Microsoft Teams has enjoyed great success especially since the beginning of the pandemic. Many companies are also using Teams Business Voice as their VoIP phone system. This can be purchased directly from Microsoft through their Teams Business Voice and Calling Plans licenses or through a telephone carrier offering a Direct Routing solution.
Is Teams Business Voice with Calling Plans the right solutions for your business?
Here are the Pros and Cons of the Microsoft Teams Business Voice with Calling Plans option.
Pros
Ease of use for end-users. No need for additional apps.
You can use the same Teams app you use on your desktop and mobile phone.
Cloud-based. No need for hardware to install.
No servers or switches or any other hardware required.
Seamless integration to Microsoft 365 suite.
Phone calls are just a click away from your M365 applications. No need to use any external applications.
Easy to purchase. Just add the required Microsoft licences and Calling Plans to your Microsoft 365 subscription.
Ask your Microsoft CSP to add these licences to your account or buy them directly from Microsoft.
Great functionality for simple use cases.
Cons
Can be expensive.
Calling plans start at $12 per user for local dialling on top of the $8 per user to add the phone functionality to Teams. Microsoft currently has an introductory promo bundling these 2 licences for $15 per month for 12 months.
Complex number porting process
Porting numbers is by far the most complicated and non-transparent part of changing providers. You need to be careful and patient to make sure your numbers get ported properly from your current provider.
Voice quality and reliability not equal to leading telephony providers.
Voice quality sometimes suffers especially during peak usage times.
Administration not very intuitive.
It was designed to be administered by Microsoft-trained geeks so not that easy for the average power user.
No phone-based support from Microsoft. You need to open a case.
All support is case-based. No phone support unless you pay a local Microsoft expert to manage it for you.
Not able to integrate with 3rd party applications (CRM, ERP etc) or hardware such as paging and door entry systems.
Microsoft Team Business Voice does not integrate with any external application, including Microsoft applications like Dynamics. You will need to look elsewhere if this is a requirement for your business.
No reporting and analytics
If you intend on using Microsoft Teams for your Call Center, you should know that you will not get much in terms of reporting and analytics to be able to manage your team. You will need a Call Center as a Service solution better suited for such applications.
Wondering if Teams Business Voice is the right way for your business? Already using Teams and want to integrate voice calling? Syndeo can help. We will analyze your needs and help you make an informed decision whether it is deciding on using Teams for voice or which direct routing provider to choose. Best of all, our services are free to you. No commitment and no contract to sign.
