8x8 brings enterprise telephony to Microsoft Teams

8x8 has announced it has added Voice for Microsoft Teams with the intention of enabling enterprise cloud telephony for global organisations looking to work from anywhere.

The company states that 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams delivers an enterprise class global voice solution for IT leaders that is simple to deliver and keeps the Microsoft Teams experience unchanged for end users.

The out of the box Microsoft Teams version doesn't include a reliable global voice solution, 8x8 states.

8x8 chief product officer Dejan Deklich says, "This not only increases the implementation and administration challenges for IT, but also requires employees to use a different app for calls.

"We are dedicated to ensuring organisations meet their work-from-anywhere directives to increase responsiveness and resilience, while allowing employees to stay productive and effective in a mobile first world.

"8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams is the first truly global cloud telephony solution that seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Teams, and is the best solution on the market today, bar none.

8x8 is looking to aid organisatsions adopting Microsoft Teams for all employee collaboration requirements, inclusive of voice communications, but require advanced enterprise telephony features, contact centre capabilities, and global support and reliability.

8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams offers Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) connectivity, and leverages 8x8's global infrastructure including regional, Microsoft-certified Session Border Controllers (SBC) across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

The solution includes full-featured, centralised user management interface to synchronise Microsoft Teams users on the 8x8 telephony platform across the organisation with a single click.

It also offers global footprint with full PSTN support in 38 countries, unlimited calling plans to up to 47 countries, and direct inward dial (DID) and toll free numbers in more than 120 countries.

Users also have out of the box integration with third-party business applications, such as Salesforce, Zendesk, NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics 365, to automatically log all calls with the ability to attach details, recordings and speech analytics to any customer record.

Native contact centre support enables cross-functional collaboration between agents and functional area experts on Microsoft Teams apps.

Finally, users also receive comprehensive reporting and analytics, including Speech Analytics and Quality Management, across all PSTN calls using the 8x8 communications platform.

Ingram Micro director of Cloud Portfolio Craig Weir says, "Ingram Micro is the largest distributor of Microsoft solutions worldwide with a vast network of partners who are trusted by organisations of all sizes to help solve their complex IT requirements and to drive business forward.

"By working closely with 8x8, our partners can now equip customers with industry-leading enterprise telephony that is seamlessly integrated with Microsoft Teams. We're excited by the opportunities that 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams present for our partners.