One of the results of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the rapid adoption of remote collaboration using applications like Webex, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. These platforms offer a mix of features like presence management, instant messaging, soft clients, and data collaboration that have been available to consumers for well over a decade. But the pandemic has ignited consumers' desire for these tools to a level we've never seen before.
Frankly, of all the solutions I mentioned, Microsoft Teams has truly had the biggest impact in the present and looks likely to have a very big impact into the future. For businesses operating in an Office 365 environment, Teams was already an attractive option. Now consider that you can couple your voice network with Teams and have Microsoft interacting with your PBX. The potential this opens up for productivity growth makes Teams the phone system of choice for Microsoft users.
While many folks have started using the Teams app for chats or meetings, it's still early days for the platform, and many aren't using it to its potential. It's important to understand the full power at your hands, Teams is more than just a collaboration tool. It is a hub for team working but it also offers a broader range of opportunities in terms of telephony and voice calling.
Microsoft has had a desire to become a layer in the Unified Communication market for many years. However, their premise solution was very complicated, required a very high level of technical expertise, Microsoft certification, and was very expensive. Transition this into the cloud, as they've done with Teams, and you take away many of the barriers that have hampered the growth of their UC market share.
While there have been many feature improvements made to Teams, Microsoft has smartly partnered with several solution providers to expand calling options and services to fill in some gaps in their offerings.
A standard Microsoft Teams license will connect you and your teammates through the Teams interface and the telephony functionality existing in Office 365 can provide your business with a fully cloud-based PBX system to connect VoIP calls with your PTSN. But, if you're looking for more options around telephony and voice communication, the network you choose to run Teams on will make a huge difference in what's available to you.
Groups like CallTower, Evolve IP, and Momentum provide more options for dial plans and features that allow the full Teams experience while providing a premier partner for calling and additional features like IVR, call handling, QoS analytics and call reports, and much more, while also providing a high touch level of support and service.
Support and service are key here as Microsoft is notoriously hands-off when it comes to troubleshooting and customer support. Your PBX requires top-tier support. If your system fails or needs intervention, you want to get it back up quickly, without spending time searching for your own answer.
The Microsoft Teams Phone System powered and supported by Twinstate Technologies and our partner network enables customers to bring their current voice services into the Microsoft Cloud through Direct Routing. Direct Routing ensures the ability to leverage our partner’s preferred rates and unlock the full potential of a Microsoft Teams Phone System.
Unite your enterprise phone system, instant messaging, collaboration, meetings, and video calling all on one application to unlock countless value including:
Microsoft Teams on a hosted network makes it easy for you to replace your traditional business phone system and to configure your platform with additional UCaaS services that aren’t delivered natively from Microsoft. Now you can take advantage of premium features like Quality of Service monitoring, Contact Center, Hunt Groups, Call Recording, and more all from the UCaaS platform you're already familiar with.
Twinstate consultants can help you successfully deploy Telephony for Microsoft Teams. If you have any questions, comments, or feedback reach out to us at