As with anything within the modern workplace, the way we communicate is rapidly evolving. As the internet and other technologies keep evolving and improving, it’s clear that the traditional methods are now outdated and obsolete.
Microsoft Teams is one of these innovations, taking advantage of the benefits of online communications to help organisations find new ways to bolster connection, collaboration, and community. Teams Phone is their answer to the now archaic telephone system — the modern solution to an age-old problem.
In this article, we’re going to go over the ins and outs of Microsoft Teams Phone, and how Teams Phone can completely replace legacy telephony. We’ll also show you what you can do to make the switch, and how we can help you get started today.
What is Microsoft Teams Phone?
Microsoft Teams Phone is Microsoft’s way of providing a phone service that suits modern needs. Gone are the days of having to rely on unreliable telephone lines and finicky internet calling solutions. Teams Phone is an all-in-one service that lets you seamlessly integrate your work calling with Microsoft Teams.
With Teams Phone, you get the flexibility of both a legacy telephone system and an internet calling system, meaning that your communication capabilities are far stronger than otherwise. Microsoft Teams Phone also offers reliable quality and the functionality of essential phone features such as voice messages and automated call answering.
Teams Phone is also incredibly secure, using the Microsoft Teams infrastructure to ensure that your privacy remains intact, leveraging the power of modern internet encryption to keep your data safe and secure. All of these are part of an existing ecosystem that already does wonders for collaboration and communication within organisations worldwide.
Microsoft Teams Phone has a few different plans and offerings to consider:
- Teams Phone Standard: This is the standard Teams Phone package, including cloud-based telephoning, voice and video calls, and seamless call transfer between devices.
- Teams Phone with Domestic Calling: If you need to be able to call phone numbers domestically using traditional telephone services, Teams Phone with Domestic Calling allows you to do that.
- Teams Essentials and Teams Phone Bundles: This is the bundle that combines Microsoft Teams Phone with Microsoft Teams, giving you access to unlimited meetings, messaging, file sharing, and lots more different ways to bolster communication within your organisation.
Teams Phone vs. Legacy Phone Systems
To put it simply, Teams Phone is a much better way of calling within your organisation than a legacy phone system.
Here are some of the key benefits Microsoft Teams Phone has over traditional phone systems:
- Unified Communications and Collaboration: Unified communications are vital to the modern workplace, and no other system is better for this than Microsoft Teams. Teams Phone integrates seamlessly into the Teams ecosystem, meaning that you can have a readily available unified communications solution that makes workflow and collaboration far easier.
- Access Anywhere, Anytime: Legacy phone systems are tied to your organisation’s setup, meaning that it’s difficult to be able to communicate freely. Teams Phone utilises the cloud — leveraging a powerful technology that’s available anywhere and anytime to be able to let you communicate wherever and whenever you need.
- Cost Savings: Rather than using traditional phone systems, Teams Phone leverages the 365 model — meaning that it’s focused on value for money. Legacy phone systems may be more expensive and require dedicated phone lines to work effectively.
- Scalability and Flexibility: Due to the flexibility of the cloud, it’s incredibly easy to scale your Teams Phone implementation as your organisation grows. Doing this with a legacy phone system would be an expensive endeavour — with the constant need to upgrade your line and your hardware to meet your growth needs.
- Security and Modernisation: The cloud is perfect for the ever-evolving nature of a modern business — where legacy phone systems might be expensive to upgrade and packed with lots of vulnerabilities, cloud platforms like Teams Phone are constantly being worked on to meet the needs of the modern business world.
How To Make the Switch
Switching from your existing legacy phone systems to Teams Phone is a simple process, but some key considerations do need to be made to ensure that you’re successful in making the jump over.
- Evaluation: The first step is to evaluate your current setup, and understand what features and functionalities you need to prepare to decide how you want to implement Teams Phone into your business.
- Planning and Preparation: Using your evaluation, you can plan and prepare to ensure that your organisation is ready to implement Teams Phone — this means working out what licenses you need and anything else that you might need for your implementation.
- Implementation and Transfer: Implementing Teams Phone into your organisation is a multi-step process. As well as ensuring that the software that you’ve installed is implemented correctly, you also need to make sure to port over your numbers from your legacy systems to Teams and ensure that your SIP devices are confided correctly to allow traffic for Microsoft Teams Phone to work.
While the process isn’t difficult, for those that are unsure — reaching out to a provider for help is the best way to ensure that the process goes as smoothly as possible.
How We Can Help
Microsoft Teams Phone is the future of telephone communication, allowing you the flexibility of the cloud and other Teams features as well as the robust nature of a traditional phone system, for a fraction of the cost.
If you’re looking to get started with Microsoft Teams Phone but don’t know where to start, reach out to us today. We are here to help, and will ensure that your Microsoft Teams Phone implementation is set up successfully to ensure that your organisation prospers in the future.
Get in touch with us now and see how we can help.
