Everything You Need to Know About Microsoft 365 Business Voice

Microsoft 365 Business Voice is a modern calling solution to help keep your remote teams in touch! Business Voice is a cloud-powered phone system unified into Microsoft Teams communications. To complement the Microsoft Teams meeting and chat features, Business Voice extends your communications to include calling, all powered through a single app. Business Voice enables users to make, receive, and transfer phone calls from landlines and mobile phones on a public network through Microsoft Teams.

Business Voice is intended for small to medium-sized businesses seeking a modernized phone system, and who are already using Office 365 or Microsoft 365 subscriptions that include Teams.

• Microsoft Calling Plans will procure and assign phone numbers across 18 countries. 
• Auto Attendant allows you to answer inbound calls and route them to the appropriate queues with a cloud-based phone system. You can set parameters to route your calls by time zone, language, and availability.
• Contact Center Integration will connect your favourite or most frequented contact center software.
• Cloud Voicemail allows you to access voicemail messages and transcriptions from any device, anywhere in the world.
• Microsoft Teams-Certified Devices offers a consistent experience for your entire remote team on any personal and shared devices. 
• Call Queues allows you to customize your greetings, play music for customers waiting on hold, and set up shared voicemail.
• Cloud Compliance Recording provides the ability to easily connect to partner compliance recording solutions.
• Direct Routing allows you to use your existing telecommunications providers by directly connecting their Sessions Initiation Protocol trunks to Microsoft Teams
• Audio Conferencing is a feature that allows you to add flexibility to meetings with a dial-in number, which is included in every online meeting. 

First thing’s first, the most efficient way to set up your Microsoft Business Voice is by using the “Getting Started Wizard”. Small businesses can be activated within a few minutes using this tool. If you are a larger business with an established telephone solution, a few members of your team can be set up with a Business Voice pilot to ease into the adjustment of your new software. You can begin using Microsoft Business Voice as soon as the Getting Started Wizard is complete, though there are some administrative customization options you can make to optimize your user experience.

• There’s no need or hassle to get a new number for Microsoft Teams. Simply move your existing phone number(s) to Business Voice so that you can begin receiving phone calls on the platform.
• Business Voice allows you to set up call queues that prompt users to wait for the next available agent so that you don’t miss any important phone calls.
• Add more call menus to your main phone number by setting up auto attendants. This will be efficient for callers who reach your main phone line by delegating the call to the appropriate phone number.  
• As an administrator, you can set up calling policies to have some control over users. This allows you to decide who can make private calls, use call forwarding, and delegate phone calls. 
• Create additional users among your team and assign new or existing phone numbers to their contact.