Timothy P. Conti [email protected] 312.925.7731

Tim Conti (Team) Bio • 15-years in the Unified Communications and Contact Center Industry • Worked directly for Gartner Magic Quadrant Leaders • CDW Practice Lead for UC & CC Solutions • Non-biased Recommendations • Specialized in as-a-service (cloud) options for Clients • Expert in both on-premise and cloud solutions • Vendor neutral focused on cost savings and tech adoption • Support Team: Ed Wu, Eric Ludwig, Haddie Carlson

Our Domain Expertise

Learning Objectives • Review the evolution of Microsoft unified communications • Comprehend the licensing requirements for PSTN calling within Teams • How to determine which options are best for your organization • Demystify Direct Routing and other voice delivery architectures • Compare the market vendors

Agenda 1. Microsoft voice – past & present 2. Understanding Microsoft licensing 3. Calling plan options: 1. Microsoft 2. DIY Direct Routing 3. Managed Direct Routing 4. Operator Connect 5. Embedded Dialer 4. Microsoft Teams PBX features and gaps 5. Choosing the right partner & architecture reviews

Microsoft voice – past & present 2007 VS 2010 2015

Microsoft voice – past & present

Microsoft voice – past & present VS 2019

Microsoft voice – past & present 2020

Microsoft voice – past & present VS 2023

Microsoft Teams growth 380 Million Paid Commercial Microsoft Office Seats Microsoft Teams is cloud- based team collaboration 25 million 270 Million Monthly software that is part of the Office 1 365 suite of applications. The Active Teams Users core capabilities in Microsoft PSTN users Teams include business messaging, calling, video 80 Million Monthly Active 2 meetings and file sharing. by 2026 Teams Voice Users (VOIP + PSTN)1 12 Million Monthly Active Teams Phone 1/2 Users (PSTN) 1 UC Today 2 Cavelll Group

Understanding Microsoft licensing E3 E5 Phone System License $8 (no calling plan) Included (/user/month) $15 – bundled with calling plan Audio Conferencing Free to add-on Included License (/user/month) Calling Plan: Microsoft $8 = domestic (120 pooled minutes) Direct Pricing $12 = domestic (3,000 pooled minutes) (user/month) $24 = international (600 pooled minutes) Estimated Total Cost E3 = $52-68 E5 = $65 – 81 (/user/month) ($36 + $8 phone system + ($57 + $8/24 calling plan) $8/24 calling plan) Microsoft Calling Plans for Teams: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/calling-plans-for-office-365

Bringing PSTN calling to Teams options Ø Buy everything from Microsoft More expensive than UCaaS, program users, self support, 99.9% SLA only with desk phones, and number porting (must be wired and using MS certified phone) Ø DIY Direct Routing Purchase, program & maintain all SBCs, purchase & manage SIP trunks, E911. Administrate via PowerShell Ø Managed Direct Routing (with/without bundled PBX) Monthly fee for managed PSTN access, E911, user programming, and PBX support. Some PowerShell skills needed for implementation and ongoing management Ø Operator Connect Similar to Managed Direct Routing,customer chooses an Operator from Teams Admin Center. Operator owns/maintains PSTN integration to MSFT Cloud. Use Teams Admin Center vs. PowerShell. Analog device limitations Ø Embedded Dialer App download to Teams client, No need for MSFT Phone licensing, call path stays with UCaaS provider, soft phone overlaid into Teams.

Native Microsoft Teams “call center” features Microsoft Teams PBX includes: But it lacks or has limited: Auto-Attendants/IVR (DTMF/Speech) Digital channels (chat, email, SMS) Call queues/agents Outbound dialer Historical reports Real-time reporting Music on hold Advanced supervisor interface Shared voicemail Granular RBAC (role-based-access) Presence-based routing Skills-based routing Microsoft Feature List: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/manage-voice-applications-policies

Microsoft dial plan considerations Limitations with Microsoft Calling Plans: 1. Refer to Microsoft Teams roadmap (for current and future feature releases): https://www.microsoft.com/en- us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters= 2. Limited SLA – refer to page 16 of Online SLA: 1. only 99.9% “good call rate” guarantee when using MSFT Teams certified desk phones over wired ethernet 3. International coverage is still progressing 1. 34 countries as of June 2023 2. Refer to country list here MSFT DIAL PLANS 4. Analog device support requires working knowledge of Direct Routing Finally, who handles technical support?

Direct Routing architecture

Operator Connect What it includes: • Direct peering through Microsoft Azure Peering Service (MAPS) • Shared uptime and support SLA between Operator and Microsoft • Joint back-to-back support model, support-to-support, and engineering-to-engineering • Proactive diagnostic/alerts for trunk setup and health • Order PSTN calling plans from select carriers (Operators) through Teams admin center • Number management/assignment through Teams Admin Center • Virtually no PowerShell required!

Operator Connect vs. Direct Routing Operator Connect Direct Routing Program type Programmatic approach to operator provided calling Not a program. Core functionality. Interconnection Microsoft Azure Peering Service (MAPS) for Voice TLS/SRTP over internet Dedicated portal/APIs for trunk setup and validation Carrier tenant for setting up super trunk Some customer configuration required or delegated specifically Number Provisioning through APIs to facilitate automation None, need customer account or “admin on behalf” for executing provisioning PowerShell commands Teams admin Presence in the portal, customer can select the operator for number None center provisioning / management, or assignment Customer Number visualized in the portal as operator numbers IT admin or operator needs to assign number through PowerShell experience IT admin can assign numbers to users directly from the portal IT admin or operator needs to create/assign voice policies Data sharing CDR/CQD (QoS)/SLA data provided to operators through APIs CDR/CQD data can be retrieved tenant by tenant using delegated Joint CDR for customers reporting access Support / SLA Operator Tier 1 support; operator-Microsoft model in place Operator Tier 1 support Product change management and updates channel Escalations through Microsoft 365 support or premier support Back-to-back SLA in place between Microsoft and operator No SLA in place Management Dedicated management capabilities in operator portal/API (at GA) Delegated admin or Teams RBAC access required from customer Total cost of “As a service” model delivered by the operator SBC owned and operated by the customer or hosted/managed by ownership operator

Embedded dialer

Four options for voice in Teams MANAGED DIRECT MANAGED DIRECT OPERATOR EMBEDDED DIALER ROUTING: ROUTING : MSFT CONNECT BUNDLED PBX PBX • Does not require • MSFT PBX • Full UCaaS Seat • MSFT PBX $8 phone license • Choose voice • Download App into • Adds Missing • Adds Some provider (operator) Features Missing Features from Teams Admin Teams client Center • Call Path native to • Better SLA • Flexible pricing • Administrate via UCaaS nd Teams Admin • 2 soft phone for • Route off platform Center • Call control in pop Teams outages for Teams outages up soft phone • MSFT expertise • MSFT expertise • Similar feature • Disappears after limitations as Microsoft Calling hang up Plans

Microsoft Teams features & gaps Missing/limited features from Teams: *Multilevel Auto-Attendants *Multilevel Hunt Groups *Compliant PSTN Call Recording With Reporting *Skills-based routing Real-time reporting Faxing Operator/Receptionist Console SMS Outbound dialer * = features often overlooked during customer evaluations, but sought-after post-Teams install Microsoft Feature List: https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE4owMT

Four options for voice with Teams MANAGED DIRECT ROUTING: BUNDLED MANAGED DIRECT PBX ROUTING : MSFT PBX OPERATOR CONNECT EMBEDDED DIALER

Managed Direct Routing: Bundled PBX Cloud Phone System Required License / E5 Required: UCaaS Seat ~$10- 20/month Native Teams Dialer Y Access to Third-Party Y UC Client Teams Features Y Augmented by Supplier

Four options for voice with Teams MANAGED DIRECT ROUTING: BUNDLED MANAGED DIRECT PBX ROUTING : MSFT PBX OPERATOR CONNECT EMBEDDED DIALER

Managed Direct Routing: Microsoft PBX Cloud Phone System Required License / E5 Calling Plan Required: ~$5- 10/month Native Teams Dialer Y Access to Third-Party UC Client Teams Features Augmented by Supplier

Four options for voice with Teams MANAGED DIRECT ROUTING: BUNDLED MANAGED DIRECT PBX ROUTING: MSFT PBX OPERATOR CONNECT EMBEDDED DIALER

Operator Connect Cloud Phone System Required License / E5 Calling Plan Required: ~$5- 10/month Native Teams Dialer Y Access to Third-Party UC Client Teams Features Augmented by Supplier

Four options for voice with Teams MANAGED DIRECT ROUTING: BUNDLED MANAGED DIRECT PBX ROUTING: MSFT PBX OPERATOR CONNECT EMBEDDED DIALER

Embedded dialer Cloud Phone System N/A License / E5 UCaaS Seat Required: ~$10- 20/month Native Teams Dialer N Access to Third-Party Y UC Client Teams Features N Augmented by Supplier

Calling plan pricing models 1. Named user – metered 2. Named user – unlimited 3. Concurrent call path 1. Pay per minute 2. Pooled minutes

What is the right Microsoft service? Ø Do you have international locations? In country voice, DID porting, new numbers? Ø What PBX features do you require? MSFT Teams does not allow for analog device support, native SMS, PSTN call recording and more Ø Preferred DR strategy? nd Hard route calls off platform or 2 soft phone to log into? Ø What SLA and support options? MSFT only offers 99.9% SLA on hardwired phones! E-mail only support Ø Do you want to manage the PBX? Are you comfortable with PowerShell? Do you want to handle MACDs?

Key Takeaways 1. Thecore capabilitiesof Microsoft Teamsinclude business messaging, video meetings, file sharing, & calling 2. Clients must purchasean enterprise license and a calling plan for voice-enabled Teams 3. Customers who want to enablePSTN calling in Teams can do so throughMicrosoft directly, through do-it-yourself direct routing, or through a Microsoft voice partner 4. The marketplace for Microsoft partners is growing, with a variety of architectures offered including managed Direct Routing with or without a bundled PBX, via Operator rd Connect, or through an 3 -party embedded dialer

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