Client: LIW
Industry : Leadership Training
IT Support : Microsoft Teams

>>The Introduction<<

Founded in Sydney, Australia in 1995, LIW is a global leadership consulting company with a clear purpose: to democratise leadership. They have always focused on helping clients to distribute leadership. That means sharing a common language to get things done. They have achieved this through leadership consulting and leadership development and in recent years have transformed by harnessing technology to put leadership into the hands of everyone through digital team acceleration tool, Squadify .

>>The Challenge<<

Moving to a flexible Cloud IP PBX System.

LIW installed a conventional IP PBX phone solution in 2015, consisting of a handset for each desk running hardware linking to a Cloud IP PBX. At the time, this solution was relatively new and put them ahead of the game with conventional phone PABX solutions being phased out.

2020 saw an unprecedented change in work practises, and the sudden shift to working from home posed significant problems for this solution. Due to users’ limited ability to take handsets home, LIW diverted all calls to a single mobile phone. This approach introduced an extra layer of difficulty when interfacing with clients.

Also, LIW’s existing phone and internet services had ongoing cost even when no one is in the office to use it.

LIW’s Senior manager brought the problem to ITeam Consulting to review the situation and costs and developed a solution to address both

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>>The solution<<

Microsoft Teams with Voice

ITeam proposed using Microsoft Teams Voice with Cloud Connect to provide a Unified Communications (UC) solution. This Cost-effective solution unlocks the full value of Office 365 by using Microsoft Teams as the phone system. Cloud Connect can quickly scale alongside Microsoft Teams, allowing existing local numbers and inbound services, and working across all devices and locations.

LIW was already familiar with and confident in Microsoft Teams. Teams was already in use by LIW for its interoffice communication which made the transition to Teams Voice a logical solution as they were familiar with the interface and base functionality. Microsoft’s many years of work into Skype for Business has been implemented into Microsoft Teams, giving the experience a rich feature set. Teams also includes features such as call queues, voice mail, conference calls, and call holding and parking, to name a few.

Microsoft Teams ditches the conventional IP phone model of the handset and integrates straight to the computer. While we recommend a headset for regular use, Teams can use the integrated microphone and speaker connected to the computer. Additionally, the Teams mobile app allows mobile phones and tablets similar calling functionality as the desktop experience.

ITeam coordinated the transition to Teams, making the change as seamless as possible by overseeing the cutovers with third parties and ensuring everything moved smoothly.

ITeam selected MNF Enterprise (MNFE) to provide the interface between the public switched telephone network (PSTN) links and the Microsoft Team Voice system. MNFE allowed LIW to port their existing numbers for use within the Microsoft Teams Voice solution. MNF Enterprise provides the Direct Route SIP cloud infrastructure to enable the voice connections to Microsoft Teams and the users’ ability to have voice services wherever they have an internet connection.

MNF Enterprise owns their voice network independent of the major carriers and other legacy networks which means they can deliver low latency, high availability enterprise calling with unmatched multi-regional coverage and true cloud scalability. Born in the cloud, MNF Enterprise is a future-forward voice carrier helping enterprise and government move to the future of work. Part of the global MNF Group and trusted partner of Microsoft and Cisco, MNF Enterprise powers cloud collaboration throughout Australia and New Zealand.

>>Customer Benefit<<

Flexible in-office and mobile voice solution at low cost

Microsoft Teams Voice has provided LIW with a flexible in-office and mobile voice solution at the cost of roughly 40% less than their previous PBX solution.

LIW can get the same use of their phone service whether they are at the office, at home, or travelling. There is no difference in the usability of the service wherever the employees are. Additionally, employees can access Teams Voice from any mobile device with the Teams app and enjoy the same experience.

Keeping functions such as phone calls, video meetings, file sharing and chat all in the one program make it easy to stay up-to-date and informed on what is going on. Sharing and collaborating on files is simple. Integrating the phone systems with all the functions of Teams creates a new collaborative experience for LIW.

The frequency of updates to Teams by Microsoft means that new features and updates are being rolled out all the time with a platform to suggest changes. As a Microsoft product, Teams has excellent integration with the Operating System and the whole office suite of programs. A recent example is the addition of noise suppression into the desktop client, which analyses and cuts out background noise from the call to provide clearer audio to the recipient.

Unify and future proof your communications platform with Microsoft Teams allowing you to connect, communicate and collaborate across multiple devices, anywhere and anytime. Microsoft is continuously working on a roadmap to expand the Teams collaboration platform to provide new and exciting features to enhance productivity.

As part of the Microsoft 365 and Office 365 services, Microsoft Teams follows all the security best practices and procedures such as service-level security through defence-in-depth, customer controls within the service, security hardening, and operational best practices. Network communications in Teams are encrypted by default. All Teams data is protected on the network by requiring all servers to use certificates and using OAUTH, TLS, and Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP).

Microsoft Teams Voice has provided LIW with a cost-effective solution to an IP phone system that has the flexibility to keep up with the user’s demands in a secure ever-changing work environment.

Do you need assistance moving to a Cloud IP PBX Solution?

ITeam Consulting offers IT solutions designed to give business owners and managers peace of mind, you can ‘sleep easy’ knowing that your IT department is working around the clock, keeping the business infrastructure running. No surprises.

Our corporate IT services include :

IT Project Management
At ITeam, we have delivered many successful projects to our clients for over 19 years. A key difference with us is that the Solutions Architect, that envisions and designs your solution is also involved with the Project Manager to ensure we deliver what was agreed. This ensures total transparency and delivery throughout the process, as opposed to other IT providers who simply make a sale then hand-off to the team that implements it.

Managed IT Services
Managed services, outsourced IT, whatever you want to call it, we package solutions to meet your needs and exceed your expectations. Our Managed IT Services either complement your internal specialists or can deliver your total IT Services at a lower cost than if you had your own dedicated IT staff. You will have access to a team of specialists with a broad range of skills and experience, who keep up to date with the latest features and techniques to ensure your systems are providing increased benefit to your staff.

IT Procurement Services
ITeam can manage the full life cycle of your IT assets. Your IT assets are not just the physical devices you can touch, they also include maintenance or service agreements, warranties, domain names, web hosting and many more categories. Don’t ever miss renewing something critical to your business. We track all types of items in our system, get automated reminders for expiry and can report on the status or pending renewals at any time.

IT System and Computer Security
ITeam Consulting implements security solutions to protect your business from threats that are not just from hackers. Breaches to your environment are more likely to occur through users being tricked via email or unknowingly accessing compromised infected websites.

Computer and IT Consultancy
As the size and nature of your business changes, so will the needs of your IT systems. Our Consulting Services will architect solutions whether your systems are on-premise, in a data-centre or in the cloud.

Computer and IT Support
We will deal with your day to day IT support, while also providing long-term strategic input into your IT requirements. We monitor systems remotely to ensure that everything is working correctly and when issues are detected, we make sure they are fixed before they turn into problems.

More information

If you already have comfort with your current IT Services partner, then congratulations! Otherwise, contact us to arrange for a no-obligation review of your environment. We offer 24/7 computer support and after hours emergency assistance.

Telephone : 1300 180 000
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