By Prebashini Reddy, Microsoft Product Manager at Westcon-Comstor.

Prebashini Reddy, Microsoft Product Manager at Westcon-Comstor.

The global unified communications and collaboration market grew by more than 29% percent last year thanks in no small part to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, it is set to grow even more in the coming years to top $50 billion by the end of 2023.

Invariably, this has resulted in companies relying on multiple communication platforms to cater for an increasingly distributed workforce. For instance, the use of Microsoft Teams has grown exponentially during the past two years. In November 2019, Microsoft reported 20 million active daily users of Teams. At the end of April 2021, this number jumped to 145 million.

As things start normalising around this ‘new’ environment, organisations are looking for ways to consolidate all their communication and collaboration solutions into a single service. This requires a complete cloud service that connects Teams Calling and offers it via a per user, per month billing model. The latter has turned the focus to business and technology leaders investigating how to use Teams cost-effectively and efficiently as their primary voice dialling platform.

A single app

Thanks to the recently launched Westcon Cloud Connect app, this is now possible.

Westcon Cloud Connect marries the richest features, functionality, and devices into a single service to make Teams Calling a reality. Featuring flexible billing via a hybrid Opex software and Capex hardware model, it is not only easy to deploy, but it also provides organisations with a low maintenance footprint.

Even better, organisations can opt-in or opt-out whenever needed. No long-term contracts are required reflecting the need for flexible cloud-based solutions that can adjust to organisational requirements. Through the extensive Westcon-Comstor partner network, the Westcon Cloud Connect app has all the local support essential for agile businesses.

The interface has been designed to ensure the app can be added to existing infrastructure and scaled up and down on demand without capacity or infrastructure limitations. It easily connects the power of Microsoft and Ribbon Connect, giving employees access to all their communication and collaboration needs from within an integrated interface.

With Westcon Cloud Connect in place, companies can move beyond traditional fixed-line calling environments and provide employees with a communications platform that follows them wherever they are, regardless of the device they use.

Complete customisation

Companies can add voice services to their Teams deployment by moving to Teams Direct Routing in either a complete, partial, or hybrid method. However, Westcon Cloud Connect does all the heavy lifting meaning an organisation can bypass the intricate hardware and configuration requirements usually associated with direct routing.

And when Westcon Cloud Connect is deployed, an organisation can scale out Teams for all its communications needs to include voice calls without phone lines. By attaching Ribbon Connect to base Microsoft licenses, adding the call function service, a SIP line, and a Poly headset or speakerphone, the business can truly move the office to wherever the employee is.

With no minimum quantities and spend required, Westcon Cloud Connect keeps billing as easy as the per user, per month model organisations have become accustomed to in their cloud environments. And when combining Teams, Ribbon, and Poly devices, a company gets a solution entirely built for purpose, integrated, and providing a seamless user experience.

Communication becomes as easy as one click, with the device, used no longer mattering.

Communications at your fingertips

Fundamentally, Westcon Cloud Connect is a cloud-hosted solution with optional hardware attached. It delivers all the functional elements of communications directly to the device and location of the organisation’s choice packaged in a Software-as-a-Service model.

Think of it as the ideal, fully-functional, and operational cloud calling solution. It is the complete answer to any communication needs perfectly integrated with a direct routing solution. Westcon Cloud Connect, therefore, delivers calling, unified communications, and the cloud in a user-friendly environment.

With many businesses turning to the cloud instead of their restricted on-premises approach, having a solution like Westcon Cloud Connect in place can provide the combination of calling, reliable meetings, and high-quality video, all packaged into a secure and trusted solution that ticks all the compliance boxes.

As more South African organisations realise the value of integrating cloud solutions with collaboration tools that employees are comfortable with, the potential for Westcon Cloud Connect becomes significant. And with distributed working giving way to more of a hybrid environment, the ability for employees to remain in touch and contactable by customers no matter where they are will be a significant competitive advantage in the months and years to come.

Download the Westcon Cloud Connect app from the Microsoft AppSource store today.