New tool for Microsoft Teams helps charities save big on their phone systems

The sudden shift to a remote or blended workforce has led to a host of new challenges for charities managing their crucial phone lines. Charities need a telephone solution that’s built for the ’new normal’ of flexible working arrangements that aren’t tied to one location – as well as one that allows them to control costs.

An innovative new product, Teams Voice from voluntary sector communications experts, Class Networks, lets organisations make and receive external calls through the Microsoft Teams. This solution can take the place of their existing phone system, saving charities time and money.

Teams Voice has Launched today on the Charity Digital Exchange. Eligible charities can get access for a discounted rate. Here’s what you need to know about the product.

Why move to Teams Voice?

The ability to easily take calls from anywhere is a major plus point for organisations choosing to break away from traditional on-premises phone lines to a cloud-based phone system.

But organisations suddenly faced with disruption from the pandemic have had to quickly put together solutions for making and receiving phone calls remotely. These solutions are often far from perfect.

Moving phone services to the cloud can mean having another system to pay for: with more apps to install, and more data security to consider. It’s not always flexible or easy to manage and may have to be used on certain devices, or special VoIP handsets that can quickly rack up the cost.

By combining their telephone system with Microsoft Teams, Teams Voice represents a simple option with a few key benefits:

• Leveraging the resources you’re already using on the Microsoft platform keeps costs to a minimum. This is because you’re not paying for anything extra like line rentals, SIP trunk rentals, cloud user licensing or phone handsets. Instead, Teams Voice makes the most of the Office 365 licensing and devices your charity is already paying for.
  
  
• Teams Voice provides a calling plan for Microsoft Teams users to make unlimited phone calls to and from any local, national and mobile number, so it’s easier for charities to control the costs of calls.
  
  
• Charities get a unified system for all their communications both internal and external, which means one single application for video meetings, instant messaging, file sharing and collaboration – now with calls to and from people outside the organisation seamlessly included. This means there are no new systems and apps to learn if your users are already familiar with the Microsoft suite, and it will be efficient to carry out tasks in the same platform without switching back and forth between apps.
  
  
• Users can make calls from any device or location with no specialist equipment needed. You can choose to use headsets or go hands-free, from the app, browser or a mobile device. This makes it a lot more convenient for users working from home or remote locations. Whatever happens, the options are there.
  
  
• Charities retain their existing numbers and can use all the traditional telephone functionality you’d expect like ring groups, queues, auto attendants and voicemail. All of this can now be managed within Microsoft Teams.
  
  
• There are no additional user accounts with more passwords to manage, because staff simply use their existing user accounts in Microsoft Teams, putting you in control of security and saving time.