Transition from Dialpad and Zoom to Microsoft Teams Phone

Background

A leading provider of supply chain execution solutions recently undertook a significant project to transition their telephony systems from Dialpad and Zoom to Microsoft Teams Phone. This transition aimed to streamline communication, enhance collaboration, and reduce costs associated with managing multiple telephony platforms.

Challenges

The organization faced several challenges with their existing telephony systems:

• User Experience: Using both Dialpad and Zoom for telephony created a fragmented user experience. Employees had to switch between platforms, leading to confusion and inefficiencies.
• Integration Issues: Integrating these platforms with other business applications was cumbersome and required significant IT resources. This hindered seamless communication and collaboration.
• Cost Management: Managing multiple telephony platforms resulted in higher costs and administrative overhead. The organization needed a more cost-effective solution.

Solution

Netwoven was selected to lead the transition project due to our expertise in Microsoft 365 collaboration and telephony solutions. The project was divided into several phases to ensure a smooth and successful migration.

Discovery and Planning

Netwoven initiated a discovery and planning phase to understand the existing telephony environment and develop a comprehensive migration plan. This phase included:

• Assessment: Conducting a thorough assessment of the current Dialpad and Zoom telephony systems, including call flows, auto attendants, call queues, and integrations with other business applications.
• Planning: Developing a detailed project plan outlining the steps for the migration, including timelines, key stakeholders, and necessary approvals.

Configuration and Testing

The next phase involved configuring Microsoft Teams Phone to replicate the existing telephony features and testing the setup to ensure a seamless transition.

• Configuration: Setting up call queues, auto attendants, and user permissions in Microsoft Teams Phone. Ensuring that all necessary configurations were applied correctly.
• Testing: Conducting thorough testing with a pilot group to identify and resolve any issues before a full rollout.

Porting Numbers and Rollout

The migration process involved porting existing phone numbers from Dialpad and Zoom to Microsoft Teams Phone and rolling out the new system to all users.

• Port Requests: Submitting port requests for all numbers to be transitioned. Ensuring that all necessary documentation, such as Letters of Authorization (LOA), was correct and submitted.
• Phased Rollout: Following a phased rollout schedule, starting with a small group of users and gradually expanding to larger groups.

Training and Support

Providing comprehensive training and ongoing support was crucial to ensure a smooth transition and high user adoption.

• User Training: Offering training sessions for users to ensure they were comfortable with the new system. Recording these sessions for later viewing.
• Ongoing Support: Providing ongoing support to address any issues that arose during the transition.

Resolving Toll-Free Number Issue

During the transition, the organization encountered an issue with toll-free numbers due to Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) funding. The toll-free incoming calls were failing because the PAYG post-billing was not activating. PAYG post-usage billing must be turned on to activate pay-per-minute usage for every PAYG calling plan, as toll-free numbers charge pay-per-minute to the hosting tenant and never charge the caller. The solution involved:

• Temporary Workaround: Applying a PAYG license purchased through corporate credit card and applied from the organization's resource tenant to enable inbound toll-free calls.
• Permanent Resolution: Microsoft resolved the issue with the PAYG calling plan licenses purchased on the Microsoft Commercial Agreement (MCA) tenant with the operational tenant. This allowed the organization to switch from the credit card-purchased plan to a calling plan license under the MCA account.
• Testing and Confirmation: Ensuring that the toll-free number worked properly after the switch and confirming that the originally assigned calling plans did not cause any issues.

Benefits

The migration project was completed successfully, resulting in several key benefits for the organization:

• Unified User Experience: Consolidating telephony systems into Microsoft Teams Phone provided a unified user experience. Employees no longer had to switch between platforms, leading to increased efficiency and satisfaction.
• Seamless Integration: Microsoft Teams Phone integrated seamlessly with other business applications, enhancing communication and collaboration across the organization.
• Cost Savings: The transition reduced costs associated with managing multiple telephony platforms, resulting in significant cost savings.
• Improved Efficiency: The new system provided a more efficient and user-friendly telephony solution, improving overall productivity.
• Enhanced User Experience with Microsoft 365: Using Microsoft Teams Phone along with the Microsoft 365 suite offered a much easier end-user experience. Employees could manage their day-to-day business calls from a single Teams app, streamlining their workflow and enhancing productivity.

Conclusion

The successful transition from Dialpad and Zoom to Microsoft Teams Phone demonstrates Netwoven expertise in handling complex telephony migrations. During the project, we discovered a PAYG funding issue due to multi-tenant engagement. By collaborating with the Microsoft product team, we managed to resolve the issue by associating the calling plan licenses with the operational tenant. This ensured seamless functionality of toll-free numbers. Through careful planning, extensive testing, and unwavering support, we were able to deliver a solution that greatly enhanced the organization's communication and overall user experience.