You have to hand it to Microsoft Teams.
The way it has helped change the way the world works has been a transformational victory.
But, there’s a but.
No matter how effective this most innovative and powerful of platforms has been in redefining how we all communicate, people still love to talk.
And there’s the caveat.
Microsoft Teams is simply not as good at ‘voice’ as it is all the other stuff it does so brilliantly.
But plug that particular gap, and you really can leverage its game-changing potential.
And that means opportunities exist – for end user businesses as well as communications resellers and Managed Service Providers.
Expert deployment partners are growing in number all of the time.
Choose the right one, and those opportunities really start to deliver.
“Microsoft is not a telecom provider and it doesn’t want to be a telecom provider – so it’s no surprise that there are limitations to its voice services,” says Michael Hawkins, Director of Solutions Engineering and Product Marketing at US-based global mid-market managed services provider BCM One, whose own Microsoft Voice Enabled Teams solution plugs the gaps and then some.
“Microsoft Teams is missing key elements which, in the case of many enterprises, prevents them from maximising all of its transformational potential.
“A lot of the time, those missing elements can be critically important to the way an enterprise functions.”
Leading among those elements are advanced call routing, call center functionality, and call recording and analytics.
Also, issues connected with simple usability can sometimes limit its potential.
“Enterprises need to really understand how their users interact with their phone system in order to maximise Microsoft Teams,” says Hawkins.
“For example, intercoms and paging is not available right now. So, if you have a large manufacturing floor, and there's an emergency, or you’re a school and there’s an active shooter drill, or if you’re a healthcare organisation and you have a code blue, there is no way of communicating it over your intercom or pager networks.
“Additionally, faxing is not available in native Microsoft Teams either and, because it runs very specific firmware, the phones are just different, which some users struggle with.
“That all means that enterprises continue to keep parts and pieces of multiple, legacy phone systems which prevents them from modernising”
In BCM One’s case, there are three flavors to choose from when it comes to Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft Voice Enabled Teams with SIP
This is a hosted direct routing solution which inserts BCM One as the enterprise’s telecom carrier via its high quality, robust infrastructure connected to the public telephone network.
Users can make and receive calls and benefit from BCM One’s expert telecom-specific management tools linked to defined SLAs.
Key benefits: Call quality and troubleshooting.
Microsoft Voice Enabled Teams with UCaaS
The integration with Microsoft Teams and BCM One’s smart and powerful UCaaS application – enables users to utilize all of their familiar communications tools but with Microsoft Teams as the endpoint.
Business as usual but with improved call quality, reduced costs and complete service.
