Calum Logan
Public Cloud Lead
As business around the world continue to mobilise their workforce to work remotely, particularly in the face of a public health crisis, organisations are naturally assessing their options around Phone Systems & Audio Conferencing solutions.
Microsoft continue to push Teams adoption globally, making Business Voice solutions via Teams a clear stand-out in the market. However, the potential cost implications of enabling the functionality required for users to work remotely may previously have been daunting for many SMB.
Introducing… Microsoft 365 Business Voice
Thankfully, Microsoft have introduced a bundled Business Voice offering called Microsoft 365 Business Voice. This is aimed at organisations of 300 users and below and comes at a very attractive price point of £12 pu/pm.* This is a bolt-on to any underlying Office 365 Subscription that includes Teams – Office 365 Business Premium, Essentials, Office 365 E1, & E3.
Enabling users to work remotely archaically may have been viewed as a large enterprise solution. The world of work continues to shift, with increasing demand from employees & society to provide the flexibility to work from home. Microsoft 365 Business Voice is a clear contender to deliver this value to SMB at a lower cost than may be associated with similar services.
With the simple Business Voice bundle, the licensing is simpler and more cost effective than the options above. A competitive price point & a simple licensing model will provide clear value back to the business from a commercial and administrative level alone.
Functionality
Microsoft 365 Business Voice includes Phone System, Audio Conferencing & Domestic Calling Plan. This allows users to make use of the full Teams client, make outbound calls to landline phones & host audio conferencing meetings. Communication Credits are available to configure international calling and provide toll-free numbers to audio conferencing meetings.
Additionally, organisations also have the ability to configure Auto Attendants, enabling users placing inbound calls to navigate through a menu system.
However, It’s important to remember that Microsoft 365 Business Voice is not the only option available to SMB customers, with many organisations direct routing existing calling plans into Microsoft Phone System. One of our collaboration specialists will be able to help advise, should you have any questions on Direct Routing with Teams.
Collaborating via Microsoft
Collaboration within any organisation is becoming increasingly important. Microsoft have continued to display their commitment to providing a strong collaboration platform via Office 365. Primarily, this is provided by the Teams client, which natively provides IM, peer-to-peer presence, internal audio & video calling as well as file sharing and collaboration on documents.
Organisations are presented with an opportunity to consolidate their collaboration tools, platforms and subscription licensing costs into one bundle while delivering a versatile collaboration client to end users.
At Softcat, we are the leading CSP provider in the UK and provide to 40% of the CSP market. We have an extensive in house Microsoft team, encompassing Licensing, Azure, Platform, Cloud Architects and Operations specialists. We are well placed to guide you through the process of modernising your collaboration offerings via Microsoft and support your queries following deployment.
*As of March pricing.