Azure Communications Services is Microsoft's new managed communication platform

At its annual Ignite conference, Microsoft announced Azure Communications Service, the first fully managed communication platform offering from a major cloud provider. The service will help developers deliver enterprise-grade communication experiences across devices and platforms.

Azure Communication Services allows building new communication solutions or integrating them into existing applications while avoiding considerable cost, complexity, or time. It makes it easy to add voice and video calling, chat, and SMS text message capabilities to mobile apps, desktop applications, and websites with just a few lines of code. These capabilities can be used on any platform and on any device.

While voice and video calling and chat services will be available right away, SMS and phone numbers capabilities will be released in October.

Azure Communication Services uses the same secure platform that powers Microsoft Teams and is built natively on top of Azure. Developers can easily tap into other Azure services, such as Azure
Cognitive Services for translation, sentiment analysis, and more. Also, all communications are encrypted to meet strict HIPPA and GDPR privacy and regulatory compliance.

According to Scott Van Vliet, Corporate Vice President of Intelligent Communication at Microsoft, Azure Communication Services brings together the best of communication technology, development efficiency, cloud scale, and enterprise-grade security. This allows businesses to create meaningful customer interactions on a secure, global platform in minutes, not months.