How To Cut Costs With 3CX & Microsoft Teams

If you’re using Microsoft Teams, you already know the costs can stack up with Microsoft calling plans and adding essential features that don’t come as standard.  As a 3CX partner, we offer our clients a flexible, scalable, and cost-effective communication solution to improve productivity, streamline workflows and cut costs through our integration between 3CX and Microsoft Teams.

What Is 3CX?

3CX is a software-based IP PBX (private branch exchange) that allows businesses to manage the phone system from a web-based console. It can be used with a variety of IP phones, SIP trunks, and VoIP gateways, making it a flexible and scalable solution for businesses of all sizes. Some of the key features of 3CX include:

• Unified Communications: With 3CX, you can bring all of your communication tools together in one place, including voice, video, chat, and more – helping to improve productivity and streamline workflows.
• Web Conferencing: 3CX includes a built-in web conferencing solution that allows businesses to host online meetings with participants from around the world. 
• Call Centre Features: For businesses that need call centre capabilities, 3CX offers a variety of features, including call queuing, call recording and advanced reporting.
• Mobile App: With the 3CX mobile app, you can take your business phone system with you wherever you go. Employees can make and receive calls, access voicemails, and even participate in web conferences from their smartphones or tablet.
• Microsoft Teams integration via Direct Routing – combine the communication features of 3CX’s PBX system with the collaboration capabilities of Microsoft Teams to enable seamless communication by allowing users to make and receive calls through 3CX within the native Teams interface, enhancing teamwork and productivity in a unified platform.

Integrating 3CX & Microsoft Teams

One of the most exciting developments with 3CX is the integration between 3CX and Microsoft Teams. By integrating 3CX and Microsoft Teams, businesses can bring their phone system and their collaboration platform together in one place.

So, what does the 3CX and Microsoft Teams integration look like in practice? Here are some of the key features:

Call Integration

The integration allows users to initiate and receive calls directly from within the native Microsoft Teams app and take advantage of the features of the 3CX phone system – including call forwarding, call recording, and voicemail.

Contact Sync

Synchronise contacts between 3CX and Microsoft Teams to ensure users have access to the same contact information across both platforms.

Presence Status

Users’ presence status in Microsoft Teams is synced with their availability in 3CX. Showing whether a user is available, busy, away, or on a call.

Unified Messaging

A unified inbox for messages and notifications from both the 3CX and Microsoft Teams platforms, simplifying communication management.

Screen Sharing and Collaboration

Users can initiate screen sharing and collaboration sessions directly from within Microsoft Teams whilst utilising the features of the 3CX platform for communication.

Conference Calling

Leverage the call capabilities of the 3CX system, whilst still managing the call from within Microsoft Teams.

Web Meeting Integration

Schedule and join web meetings hosted on the 3CX platform directly from Microsoft Teams, enhancing the collaboration experience.

Click-to-Call

Click-to-call functionality that allows users to call phone numbers directly from within Microsoft Teams.

Voicemail Integration

Voicemail messages received on the 3CX system are accessible within Microsoft Teams, streamlining the voicemail-checking process.

Reporting and Analytics

3CX and Microsoft Teams consolidated reporting and analytics on call metrics, usage patterns, and other communication-related data.

How 3CX Can Save Your Business Money

Now that we’ve looked at what 3CX is and how it integrates with Microsoft Teams, let’s talk about how the 3CX and Microsoft Teams integrations can save your business money. Here are three ways that 3CX can help you to cut costs:

Lower Phone Bills

Because 3CX uses VoIP technology, it is much cheaper than traditional phone systems especially when it comes to international calling. Your employees can make calls over the Internet instead of using expensive landlines, leading to significant cost savings over time.

Reduce Hardware Costs

With a software-based phone system like 3CX, you don’t need to invest in Microsoft-certified devices or expensive hardware like PBX boxes. Instead, you can run the system on your existing servers and handsets, which saves your business money on hardware and maintenance costs.

Scalability and Flexibility

Using the 3CX Microsoft Teams integration simplifies management as administrators can handle user accounts, permissions, and communication settings from a single platform. This reduces the time and effort spent on managing different tools, potentially saving on IT resources and associated costs.

The huge cost savings of 3CX over Microsoft calling plans provide businesses with greater flexibility to scale up and down their requirements as and when required.

Increase Productivity

Enabling the 3CX and Microsoft Teams integration enhances productivity by unifying communication, enabling click-to-call, and streamlining collaboration. Real-time presence, centralised management, and simplified onboarding further boost efficiency, while reducing context switching and improving customer interactions for better overall workflow.

Schedule a Demonstration

If you want to understand more about how our 3CX and Microsoft Teams integration could cut the cost of running your business or would like to learn more about 3CX, click here to get access to our 3CX Datasheet and request a free demonstration with one of our solution consultants.

Alternatively, contact us today on 0800 032 8274 or email [email protected]