UK leader in cloud and managed service IT solutions, Maintel has recently introduced its new ICON Teams Connector. This multi-tenanted solution helps businesses to enjoy the complete phone experience from Microsoft Teams without any disruption.
As businesses continue to embrace Teams as their primary solution for collaboration, adding voice into the mix enhances the completeness of the service. The ICON Teams connector is a hosted service connecting Microsoft Teams to the PSTN using Microsoft technology for direct routing. This ensures that businesses can make and receive their calls through Teams without a Microsoft calling plan.
The ICON Teams connector is a flexible and accessible solution for those who would prefer to avoid Microsoft calling plans. This service allows businesses to adapt to the changing needs of their markets at their own pace.
Creating a Simpler Solution for Microsoft Teams
Unlike on-premises business calling solutions which sometimes take weeks to initiate, the ICON Teams connector can be set up in days, or even hours. Maintel has an SBC for Microsoft within its ICON network which they can connect to their telecoms provider and Microsoft phone system space. The service provides rapid deployment with minimal costs.
The Teams Connector builds on numerous years of knowledge and experience that Maintel has in designing, supporting, and implementing voice and data solutions for clients. Combining a cloud SBC with calling plans means Maintel can deliver a fully-managed service for Teams users.
According to Head of Digital Workplace for Maintel, Tim Hiscox, every business wants to access the “holy grail” of the digital environment – a single pane of glass platform. This platform would support everything from chat and calls, to video and document sharing. While Teams can serve most of these requirements, it misses out on the ability to deliver calling like a traditional telephony provider.
Looking to the Future of Collaborative Teams
The ICON network connector from Maintel allows businesses to discover the missing piece of the puzzle in their quest for the ultimate UC&C environment. This is valuable not only in the current space, but it is also likely to be important in the years to come too. The growth of the remote working landscape is set to increase the need for more efficient collaboration and communication solutions. Companies need to have the most appropriate solutions in place to reduce risks to productivity.
A cloud-based platform that can enable the workforce to operate and collaborate efficiently is sure to be a must-have in the years to come. Direct Routing through the ICON Teams connector with Maintel will deliver a bespoke and reliable service that meets the needs of today’s transforming businesses, without the excess costs.
New Chatbot for Improved Customer Service
Launched in late March, Maintel’s state-of-the-art ICON Contact chatbot is designed to deliver more cost-effective and efficient customer service solutions, giving organisations the power to enhance their websites and other customer service avenues, through a conversational chatbot. The chatbot integrates with existing contact centre platforms for quick and easy access.
What to Expect from the ICON Chatbot
Maintel’s chatbot-as-a-service solution utilises next-level technology like natural language processing and machine learning. The ICON bot can operate as a digital agent in your business, providing customers with the option to speak to an agent, or self-serve. The solution operates on a 24/7 basis, which means that companies can continue to give their customers the assistance that they need at all hours of the day, all while taking on 30 times less cost than a traditional contact centre.
Developed at the Maintel Tech centre, the ICON chatbot is available on an “as a service” model. When you acquire ICON, you also get support for consistent reviews, updates, and refinements through the lifetime of the product. This ensures that your chatbot solution is constantly getting better, year after year. You don’t even need to invest in your own developers and experts to expand your functionality over time.
ICON Contact chatbot is compatible with a host of leading contact centre services and platforms, including ICON Contact with CallMedia, CallMedia installed in the office, Avaya AACC, and Avaya AACC on-premises. There’s also the option to use the service with no contact centre integration.
Responding to Customer Demands
The CTO of Maintel, Dan Davies, commented on the arrival of the recent chatbot as a service solution, stating that as consumer demands continue to evolve, and business landscapes change, companies need to ensure that they’re delivering the best customer service available. The Icon contact centre chatbot could be a vital aid in achieving this goal, with seamless integration into existing contact centre solutions.
The Icon chatbot can handle more inquiries than a standard agent around the clock, making customer service faster and more affordable for businesses of all sizes. Already, companies from various industries are beginning to experiment with the benefits of bringing chatbots into their landscape. However, they’re finding that they’re expensive to develop in-house, and that they have to work with various vendors to make the deployment more accessible. The ICON chatbot takes these headaches away and creates a more complete service. Maintel is helping businesses to deploy and integrate the technology and will continue to optimise the tech going forward too.
