Microsoft outage forces firms back to phones and faxes

A global Microsoft services outage has forced companies and financial institutions to revert to traditional communication methods, disrupting operations for millions of users across more than 70 countries. The failure of Outlook email, Teams, and the Copilot AI tool halted internal information exchange, prompting organizations to use phones, fax machines, and Bluetooth. Euronext required listed companies to communicate by phone with identity verification, while some UK medical procedures were postponed. Microsoft attributed the outage to server issues, ruling out malicious activity and reporting gradual improvements. The incident highlighted the fragility of daily operations when digital services fail.