Since more than half (54%) of organizations have now incorporated Microsoft Teams into their business communications (and that number is expected to increase to 75% by 2025), it’s important to keep an eye on the Microsoft Teams telephony trends. This is especially necessary because 67% of organizations expect remote working policies to remain in place either permanently or long-term.
Microsoft Teams users can make and receive external calls directly from Teams on any device from anywhere in the world. So, chances are if you’re working from home, you’re either currently using Microsoft Teams, or you will be in the near future. Let’s take a look at some of the trends influencing Teams integration, and also why some organizations are choosing against it.
The four Microsoft Team trends your business should know:
1. In the most recent State of Business Communications Report, 91% of IT decision makers said they somewhat or strongly agree that their unified communications strategy should also include the contact center.
Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) supports the modernization of the contact centers by leveraging the opportunities for cross-department communication and increasing agents’ efficiency. For organizations that want solutions with business tools and workflows to drive the customer journey, contact center integration for Microsoft Teams allows Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solution providers to integrate their solutions into Teams.
2. According to the same report as above, 79% of IT decision makers are somewhat or extremely likely to integrate Microsoft Teams with their contact center in the future.
Microsoft Teams not only has the capabilities to support customer interaction work streams by acting as the hub for internal and external customer connection, but it truly makes for an effortless contact center integration. With contact centers being such an essential part of many businesses’ customer service success, the majority of IT decision makers are leaning towards a Teams integration for a more seamless experience. For more information, check out this article that provides specific resources on how contact center solutions can be integrated with Microsoft Teams.
3. According to a recent Gartner research study, 20% of total Microsoft Teams active users will adopt telephony services for external calling on Teams by 2024.
External phone calls can be made from the same Teams interface used for chat, internal meetings, file-sharing and other cloud services, making for a more consistent user experience for external and internal communications. This is especially beneficial for all of the remote workers out there. Microsoft Teams gives people working from home an all-in-one option to stay connected. Although sending a chat message can be quick and convenient, sometimes making an external call is necessary.
4. According to the same survey as above, those using a third-party cloud PBX/UCaaS service provider (like CallHarbor) along with Microsoft Teams and Microsoft’s cloud phone system note that it allows them to supplement the existing cloud PBX with additional collaboration functionality.
Many CallHarbor customers have begun integrating their Microsoft Teams solution into their CallHarbor solution. This can give our customers an easier transition working with a platform they are already familiar with. Instead of their employees feeling like they have to re-learn a new solution, they can continue utilizing their Teams window (since many still use it for chat, video, etc.) while also getting the great benefits of our CallHarbor platform. With our CallHarbor & Microsoft Teams integration, capabilities include:
- Direct calling from Teams desktop/mobile
- Capability to control calls
- Ability to view CallHarbor’s web portal inside Teams window
- Maintain call forwarding/answering rules within Teams
- Receive voicemail notifications in Teams
- and more!
Not everyone is following the trends
Frost & Sullivan’s Evolution of the Cloud Communications survey found that 28% of organizations are using direct routing as a service from a cloud PBX/Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) provider other than Microsoft Teams. According to this survey, some of the reasons for not using Microsoft’s cloud phone system including the following:
- Organizations already have an existing solution that serves their needs
- Microsoft’s cloud phone system does not support advanced telephony features
- Organizations prefer to source enterprise telephony and contact center from the same provider
- Users are concerned about potential security issues, especially when working from home
So, are you on board?
Microsoft Teams is the world-leading collaboration and productivity tool for today’s hybrid workforce with more than 270 million monthly active users. More than 12 million of these users now make voice calls using Microsoft Teams Phone across VoIP and PSTN (public switched telephone network). Needless to say, switching to Teams is currently one of the hottest trends in the telephony industry. From contact center benefits to the rise (or comeback) of external calling, on top of a plethora of other benefits when paired with a UCaaS system like CallHarbor, being a “Teams” player could make all the difference for your organization’s success.