For over the past 15 years, Microsoft has been on a journey in the Unified Communications space to create and develop a telephone solution that is the best in the industry. Let’s fast track to today and the Microsoft Teams product.
Building on the technology of its predecessors (OCS, Lync and Skype For Business), Microsoft Teams, with its carrier subscription-based modelling and also the ability to keep your DDi range with your current telecoms provider, Microsoft Teams provides the solid foundations for customers to install Teams and replace their current PBX solution with a guarantee of no loss in functionality and service.
However, … How do we build and take the platform in both availability and functionality to make it a solution that companies would use and utilise for many years to come…?
Microsoft Teams vs PBX
As we know, having a PBX plastic phone on your desk to make and receive calls is not enough for any modern office, with lots of PBX vendors playing catch up. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, this only exacerbates many customers using aging PBX technologies. This is where CPS can help and move you forward on a journey to a modern, robust and cutting-edge telephone system based on Teams' tried and tested foundations.
“This is all well and good” I hear you say, “but we need call recording”, or “we have a contact centre solution as part of our PBX. Surely, I can’t move to Teams?” Going back to the title of this post, ‘Building a Teams Telephony Platform for the future’ I can reassure you that there is nothing that a PBX delivers today that CPS cannot replicate to work with Microsoft Teams.
For the examples given around call recording and contact centre requirements, as Microsoft traditionally does with all their products (to which Microsoft Teams is no different), they embark on building the foundation platform then invite 3rd party specialists to tweak their solutions to work with Teams and other Unified Communications platforms.
I’ve personally seen this time and time again over the years. So, what am I saying…? If you need call recording, many key specialists have their propriety software that work seamlessly with Teams. The same can be said for the contact centre solutions available. Again, all the major contact centre brands have their software solutions certified to work with Teams.
Telephony Systems Built to Last
All this sounds great. However, from experience, not all tins of ‘white paint’ are the same, and this analogy goes with 3rd party solutions that work with Teams. Some deliver brilliantly, and others are more… quirky. It’s at this point you need to engage with specialists who can design, install and configure a Microsoft Teams solution that builds on the underlying 3rd party platform additives to make your Teams Telephony platform fit for the future.
CPS have architects with over 15 years of experience in these topologies based on Teams and have many clients using Teams as their modern-day Teams telephony solution today.
Taking the leap from PBX to Microsoft Teams can be daunting, but the process is simple, and I promise you will never go back.
Final point: I believe I could reduce your organisation’s financial outlay year on year and, within 12 months, provide you with an ROI based on the deployment of Microsoft Teams.
So why not challenge me on this? Contact me today, and let’s see how much you could save.
Read more about Microsoft Teams
Author
Iain has over 20 years working in Microsoft technologies and is recognised and accredited as an 8 year MVP (Most Valuable Professional) by Microsoft for his specialism in Unified Communications and telephony. Over the years, Iain has been involved in the design and technology transformation programs around some of the most complex UC deployments seen in the UK.
As one of three directors in CPS, Iain leads CPS’ Client Delivery Services team. He and his team of specialists at CPS are committed to delivering efficient solutions and managed services for clients across the varying Microsoft technologies.
