Microsoft Outage Forces Global Businesses to Fall Back on Phones, Faxes, and Bluetooth

A worldwide Microsoft outage on Friday disrupted Outlook, Teams, and Copilot for millions of users, forcing businesses from banks to shipping firms to rely on phones, faxes, and Bluetooth as workarounds. Microsoft blamed server problems and said it saw signs of stabilization after implementing fixes. Euronext asked listed companies to call, while Aviva used Bluetooth for recordings and Maersk requested urgent calls. Trading volumes slowed in some markets as email confirmations were replaced by faxes in Taiwan. The incident highlights the fragility of relying on a few technology providers, with analysts urging firms to invest in contingency plans. It follows recent attacks on industrial systems, underscoring how a single point of failure can disrupt global commerce.