1. What are the advantages of using OC over other options for adding voice to Teams?
Nathan Ronchetti, CTO at Voiceflex:
“Operator Connect offers companies a simple way to get their Teams users PSTN calling while still making a saving over Microsoft calling plans.”
“It allows the Teams telephony to be managed directly by the end-users Administrators and can be enabled from within the Teams management portal.”
“The simplicity of setup comes at the cost of some flexibility when compared to Direct Routing options, although not all Direct routing options are the same.”
“For example, Voiceflex operates a cost per channel rather than cost per user with their Direct Routing product. It also allows you to fork your calls simultaneously between Teams and SIP-enabled PBXs. These features are not available through most Operator Connect providers.”
Mark Bunnell, Chief Operations Officer at Nuwave:
“Microsoft’s Operator Connect offers a direct on-net connection between a carrier’s SIP and the Microsoft Tenant. By doing this, carriers and customers can experience a higher call quality over direct routing.”
“The other added benefit of Operator Connect is that you can have faster deployments as Operator Connect allows you to manage, provision, and deploy your users through the Operator Connect portal in Microsoft Teams.”
Richard McPhee, Solutions Director at Gamma:
“The three biggest advantages are simplicity, speed of provisioning and service level. In terms of simplicity, finding a provider and day-to-day administrative tasks can all be run from the native Microsoft Teams Admin Centre in Office365.”
“Once a customer has chosen a provider, provisioning the service can be done through a few simple ‘clicks’ with no need for PowerShell, DNS changes or domain authorisations.”
“Finally, at both a technical and operational level, Operator Connect (OC) has been designed to deliver the highest service levels available for telephony in Microsoft Teams.”
“As a programme provider, Gamma also provides direct peering through Microsoft Azure Peering Service (MAPS) to prioritise voice traffic using QoS from our network to Microsoft.”
“At an operational level, the Operator Connect Excellence program is designed to prevent your company from being stuck in the middle of a support incident – with both ourselves and Microsoft having the ability to raise support issues with each other.”
Kade Herbert, Marketing Content Strategist at CallTower:
“Operator Connect allows Microsoft Teams administrators to open the “Operators” tab in the Teams admin centre to connect calling services, acquire phone numbers, and assign users.”
“Operators, such as CallTower, will provide technical support and manage the voice network and infrastructure. Operators can also enable PSTN voice services in unavailable regions through Microsoft Calling Plans. Implementation of voice services can be online in a matter of hours.”
2. What does OC mean for customers from a price perspective?
Nathan Ronchetti, CTO at Voiceflex:
“Operator connect will generally be cheaper than going with a Microsoft calling plan, but it does require a Phone System license on your Office 365 user, which is worth considering.”
“Different operators offer different packages with the usual array of call plan bolt-ons. These could be discounted further depending on the customer’s current contracts and terms with the operator.”
“Operator connect offers the end-user the possibility of direct relationships with the carriers, thereby circumventing the telecoms channel in the UK. This could mean a lower cost for the customer or higher margins for the carrier.”
Mark Bunnell, Chief Operations Officer at Nuwave:
“From a consumer price perspective, there is no difference between Direct Routing and Operator Connect. It depends on your specific need and complexity of your specific solution.”
“From a sales journey perspective, the biggest difference in taking the Operator Connect route is being able to procure their Microsoft Teams voice service directly inside Microsoft Teams without navigating the traditional sales cycle.”
“It is through apps and services like iPILOT a customer can see the real benefits and cost savings that are available through a Microsoft Teams voice service. The iPILOT platform allows for self-serve voice & capacity management through a zero-touch experience.”
“iPILOT is paving the way with innovative features that take the heavy lift out of voice deployment and decrease the overall reliance on skilled labour and significantly reduce the overhead of voice service management.”
Richard McPhee, Solutions Director at Gamma:
“OC is designed to drive innovation across providers to deliver customer value at a competitive price point.”
“The solution ensures that a baseline level of service should be expected for what you pay. From this baseline, it’s up to the providers to deliver a quality service, customer experience and differentiate their offerings (like in any market) that align with their pricing structure.”
“Gamma has a heritage in providing innovative solutions across our managed communications offerings like SIP and Teams Telephony.”
“We’ve applied these innovations, such as SIP Trunk Call Manager (STCM), to our Operator Connect offering as our customers and partners have come to rely on and expect these features.”
“Leveraging STCM, our customers can also derive value through high availability. In the event of a service failure, customers can simply manage calls on the Gamma cloud using STCM, thus ensuring they never miss a call.”
“We believe this is what sets us apart and helps us deliver a proposition that is difficult to match.”
Kade Herbert, Marketing Content Strategist at CallTower:
“Enabling Operator Connect means central or local billing for service, plus no equipment is required onsite (including SBCs), saving capital expense. This ensures a smooth and inexpensive transition from existing telephony to Teams.”
“Organisations also benefit from cost-saving carrier-class 24/7/365 technical support and shared SLAs with Microsoft.”
3. What are the management pros and cons of using OC over Direct Routing?
Nathan Ronchetti, CTO at Voiceflex:
“Operator connect offers lots of the advantages of Microsoft call plans, ease of configuration, no PowerShell knowledge required and easy access to Quality of Service metrics, along with some advantages of Direct Routing, better support, cost-saving, contract flexibility, retaining supply chain relationships.”
“Where operator connect can fall down is in the flexibility of implementation. With Direct Routing, it is possible to implement more complex features to best support both the Teams estate and integrate with other communication solutions within the business.”
“Examples of this include call forking to multiple platforms other than teams, centralised in cloud call recording and international number provision.”
Mark Bunnell, Chief Operations Officer at Nuwave:
“For those looking for a simple Microsoft Teams Solution, Operator Connect is a fully Cloud-Based Solution, meaning there is no certified
equipment or FQDN configuration that is required.”
“You also have the benefit of being able to provision users/DIDs and manage your number inventory directly inside the Microsoft Teams Admin Centre with the recently launched bonus of Operator Connect Mobile.”
“For those looking to serve a more complex setup (i.e. PBX integrations, = Hybrid Cloud systems), Direct Routing offers a more customisable solution.”
“However, without a robust tool like iPILOT, the deploy manage and support process remains for the holistic Teams Voice service.”
“iPILOT brings additional features such as Disaster Planning tools to mitigate multiple forms of outages and built-in PBX Assessment tools to plan your migrations efficiently.”
“Best of all, iPILOT can manage Operator Connect and Direct Routing solutions in a single UI, meaning you don’t have to compromise in choosing one solution over another.”
Richard McPhee, Solutions Director at Gamma:
“Like all solutions, there are things that OC excels at and some that are becoming stronger through continuous development.”
“We’ve already mentioned some of the benefits above, such as simplicity and speed of provisioning. It’s also worth mentioning others, like number management, and a few points that might require more consideration, such as migrations from another service.”
“However, irrespective of the pros and cons of each Teams voice solution, it’s important to remember that no one size fits all and a company’s requirements often change over time.”
“The best option is always to choose a flexible and trusted provider, such as Gamma, who can help assess your requirements and support you through to delivery and beyond.”
“Whether it’s Direct Routing, Operator Connect or a fully managed Direct Routing solution, relying on a provider that has the expertise and capabilities to help you make the right decision for your business can truly make the difference for successful deployment and management.”
Kade Herbert, Marketing Content Strategist at CallTower:
“Organisations with Operator Connect keep their preferred operator and contracts or choose a new one from a selection of participating operators to meet their business needs.”
“They can quickly connect to their operator and assign phone numbers to users – all from the Teams Admin Center.
Operators provide technical support and shared service level agreements to improve support service, while direct peering powered by Azure creates a one-to-one network connection for enhanced reliability.”
“Their operator manages the PSTN calling services and Session Border Controllers (SBCs), allowing them to save on hardware purchase and management.”
