Microsoft Teams Phone – Another Tool in our Expanding Arsenal

By Luke Eilert, Account Manager at Avid Communications

At Avid Communications, our goal is to provide our customers with a personalized, best fit for their unique circumstance. Luckily, we have access to the technology to make that happen. For almost two decades, we’ve been building our arsenal of telecom solutions. We can solve just about any problem our customers may have, and odds are we can solve ones they don’t even know exist. It’s our duty to make our customers aware anytime there is a new and noteworthy tool. Right now, Microsoft Teams Phone is that new noteworthy tool.

Microsoft Teams Phone

Many of you are likely familiar with Microsoft Teams, even if your organization doesn’t use it. For those unfamiliar, Teams is a great solution for small to large businesses that value internal communication. We recently switched to Microsoft Teams ourselves, so we feel confident in this recommendation. Teams Phone is an addon for Microsoft Teams which introduces the ability to make and receive calls from your existing phone numbers. It sounds simple (and it is) but the potential efficiency gain is game changing for many businesses.

All the same functionality, all in one place.

When we explain Teams Phone to interested customers, you can tell they think they’re missing something. It can’t be that simple, can it? Turns out, it is. If you’re used to Teams, it couldn’t be easier. Teams Phone simply introduces a new tab in the Teams application where you can make calls, take calls, and perform the other actions you rely on your physical or soft phone for.

If you’re used to Avid’s hosted phone system, then a move to Teams is an easy transition. We’ll help you through the entire process of transition, which takes about three weeks from start to finish. We will cover the porting of all numbers and users to the new service, and we will work with you on adapting your current call flow and auto attendants, which will all remain functional within the new system .

The best solution… for a specific customer.

If it’s not obvious, we think Teams Phone is a great solution, and we highly recommend it to those interested. However, it may not be the end-all, be-all for everyone. For organizations that entirely use Teams, and don’t mind their phones being digital, it’s the perfect technology to bring all your communications into a centralized location and increase efficiency. For organizations that aren’t yet so united behind Teams, this might not be the best solution at this time.

While Teams Phone has a variety of functions, there are some features that do not convert from our hosted system. We recommend talking to your account rep to discuss the options. Luckily, we have those solutions covered with some of our other options.

If Microsoft Teams Phone sounds like a solution that you could really leverage, give us a call. Otherwise, if you’re having trouble with your current phone system and want someone to take a fresh look, I’m sure we have something that will solve your telecom woes!