Microsoft Teams started life as a collaborative tool implemented into the Office 365 environment. The solution is built on the existing success of Microsoft tools like Skype for Business, as well as the underlying Office ecosystem featuring solutions like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. 

Today, Teams provides businesses with an all-in-one environment for communication, productivity, and collaboration. Staff members can connect through video, voice, and messaging, share documents in a cloud environment, and work together on files in real time. 

However, while Microsoft can offer significant functionality as a standalone platform, where it really shines is in its ability to connect with other tools and platforms. The open environment means businesses can easily integrate other tools for communications, contact centre management, analytics, and efficiency. Here’s how to integrate other platforms with Teams.

Connecting Microsoft Teams to Other Platforms: Your Options

Teams’ open ecosystem is one of the main reasons it has become the go-to collaborative tool for more than 250 million monthly active users. Not only does Teams naturally integrate with the rest of the Microsoft Office environment, but it also allows companies to integrate the tools they already use into their productivity hub. 

There are a few ways business leaders can connect Microsoft Teams with other platforms, depending on their goals. Here are some of the top options. 

Step 1: Enhance Communications with Direct Routing

One of the easiest and most popular ways to connect Microsoft Teams to another platform in the technology stack is through direct routing. This solution was introduced by Teams to allow businesses to bring their existing communication providers into Teams without relying on Microsoft Calling plans. Through direct routing, companies can leverage virtually any communication vendor in Teams. 

Direct routing gives companies more freedom to continue working with their existing PSTN and communication providers while still leveraging the benefits of Teams. The strategy involves using Session Border Controllers and the Microsoft “PowerShell” environment to route calls through Teams and align various communication apps. 

With direct routing, companies can even access a range of advanced features, such as auto attendants, bots, and compliant recording tools within Microsoft Teams. 

Step 2: Simplify UC with Operator Connect

While Direct Routing is a popular option for companies hoping to bring their own communications platform into Teams, it has some issues. For instance, not every business has the experience or knowledge to navigate PowerShell on a regular basis. Leveraging direct routing does require some technical knowledge, though some vendors can help with this strategy. 

Operator Connect is an alternative to direct routing, which allows business leaders to implement communication tools into Microsoft Teams through a managed service solution. With Operator Connect, users gain a simplified admin environment where they can manage all of their communications tools easily within Teams, without excessive reliance on PowerShell.

The Operator Connect environment already has a number of reputable vendors offering support to companies all over the world. 

Step 3: Explore the AppSource Market

Microsoft’s AppSource market is one of the most flexible and valuable tools for businesses with a need to combine various apps, tools, and platforms. The marketplace is home to dozens of useful platform integrations. Companies can implement everything from project management and service ticketing tools to video conferencing and meeting apps in the same space. 

With Microsoft AppSource, any business employee can add new functionality to Teams at the click of a button. Teams also make it easy to leverage integrations in various different ways. For instance, companies can access:

  • Tabs: Tab integration in Microsoft Teams brings an entire service or platform into Teams. Users simply click on a tab to unlock the features they need within a Teams channel. For instance, this could be useful when bringing Kanban boards or development processes into Teams from another application.
  • Cards: Card integration makes it easy to implement various asynchronous connections to other tools through webhooks. For instance, an integration with Salesforce could allow employees to bring cards featuring useful CRM information into a Teams environment.
  • Bots: Microsoft’s Bot framework allows business users to interact with other apps through automated bot systems. Users can ask questions and make requests, and bots will pull relevant information from other applications into the Teams channel.

Step 4: Customise Further with the Power Platform

Though Microsoft offers a lot of fantastic integrations and connections with pre-existing tools through AppSource, direct routing, and Operator Connect, some companies may need even more customisation. Microsoft’s “Power Platform”, which integrates directly with Microsoft Teams, allows companies access to a low-code environment for automation and connections. 

Companies can build their own bots with connections to external platforms or tools, so it’s easy to draw information from anywhere in the technology ecosystem into Teams. Business leaders could even build bots to assist with customer service and collaboration. 

Power Platform has its own system for building apps and integrations from scratch, an automation environment for saving employees crucial time, and a virtual agent builder. Although this technology can require some extra technical knowledge, it’s a great way to take integrations to the next level.

Step 5: Work With Leading Vendors

Finally, for companies who want to integrate more of their Microsoft environment with a range of UC, contact centre, and productivity platforms, it can be helpful to seek professional assistance. Many of the top UCaaS and CCaaS leaders on the market now offer packages specifically catering to companies with a multi-vendor ecosystem. 

Working with the right vendor can make it easier to align Microsoft Teams with everything from contact centre tools to analytics and reporting features. Plus, business leaders can often access specialist assistance with creating new integrations and connections from market leaders. 

Microsoft’s partner program attracts companies from all environments, including leading analytics brands, CCaaS vendors, and UC organisations. Working with one of these partners to create a custom strategy for Microsoft Teams allows companies to reduce the strain on their IT experts. 

 

 



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