A major change is coming to the way we communicate and collaborate in the UK, as Openreach is shutting down the UK’s PSTN service by 2025. This means that landlines, as we know them, will cease to exist as operators decommission legacy fixed network assets due to reduced subscriber numbers and rising operational costs, as well as an increasing focus on sustainability.
This will be a major transition for businesses across the UK as they will be forced to evolve their communication infrastructure, moving to a digital solution from analogue. If you haven’t already, now would be a great time to speak with your customers about getting their plans in place ahead of the decommissioning of the PSTN service.
One solution that should be at the top of your agenda for discussions with your client is Microsoft Teams and in particular, Teams Phone and Teams Rooms. Together, these services can revolutionise your customers’ communication and collaboration efforts.
What is Teams Phone?
Teams Phone is an add-on for Microsoft Teams which enables voice or video calls to be made over PSTN and crucially an internet connection. Importantly, Teams Phone offers many of the same key features available through legacy phone lines, including the ability to make and receive calls to and from landlines and mobile phones. Teams Phone also has common features such as hold, blind and safe transfers, and reporting features for professionals who manage calling solutions.
Teams Phone can ensure your customers don’t miss a beat as they make the move from analogue to digital phones, including the helpful ability to carry across their phone number and existing calling plan.
Teams Phone conveniently places an internet-enabled digital calling solution right within Microsoft Teams, uniting all of your communication tools in one familiar place.
Teams Phone is included in Microsoft 365 E5.
What is Teams Rooms?
Another service from Microsoft is Teams Rooms, which can pair perfectly with Teams Phone, further enhancing your customers’ communication abilities. This is a solution that merges in-person and digital collaboration, empowering organisations to host meaningful and productive meetings regardless of location.
In terms of how it does this, Teams Rooms makes use of software and hardware, allowing for impressive scalability depending on a business’ size and requirements.
This can vary from wireless sharing and shared digital canvases for smaller businesses to digitally enabled meeting environments for larger businesses. With features including intelligent speaker and camera support with live transcripts and speaker identification, remote pan-tilt-zoom camera controls and many more options.
The advantage of this is that for businesses with hybrid work environments, Teams Rooms can bridge the gap between in-person and remote employees, helping those working remotely to feel as though they are in the meeting room and able to make a real contribution.
Take the opportunity to discuss overhauling your customers’ communication environments during conversations about the PSTN shut off.
Teams Rooms is available in basic and pro plans.
The PSTN shut off could prove to be a stressful time for many businesses as they look for digital alternatives to such a crucial part of their business. But rather than being an obstacle, your customers should view it as an opportunity to not only replace their existing solution, but modernise with a solution that offers the scalability to grow with them.
But this is just a brief overview of each of these solutions. For a more in depth view of how these solutions can combine to overhaul your customers’ communication and collaboration efforts, sign up for our webinar, ‘A Guide to Teams Phone & Teams Rooms: Mastering Modern Communications’ on 6th December, at 4:00 pm GMT. Can’t make this date and time? Sign up and you’ll get immediate access to the recording.
In this webinar, our Microsoft Modern Work Solution Specialist, Adam Blackwell, will delve into the features and benefits of Teams Phone and Teams Rooms.
