After years of talking about digital transformation, it’s finally a reality. Microsoft Teams has fundamentally changed the way organizations connect, collaborate, and communicate. While Microsoft continues to expand the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) connectivity in Teams with Direct Routing, Teams Calling Plans, Operator Connect, and Teams Phone Mobile, there’s actually another option.

Like In-N-Out Burger’s “Animal Style” or Starbucks’ secret menu, Direct Routing as a Service is the hidden menu option—one that’s highly flexible and in demand for those in the know.

What is Direct Routing as a Service?

Let’s take a moment to define this off-menu item. Direct Routing as a Service is a cloud-based telephony system that uses supported Session Border Controllers (SBCs) to connect the Microsoft Teams Phone System with a PSTN provider. In simpler terms, Direct Routing as a Service can enable Teams users to make or receive external calls with a phone number in Microsoft Teams, just like every other option on the menu.

While Direct Routing as a Service gets logically categorized as a variant of Direct Routing, the simplicity and flexibility of the offering depends entirely on the provider.

What are the benefits of Direct Routing as a Service?

  • Flexibility. Direct Routing is the most flexible option since it allows virtually any provider to offer telephony in Microsoft Teams. But unlike on-premises Direct Routing, Direct Routing as a Service can alleviate many of the hidden do-it-yourself (DIY) costs.
  • Single solution. When running this as a service, a complete solution is provided in a single package instead of unpredictable management and maintenance costs.
  • Additional capabilities. Direct Routing as a Service expands the value proposition from just what is the per-minute or per-month charge, to what additional services, features, benefits, and value can be provided. If the provider is a UCaaS leader, this could include capabilities to route calls more intelligently, allow for automated compliance recording, integrate business messaging options such as SMS/MMS, eFax, or even contact center-like functionality such as barge/monitor/whisper for supervisors to improve the customer experience. It could also enable legacy hardware support and combine it with a full cloud contact center solution.
  • Global reach. Depending on the vendor, they could include more flexible and cost-effective calling plans to cover a larger global footprint.
  • Cost savings. If global coverage is a requirement, this could then reduce the number of additional vendors to PSTN-enable employees around the world. With that vendor consolidation comes a reduction in contracts, negotiations, support channels, admin portals, and management time. While these items do not necessarily have fixed costs, they can take a toll on an organization’s productivity for managing each additional vendor.
  • Business continuity. Since Direct Routing as a Service has more flexibility, some vendors can construct their connection with a secondary PBX, so if something unfortunate were to happen, those employees with mission-critical communication requirements could potentially keep moving the business forward and minimize the negative impact.

Why is Direct Routing as a Service on the hidden menu?

Direct Routing as a Service is rarely acknowledged as a PSTN option for Teams and, notes the Cavell Group 2023 Microsoft Report for Service Providers, is frequently grouped with on-premises Direct Routing in order to focus consideration on alternatives that grant Microsoft more direct control and limits on the user experience.

To be clear, Direct Routing as a Service uses the same foundation as Direct Routing (on the menu), except the provider assumes the DIY burden from the customer, so it can provide many of the same benefits, if not more than many of the alternatives.

While some may have reasons for wanting to give away control over the user experience, that comes at the cost of functionality and flexibility as we frequently hear from our customers.

Why 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams?

  • Market leader. In a world where businesses are looking for how to do more with less, having a UCaaS leader with truly global coverage, a strong and financially-backed reliable track record, additional value-added capabilities, cost-effective calling options, and an easy deployment model just makes sense. As an example, 8x8 has customers that have local requirements in many global markets. For a multinational organization requiring 35 locations, they have many options for providing telephony into Microsoft Teams, but it would require a piecemeal approach to vendor selection, management, configuration, and support. For these specific geographies, this customer would need to find at least six different providers and mix the integration methods in order to telephony enable all of their employees and locations. With 8x8, they have found one additional vendor to integrate into their Microsoft 365 ecosystem and light up external communications. The visual below represents this customer scenario.
8x8_for_Microsoft_Teams_-_Pitch_Deck_Final.png
  • Microsoft Teams certified contact center solution. Add in a solution-certified cloud contact center, and you now have another way to reduce the overhead of vendor management and also streamline communications by bridging experts with agents to better serve the entire organization. Cavell Group's Microsoft Teams Enterprise Insights Report 2022 found that 38% of businesses [are] integrating Teams, to some extent, into their contact center. As of this writing, 8x8 is one of only two solution certified Contact Center providers that also offers telephony services in Microsoft Teams on the same communications network.
  • Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader. 8x8 is uniquely positioned in the market as the only 11-time Gartner UCaaS Magic Quadrant Leader that has been recognized eight times in the Gartner CCaaS Magic Quadrant with a contact center solution certified for Microsoft Teams.
  • Proven ROI. Microsoft recently commissioned The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Teams Phone that surveyed Enterprise and SMB customers to quantify the return on investment from implementing integrated telephony in Microsoft Teams. Both the composite model organizations for Enterprise and SMB surpassed a 140% three-year ROI and a payback period of less than six months. While the enterprise composite model had the organization select a third-party Teams Phone PSTN connectivity option (potentially 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams?), the SMB composite model selected a Microsoft Teams Calling plan. Yes, Teams Calling Plans may be easy, but that also comes at a significantly higher price. Providers like 8x8 are able to offer superior service at a lower cost than those used in both models of this study, meaning there’s an opportunity for even greater ROI and a lower total cost of ownership with 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams.
  • Turnkey integration. 8x8 has a track record of providing a trusted solution with a turnkey integration into Microsoft Teams that can help optimize an organization’s total cost of ownership by improving the user experience for reliable customer communications.

As a leading UCaaS and CCaaS provider, 8x8 makes Direct Routing in Microsoft Teams easy to deploy, simple to use, and incredibly flexible to each customer’s unique needs. 8x8 also can add additional value through a Solution certified for Microsoft Teams cloud contact center and advanced telephony capabilities that can help organizations prioritize seamless customer communications experiences. It’s a hidden menu option worth any IT leader’s time to learn more about. Get more information on 8x8 for Microsoft Teams here.