Many companies use Microsoft 365 and Teams. Companies start out using Teams for instant messaging, collaborating and holding internal meetings. Internal calls to other Microsoft Teams users are free, but if you want your users to be able to call regular phones and outside numbers then you need additional licensing from Microsoft or we can integrate your Teams with a VoIP provider who can provide the dial tone for you.
Once you get comfortable as an organization using Teams it seems very logical to extend it to the phones. Teams Phone supports Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone calls to anyone, whether they’re using a landline, mobile phone, or the Teams app. When you get ready to make the migration the problem is the licensing to do so if very expensive and honestly not competitive with a typical VoIP solution. Economically it often doesn’t make sense to use Teams Phone. This causes many companies to use Teams for internal communications and a separate phone system for outside calling needs. However, Agility Communications has a way to get it done for less licensing and less cost. I’m going to show you an economical way to get use Teams phone without incurring the expensive licensing from Microsoft.
How to get Teams Phone for Less
First we have identified many VoIP providers who integrate with Teams behind the scenes. Goto, Vonage, 8×8, RingCentral and many others all integrate with Teams. But they aren’t all apples-to-apples comparisons to each other when it comes to cost. Goto and Vonage will offer deeply discounted seat pricing on their system and a small charge for a Teams connector so that all you have to purchase from Microsoft is the $8 standard license. That means you might pay $12 a per user for Goto or Vonage and then add the Microsoft Teams phone for a total $20 per user (which is right on par with most VoIP solutions).
By contrast if you were to just order Microsoft licensing directly you have to add the $8 standard phone license, a $15 call plan license and $4 video conferencing license for a total of $27 per user to get the equivalent service.
Why use a Teams connector and VoIP provider instead of going direct?
#1 – Support – When buying Microsoft licensing you either figure things our yourself using the online forums and your own research (not recommended) or you pay an MSP licensing to set it up and manage it for you which can be expensive.
#2 Redundancy – When you go direct with Microsoft if they do down, your down and there is no one you can call for support or a time estimate to get turned back on. Your down until they fix their own internal problem and things start working again.
If you use a VoIP provider such as Goto or Vonage you are getting two providers, for the price of one. If Microsoft goes down, you still have the network and licensing of the VoIP provider to fall back on. You can continue to use your phones on the providers system until Microsoft is back up. In addition to the redundancy, you also have someone to call for support who can help you.
Microsoft Teams is a great and powerful solution for business communications. Save time, reduce costs, and improve business performance by bringing together calling, chat, and meetings—all in one app that empowers teams with a collaborative and context-rich experience. To get special pricing give us a call today!
To Learn more about Teams Connector
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