Cheaper, easier, and better external calls with MS Teams on 3CX

Messaging platforms were among the first to be adopted or upgraded in the digital transformation rush that followed the spread of the pandemic. Changes expected to take years to implement had to happen within months, or even weeks, out of necessity. The mood for 2020 was about surviving, while 2021 was a struggle as the world learned to adapt to a changing situation.

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From there, the game plan for the future of work involves more seamless communication through any channels and on platforms preferred by the end-users, from traditional telephony to instant chats and video conferencing. With that in mind, let’s make 2022 about thriving, about getting better at doing business amid covid. It’s time to score more wins.

The Microsoft Teams (MS Teams) collaboration platform has seen its customer numbers skyrocket to 250 million monthly active users as of July 2021, with nearly 80 million monthly active Teams Phone consumers.

It’s clear that if a business or an organization is thinking of investing in a private branch exchange (PBX) solution or refreshing its existing provision, having an option to synchronize with MS Teams would be ideal, seeing that more people are likely to have it in their daily communication arsenal – be it for work or fun.

3CX does that brilliantly with its MS Teams integration. The 3CX platform is an all-in-one communications system that natively supports MS Teams. It offer a cost-effective alternative to Microsoft365’s Calling Plan, and users can utilize all of Teams’ features, but cheaper, easier, and better.

From basic to enterprise-grade

Integrating MS Teams into the full-featured PBX that 3CX offers means all users get full contact center functionality like advanced call queues, usage reporting, call routing, and more.

The 3CX gives more punch to the areas where any workgroup lacks, particularly when handling a more complex call flow.

Users can proceed as usual on Teams, using the same interface – all the basic stuff. They can also utilize more complex offerings like ring groups and paging functionality, creating IVR (interactive voice response) auto attendants, providing stats on agent performance, and more.

Cost-effective

3CX integrates with MS Teams through Direct Routing so that users can dial externally via 3CX SIP trunks as part of the 3CX licensing model. The SIP trunks connect the PBX system’s voice and audio communication to the internet – and because the contract is all-in-one, this is often cheaper than the usual Teams calling plans. The choice of regional SIP providers means lower-cost domestic and international rates, which are usually far cheaper than Microsoft’s expensive Calling Plans.

There are more savings to be had on costly Microsoft licenses as Teams’ native integration with 3CX lowers the need for O365 E5 plans. That also means no Teams-compatible handsets are required, and using any IP Phone is sufficient, so there are more hardware options to choose from. Additionally, users can dial out when remote as 3CX free apps are available for iOS and Android.

Video conference and more fancy features

Yes, Microsoft Teams comes with video conference capability, but 3CX adds other quality-of-life improvements beginning with allowing between 25 and 250 simultaneous participants. Extra features include file sharing, whiteboarding, recording meeting sessions, and simple event scheduling using MS365 and Outlook calendar.

3CX is currently working on more upgrades with cross-platform presence, group synchronization, extension number generation, and meeting scheduling advancements already slated in its roadmap.

This constant innovation and commitment to betterment is part of what makes 3CX an award-winning global leader in business communications, trusted by more than 600,000 companies with over 12 million users every day. Wiltshire College, one of the UK’s largest colleges, is still benefitting from the 3CX phone system it first installed in 2012.

The 3CX system was a perfect fit for the college as a Microsoft-centric site, and the installation only took a single evening. It transitioned and integrated among the college population of over 11,000 staff and students across four campuses, including those on the road or working remotely via 3CX mobile apps.

And 3CX did this three times more cheaply than any other telephony options the college considered, creating some mind-blowing savings for the college.

Proven to be flexible and reliable

“3CX Phone System is proving flexible and reliable. It’s on target to reduce our ongoing telephony maintenance, line rental, support, and call costs by 70% per annum, at about £70,000,” said Stephanie Stephenson, director of customer services at Wiltshire College.

3CX was founded in 2005 when VoIP was still an emerging technology. It now has offices across Europe, the US, Mexico, Dubai, Russia, and Australia, with more than 25,000 partners operating in 190 countries.

An eye towards providing a single solution brings together the current technology stack from communication channels and collaboration platforms to CRM software and helpdesk platforms such as Salesforce, Freshdesk, Zendesk and HubSpot.

Microsoft Teams integration is just the latest reveal from 3CX, with more goodies under its sleev to help big and small businesses and organizations connect better and thrive.

If you’re looking to connect an MS Teams installation with a full-featured PBX, give 3CX a try free for one year. Yes, you read that right: FREE for a year with no strings attached. See how you can connect with 3CX and Microsoft Teams integration. Give it a go because…why not?