How our Cloud PBX add value to the Microsoft Teams experience

Fact: Enreach’s unified communications platform integrates with Microsoft Teams, something which is increasingly valuable to businesses who use Teams as an integral part of the working day. However, what does this integration mean in practice, and is there more than one option? Jean-François Catz, Innovation Leader at Enreach, has broken down the need-to-know and how Teams integration can be achieved within the Enreach environment. He also describes the multiple enhanced features that Enreach adds and its FMC (fixed mobile convergence) advantages for Teams users.

You can watch the full video below, but here is a quick summary of the different integration methods available for both end-users and partners:

The main options available:

Option one: Microsoft Calling Plans – a simple, all-in-one solution where Microsoft is the carrier.

Option two: Operator Connect – including Operator Connect Mobile, enables any certified service provider to ‘bring your own carrier’ minutes and connect Teams to an existing PSTN network. The customer simply has to go into the Microsoft Teams administration console and select a carrier (including Enreach) from the certified list.

Direct routing – this is the ‘gold standard’, giving access to multiple enhanced calling capabilities from Enreach, including cloud PBX and contact centre features, and a high level of customisation.

Direct routing also gives Enreach partners a choice of deployment models. The first is for partners who already have — and own — their infrastructure and have mastered the art of direct routing configuration via their Session Border Controller (SBC). This includes the opportunity to connect the infrastructure to the Microsoft Azure environment. 

The second option is for resellers looking for a simple way to integrate with Teams but do not want to get involved in SBC configuration or other technicalities. Jeff refers to this as ‘direct-routing-as-a-service-out-of-the-box’. While easy to achieve, no functionality is compromised: Enreach delivers complete control of the softphone client via the Enreach Teams terminal software component.

Multiple features and FMC

Regardless of which direct routing option, via its API integration technology Enreach will continue to add yet more features to the Teams environment, all fully manageable through the Teams admin console. Examples include presence, two-way presence notification, Outlook calendar integration, Enreach’s own applications, number presentation, intelligent routing of calls, voice continuity when switching between devices or apps, simultaneous ringing across all a user’s endpoints, and much more to follow.

Jeff also stresses the FMC strengths of Enreach’s Teams integration. “We are strong in FMC and have been for years. You can even use your native dialler [using the GSM network even when there is not a strong signal] from your mobile to call Teams colleague, receive incoming calls from the Teams client, or be part of a call queue.”

As Jeff expresses so well in the video, “The goal is to allow Teams users, with or without phone system add-on licences, to add call control capabilities to what exists today in the Teams native client.” Providing users and partners with multiple ways to make the most of Microsoft Teams is another example of how Enreach is helping blend the best of IT and communications into one converged and seamless environment.