Gamma, AudioCodes and NUWAVE on Microsoft Teams Phone Systems

1.     What method of bringing voice into Teams are businesses demanding most?

Richard McPhee, Solutions Director at Gamma: “While we do see initial enquiries for a specific enablement method, it’s usually because the customer has been reading about it or has been advised it may be the best option to explore.

“Currently, we are seeing a good balance of enquiries for enablement methods. This is because the market is beginning to acknowledge Operator Connect as a preferred option, but Direct Routing is still very popular and commonly requested.

“However, it’s worth mentioning how initial enquiries can often change after a thorough conversation with the provider.

“We’ve often seen how, after discussing business requirements with our experts, most customers are open to selecting the enablement method that we recommend to achieve their goals.

“With Gamma’s in-house skills, knowledge and capabilities, we are able to focus on choosing the right enablement method to deliver the right outcome for any specific business scenario and need.”

Andy Elliot, VP Marketing at AudioCodes: “Businesses can choose from Direct Routing, Operator Connect and Microsoft Calling Plans.

“For most enterprise customers, Direct Routing via a Microsoft certified SBC is still the primary method of connecting Teams to voice, as it enables them to integrate Teams with their existing operator services and PBX equipment.

“This is especially the case for large, multi-site and multi-national enterprises with more complex voice networks, disparate PBXs and a need to connect legacy analogue devices.

“We are seeing a shift in demand from end customers towards Direct Routing as a service in a subscription-based per user per month model. It’s cloud-based, easier to consume and scalable.

“In parallel, we see increased interest in Operator Connect from service providers to help them simplify onboarding and multi-tenant management.

“In both cases, they are reassured by the fact that the services are  underpinned by AudioCodes market-leading SBCs.”

Mark Bunnell, Chief Operating Officer at NUWAVE: “Cloud voice migration options for DR and OC are being sought out the most today.

“The Market is no longer looking for on-prem voice solutions except for specific exceptions required for LBR in regulated regions such as India.

“Operator Connect is gaining traction over Direct routing where offered, but at a slower pace than anticipated due to lack of current providers being onboarded to the program and making it hard for existing contract carrying enterprises to migrate to the newer Microsoft OC program.

“NUWAVE anticipates this will change rapidly in the coming months as more Carriers are enabled with NUWAVE’s Operator Connect Accelerator (OCA) offering as part of Microsoft’s new launch this month.

“OCA will certainly change the market landscape as it solves for Carriers being able to onboard quickly to OC, as well as quickly enabling GTM and scale for these carriers.”

2.     How has Operator Connect changed the Teams voice landscape? Will it become the most popular method?

Richard McPhee, Solutions Director at Gamma:

“Operator Connect has changed the landscape by setting a minimum level of service that a customer should expect from their Teams Telephony provider.

“Following the pandemic, with low barriers to entry, the Direct Routing provider space became extremely crowded.

“This meant that any business trying to enable telephony on Teams ended up swamped with mixed messaging and choice of varying service capabilities. This led to inconsistent advice, support packages and, in the worst cases, poor service.

“Operator Connect provides a Microsoft validated programme that ensures the providers have at least a minimum capability to provide customers with the level of service they will expect.

“For this reason, it’s becoming a starting point for customers and will soon become the standard way of consuming Microsoft Telephony over time.

“However, as mentioned above, when a business has specific use cases or scenarios that require it, Direct Routing still has a role to play in the Teams voice landscape.”

Andy Elliot, VP Marketing at AudioCodes: “Operator Connect makes it very easy for service providers to provide voice connectivity for Microsoft Teams and equally easy for businesses to connect Teams to their preferred operator directly from the Teams admin centre.

“For SME/SMB organisations, in particular, it’s an easy route to connect Teams to voice in a simple way, where the calling services and SBC infrastructure are managed by their preferred operator with guaranteed SLAs, so it’s effortless.

“Enterprises with more complex requirements such as PBX integration or requiring more management control themselves may still look to Direct Routing as a more flexible option.

“The reality is that there is room for both Operator Connect and Direct Routing as they both play an important role in accelerating adoption of Teams Phone System.

“Microsoft and its community of partners such as AudioCodes will therefore support both methods to give enterprise customers as much choice as possible.

Mark Bunnell, Chief Operating Officer at NUWAVE: “Due to the on-net MAPS connection that MS Operator Connect (OC) requires, OC has a significant improvement of quality when it comes to the voice connection from the carrier itself.

“The process to enable voice for Microsoft Teams through OC is also much easier as opposed to previous methods, specifically when enabled with an accompanying platform like iPILOT, as it provides complete life cycle migration, support, and on-demand management with self-serve capability for the Carrier’s offering of OC.

“With the market changing abilities that come with NUWAVE’s Synthesis network platform, Microsoft has recently endorsed NUWAVE through their OCA program which makes it easy for Carriers to onboard onto Microsoft OC with their own network anywhere in the world.

“iPILOT adds a complete automation and management platform that simplifies the holistic ecosystem of Microsoft voice for any mix of requirements.”

3.     Do Microsoft’s own Calling Plans still have a role to play?

Richard McPhee, Solutions Director at Gamma: “Yes - if anything, we believe that Operator Connect will help accelerate the use of Calling Plans. This will apply to ‘edge’ use cases primarily.

“Most organisations will choose the best operator who can provide them with full guidance and advice in their main region(s) of operations.

“When there are also small satellite offices out with these main regions, utilising Calling Plans is a valid alternative to choosing an additional operator.

“With Gamma, these can be managed under the same service agreement as Operator Connect or Direct Routing if required.”

Andy Elliot, VP Marketing at AudioCodes: “Microsoft Calling Plans still have a role to play especially for smaller organisations looking for a simple one-stop-shop for everything in Teams.

“However, as before, Calling Plans are limited to certain geographies and can also be less cost-effective than calling plans from other telcos/operators, depending on the specific customer requirements.

“The launch of Operator Connect for those telcos/service providers will probably mean that some of the SMEs who’d previously look to use Microsoft Calling Plans, may now find it just as easy, and more cost-effective, to leverage Operator Connect and continue to use voice services as part of a bundle from their preferred operator.”

Mark Bunnell, Chief Operating Officer at NUWAVE: “Microsoft’s calling plans are great if you are a small business within certain markets which requires very limited complexities in terms of migration, elastic voice services, and other Enterprise norms.

“However, in mid to large organizations where the complexity, integrations, and other mixed requirements will need a more robust voice solution.

“Therefore, Direct routing and now more importantly Operator Connect are leading the way as the primary sources for Microsoft Teams Voice in the mid and upper sized organizations.

“NUWAVE’s elastic voice plans that allow customers to pay for only what they use, have been a tremendous cost saver which has been exceedingly successful in the market.”