Mitel MiCloud Office Review – Geo-redundant UCaaS

Published: January 19, 2017

Rob Scott

Publisher

Vendor: Mitel

Call Manager: MiCloud Office

Deployment Options: UCaaS only, Public Cloud, Multi-tenanted

Mitel released MiCloud Office in the UK in December 2015 as a multi-tenanted, unified-communications-as-a-service solution (UCaaS) to their channel partners.

MiCloud Office was originally developed by Telepo, who in 2014 was acquired by Aastra. Mitel then acquired Aastra later that year and inherited Telepo’s unified communications as a service (UCaaS) platform.

To say they inherited it doesn’t do the product justice. In fact the Telepo product (MiCloud Office) is potentially now Mitel’s breakthrough cloud product.

MiCloud Office is built on a price per seat, per month model. All you need is a good internet connection, we’re glad to say there are very few complexities with this product.

How the review works

In this review we’ll be brushing over the detail and sticking primarily to the headline features and benefits of this cloud phone system. We apologise if any information is incorrect, however we endeavour to produce a high quality review of the MiCloud Office product.

Our intention is to give you an independent viewpoint of this product and we’ll insert links where we can to other related content so you can expand your search even further.

In terms of consistency across our product reviews, we stick to a set structure to ensure we don’t miss anything out. However if you spot something that doesn’t ‘ring true’ then please comment and we’ll adjust this article up as we go along.

System apps

You can pretty much divide a telephone system’s anatomy into two main parts; system wide features and user apps. We’ll start with system side features:

Management: You access the system programming using a web browser. The web portal is cloud based and is secured using a username and password. Different user rights can be configured depending on the role of the individual requesting access.

Voice Messaging: All aspects of voice messaging are embedded into the core platform. Depending on what licenses you choose, you’ll receive:

Individual and Group voice mail boxes
Voice mail to email forwarding
Auto Attendant (also known as IVR)
Call queuing announcements

Audio & Web Conferencing: In-built is a voice conferencing system, therefore you can configure a direct dial in (DDI) number for the conference bridge and use it for dial-in conference calls. In addition, you can setup an ad-hoc conference call from your desk phone or app.

The MiCloud Office desktop application now supports screen sharing and video conferencing. You’ll need a web cam on your PC/laptop or Mac device. If you have the app on your smartphone or tablet you can setup and access conferences from these too.

Call Recording – Call recording is currently not supported. However we understand its in the pipeline for 2017, so available sometime soon.

Call Reporting – Call reporting (also known as call logging software) is available as part of the package. It comes at no extra cost for the entry edition of MiCloud Office Analytics. The entry edition may or may not meet your needs so be sure to explore the feature comparison before purchasing.

MiCloud Office Analytics

Contact Centre – Call centre functionality is generally required in most businesses nowadays and MiCloud Office delivers. If you’re seeking ACD agents, hunt groups, call queuing and MIS reporting to help you run your busy sales team or customer service department, then you’re on a winner.

To enable the ACD features you’ll need the appropriate licence for each user however once enabled you can choose to operate your contact centre from any device, anywhere. This is a superb example of contact centre as a service (CCaaS) technology for the modern business.

Multi Media (omni-channel) – Sadly no support for multi-media just yet. Voice calls only.

WFO – No features available for workforce optimisation. However for less formal call centres you may find just what you need built into the MiCloud Analytics reports.

Automated Dialling – All users can enjoy the click to call functionality built into the MiCloud Office client software for PC (not currently supported in the Mac client). However there is no preview dialling, power dialling or predictive dialling option. You would have to investigate 3rd party options for this kind of horse power.

CRM Integration – Connecting your CRM software is becoming more popular than ever before. Most PBX vendors offer support for the main stream CRMs and if they don’t they’ll point you in the direction of a 3rd party plugin that will.

There is no native CRM support in MiCloud Office, however Mitel recommend Tenfold CRM integration which will help you connect everything together.

API – There is a software developers kit (SDK) available for MiCloud Office.

User Experience

Reception Console – There is an attendant console license available for receptionists. Mitel call it Attendant View. It’s purposely designed for receptionists and its neatly packaged up in the same MiCloud Office client software for Microsoft Windows and Mac. You don’t need to use a desktop telephone either, you can run it in softphone mode if you prefer.

UC Desktop Client – The unified communications (UC) client is really impressive on MiCloud Office. It comes as a single installation file for Microsoft Windows and depending on the licenses you choose, it can turn from it’s standard view into an ACD agent interface or Attendant View for receptionists. In addition, it can work as a VoIP soft phone or it will work with your desktop telephone.

The interface is beautifully simple and is packed with features such as:

Call control
Call logs
Presence (you and colleagues)
Contact Directory
Speed Dials, Favourites and VIPs
Voice Mail
SMS messages
Scheduling and attending video conference calls
Instant Messages (chat)
MiTeam (Team collaboration)

There’s too many features to list in this review, but as far as a UC client goes it’s one of our favourite apps from Mitel.

UC Mobile Client – A must have for most businesses nowadays is a unified comms mobile client for your mobile phone, and MiCloud office doesn’t disappoint. You can install the mobile soft phone on Android and iOS devices (including tablets) and make and receive calls over 4G or WiFi.

If you’re wondering what else it can do you’ll be impressed with the feature set. Mitel have developed most of the above listed UC client features into the mobile app also! Therefore, if you’re on the move or require your unified comms experience on any device and anywhere, then this ticks all the boxes.

The only feature it doesn’t yet support (up to press) is video calls between MiCloud Office users. However, we’re lead to believe this is on its way very shortly.

MiCloud Office Mobile

IP Phones (fully featured) – MiCloud Office support the 6800 series of IP Phones from Mitel. The 68xx handsets are built on SIP technology and offer HD voice quality.

Subject to which IP telephone set you choose, you can enjoy full colour touch screen technology and wireless accessories (Bluetooth and DECT), for example headsets and handsets.

MiCloud Office Phones

DECT Phones – If you fancy a conventional cordless phone, then at present you’ll need to purchase an ATA adaptor. This is an adaptor which converts SIP into analogue dial tone.

SIP Endpoints – Subject to which SIP device or software you’d like to use, it might work with this platform, however, Mitel are not committing to supporting 3rd party SIP phones just yet. Naturally they want to use their 6800 series phones.

WiFi Phones – Same applies here, although Mitel have a whole range of wireless phones in their wider portfolio none are actually supported officially yet. Best to ask your Mitel partner for further information.

Conference Phones – If you’re after the best of breed conference phones you can utilise Mitel’s flagship conference phone, the MiVoice Conference phone. This premium conference phone comes with a range of features for multi-party conferencing including HD voice quality, 16 speakers and a 7″ full colour touch screen built on an Android OS.

MiVoice Conference Phone

Phones Accessories – The 6800 series phones support a range of Bluetooth, WiFi and DECT accessories including headsets, handsets, keyboards, expansion button modules and wall mount kits.

Web RTC – MiCloud Office does not currently support Web RTC.

What we really like

MiCloud Office looks the part for sure. The phones and apps all look like they were born in the cloud and in terms of quality, you should expect nothing less than the best from Mitel.

If you’re seeking a cloud phone service for your business, then this is a product (and service) that is pretty hard to beat. Mitel is a brand you can generally trust and therefore reliability and uptime should be a given (despite the fact that ALL technology has its ups and downs from time to time!).

Mitel have deployed MiCloud Office in geo-redundant data centres for the UK market. The servers are built and managed in London and Paris. The idea being is if one data centre or server host goes down then the other is on standby and ready for action.

Deployment is another plus for this product. Having seen how to deploy the phones and apps, you can easily take control yourselves with minimal technical knowledge and get new users up and running on devices of their choice, in no time at all.

What we don’t like

There’s not much not to like about this product. If you buy on what something looks like, then MiCloud Office is for you.

However, if you have a very specific list of requirements for your business then you’ll need to explore MiCloud Office’s limitations before buying. Due to it being a relatively new product, some features are not yet available. (For example call recording and peer to peer video calling)

Where to buy

Unfortunately you can’t just call Mitel and buy this product (in North America I think you can actually). Mitel sell through accredited partners in the UK, of which there are around 100 to choose from. We’d suggest looking at the Mitel Partners Page here.