The global shift to remote work during the pandemic has illustrated both the value and the shortcomings of digital communications platforms. It’s hard to imagine how companies could have remained operational without access to multiple online communication channels. At the same time, many remote workers have found that all those disparate applications undermined their productivity and increased their anxiety.
A seemingly unending stream of video chats, emails, phone calls, text messages and file-sharing requests have taken their toll on remote workers. About 80 percent say they find it hard to “shut off” in the evenings, according to one recent survey. Even before the pandemic, 70 percent of remote workers said their volume of daily communications made it difficult to get their work done.
To eliminate communication overload and improve productivity, organizations need a single platform that integrates all their communication channels. Mitel and Microsoft are taking steps to provide just such a solution.
The companies recently announced the deep integration of the Microsoft Teams collaboration platform across Mitel’s portfolio of unified communications and contact center products, creating a seamless communication experience for remote teams, colleagues and customers. With this integration, Mitel customers can access advanced communication features and a host of third-party business applications directly within the Teams application.
Combining workspace chat, video conferencing, screen sharing, file sharing and workflow optimization in single platform, Teams experienced explosive growth during the pandemic. It reached 115 million daily active users in late 2020, up from about 20 million at the start of the year.
Linking a Teams account with a Mitel call control platform puts all the Teams collaboration features along with Mitel’s advanced telephony, conferencing and contact center functions at your fingertips.
Key capabilities enabled by Mitel for Microsoft Teams include:
Make phone calls within Teams.
You can connect your existing Mitel telephony infrastructure to Teams with no additional hardware, allowing you to combine internal collaboration with external calls. Users can make and receive calls from within the Teams environment from any location on any device using web or app dialers. All existing numbers, routing and call center functionality remains configured in your Mitel phone system.
Easily shift from chat to voice or video.
With softphone functionality, users in a Teams chat conversation can easily use a hotkey or web extension to shift to a voice call. A bot application called Mitel Assistant further allows users to quickly launch a one-to-one or group video chat within Teams using the MiTeam Meeting app. Mitel Assistant is available through the Teams app store.
Share files seamlessly.
>Mitel Assistant also allows users to securely access, share and collaborate on files from within the Teams environment. Automatic sync and version history tracking ensure everyone is working from the same version.
Improve the customer experience.
Integration with the MiVoice Connect Contact Center allows users to speak to customers, access call queues, provide omnichannel routing and access customer relations management (CRM) systems from within Teams.
Remote work is here to stay. Even after the health crisis has been mitigated, most organizations plan to continue to support work-from-home options. An integrated communications platform will be essential for ensuring the efficiency and productivity of remote workers. Call us to learn more about using Mitel for Microsoft Teams to enhance your remote operations.