Unlock the Potential of Enterprise Voice in Microsoft Teams for Business Communication

The past few years heralded a paradigm shift in how companies do business. Digital nomads and virtual workplaces are common, which has opened up new opportunities for both companies and potential employees, as geographical location is no longer a limiting factor in recruiting. However, this shift requires that businesses consider new and more-efficient tools and technologies for voice communication that includes chat, text, or email, collectively known as enterprise voice. 

How Does Microsoft Teams’ Enterprise Voice Empower Communications?

Microsoft Teams is a valuable asset for today’s workforce. The collaboration platform is a popular solution for improving communication and productivity, offering online meetings, secure document sharing, and much more. As of 2023, Microsoft Teams has amassed an astounding 280 million daily active users, with 91 of 100 Fortune companies using it for communication.

Microsoft Teams also has a feature called Enterprise Voice that enables companies to use the platform as a phone system. This cloud-based audio conferencing and phone solution leverages the power of Unified Communications (UC), combining messaging, meeting, and calling into one seamless platform. 

You may also be familiar with the term Teams Phone System with Operator Connect which is synonymous with Enterprise Voice. The solution offers four key functions:

• Chat  
• Meet
• Call 
• Collaborate 

The ease of communication that Teams offers is revolutionizing companies. Air France left radios behind when they implemented  Microsoft Teams for checking in and boarding passengers for their 1,500 daily worldwide flights. It now allows everyone responsible for the passenger experience, even the ground crew who formerly were disconnected, to be included and updated. And the major airline is far from the only example. 

Related: Business voice vs. enterprise voice: How to maximize your MS Teams license

The global brand Beiersdorf, more recognizable by some of its well-known products in the U.S. such as Nivea, Eucerin, and La Prairie, has also seen a tremendous benefit from implementing Microsoft Teams. With 19,000 employees in 200 countries, effective communication and collaboration was a challenge that had to be resolved. 

Adopting Office 365 with Teams transformed the way the company worked, allowing them to bridge multiple cultural and language barriers by giving them a flexible solution that equips them with the tools they need to get their jobs done. 

While this unified communications solution improves the customer and employee experience, it also solves common administrative concerns like interoperability conflicts, maintenance and security, and multiple providers. However, it does require some expertise to allow it to reach its full potential. 

So, how can you empower communication and unleash the potential of enterprise voice with a solution that provides advanced, unified communications?  

Voice-Enabled Microsoft Teams

Solving complex problems like real-time passenger issues requires a comprehensive solution. Enterprise Voice, like any leading-edge solution, requires knowledgeable implementation and complementary tools and technologies to achieve its full potential. 

With the right implementation partner, basic chat, video conferencing, and collaboration features can be augmented to create a comprehensive UC platform with seamless integration. 

What started as a software suite with the features your team needs to communicate can become a unified collaboration platform that is not only customized for your unique business needs, but with the added benefit of enterprise voice capabilities. 

While Teams does offer calling plans, the costs can add up quickly. Voice-Enabled Microsoft Teams not only fills the gaps in services but offers affordable, flexible options for scaling a business’s communications network and enhancing its voice communications. 

The right implementation partner will have the experience and expertise to help your company build a robust voice-enabled Microsoft Teams solution that powers growth, collaboration, and communication across channels and devices seamlessly. 

What are Other Benefits of Using Microsoft Teams with Enterprise Voice?

Enterprise Voice has positively transformed how companies operate, but there are other benefits. 

Cost-Effective

One of the advantages of cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) like Microsoft Teams with Enterprise Voice is its cost-effectiveness. There are no upfront costs, and the right partner provider can supercharge your Teams solution with direct routing and Operator Connect, giving you enterprise-grade telephony features for a fraction of the normal cost. 

The Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) model means software updates, new features, or security patches are applied as they become available. You never have to worry about missing an important update or leaving your platform unprotected against the latest cyber threats.

Customizable

No office has identical needs or manages their daily work in the same way. This solution allows you to easily create team channels, add third-party apps, and customize your workspace as needed. 

Native Integration with Office 365 

In busy offices, it is vital to provide the tools that each department needs to work at its highest potential. Office 365, including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and other popular productivity software, is used by 1,354,969 offices in the United States alone. Built-in integration means there are no issues with compatibility with other Microsoft products like Teams and Enterprise Voice no matter the device. 

Secure

Security remains a top concern for any company. Microsoft Teams uses best practices like single sign-on and multi-factor authentication to ensure only authorized users access information. You can set alerts, log data, and restrict access by person or device. It encompasses compliance and security standards like EUMC, HIPAA, SSAE16,  ISO27018, SOC1, and SOC2.

Flexible

In the modern work environment, employees can be connected from anywhere at any time using cloud-based Microsoft Teams. It supports smartphones and tablets on the iOS, Android, Windows, and MAC operating systems. You can manage access to data and apply company security policies to all mobile devices just as you would on desktop computers.

Auditable

With multiple users in a real-time chat, it can be easy to lose the thread and misunderstand the point of the conversation. With Teams, you get a recorded history stored in a single location. You also can use @ to directly address people so that you can call out points that need specific attention. Users can name chats for clarity and even save the entire chat or sections for later reference.

Time-Saving

Because Teams is so easy to integrate with other applications, it helps save time in collaboration and documentation. For instance, chats can turn into work sessions with real-time document sharing in Sharepoint or Excel. Resulting documentation can be flagged for changes or added to other applications like Trello, a popular project and workflow management application.  

Related: Should you migrate from PBX systems to Enterprise-Level Microsoft Teams?

Not only can users save time by working in multiple integrated applications at once, but Teams accommodates many keyboard shortcuts. These can be enabled or disabled according to the user profile by the system admin.

Connects Easily to Other Common Enterprise Tools

An extensible solution is necessary to best serve every size of business in a wide variety of industries. Cloud-based connectors in Teams allow you to leverage over 200 services across nine categories, including social media, analytics, customer relationship management (CRM), project management, and others. 

What to Look for in a Microsoft Teams with Enterprise Voice Implementation Partner

The first step in finding the right partner for your implementation is identifying key competencies. Because of the vast capabilities available with Microsoft solutions, you need a partner that can help you leverage them to their highest potential. That means finding a company that recognizes your unique communications needs and has experience implementing solutions in multiple existing communications scenarios. 

Look for a partner that offers the following, at a minimum:

• Expertise in Microsoft solutions and UCaaS-hosted voice or private branch exchange (PBX) solutions
• Microsoft Gold Partner certification
• A dedicated Microsoft team
• A UCaaS-hosted voice solution with a dedicated UCaaS team 
• Ability to accommodate multiple client as-is scenarios, such as
  • UCaaS-hosted voice with Teams
  • UCaaS-hosted voice without Teams
  • No UCaaS-hosted voice or Teams 
  • Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) with Teams
  • SIP without Teams
  • Teams without SIP
  • No SIP or Teams

Take Your Business to the Next Level with Microsoft Teams with Enterprise Voice

Businesses of all sizes in every industry depend upon communication that is primed to work like a well-oiled machine. Companies that don’t keep up with communications and collaboration technology cannot compete in today’s fast-paced marketplace. They need a comprehensive solution that gives them a competitive advantage. 

Microsoft Teams with Enterprise Voice empowers your workforce to collaborate with each other and be there for your customers how, when, and where they need it. It is a solution that can take your business to the next level. However, it requires experience and technical expertise to implement it successfully. 

BCM One is a highly experienced partner for IT leaders nationwide. If you’re ready for a leading-edge, transformative communications solution, get started today.