Voice2Teams Plugin: Competitive Calls within Microsoft Teams

Since the launch of Voice2Teams at the end of 2019, demand for Microsoft Direct Routing has exploded exponentially along with every other facility for remote communication and connection.

But for many users doing their best to adapt to cloud-based working at a time of commercial flux, the price of a per-user direct routing licence has been an obstacle, never mind the complexities of installation. Evolve IP have responded to this thwarted demand through their new plugin, which drives Cisco UC One in the background to make calls, from directly within Teams.

Disrupting the Direct Routing calls model

As Senior Technical Account Manager, Adrian Penny, explained, “What we’ve done with our plugin is to basically bypass the as-a-service requirement, so there’s no need to purchase a licence.”

“We use the Cisco soft client to work as an app, to enable calling into and directly from Teams, in a way which significantly disrupts the market”

Evolve partners are understandably impressed, according to Senior Partner Account Manager Jamie Hughes. “We did a soft launch with our reseller base, to test the idea of having a plugin into Teams, and they all said ‘oh, this is great. This is a game changer!’

Providers are looking out for ways to differentiate themselves and their offer, and make their packages competitive, while simultaneously providing some certainly and predictability to their users. Unsurprisingly this means many conversations about commercials, and how many minutes are involved in this or that product… “Whereas what this does, it removes that focus”, Hughes continued. “Now it’s discussion not so much about the commercials, with the plugin it gives you a similar experience, for a lot less cost. And then it’s also backed by a platform like Cisco as well, which is well known for its resilience and product sets, so yes, it’s been very, very well-received.”

A close partnership with Cisco Enterprise Calling

The integration allows the Cisco/Webex calling buttons visibility directly in the Teams messaging app, for instant call placement, and it’s the close collaboration with Cisco that made this possible. As Penny continued, “we work closely with Cisco which enabled us to pilot and test this plugin thoroughly, and provide feedback into Cisco directly — by being on the inside track with Cisco it enables us to actually get these products to market and get them out the door to customer promptly.”

Because despite the explosion of video collaboration, demand for enterprise-grade carrier voice services remains high, and Hughes contends that this need is not going anywhere:

“People still need to make phone calls, especially to prospects or initial partners, engagement via the phone is still critical”

“After the first or second call, and it then may go over to a video call, but people are very sceptical about taking video calls from someone not known to them. Quite apart from issues with bandwidth or compatibility, for that initial contact we’re always going to need audio and telephones.”

So, the Voice2Teams plugin leveraging Cisco enterprise calling will fill that gap neatly, for those working in distributed ways with external customers and collaborators, and needing to make audio calls — without the stress and expense of setting up direct routing within Microsoft Teams.