Teams Phone enables simplified, enterprise-grade calling in Microsoft Teams, helping our customers stay connected regardless of where they’re working from. We’ve seen incredible momentum for Teams Phone in the last few years. We’re humbled to have over 12 million Teams Phone PSTN users and see customers like LVMH, REI Co-op, and ZF Group, rely on Teams Phone to keep their business connected.
When considering whether Teams Phone is the right telephony solution for your organization, we know there are some common questions that may come to mind. Today, we’re here to answer some Teams Phone questions you may be asking yourself.
Is Teams Phone as reliable as other telephony solutions?
Yes, we are committed to delivering reliable communication experiences to meet your calling needs and enabling ways to stay connected even when a disruption occurs. Since Teams Phone runs on Microsoft infrastructure, it can enable reliability in ways that are difficult to replicate from other providers.
To demonstrate our commitment to quality and continuity, in December 2021 we updated the SLAs for Microsoft Teams Calling Plans, Phone System, and PSTN Audio Conferencing to 99.99% uptime with generous service credits. Recently published research by Gigaom assessed service level agreement (SLA) terms for Microsoft, RingCentral and Zoom. Overall, all three vendors' uptime performance was high at 100% for the test period. However, Microsoft performed ahead of the competition in several key areas and had the highest scores for uptime and service quality of the providers included. Learn more about the research results here.
As well, to ensure continuity in the event of a network outage, Survivable Branch Appliance allows users to continue placing and receiving PSTN calls. We understand that service continuity during a network outage is critical, so we are continuing to invest in Survivable Branch Appliance capabilities. Learn more about our recent announcements here.
Is Teams Phone is only relevant for enterprise customers?
No, Teams Phone offers core and advanced calling capabilities to help you collaborate and stay connected, no matter the size of your business. Our customers range from large, global organizations such as SAP to smaller organizations such as Elite Construction + Development. Depending on your organization size and needs, we offer a range of options to add Teams Phone to your Microsoft 365 plan. From Microsoft Teams Phone with Calling Plans to Microsoft 365 E5, empowering you to do more with less and eliminate redundant solutions.
Can Teams Phone be set up in less than 3 months?
Yes, you can get set up quickly and establish the connection to your operator, provision users, and assign phone numbers directly from the Microsoft Teams Admin Center. IT administrators for organizations of all sizes can easily manage Teams Phone through the Teams Admin Center. The Teams Phone setup guide (requires admin access) is available to guide you through every step of the deployment. Microsoft engineers and FastTrack Ready partners are also available to assist FastTrack eligible customers* with deployment of Teams Phone through FastTrack for Microsoft Teams.
Learn how Schlumberger saw Teams Phone as the natural and seamless evolution to their digital journey was able to migrate 10,000 people over to Teams Phone every weekend.
Can my organization get the same cloud calling experience in Teams through integration with other applications?
No, Teams Phone is the only native telephony solution for Microsoft Teams. While there are other applications that can integrate with Teams, Teams Phone delivers simple, innovative, and reliable calling seamlessly within Teams. Quickly connect with your team, customers, and partners by initiating voice and video calls from a Teams chat, the Calls app, Microsoft 365 apps, or through PSTN.
Can my organization mix and match Operator Connect, Teams Phone Mobile, Direct Routing, or Microsoft Teams Calling Plans when enabling PSTN in Teams?
Yes, there are four great ways to enable PSTN calling in Microsoft Teams through Microsoft Teams Calling Plans, Operator Connect, Teams Phone Mobile, or Direct Routing. Organizations can choose to deploy one of these approaches – or a combination – to meet their unique needs.
- Microsoft Teams Calling Plans are a quick and simple way to add calling to your organization, directly from the Teams Admin Center.
- Operator Connect enables customers to simply connect their operator-based PSTN services into Microsoft Teams with a managed experience.
- Teams Phone Mobile offers all the benefits of Operator Connect but allows organizations to assign a single business-provided mobile phone number as your Teams Phone number.
- Direct Routing is a highly customizable option that allows customers to maintain existing service provider agreements and use on premises or hybrid hardware.
Does my organization need to modernize our devices when migrating to Teams Phone?
No. While Microsoft Teams phone devices provide the richest and most complete Teams experience, we understand that there are many customers with existing investments in legacy devices. With SIP Gateway, customers can leverage their existing telephony hardware as they move to Teams Phone. SIP Gateway enables core Teams calling functionality on compatible SIP phone models and DECT devices.
Learn more about Teams Phone
To explore how Teams Phone can help you communicate and collaborate, no matter where you and your team are, check out the links below:
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* When you purchase 150 or more seats of an eligible subscription, FastTrack will help with core and advanced Teams onboarding. Learn more about FastTrack for Microsoft Teams here