Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile and Operator Connect: What’s the difference?

Comparing the latest communication and collaboration solutions from Microsoft.  

Whether it’s a chat with colleagues or a conversation with cross-border clients, communication is key to success in any industry. One in five employees experienced major challenges with communication and collaboration in 2022, with similar levels across the previous two years.¹ Of course, this action isn’t easy even when all parties are in the same room. Today, a typical project can involve personnel across locations, making organization and structure even more important. In the past few years, providers have taken notice of this challenge and Microsoft has launched two major products to help facilitate this rapid change for businesses.

Operator Connect: Using Teams as a business phone 

The popularity of Microsoft Teams exploded during the early days of the pandemic, with businesses across the globe adopting the user-friendly platform. The solution provided newly-remote workers with an effortless way to collaborate and chat from different locations. The only downside? Unlike traditional office phones, users couldn’t dial a quick extension or external phone number to reach someone not on Teams.  

Operator Connect brings PSTN calling to Teams and lets users send and receive calls using the Teams platform, essentially taking the place of their old desk phone. Plus, a business can decide to connect with their teams’ existing phone numbers or assign new ones. In fact, companies can manage routing and other details through the platform interface.  

Top features: 

• Control everything from the Teams Admin Center 

• Send and receive calls outside your organization 

• Save on infrastructure and management costs 

Teams Phone Mobile: Taking Teams mobile 

Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile was released after Operator Connect and takes voice calling convenience to the next level. Supporting businesses as they enter the new hybrid environment with a mobile-first approach, the solution greatly simplifies communication among the workforce. Each employee will have one phone number that connects to all Teams-enabled devices including laptops, mobile phones and tablets.  

In a nutshell, when a person’s number is dialed, they’ll be alerted with simultaneous ringing everywhere. Users can switch from a regular phone call to a Teams call with a quick click of a button, without dropping the call, making it easier to work using just a smartphone – increasingly necessary for professionals on-the-go or in the field.  

Top features: 

• One single phone number for Teams, desktops and mobile phones 

• Presence integration: A busy status on one device is mirrored on all others 

• Seamlessly switch between devices without dropping the call 

An overview of Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile and Operator Connect 

Unified Communication: Untangling your wires 

Both solutions are beneficial to Canadian businesses across industries and in fact, many utilize both. As organizations become more digitized and workstyles more flexible, leaders can no longer afford to maintain multiple solutions for core functions like communications. Managing smartphones with one provider, collaboration tools with another and a legacy phone system with a third is both taxing and inefficient. If IT teams can consolidate and control multiple functions from a single interface, it allows resources to be used on growth functions instead of simply “keeping the lights on.” Further, both solutions provide new capabilities and features for a workforce in need of flexibility.  

Regardless of your business need, Rogers Business is here to help. Rogers is the first provider in the world to bring native mobile experiences to Microsoft Teams with Teams Phone Mobile, and the first Canadian service provider of Operator Connect.  

[1]  https://www.statista.com/statistics/1111316/biggest-struggles-to-remote-work/