Determine Your Best Approach to Voice Enable Microsoft Teams

Determine Your Best Approach to Voice Enable Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a world-leading collaboration and productivity tool that unifies chat, file sharing, audio, video, meeting, calendar and, app integration in a single shared workspace. Teams app provides its users an easy approach to communicate and collaborate with co-workers and engage with clients and customers at any time, from anywhere across the globe, and on any device of their choice, as long as there is internet access.

A voice-incapable Microsoft Teams may be an impeccable employee engagement master but never a customer engagement expert. Phones are not dying. Customers still prefer personal calls despite having other options such as email, social media, and support chats. They like to speak to a live person instead of waiting for a long time for an email or any cold automatic programs. From this perspective, phone calls are essential for businesses and sales. That’s why organizations are looking for a voice-enabled Microsoft Teams solution so that users can communicate with people internally or outside the company within the same app without opening a new window.

The good news is that Microsoft offers Calling Plan and Direct Routing options to get business voice-enabled on Teams. In doing so, Teams client across any device is transformed into a regular phone where users can reach colleagues and customers via inbound and outbound calls with external phone lines, greatly increasing work efficiency and enhancing customer engagement.

Enabling Phone System and Calling Plan in Microsoft Team

The easiest and quickest way to bring voice capabilities to Teams is to get a Phone System add-on license and Calling Plan natively in Teams. Most small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) users favor this option because it’s a turnkey solution and 100% on the cloud.

With this option, the phone number is assigned to Teams users, and therefore you can make and take calls outside your organization, and get access to some standard calling features such as IVR, call queues, voicemail, speed dial, and contacts.

With that being said, this option is yet far away to replace the entire business phone system considering the Calling Plan providing limited availability in certain markets, and the calling features being too basic to cover many daily business operations. Also, it is not the best substitute when your organization requires a connection to an existing phone number or third-party telephony equipment. Under all these previous circumstances, the SBC Direct Routing option might be the perfect fit for you.
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Using SBC Direct Routing to Connect to Microsoft Teams

Compared to Microsoft Teams Calling Plan, Direct Routing provides an unparalleled engine with flexibility, reliability and, interoperability to link the phone system you want to the Teams environment. You can preserve your own phone number and reuse your current telephony devices via a Session Border Controller (SBC) hardware device, thereby reducing your loss of initial investment to a minimum.

With business voice-enabled by direct routing, Teams users can get an easy tap into optimized calling quality, and a broad range of advanced telephony features like customized IVR, flexible call routing, call recording, etc.

Using this option, you need to purchase SBC Direct Routing equipment and then get this unit installed and deployed. But they can be complex to configure and run so you have to let your trained staff member or an IT professional to assist with the deployment of the solution. Besides the fact that it requires a technical expertise, it is not a small amount of money that SMEs can afford on such costly equipment.

But the question is are there any other ways out to bring voice capabilities to Microsoft Teams if your organization is not technically and budgetarily ready to migrate your phone system to Microsoft Teams with Direct Routing? Don’t worry, Yeastar is here to provide an easy shortcut to help you!
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An Easy Shortcut: Yeastar for Microsoft Teams

Seeing the uptick in the demand for the voice-enabled Microsoft Teams solutions, we recently unveiled the Yeastar for Microsoft Teams Integration solution, providing an easy, simple, and cost-effective alternative to a self-deployed Microsoft Teams Direct Routing solution.

Yeastar for Microsoft Teams aligns the advanced technology of Microsoft-certified Direct Routing with an award-winning PBX system (S-Series VoIP PBX, Cloud PBX, and K2 IP-PBX) to deliver secure, high-quality business voice on Microsoft Teams. Besides, users require the Microsoft 365 Business Voice (without calling plan) add-on, Phone System add-on, Common Area Phone, or E5 licenses to use calling in Microsoft Teams.

Unlike a self-deployed Microsoft Direct Routing solution, this integration solution allows you not to worry about the hassle of deploying the complicated SBC equipment. Because we have done this for you and it’s all in the cloud! All you need to do is just a few clicks on the interactive Web GUI, and the voice capability is instantly enabled on your Teams App. What’s more, it’s a pay-on-demand subscription base solution, whose cost is nowhere near that of the SBC equipment, significantly easing the financial burden of SMEs.

With this integration app, Microsoft Teams will deliver a complete UC&C solution without complicated configurations and expensive SBC equipment:

  • Enable high-quality business calls made or received within the Teams App from anywhere on any device
  • Preserve connection to the existing phone numbers and any intercom endpoints
  • Customize IVR scripts as per your business needs
  • Set up advanced call routing to forward, transfer, hold, and mute calls
  • Access advanced calling features like call recording, ring group, voicemail to email, and more
  • Enjoy a consolidated UC&C experience on a single platform
  • Save you time and money with simplified configuration and administration

Yeastar for Microsoft Teams, available now from the Microsoft AppSource with a 30-day free trial, empowers organizations with easy access to enterprise-class business voice natively from the Teams application anywhere anytime. You can experience the solution with Yeastar Cloud PBX free trial.

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User Login

Instantaneously receive user login credentials via email once the extension has been deployed by the adminstrator.

Log in conveniently via any web browser for access to the user portal.

Integrations

Integrate various CRM software for better customer service and satisfaction.

Enable transcription of audio messages into text with integration of third-party transcription service.

Enable API for integration with various third-party integrations for advanced performance such as call center and hotel reception services.

System

Provision email SMTP and template settings for event notifications to be sent out.

Manage storage allocation and duration of various types of data being stored on the PBX.

Determine the types of event notifications to be sent out, and the parties receiving them.

IVR

Add various audio voice prompts to be played according to different call scenarios.

Add voice prompts on multiple levels for more effecient and precise inbound call routing.

Voicemail

Customize default voicemail settings for each user extension.

Add various voicemail messages for allocation to different call scenarios and users.

Provision specific rules to how voicemail messages are played over the PBX system for better caller experience.

Reports and CDR

All call log activities are stored, with the option of having audio conversations recorded by default or for specific extensions.

Use intuitive visual call reports, to check various call statistics over extensions, trunks, queues, ring groups, and more.

Call reports can be viewed and downloaded directly from the PBX, or scheduled to be sent via email to respective parties.

Security

Restrict a general group or specific IP addresses to prevent unauthorized access to your PBX.

Limit the number of otbound calls users are allowed to make within a time period to protect against toll fraud.

Restrict certain country codes for outbound calls either company-wide or on certain extensions.

User Login

Determine extension ranges for different functions.

Define use of different voice prompts depending on call scenarios or intended function.

Provision basic and advanced SIP settings to be used on the PBX.

Recordings

Record all calls made on specified trunks, including inbound and outbound calls.

Recordings

Record all calls made on specified extensions, conferences, or call queues.

Paging and Intercom

Create different types of paging and intercom broadcast groups for selected extensions.

Set a time schedule to automatically start your broadcast.

Maintenance

Check for and download firmware upgrades to ensure that your PBX is always up-to-date.

Perform back-ups to prevent data and settings from getting lost.

Perform troubleshooting on your own to debug.

Conference

Pre-set conference settings and dial-in passwords for security, and allow internal users to send conference invites to external parties.

Speed Dial

Create multiple speed dial numbers to respective external numbers frequently used for outgoing calls.

Speed dial is activated when the set prefix (default or customized) is dialed.

Ring Group

Create multiple ring groups and determine custom ring strategies and failover settings for each.

Call Queue

Create different call queues with specific ring strategies and failover settings.

Static agents permanently answer calls in queue, while dynamic agents can log in and out. Allocate different extensions to each group.

Determine what actions are to be allowed for Mangers or Agents to manage on the Queue Panel.

Call Control

Have calls received on specific SIP trunks routed to designated extensions or destinations within the PBX.

Set-up dial patterns so that outbound calls are routed to their intended destinations.

Determine how calls are routed and received at different times of a day.

Contacts

Store, retrieve, and share company contact details easily on your PBX.

Organize company contacts into dedicated phonebooks and determine accessibility rights to extension groups for each.

Bulk import a list of contacts instead of having to key details in individually.

Role and Client Permission

Pre-defined user roles within the PBX are conveniently available for allocation, or create your own set of permissions.

Restrict users from viewing specific extensions, departments, or extension groups with Extension Visibility.

Allow or resrict specific users from managing or viewing certain company contacts

Auto Provision

Pre-defined setting parameters specific to respective IP phone models are conveniently available for easy set-up.

IP Phones can be quickly provisioned to your Yeastar PBX with just the pre-defined template and device MAC address.

Trunks

Register multiple SIP trunks on a single PBX as needed.

Different types of trunks can be created, Caller ID can be customized.

Extensions

View, deploy, add, and remove user extensions within your PBX system.

Configure default call and user settings for individual extensions.

Customize allocation of user extensions to specific ring groups.

Portal Login Page

Receive your administrator log-in credentials and set-up guide via email.

Log-in on any web-browser to get started with PBX set-up.

Installation Wizard will guide you through basic configurations.

User Login

Access all company contacts made available to you by the administrator.

Create your own personal contacts list for easy reference and dialing.

Bulk import contact details for convenient data entry.

User Login

Access and manage user settings for softphone application and voicemail.

Manage call routing and presence status for your individual extension.

Retrieve or download your personal call logs and recordings.

User Login

Receive your log-in credentials and set-up guide via email, sent by your admin.

Log-in on any web-browser to get started with PBX set-up.

Configure contacts and personal settings from the web portal.

Auto Provision

Add, remove, or modify IP phone settings from your web interface.

Upgrade IP phone firmware conveniently from your PBX.

Upload various default setting parameters specific to respective IP phone models for greater convenience during set-up.

Contacts

Store, retrieve, and share company contact details easily on your PBX.

Have detailed contact information for your vendors and clients conveniently stored .

Bulk add a list of contacts instead of having to key details in individually.

PBX Monitor

Monitor the status extensions, whether they aren idle, in use, or unavailable.

Know whether your SIP Trunk running properly, or experiencing problems.

Monitor the number of call conferences currently running on your PBX, and their individual durations.

Maintenance

Check for and download firmware upgrades to ensure that your PBX is always up-to-date.

Perform back-ups to prevent data and settings from getting lost.

Perform troubleshooting on your own to debug.

Call Detailed Report

All call log activities are stored, with the option of having audio conversations recorded by default or for specific extensions.

Filter by date, time, or extension number to retrieve specific call logs or recordings

Playback call recordings directly from the PBX or download to store externally.

Event Center

Determine what events and logs are to be recorded and/or have notifications sent.

Specify particular notifications to be sent to respective authorized personnel.

User Permission

Set up vaious groups of users for allocation to certain sets of access rules.

Determine what features a certain group of extensions can or cannot access.

Determine if users can access, play-back, or download call logs and recordings from the pbx.

Security

Restrict a general group or specific IP addresses to prevent unauthorized access to your PBX.

Determine specific the range of SIP ports for connection between your PBX and endpoints.

Restrict country codes for outbound calls either company-wide or on certain extensions.

Voice Prompt

Upload and designate customised audio recordings at multiple levels of a call journey.

Upload recorded music to fill the silence that would be heard by callers on hold.

Upload customised voice prompts to create a professional call experience.

General

Customize general call preferences either company-wide or for individual extensions.

Set-up feature dial codes for convenient user navigation to specific call features.

Determine how voicemails are retrieved, and also upload custom voicemail recordings.

Call Features

Add multiple automated responses to be played at different phases of a call journey.

Designate specific extensions to ring concurrently based on an external caller's dial pattern.

Customize messages and waiting times to keep external callers engaged when put on hold.

Call Control

Have calls received on specific SIP trunks routed to designated extensions within the PBX.

Set-up dial patterns so that outbound calls are routed to their intended destinations.

Determine how calls are routed and received at different times of a day.

Trunks

Register multiple SIP trunks on a single PBX as needed.

Provision SIP trunk settings and dedicate them to particular extensions.

Bulk add DDIs on each SIP trunk, for allocation to an individual or groups of extensions.

Extensions

View, deploy, add, and remove user extensions within your PBX system.

Allocate and deploy specific extension numbers to respective users via email.

Set-up default ring and presence status settings for individual users.

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View cases created for a Deal in One View.

View cases created for a Deal in One View.

Deal One View

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View cases created for a Deal in One View.

View cases created for a Deal in One View.