Microsoft Teams has become more than just a basic collaboration tool for many businesses in recent years. Today, the solution stands as one of the most popular UCaaS (Unified Communication as a Service) platforms in the world.
The versatility, ease-of-use, and intuitive features of the Teams platform has even earned Microsoft a position in the “Leader” section of the Gartner UCaaS Magic Quadrant. With Microsoft Teams Phone solutions, companies can easily keep their team members connected wherever they are, leveraging VoIP and PSTN connections, as well as a range of certified devices.
However, while implementing voice solutions for Microsoft Teams can drive several benefits for business leaders, managing your Phone estate can often be complicated. This is particularly true as your estate begins to scale and grow.
“Efficiently managing a large Microsoft Teams phone estate requires a proactive approach, combining robust monitoring and automation to ensure seamless communications for your end users. Regularly review call analytics to identify usage patterns and optimise resources, enhancing productivity and user experience.”
- Kieran Lloyd, Senior Support/Technical Engineer, Symity
Here’s what you need to know about managing a larger Teams Phone estate:
The Challenges of Large Microsoft Teams Phone Estates
Setting up a comprehensive communication ecosystem can be complex in any environment, regardless of which devices, platform, or solution you choose. For companies investing in Microsoft Teams, a scaling phone estate presents various challenges, including:
- Scalability: As your telephony landscape evolves, managing a large number of devices, users, and calls becomes more complicated and resource intensive.
- Cost management: Larger telephony estates can incur significant costs, not just for hardware and software, but for licenses, maintenance, and support too.
- Maintenance: Keeping your telephony system updated with the latest patches and updates can be challenging, particularly if you’re using multiple interconnected components.
- Performance: Ensuring smooth and reliable call quality across a vast estate, particularly during peak times, can be a difficult process without the right strategy.
- Security: The larger your phone estate, the greater your risk landscape becomes. The right solutions need to implemented to prevent unauthorized access and call interception.
“Simplify the administration of a sizable Microsoft Teams phone deployment by establishing clear governance policies. Define user roles and access controls, and update procedures to maintain security and compliance. A well-structured governance framework fosters scalability and empowers IT teams to swiftly adapt to changing business needs,” says Kieran Lloyd.
So, how do companies overcome these complex issues?
Step 1: Leverage the Right Unified Communications Support
The first step to simplifying the management of large Microsoft Teams Phone estates, is choosing the right unified communication platform. The chances are you’ll be using Microsoft Teams as your primary solution for integrating voice, video, and messaging. This intuitive platform already offers powerful tools for streamlining the management of your communications landscape.
However, it’s also important to ensure you’re accessing support from the right phone provider. If, like many companies, you’re investing in Direct Routing or Operator Connect services to connect your phone system to Teams, ensure your provider offers the right tools for monitoring and managing call quality, preserving redundancy, and maintaining reliability.
Migrating all of your phone systems into the cloud with your UC vendor can also be helpful, as this provides access to scalability, flexibility, and support with infrastructure maintenance.
Step 2: Prioritize Central Management Tools
A centralized ecosystem is essential for managing a larger Microsoft Teams phone estate. While Microsoft Teams will give you the tools you need to monitor all of your subscriptions for software, you’ll also need to think about your telephony licenses and hardware.
Working with the right vendors certified by Microsoft Teams will allow you to access tools that help with monitoring, configuring, and updating telephony devices and services throughout your entire estate. You can use these tools to track potential issues, implement patches, and even remotely configure tools for your hybrid and remote workers.
Step 3: Take Advantage of Automation
Automation can be an extremely valuable tool for today’s business leaders. As your telephony estate grows, taking advantage of the automation options offered by Microsoft Teams, your phone carrier, and your device providers can save your business significant time and effort.
