Microsoft 365 Business Voice Review: Powering Up Office 365

A Microsoft phone system created for Office 365

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UCaaS Reviews

Published: November 15, 2019

Rebekah Carter - Writer

Rebekah Carter

Microsoft, one of the market leaders in technology, communication, and collaboration, recently announced the arrival of another disruptive new product at Microsoft Ignite 2019.

Microsoft 365 Business Voice is a solution for cloud-based telephony built from the ground up for the Office 365 ecosystem. The offering provides chat, meetings, calling, and more in a single unified application, for a more dynamic business landscape.

The Business Voice experience works across all devices, ensuring that team members have access to the tools that they need wherever they are.

Here’s your guide to Microsoft’s latest product.

Microsoft 365 Business Voice: Features

Microsoft 365 Business Voice is a state-of-the-art cloud-based telephony solution that integrates into the Office 365 ecosystem. Designed to support the collaborative needs of modern workforces in the digital landscape, Microsoft 365 Business Voice includes:

  • An enterprise-grade phone system for making and receiving calls
  • Cloud-based management for excellent scalability
  • Audio conferencing with dial-in numbers for every meeting
  • Flexible calling plans, including the option to migrate your existing number
  • The opportunity to access your system on any device
  • Access to AI technology for transcribing voicemail and translating chat messages
  • All-in-one support for up to 300 users
  • Multi-level auto attendants, call transfer, and call queuing
  • 24×7 customer service backed by Microsoft

Microsoft 365 Business Voice: Benefits

Microsoft’s new Business Voice offering is all about simplifying the calling and collaboration landscape in the cloud for today’s business users. With this new solution, companies can streamline their communication strategy by ensuring that all of their chat, meetings, and other conversations exist in the same environment. Benefits include:

  • A full communication suite: Manage your contacts and calendar information through Outlook and Microsoft Teams while expanding collaboration through Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. Unify chat and calling and allow teams to dial into meetings in an instant
  • Support for any device: Communicate with a single phone number that works across your mobile device, computer, desk phone, and more. Get a consistent all-in-one experience across every device with the Microsoft 365 ecosystem
  • Exceptional cloud technology: Scale your communication strategy in seconds with the trusted and immersive cloud environment from Microsoft. Microsoft’s cloud comes with load balancing and a 99.9% uptime guarantee
  • State-of-the-art features: Unlock some of the latest communication technology for your calling system, including AI and voicemail transcription, inline translation for your chat, and meeting captioning
  • Simplified setup: Manage all of your communications within a single environment with a single billing provider. Manage your phone system through your easy-to-use Office console and migrate your existing phone numbers from your current service provider into the Microsoft Business Voice environment

Microsoft even offers support for a wide range of devices, so that you can build the communication environment that’s most suitable for you. You can check out some of the available devices that are already supported at the Microsoft Teams Marketplace.

Microsoft 365 Business Voice: Target Market

So, who is Microsoft 365 Business Voice for? Microsoft claims that it was created for medium to small businesses that are already using the Microsoft 365 or Office 365 ecosystem to transform their communication and collaboration experience. The Business Voice solution can be implemented into any subscription that includes Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft 365 Business Voice
Calling, chat, and meetings in a single app

Designed for up to 300 users, Business Voice users will need an Office 365 plan to get started, and there’s no standalone option yet. The price for the add-on starts at £12 per month, without VAT. However, you can try the experience for a month for free.

Currently, Business Voice is only available in the UK and Canada, but it will be rolled out to other countries worldwide shortly.

Microsoft 365 Business Voice: Verdict

Microsoft has a knack for disrupting the communication market and transforming the way that businesses connect. Microsoft Teams has quickly emerged as the most popular enterprise collaboration app in the world. Microsoft Office is one of the most valuable productivity suites available, and the Windows ecosystem is a leader in its field.

Microsoft 365 Business Voice
Call from anywhere, on any device

Now, Business Voice offers Microsoft the opportunity to disrupt the industry all over again, with a brand new way for teams to unify their communications on the cloud. This immersive phone system for small to mid-sized businesses is sure to have a huge impact on the way that teams move from the on-premises environment into the cloud.

 

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