Why Use a Managed Service Provider for Teams Telephony?
Great communication has always been the key to a successful business. While that will never change, the way that businesses carry out their communications certainly has. While Microsoft Teams was already a useful business tool, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed it to the fore and there was a surge in the desire for Teams telephony.
Microsoft Teams telephony also referred to as Teams Calling, has continued to increase in popularity post-pandemic. When a company wants to tap into this system it generally needs to deploy direct routing so that the Microsoft Teams application can be used to make and receive calls. A major consideration when seeing up Team telephony is whether this direct routing should be done in-house or whether it should be outsourced to a managed service provider.
Let’s explore the benefits brought about by Microsoft Teams and then take a look at why the managed service option is the best route to take.
SIP trunking vs. VoIP vs. Teams telephony
When looking at the question “What is SIP trunking?” it’s incredibly easy to get confused. Even with a lack of experience, it’s fair to say that most people have heard of VoIP and Teams. When SIP trunking is thrown into the mix there it can become difficult to know how this fits into the mix. To understand this, you need to consider PBX, VoIP, and SIP trunking and what they all mean.
A PBX can be seen as a controller for your phone system. With it, you can set up phone numbers, control how calls are handled and set users. If you have a hosted PBX this means that it is cloud-based. Now VoIP is simply a method of sending your voice over the internet. It can be considered as being the phone service that all other services are attached to. SIP trunking is the virtual cable that connects your PBX and VoIP.
In essence, Teams acts as your hosted PBX. The calling plans on Teams are via VoIP so this is what is powering your calls. Your SIP trunking is used so that you can use your chosen provider rather than the default service offered by Microsoft. So, PBX, Teams, and SIP trunking are not comparable: they all work together.
- Easy access – As long as your device can use Teams that it can also use Teams telephony. As long as there is an internet connection, it can be accessed and used on desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones. No matter which device you opt for, you can be sure of the same levels of security.
- An array of phone system features – You can expect features such as delegation support, the ability to reject incoming calls when you’re busy, customer ringtones, caller ID and call escalation
- Reporting – Reports are generated that allow you to monitor both usage and quality
- Cloud voicemail – This also allows for you to receive voicemail transcripts via email
- Flexible transfer options – Transfer, forward, or park a call
- Switch devices – Even while a call is underway, you can seamlessly change the device that you’re using
The benefits of using Microsoft Team telephony
When businesses use Teams telephony they are, generally, moving their telephony system into the cloud. This means that there becomes a standard approach to telephony across all offices and remote locations. What this leads to is a reduction in cost as well as an increase in control and flexibility. Other benefits that can be realised include:
- The use of a single telephony platform means that the experience is consistent for all users regardless of where they’re based.
- The need for on-premise PBX equipment is removed. This reduces costs and complexity as the whole infrastructure becomes cloud-based
- The use of a managed service provider sees local carriers being replaced. This creates economies of scale
- Internal calls between global offices are free as they are carried out over the internet and not the PTSN network
- There is an increase in security as the system can be centrally managed. This allows users to be added or removed when appropriate
What is direct routing and how does it apply to Teams telephony?
A little earlier, we mentioned that for businesses to use Microsoft Teams telephony there was a need to deploy direct routing. This term refers to the technology that routes Microsoft Teams to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). A vital part of this technology is a Session Border Controller (SBC) that acts as a gateway. An SBC is flexible in that they can connect to Teams telephony through an existing on-premise PBX or via a carrier.
When the decision has been made that Microsoft Teams will be the system used for your communications, you need to consider how to set up direct routing. There are two options to explore:
With this option, there is also the choice of hosting using physical on-site equipment or in the cloud
Let’s take a look at these options in more detail so that you can see why using a managed service provider, such as ourselves, just makes sense.
Self-managed
If you opt to use Microsoft Teams telephony and decide to self-manage the direct routing, your company is taking on a whole host of new responsibilities. These include:
Managed service provider
Now, this section could be kept extremely brief. In essence, when you use a managed service provider for all of your Microsoft Teams needs, you are doing away with the raft of responsibilities that we’ve just been describing. By choosing the right company to partner with, you’ll find that you have a system that is just right for you and that you don’t have to worry about ongoing management or maintenance.
A managed service provider is responsible for:
- Designing and configuring your system
- Maintaining your infrastructure
- Negotiating with carriers
We believe that this option just makes sense. It saves your business both time and money while you focus on what your business does best.
Speak with the experts
At Landall, we’re passionate about helping businesses to boost their productivity by being better connected. That’s why we’re the number one choice when it comes to a managed service provider for Teams telephony. Get in touch and let us take the time to explain just what we can do for your business and the benefits that you’ll see.
