Since the pandemic, when everyone had to jump to a chosen method of online working, for many that meant Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or Google Meet. A couple of years on, and hybrid working has become normalised in many organisations, in all sectors, often with a combination of home working and in-person days.
This brings many benefits, including saving staff travel time and expense, and helps with childcare; it brings staff, and businesses, greater flexibility. On the downside, systems have to be fully effective to operate from home, and this is where many organisations have come unstuck. Customers will simply not tolerate poor line quality, long waits or disjointed service, now they have come to assume that post-pandemic, everything is in place.
This article deals specifically with Microsoft Teams Voice and call routing, to enable any workforce to communicate, verbally but also in terms of file sharing, record keeping and CRM integration, from anywhere, at any time.
Microsoft Teams Voice (or Microsoft 365 Voice) is a cloud-based phone system that is designed as an add-on for Microsoft 365 – essentially, this is a phone system that can be accessed from your mobile, computer, or desk phone, adding more flexibility and availability when it comes to communications within your business. It offers phone system capabilities like call park, call forwarding, auto attendants, call queues, audio conferencing, and calling plans, and can be combined with full contact centre, call recording, data and analytics platforms, integrated with your CRM.
The cost of Microsoft Teams Voice varies – the most basic application for personal use is free, but organisations will pay varying amounts per user on a subscription basis, depending on what they include. This is in addition to their MS Office 365 licence. Conversant Technology, for example, offers a full Microsoft Teams 360 degree solution set, including direct routing, contact centre, CRM integration, social media messaging management, call data and analytics, and call recording and transcription for legal and financial compliance. It includes chat and video functionality as well as file sharing.
Scalable and future-proof
They key here is that all your internal and external calls, as well as additional functions, can all be managed in one place, from a single dashboard. They are also scalable and future-proof, as you will never run out of lines, as happens with an old-style PBX system. All upgrades are automatic, and many IT headaches are removed at a stroke, as often this comes as part of a managed service.
How do you use Microsoft Teams Voice for call routing?
Voice for Teams is simply the capability for people to make and receive calls in Microsoft Teams, and is accessed by downloading the app on your mobile, or installing it on your tablet or desktop device. Subscriptions include Voice for Teams, and enable calls from one Teams app to another. Making and receiving calls to and from landlines and mobile phones on the public switch telephone network (PSTN) in Teams is available with an add-on such as Teams Phone Standard or Teams Phone with Calling Plan, or is included in Microsoft 365 plan E5. These options provide a cloud-based phone system in Teams with features such as hold, blind and safe transfers, and reporting features for professionals who manage calling solutions. It includes chat and video functionality as well as file sharing.
Why choose Voice for Teams for call routing?
Microsoft Teams Voice enables you to put all your calls and associated data in one place – essentially, this is a phone system that can be accessed from any device, adding more flexibility and availability when it comes to communications within your business. It offers phone system capabilities like call park, call forwarding, auto attendants, call queues, audio conferencing, and calling plans, and can be combined with full contact centre, call recording, data and analytics platforms, integrated with your CRM.
It includes chat and video functionality as well as file sharing – solving umpteen problems, or at least disparate and unconnected services – at a stroke.
