Whether a business has teams splitting time between home and office or employees working from co-working spaces, cafes, or halfway across the world, there is one non-negotiable that almost every organization can agree on - People need to stay connected in a way that works for them AND their company.
In the era of modern communications, we are no longer restricted by location or hardware, and that smart infrastructures are being developed in new and exciting ways. But you have to be sure that the solutions you provide are secure, compliant, and most of all futureproof. This is where Direct Routing steps in.
If you’ve been exploring how to make Microsoft Teams truly work for your organisation, you've probably heard about Direct Routing already and how it has become the easiest way to grow alongside Microsoft Teams, especially if targeting hybrid work models is part of your roadmap.
So let’s dig into how Direct Routing can be used as a strategic move for you that helps your customer’s businesses deliver optimized communication experiences, no matter where their people are.
Unlike Microsoft calling plans, Direct Routing allows you to continue deploying your services to Teams-forward orgs in the best way possible. And as you’re not being cut out of the equation, this in turn empowers you to turn Teams into a value-add rather than a competitor in the telco space.
But how does Direct Routing and Teams calling in general tackle the issues that are being created with the rise of trying to communicate in complex hybrid structures?
When offices emptied out in 2020, many businesses rushed to patch together remote work setups. And now, five years later, as the hybrid work model has evolved, so has the reality of working outside of a company HQ and all of the complexities that come with it.
Employees expect as much flexibility as possible when it comes to not only the places they can work but also the devices they can work from. On top of this they also want the ability to pop into the office, grab a desk and still have access to the same tools and calling capabilities that they’d have everywhere else.
In essence, before Direct Routing it was a juggling act for organizations who wanted to communicate and collaborate effectively -Balancing inconsistent communication experiences, managing hardware, and dealing with all the complexities of maintaining a voice service whilst growing a sense of team cohesion. Direct Routing helps to smooth out the entire communications experience from start to finish.
Whether the people inside of your customer organizations are calling from a kitchen table or a hot-desk in HQ, Direct Routing ensures their communication tools stay consistent. They can place and receive business calls directly from Teams using the same number, the same contact lists and the same features, all provided by you with no fiddling around in cross-launched apps or hardware. This is huge for hybrid workers for a number of reasons:
It’s easy to assume in an increasingly Teams-first, cloud-based world that desk-phones are outdated. But we know that a lot of your customers may still rely on desk-phones as a core part of there setup (some more than others depending on where you are in the world).
You’ll be pleased to know then that, with some help from us, you can build a Direct Routing solution that doesn’t force your customers to pick sides. You can easily give your market an integrated voice option that boosts them up to the cloud and gets them calling in Microsoft Teams without the need for them to wave goodbye to their existing setups.
With Direct Routing, if you’re catering to businesses running that hybrid model, you don’t need to leave out specialist verticals or those that include some in-office staff who would prefer traditional handsets.
This kind of flexibility is what makes hybrid work.
One of the often-overlooked benefits of Direct Routing is how it slots in with the other functions that make a modern business tick. In fact, when calling is embedded directly into Teams, its not just the way in which a business relies on voice that changes.
Of course, efficiency is improved, in fact its improved more than you’d expect.
But the real focus is on how plugging your voice services into Teams lets you also lean on the power of the Microsoft suite of products. With an integrated voice solution you can let Microsoft fill in the gaps that you don’t offer – Don’t have the space on your roadmap to spin up a competitive AI solution? Don’t worry about it, a business can use your voice alongside CoPilot in Teams. Don’t have auto-attendant or call queue capabilities? That comes as standard with any Teams Phone license.
Direct Routing ties everything together by making external calls just as easy as internal ones. You don’t have to sell the platform as there’s no switching apps, no delays, no confusion over who’s on what system. Everyone, whether in the office, remote or hybrid, can communicate, collaborate and share in the same digital space.
Hybrid workforces tend to be some of the most dynamic out there. People move, teams grow, contractors come and go. By providing a Direct Routing solution you allow your audience to scale up or down as they please. Nobody is stuck paying for licenses use and you can be as flexible as you like for your customers. Even geographical changes are no longer an issue as you’re using Teams as an endpoint.
With our Direct Routing integration Dstny Call2Teams you’re able to provide this at scale because we make everything as easy as possible - SIP registration, PowerShell expertise, provisioning, support and development, the list goes on. We do all of the hard work so that you can focus on what you need to – Growing as a provider and remaining agile without being bogged down.
While Direct Routing may appear to be a technical feature, its value extends far beyond infrastructure. It is a critical component in enabling a truly effective hybrid communication strategy, one that ensures continuity, flexibility and a seamless experience across home, office, and remote environments.
It supports desk sharing, integrates with existing telephony and brings external calling fully into the Microsoft Teams ecosystem, without compromise. For organisations still relying on legacy systems or navigating a mix of in-office and remote workforces, this level of integration is essential, and you can be the one to empower them.
Want to start giving your customers what they want by using Microsoft Teams calling to your advantage? Get in touch or book a demo today.
