Don’t go Soft: The Case for Teams Direct Routing
Now more than ever, effective collaboration and communication are the keys to success. Throughout 2020, we saw a widespread shift in how we interact with each other, both in and out of work, and how we stay connected to our colleagues and customers. Just consider the following:
- 97% of employees surveyed believe quality of communication has an impact on everyday tasks[1]
- 28% of employees surveyed cite poor communication as the primary cause of failing to deliver a project within its intended timeframe[2]
- Effective communication leads to improvements in productivity of as much as 25% [3]
With the distributed workforce and BYOD models now firmly established, and customers expecting an increasingly wide range of channels to be available to them, effective communication is more of a challenge than ever - one that should not be underestimated. It's no exaggeration that the world of work has changed forever over the course of just a year, which means organisations at all levels can't afford to let themselves become complacent now their new collaboration platforms are largely in place.
Now is the perfect time to rethink the way we communicate, utilising the latest tools available to us in a way that supports long-term, sustainable growth, ongoing technological innovation, and - of course - exceptional customer experiences.
[1] https://www.cmswire.com/cms/social-business/4-trends-in-workplace-communication-infographic-027762.php [2] https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/communication-affects-productivity-statistics-27004.html [3] https://blog.enplug.com/7-surprising-internal-communications-stats
One interface to rule them all
It's simple, in theory…
With multiple channels of communication now used on a daily basis by our colleagues, customers and end users, consolidation is essential. More platforms to manage not only presents a drain on IT teams' time and resources but limits the potential ROI and forces staff to constantly bounce between different platforms, affecting their ability to deliver a high-quality customer experience. We therefore need to start making these various platforms accessible through a single interface, where teams have everything they need just a click away - before, during and after each point of contact.
But here's the big question: what would such a solution look like in practice?
It was contemplating this that led the Exponential-e team to arrive at our Direct Routing for Microsoft Teams solution. As a Microsoft Premier Partner, we're familiar with the numerous advantages Teams offers, and how deeply many organisations have come to rely on it, particularly throughout the past year of remote working.
However, having worked closely with organisations across a wide range of sectors, we're convinced that there's no such thing as a universally perfect solution. Organisations' requirements in terms of functionality, performance, security, and compliance are simply too diverse for that to be practical. For example, certain sectors have highly specific legal obligations regarding how conversations are recorded and stored, which an off-the-shelf Teams solution would struggle to fulfil. As a result, organisations are left dependant on the product roadmap for their preferred communications platform - unacceptable in an era where flexibility, agility, and operational resilience are of the essence.
That's where we come in…
A bespoke approach to an industry-standard solution - the best of both worlds
Our Teams Direct Routing solution offers all the familiar advantages of Microsoft Teams, delivered as a managed service, combined with the ability to integrate a range of bespoke solutions, raising it from a tried-and-true internal communications platform to the fulcrum of your wider customer contact strategy.
With Exponential-e managing the deployment of a range of telephony, contact centre, call recording and analytics solutions, you can tailor Teams to your specific requirements, confident that the deployment will be quick and stress-free, and that all applicable compliance requirements will be fulfilled. These solutions are carefully selected by our Microsoft product specialists and intelligently integrated with your existing Teams solution, ensuring your communications infrastructure can adapt to your organisation's changing requirements with minimal disruption and full cost control.
In this way, you can enjoy the best of both worlds: a proven, future-proof solution that you are already comfortable using, combined with the freedom to integrate additional tools on an as-needed basis, powered by an enterprise-class, business-only network, and supported by our own 24/7 NOC, ensuring your critical data remains secure in an ever more complex threat landscape.
And that means your teams are free to continue delivering new innovations and that all-important customer service!
Adapt, overcome, innovate
It's a combination of technology, processes and partnerships that's already yielded great things as we prepare ourselves for whatever 2021 may hold, and we're looking forward to seeing how our teams and customers will continue to transform the way we communicate. If you're already hungry for more, we invite you to watch the recording our recent webinar, Teams Calling: Migrate & Monetise with Exponential-e, where our experts delved deep into the possibilities offered by Direct Routing, and offered plenty of practical tips on developing a Teams platform that grows with you.
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