Cost-Effective Communications Through Microsoft Teams Direct Routing
Do you think that you could be getting more out of your Teams experience? While Microsoft Teams has proven itself to be a great tool for remote working and collaborating with your colleagues, there is a way that you can expand its features. The Phone System option in Teams means you can directly replace your existing phone system and fully embrace Unified Communications in a single application. To communicate with external contacts on a voice network, you must break out either through Direct Routing or with a Microsoft Calling Plan.
Choosing the correct telecoms solution for Microsoft Teams can be a confusing task when you don’t have the right comms support around you and making the right decision on this can have significant cost implications. This is why we offer a solution which to not only helps you save money on your comms infrastructure but also utilises the benefits of Unified Communications. Clarion can give you a contended trunk option that will be more economical for your business than calling plans from Microsoft and most other providers.
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CALLING PLAN OR DIRECT ROUTING
If you choose a Microsoft 365 Calling Plan to upgrade your telecoms to MS Teams Direct Routing, you first have to take out a minute’s bundle for each user. Once your system is connected you can use Teams via Direct Connect to place or receive business calls, create voice menus, monitor and record calls and queue from landlines and mobile phones on the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
With the majority of Direct Connect suppliers, you will be required to have a dedicated SIP Trunk for everyone. Worry not, Clarion can provide dedicated SIP Trunks for you and even offer a contended SIP Trunk model but for larger deployments. We understand that not everyone is going to be making a call at the same time, so why pay for more trunks than you need?
SET UP MICROSOFT TEAMS DIRECT ROUTING
To set up Teams Direct Routing you will need a Session Border Controller (SBC) and the correct licensing from Microsoft. The SBC is a complex but essential part of the network that can be based on site or in the cloud for more flexibility and lower up-front cost. Clarion would provide a cloud-based SBC.
Session Border Controllers (SBCs) act as controls between different networks, and manage the flow of voice and media data between Teams and a SIP. At the point where the networks converge, the SBC ensures this data is transferred smoothly and securely – much in the same way that a firewalls work for a computer.
Clarion can supply, configure and manage Session Border Controllers at no additional cost, and we can offer contended SIP Trunks via Direct Routing for Microsoft Teams.
EXPERT ADVICE
Direct Routing leverages all the benefits of Teams but gives the option to contend SIP Trunks to control costs. If you are looking to use Teams as a unified communication pathway for your business, please call us to assist with your licence, configuration and migration options.
