Technology Record - Issue 22: Autumn 2021

21 Beabloo has launched Minerva, a new solution that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to personalise customer experiences with the goal of making physical spaces more intelligent. Minerva is part of Active Customer Intelligence Suite (ACIS), a set of integrated solutions that combines digital signage, analytics and AI to modernise communications inside physical spaces, analysing people’s behaviour and offering them personalised experiences. The new AI system manages the different solutions in ACIS and learns to personalise the customer’s experience, while providing daily forecasts of customer visits and sales as well as other indicators to business managers. With these new solutions, Beabloo was named Best ISV Partner by Microsoft Spain in 2021. Beabloo looks to make physical spaces more intelligent with AI Poly launches Poly Studio E70 camera Communications firm Poly has released the Poly Studio E70 in-room camera, intended to facilitate meetings for hybrid workers. Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies help to deliver real-time automatic transitions, framing and tracking, while the combination of a wide angle and narrow lens allows people close to the camera and those at the back of a room to be seen equally. Poly has partnered with Microsoft in the development of the camera, which has been optimised for use in Microsoft Teams. In its latest Mid-Year Rates and Rules Report , tax compliance software provider Vertex has found that new district sales taxes rose rapidly for the first half of 2021. According to Vertex, tax professionals should note that new district-level sales tax rates poised for a record year, with 127 new district taxes being enacted, up from 88 for the first six months of 2020. For the first six months of 2021, new city sales taxes also followed this trend, with 23 going into effect. And in July 2021, changed city sales taxes rose sharply to 54, up from 34 in 2020. Sales taxes are rising, finds Vertex report