you missed the previous two sessions, you can watch the on-demand videos for those sessions here: WhatsApp Messaging and Azure Communication Services Exploring SMS Capabilities with Azure Communication Services
