95 VIEWPOINT Making the most of Microsoft Teams Utilising the full potential of Teams can help organisations reduce costs, improve efficiency and encourage collaboration Migrating unified communications to Microsoft Teams was a major investment decision for many organisations but many are now reaping the rewards, particularly as new features are being released frequently. However, while Teams offers phenomenal potential for improving efficiency, it’s still up to business leaders to ensure they are deriving optimal value from their investment. When used correctly, Teams eliminates the need for other legacy voice services and tools outside of the cloud, which could be draining business budgets with expensive equipment and maintenance requirements. However, organisations that aren’t taking advantage of the full migration to cloud-based voice calls that Teams supports could be missing out on significant cost savings. For example, Resonate recently moved a large food manufacturer to Teams Voice, reducing its legacy infrastructure and saving over 30 per cent in telephone operating costs per year. The benefits of the platform go beyond cost savings alone though. In 2019, Microsoft and Forrester Research’s The Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Teams study found that some of the other benefits of using Teams for collaboration and communication include improved meeting efficiency of up to four hours per week, faster decision-making and reduced travel. The study also found that Teams can also increase worker satisfaction and reduce attrition rates by 0.4 per cent. Organisations should consider implementing a programme to ensure employees can leverage Teams effectively and take advantage of frequent feature updates as they emerge, in order to continually boost efficiency. Recently, Resonate helped a client set up and run a programme that successfully helped 850 employees to champion using Teams to improve collaboration. Results included a 25 per cent reduction in email usage and a 250 per cent increase in Microsoft SharePoint usage. The implementation of Microsoft Teams isn’t a ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ project and organisations may find that managing their solution through the Teams Admin Centre is cumbersome. However, Resonate’s Teams Voice Management solution, which was developed using Microsoft Power Platform, offers organisations a way to fully automate and manage Teams Voice, overcome these problems and improve the return on investment. With the move to Teams being well underway for most organisations at this point, now is the right time for them to review its performance and ensure it is working to its full potential. Am Bhooi is chief technology officer at Resonate AM BHOOI: RESONATE “Teams eliminates the need for other legacy voice services and tools outside of the cloud” IN FOCUS: TEAMS
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