Operator Connect was hailed as a valuable third option for end users to bring voice into Microsoft Teams when it was announced last year.
But it’s impact on carriers was, and in some ways still is, less clear – particularly for those that have not yet been authorised to deliver the service by Microsoft.
It was this uncertainty for carriers, and also the huge opportunity, that led Qunifi to launch Carrier Automate.
Qunifi is known most in the market for its Call2Teams offering, which gives service providers and channel partners a relatively easy way to integrate voice services into their Microsoft Teams offering.
Carrier Automate is built on the same technology and bundles technology and services designed to help carriers accelerate their journey towards Operator Connect.
Speaking to UC Today, Mark Herbert, President at Qunifi, said that the announcement of Operator Connect surprised many carriers that haven’t typically had a close relationship with Microsoft.
“It sent a big shockwave through the carrier industry,” he said. “Many carriers hadn’t even done the business case for it but were suddenly seeing the logos of their competitors in the initial release and saw it as a big problem that they weren’t there.
“This has all come from nowhere for some carriers and within a short space of time, with carriers being asked to work at a quicker pace than a lot of them are used to working at.”
Carrier Automate primarily focuses on those two challenges: knowledge and speed.
Herbert said that Qunifi spends a lot of time supporting carriers on Operator Connect and educating them on the Microsoft world in general. This is particularly important for carriers not already approved, as these have possibly not worked closely with Microsoft in the past.
The challenge of speed exists because of the timeframes that carriers are used to working within, alongside the relatively tight controls that Microsoft has introduced for Operator Connect.
Herbert said that, to qualify for Operator Connect, carriers are having to make changes to their systems in a matter of months that would have historically taken years.
“Microsoft wants this to be a great experience,” Herbert said. “Direct Routing has a bit of a loose specification and it’s out of Microsoft’s control because of how it’s delivered, so customers can have mixed experiences.
“Operator Connect is designed to give end users some of the flexibility of Direct Routing – such as bring your own carrier – but in a simpler package.
“So, Microsoft has set some tight constraints around how operators have to connect into Teams; it has to be highly automated with a good quality of service.
