{"id":81551,"date":"2020-10-23T14:11:52","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T13:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loopup.com\/?p=81551"},"modified":"2022-06-23T09:26:00","modified_gmt":"2022-06-23T08:26:00","slug":"advanced-communications-licence-if-not-now-then-when","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loopup.com\/us\/resource-center\/blog\/advanced-communications-licence-if-not-now-then-when\/","title":{"rendered":"Advanced Communications License \u2013 if not now, then when?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Those of you that have been following the announcements around Microsoft\u2019s Advanced Communications License<\/a> for Teams know that there was some initial confusion about when this would be required. It may seem like things are a little clearer now, but while we are in a better place, the story is far from over\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MS Docs pages for Advanced Communications license<\/a> and Compliance Recording<\/a> were recently updated to remove any reference to the license being required to support Contact Center \/ Compliance Recording integration. But as the saying goes\u2026\u201cabsence of evidence is not evidence of absence\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Microsoft also produced an FAQ<\/a> in response to the outcry from the community who were upset at the notion of requiring an additional license for this functionality. And while this has cleared up some of the previous questions, it has left the door fully open for Microsoft to reintroduce the license in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"advanced<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Where does this leave us?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is good news for businesses \u2013 up to a point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact Center <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new FAQs clearly state that the Advanced Communications License is not required by Contact Centers using \u201cDirect Routing<\/a> and consuming Presence API\u201d, which is the most common approach used by numerous vendors. There are two other methods of integration: \u201cConnect and Extend\u201d as well as \u201cExtend and Power\u201d that both go beyond the level of integration that vendors have available in the market today. Perhaps this is where the Advanced Communications License will be re-introduced, as products that leverage this integration come to market? As yet, this is not clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compliance Recording<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FAQs also state that the Advanced Communications License is not needed for accessing Compliance Recording APIs. However, at the same time, they remind us the Compliance Recording API is still in preview, and as such, will be available \u2018with no additional charge\u2019 until January 31st<\/sup> 2021 \u2013 just a few months away. What is not clear is if this will then fall under the Advanced Communications License, or whether another method of charging for API access will be introduced after that date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch this space<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Microsoft does have a track record of experimenting with licensing,\nso it would be wise to anticipate that there will be more changes to come which\ncustomers will need to keep abreast of and plan for as far as possible. For\nexample, Priority Notifications was initially available as a \u2018preview\u2019 feature\nand available at no additional charge until April 2020. Due to COVID-19,\nMicrosoft extended this promotion until July 2020, before eventually announcing\nthat the Priority Notification feature will be available within the base\nlicensing for Teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The takeaway here is that such experiments may or may not work in\ncustomers\u2019 favour, in terms of what comes included in the standard Teams licensing\nand what are bolt-on additions at extra cost, and that what\u2019s included and what\nis not may change over time too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customers will just have to keep watching this space and we will\ndo our best to provide updates as appropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graham Cropley is a Senior Director in LoopUp\u2019s consulting team. He has led some of the largest and most technologically complex Skype for Business and Teams projects in the world<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n