Everyone loves a sticky customer, right?
For channel resellers serving Microsoft end user organisations, the global explosion in the use of collaboration app Teams has played a huge part in achieving that aim.
Two years on, organisations’ communications have been transformed by the power of cloud-based technology.
But, despite Microsoft Teams’ obvious influence on the speed and efficacy of that revolution, gaps in its voice and video functionalities mean it’s no panacea.
In short, an end user organisation’s deployment of Microsoft Teams does not in itself provide a sufficiently-dynamic (or mutually-beneficial) relationship within which a reseller or Managed Service Provider can thrive.
Unless, that is, those gaps are plugged via innovative and easy-to-use hosted integrations.
Pull that particular trick off, and customers can become VERY sticky indeed.
“O365 is now being used by the vast majority of small and medium-sized enterprises so it’s vital that a reseller or MSP can offer the things it doesn’t,” says Dave Reynolds, UK Managing Director of European cloud telephony wholesale giant Xelion.
“Many people don’t like Teams’ in-built telephony system because they are unwilling to port all of their numbers across to Microsoft.
“They worry about being able to get them back easily. Plus, they want local care and support from a reseller or MSP they know and trust.
“For those resellers and MSPs, that means being able to integrate Microsoft Teams with organisations’ telephony in a way that is seamless, simple and, ideally, free.”
To that end, Xelion UK has launched Xelion 8, the latest iteration of its multi-award-winning cloud telephony platform.
It replicates users’ physical office functionality via any connected device, anywhere and at any time.
Users can share and work on documents, spreadsheets, graphics and other files; a slick native video function provides a smooth and seamless experience for up to 16 simultaneous participants, with none of the clunkiness experienced with third party bolt-on apps; AND there’s a WhatsApp integration too.
For occasional video conference guests, there is no app to download or account registration to setup. They can simply join video conference calls easily, without fuss.
And Xelion 8 provides the same user interface across different devices with different operating systems in order to always deliver the same user experience.
But it’s the platform’s full integration with Microsoft O365 – and in particular MS Teams – where it scores big.
At no extra charge to Xelion customers, it provides THREE game-changing functionality upgrades.
MS Exchange Synch allows users to synchronise contacts, appointments and/or Teams status into the Xelion hosted platform.
MS Azure AD OpenID Connection provides users with a single sign-on to Xelion via their MS Azure AD user account.
And the Xelion 8 for Teams Widget creates a Xelion address book dialler within Teams; enabling direct call routing without the need for additional Microsoft direct routing licences.
Finally – with additional paid-for Microsoft licensing – Xelion 8 Microsoft Teams Direct Routing allows customers to use the MS Teams application to call out over the Xelion platform: treating the Microsoft Teams client as a standard endpoint and providing full control over all the call recordings, call reporting, call flow, and internal and external transfers.
“Xelion 8 is a game-changer, delivering a raft of new functions that meet the needs of the post-pandemic WFH paradigm, including more flexible, mobile working patterns”
“We believe that customers using Microsoft Teams for collaboration can benefit hugely from integration with the platform; enabling staff to work from anywhere with full unified communications functionality, exactly as if they were in head office.
“It’s more of a Microsoft O365 integrator rather than being specific to Teams. It gives customers the best of both worlds – their own hosted telephony platform AND the added collaborative functionality of Teams.”
All in all, Xelion 8’s latest iteration is an all-embracing, NextGen unified communications platform which gives end user organisations all the functionality they need to kick-on post-pandemic.
“In this new world of multi-channel communication, more and more businesses are operating like mini call centres without them really knowing,” says Reynolds.
“Doing it all via one, single platform – no bolt-ons, all turnkey – makes it all very easy and inexpensive”
For the reseller partner too, it’s a compelling offer which has the potential to play well with existing customers and new prospects alike.
After all, a customer with its core, customised telephony seamlessly (and inexpensively) integrated fully with the world’s biggest collaboration platform is no doubt highly likely to ‘stick’ for quite some time.
- To learn more about how Xelion 8 can help you and your customers grow, visit www.xelion.com
