We have widely heard about Microsoft Teams Direct Routing as a method to rapidly move UC into one of the most popular communication and collaboration hubs, Microsoft Teams, but this topic hides several aspects that may not yet be completely clear. That is why this article aims to collect the main advantages of this approach.

 

First of all, let’s analyze the scenario.

 

In the last two years, IT Managers have experienced the huge potential of gathering all the tools needed by employees into a single cloud hub, such as Microsoft Teams. They have started considering Direct Routing as an easy and secure way to transform this platform into their new PBX as, and we will see it in detail below, this method of connecting a 3rd party contact center to the PSTN and Teams phone system, includes several advantages. 

 

From the architecture point of view, just an SBC certified for direct routing in Microsoft Teams and a SIP Trunk are required.  to manage conversations within Teams with a connected contact center regardless of the place agents are working. This is a strategic method to face the current hybrid work scenario: it streamlines the operators’ activity and allows them to increase their daily productivity. Companies can personalize the platform by activating only the applications they really need.

 

Why should you choose a connected contact center for Teams?

With the Direct Routing approach, companies can benefit from a series of important advantages:

  • Microsoft-certified UC solution – Many of the most professional contact center solutions for Teams are included in the Microsoft Teams connected contact center certification program. This award ensures the high standards, compatibility, and reliability that customers can expect from Microsoft products: the integration between these solutions and Teams is certified by a series of technical and security requirements verified by Microsoft itself.

 

  • Flexibility and scalability – The connected approach allows companies to:
    • maintain the current service provider or choose a new one;
    • easily port all the old numbers in Teams and leverage the existing infrastructure; 
    • host the solution on the preferred storage (e.g. their own cloud storage or the  carrier’s one); 
    • rely on the external technical support of the UC vendor.

 

  • No additional licenses  – A connected contact center for Teams allows companies to manage internal and external conversations, served by an agent, to any Teams users, regardless of the type of Teams licence the recipient has. This allows Microsoft E5 or Phone System licences to be purchased only for employees who are to be configured as call center operators, and not for all users.

 

  • All-in-one platform – Adopting a contact center integrated with Microsoft Teams is a strategic decision for companies, as some vendors offer a wide range of functions/integrations that should not be underestimated:
    • Dynamics, Salesforce and PowerBI integration;
    • complementary UC features, like compliance recording;
    • integration with VoIP communication technologies (e.g. Cisco, Avaya). 

Relying on a single UC platform decreases the time employees spend jumping from one application to another, as well as the time supervisors dedicate to analyse UC within the company.

 

  • Advanced professional UC functionalities and reports – A connected contact center enables companies to take advantage of additional sophisticated call routing algorithms, more flexible IVRs and enhanced and customizable queue management solutions to provide a top-quality communication service within Teams.In addition, this type of solution allows a coordinated analysis of all data relating to company communications, agent performances and related KPIs.

 

If you want to read further resources about connected contact center for Microsoft Teams, you can have a look at these couple of articles by UCtoday.com:

 

While if you are interested in talking to an expert and discovering C3 Cloud Contact Centre, our connected contact center solution for Teams, contact us now by filling in this form.

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