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Microsoft Teams Direct Routing from FourNet
Seamlessly add the ability to make and receive external calls to your MS Teams environment
The Relentless Rise of Teams
COVID-19 driving adoption
COVID-19 and the resulting rise of remote working has driven the exponential adoption of MS Teams, making it one of the fastest growing apps of the pandemic. MS Teams has proved invaluable to enable employees to connect with other internal users, communicating easily via instant messages, video conferencing and click-to-call functionality, not to mention the collaboration capabilities of document storage and sharing.
This simplicity and ease of use has caused businesses to move away from the traditional method of connecting to the UK’s public telephone network routed via PBX hardware installed at the business’ premises.
The internal and external disconnect
Whilst MS Teams has enabled better communication and collaboration internally within an organisation, connecting with people and making calls outside of the organisation in the same way hasn’t been possible as Teams doesn’t have the capability to make and receive PSTN calls. This can be frustrating for the user, as colleagues must switch between a headset plugged into their laptop or computer, to a mobile phone or desk phone for taking or making calls outside the organisation. Furthermore, many existing headsets don’t have the two adapters needed to work on both USB and on mobile phone headset ports.
Now with Teams Direct routing from FourNet, you can enable full voice capability, including call recording*, natively into MS Teams, as a feature rich and cost-effective alternative to Microsoft Calling Plans, essentially directly connecting your Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunks to Microsoft Teams.
*This is dependent on the type of connectivity and equipment used.
“…Teams is rapidly becoming the de facto unified communications platform of choice for every organisation”
Satya Nadella, CEO Microsoft
Benefits of Direct Routing
Retain existing investment and development
Retain your existing desk phones and equipment rather than potentially needing to invest in new Microsoft approved handsets. Plus, retain all the development of your telephony over the years e.g. dialling rules, short codes, automatic forwarding rules, hunt groups etc, as well as your existing call recording equipment. *
*This is dependent on the type of connectivity and equipment used.
Streamline the user experience and increase productivity
With direct routing, users can make and receive all calls seamlessly from the same device, preventing the need to waste time switching between multiple devices to make and receive calls outside the organisation and your Teams platform becomes a true unified communications tool.
Improved customer experience
The improved user experience for your colleagues will benefit your customers too, as employees can respond to customer enquiries more efficiently by being able to make and take external calls anywhere, and verify their content, quickly and easily. If customers or other stakeholders and partners are interacting through Teams in other ways (chat, filesharing, etc), adding the calling function makes the experience even more seamless.
Work anywhere with one number, working seamlessly across devices
Enable remote working on site, from home or out in the field as users don't need to be tied to an on-site PBX or have a company mobile phone. With just one direct dial number, all calls can be routed into Teams and be made or answered via a laptop. Routed calls can also continue to be recorded too*, if required. With the Teams app also on a mobile phone, employees can switch seamlessly to making or taking calls via the app when they are away from their desk.
*This is dependent on the type of connectivity and equipment used.
Cost Savings
Microsoft domestic and international calling plans can become prohibitively expensive when rolled out across all your employees. FourNet Teams Direct Routing offers dramatic cost savings compared to Microsoft and other direct routing alternatives.
Rich Functionality
Purpose-built IVR, mobile navigator tools, and full Knowledge Management suite to quickly deploy self-service applications. Switching to Microsoft Business Voice means some standard and advanced functionality of your PBX will be lost. Direct routing means you keep all your current telephony system functionality and add the additional functionality of Teams.
Handling out of hours calls
With the Teams app installed on your employees' mobile phone, all calls can be routed to out of hours services or direct to voicemail, enabling your colleagues to switch off from work at the end of their working day.
Need help optimising your MS Teams environment?
FourNet can advise on your current Teams implementation to help you to make the most of your investment and enhance your customer and colleague experience.
Why choose FourNet as your Teams Direct Routing provider
The roll-out of direct routing for Teams is seamless with minimal call on your limited internal resources as our expert project team will take care of everything from planning, implementation through to maintenance of the entire project. With our managed service we can provide direct routing to you, however complex the transition. We'll handle deployment of the solution, hosting and PSTN access, as well as ongoing support, monitoring and billing.
Speed to deploy
With no infrastructure required; direct routing to integrate all telephony into Teams can be delivered within 10 working days.
Legend: FourNet & Customer Responsibilities
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