Communicate Effectively with MS Teams for Education

At this year’s Annual ECNO (the Educational Computing Network of Ontario) Conference, Telecom Metric Inc (TMI)’s Loan Duong took the time to speak about the strengths, challenges, and opportunities facing education-based organizations as the demand for higher-quality, lower-cost solutions increases. Microsoft Teams, a Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) software application native to the Microsoft 365 Suite, is currently being used by organizations across numerous industries and countries around the world. A Unified Communications tool to manage team messages, calls, and more, MS Teams is affordable, safe, and secure, but the true value of this application comes with the integration of your organization’s existing phone system. While Microsoft does offer options to integrate your organization’s phone system with Teams, the calling plans are limited, expensive, and inflexible, with support limited to self-serve and FAQ based assistance, all-user licencing and calling plans, Office 365-specific hardware and limited reporting. MS Teams calling plans also have extremely limited 911 calling capabilities, as access to your local PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point or 911 call centre) is only available in the USA.

By using a Direct Routing from a Canadian Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) Trunk provider like Telecom Metric Inc., educational institutions and school boards can more custom-design MS Teams application to their resource, budget, or user-based needs while ensuring the safety and security of their critical organizational and student information. Unlike Microsoft, Canadian SIP providers create access to your local Canadian (or international) PSAP per CRTC regulations. Callers must verify their location with a government regulated third party call centre prior to being sent to the local PSAP (TMI meets all CRTC regulations). Businesses requiring 911 calling capabilities in Canada must also comply with Federal and Provincial data privacy regulations. If you’re looking to integrate your educational institution or school board’s existing phone systems with Microsoft Teams, you can choose to use calling plans directly from Microsoft or have your organization set up with Direct Routing from a Trunk provider like Telecom Metric. Telecom Metric Inc is 100% Canadian Owned and Operated, meaning that all of our data call centres and offices are located in Canada, meaning that all solutions are fully compliant with Federal and Provincial privacy laws. Using enhanced voice and data encryption, Telecom Metric focuses on security by providing 24/7 active monitoring to prevent, detect, and resolve cyber security breaches, such as toll-fraud, Denial-of-Service and DDoS, malware and others.

• Retain current phone numbers, calling plans, PBX setup, and IP phones while reducing the cost of the system and providing flexibility and support.
• Customized solutions and migration plans,for scalable and secure communications with a full range of voice, data, and managed services.
• Fully-backed up & redundant data centres across Canada and compliant to Federal and Provincial laws CRTC-compliant Canadian 911 emergency calling.
• CRTC-compliant Canadian 911 emergency calling
• End-to-end encryption, fraud protection software and 24/7 Technical Support with system health monitoring ensure that potential threats are resolved quickly.
• Dedicated Account Management ensures that you have a direct contact with someone who knows your system.
• Lower cost rates for local, long distance, international and toll free minutes.
• Custom call analytics and tracking (calls and usage) from the SIP level.

Telecom Metric’s experts are trusted by educators, from universities through public school boards and private institutions, as we provide state-of-the-art communication solutions while making the most of limited budgets and resources. Helping more and more organizations make use of their current Microsoft subscription/user licenses, the Telecom Metric team works to develop custom, comprehensive, MS Teams-based communications systems for your staff, students and community.

Other Related Topics:

• Telecom Metric Presents MS Teams – Phone Solution at ECNO Conference
• Microsoft Teams – Direct Routing
• Integrate Microsoft Teams with Your Current Phone System
• Microsoft Teams – Direct Routing for Canadian Businesses