Microsoft Teams has been on a hyper growth curve since the early part of 2020, the latest reported figures indicate the service has 115 million daily active users worldwide. As users continue to flock to the service, driven by the need for a reliable collaboration tool which is deeply embedded in the Microsoft software estate, it would appear the product is only heading in one direction… up.
However, if you are still crafting your Teams proposition then beware. Common deployment issues, and/or commercial terms, could leave you with a long-term ‘scary’ problem. If you are looking to offer Teams to your customers make sure you take note of the following:
1 – If your customers choose the Microsoft Phone System they could be getting a diminished service
Microsoft’s Phone System is still behind the industry when it comes to functionality, but it is getting better. If your customer’s requirements are straightforward, like dial tone and voicemail for instance, then you probably won’t have an issue, but make sure they know how the MS service stacks up against the losing provider before you make the jump.
Get everything on the table upfront. Be that trusted adviser. If they move and the service doesn’t fit then guess who they are going to blame?! Avoid that howler…
Don’t forget, whatever route customers choose for their in-Teams calling they will need a phone system license. That’s £7.50 per user before they have even got started.
2 – When your customers choose Microsoft, what are you losing… actually?
If your customer decides it is time to jump from your cloud telephony product to Teams, you aren’t just losing the cloud PBX revenues. You are also losing the hardware, the services, numbers and the minutes revenue too. 🎃
Microsoft bundles everything into one price – when a customer moves you could be losing more than you think! Don’t forget to look behind the curtains before you initiate a move!
3 – Configuring your Direct Routing service isn’t as straightforward as you think 😨
We are hearing a lot of noise in the Direct Routing community, but people that decide to use a Direct Routing provider need to be aware of how far they take you down the process. Be aware of your part to play and the skills you have in-house, do you need to set up the back end and configure the PBX? What about hunt groups, time schedules, auto attendants and everything else? If you don’t have those skills in-house you could be heading for the ultimate shock…
4 – Charges to mobile numbers are eyewatering… watch out for bill shock! 😱
Someone get me a time machine, I appear to be stuck in 1997. Out-of-bundle calls to UK mobiles come in at 12.3p per minute when calling out from Teams, 4 times the current national average charge from the traditional providers! When you consider that large swathes of the business world have been communicating exclusively on mobiles for the last five years this is will catch some people out.
Don’t let your customers be that victim! ⚰️
