Teams Phone Resilience – Local Survivability for your Microsoft Teams Phone System

Ever thought about what would happen to your business communication systems if the power or Internet connectivity went down? In this article, we explore three ways to boost Teams Phone resilience:

1. Local Survivability
   A Survivable Branch Appliance (SBA) is deployed to maintain local phone functionality if the connection to Microsoft Teams cloud services becomes temporarily unavailable
2. SIP Carrier resilience
   Achieved through trunk redundancy, failover mechanisms and the monitoring of carrier quality
3. 3rd Party systems
   SIP Gateways, Session Border Controllers (SBC) & Contact Centre solutions which offer redundancy through backup call routing and cloud-based options

Key Takeaway

The Microsoft Teams Phone service now comes with a 99.999% uptime SLA. Marlin Communications can extend that level of resilience to the other vital infrastructure elements such as SIP Trunks and network connectivity.

1. Understanding Local Survivability in Microsoft Teams

Local survivability is a critical component of business continuity in the modern workplace, particularly for organisations that rely on Microsoft Teams as their primary communication tool. When network disruptions or connectivity issues arise, local survivability ensures that Microsoft Teams telephony remains operational, safeguarding business operations and customer interactions. This feature is vital in distributed enterprise environments where employees rely on consistent communication capabilities.

The Microsoft Teams Phone service itself now comes with 99.999% uptime SLA.

A Survivable Branch Appliance (SBA) is key in this setup. It connects our telephony systems to Microsoft 365 Phone System, even when SIP trunk connections fail. With local survivability solutions, we ensure critical communication channels stay open. This minimises disruptions to our business operations.

What is a Survivable Branch Appliance (SBA)?

The key to local survivability within Microsoft Teams Phone lies in the deployment of Survivable Branch Appliances (SBAs). SBAs provide a solution for maintaining local phone functionality if the connection to Microsoft Teams cloud services becomes temporarily unavailable. Essentially, an SBA is a specialised on-premises appliance that offers direct routing functionality, supporting basic calling features for users in remote or branch locations even when they are disconnected from the central Teams service. This capability helps organisations avoid the risk of complete communication loss and supports users by allowing them to make and receive calls, dial emergency numbers, and access voicemail.

Used in settings with local SIP trunks, the SBA adds a crucial redundancy layer. It can run on a virtual machine and works well with Session Border Controllers (SBCs) to keep calls flowing, even when the cloud infrastructure is unavailable. With an SBA, we can fully utilise Teams Offline mode, boosting communication continuity across the organisation.

Marlin Communications Direct Routing for Enhanced Teams Phone Resilience

Direct Routing is key for organisations aiming to boost their telephony resilience. It integrates PSTN services with Microsoft Teams, creating a dependable communication route even during unexpected disruptions.

By combining the Marlin Communications Direct Routing service with a Survivable Branch Appliance (SBA), our customers benefit not only from multi-DC connection resilience, but also local branch survivability in the event of an issue connecting to Microsoft Cloud – meaning your telephony services stay operational in the event of an outage.

The Survivable Branch Appliance is vital in this setup. It enables local calls to be handled efficiently while maintaining connections with Microsoft 365 services when Internet access is restored. Your communications infrastructure must be highly available, including reliable power supply and cabling. These steps not only boost resilience but also lessen the effect of outages on daily activities.

Key Features of Survivable Branch Appliances

Survivable Branch Appliances (SBA) are vital for maintaining local telephony resilience, especially for Microsoft Teams users. They offer basic call handling even when connectivity fails. This ensures users can keep in touch, even when the main network is down.

An added advantage of SBAs is their ability to automatically synchronise with Teams when connectivity is restored. This seamless reversion to the cloud environment minimises disruption and allows users to resume full service without manual intervention. For IT teams, this functionality simplifies the management of resilience, as the automatic switch between local survivability mode and cloud connectivity is handled within the appliance’s configuration.

Moreover, local survivability extends beyond just continuity; it also addresses compliance needs. For example, reliable access to emergency services is a legal requirement in many regions, and SBAs ensure compliance by enabling 911 or other emergency calls regardless of cloud availability. As businesses increasingly move to cloud-based communication systems, having a robust local survivability strategy like SBAs becomes a necessity for comprehensive risk management.

In summary, local survivability through SBAs offers IT leaders a practical and effective means of ensuring uninterrupted voice services for remote and branch office users, aligning with business continuity goals and enhancing resilience within Microsoft Teams environments.

The Mediant 800C SBC from AudioCodes

The Mediant 800C (from our technology partner AudioCodes) is an enterprise-class, integrated hardware and virtual appliance designed to ensure continuous access to data and voice services for Microsoft Teams customers in the event of a WAN outage. It is an essential element in enterprise Teams deployments and is certified by Microsoft.

It offers scalable TDM and VoIP-based voice resiliency and is suitable for any enterprise location – from headquarters to branch offices.

Features at a glance:

• Reliable and high performance SIP trunk connectivity
• Available as a virtual appliance for hosting in customer data centres
• Certified for Microsoft Teams Direct Routing
• Local peer-to-peer calling, PSTN breakout and IP-PBX connectivity at HQ or branch offices.
• Open server platform for hosting additional value-added services and applications
• Full integration with AudioCodes SBCs
• Supports emergency calling standards, including E911/ELIN and local media optimisation

2. SIP Carrier Resilience for Teams Phone

For organisations using Microsoft Teams Phone as a critical communication tool, SIP carrier resilience is a foundational element in maintaining robust voice services.

SIP carrier resilience ensures that voice communications remain stable, even in the face of carrier outages, network disruptions, or peak congestion periods. This is essential for enterprises that rely on direct routing, where Microsoft Teams connects to external telephony systems through SIP trunks to enable calling features.

One of the primary ways SIP carrier resilience is achieved is through trunk redundancy and failover mechanisms. In a resilient setup, multiple SIP trunks are deployed across different geographic regions or connected to diverse carriers. Should one trunk encounter an issue, the Teams Phone system automatically reroutes calls to an alternative path, maintaining call continuity and ensuring minimal disruption to users. This ‘trunk failover’ is seamlessly managed within Microsoft Teams’ direct routing capabilities, where administrators can configure and prioritise routing policies to align with the organisation’s operational needs.

Real-time Monitoring & Managing Carrier Quality

Another vital component of SIP carrier resilience is the monitoring and management of carrier quality. By continuously tracking key performance indicators like jitter, packet loss, and latency, IT teams can assess and proactively address any carrier-related issues.

Carrier resilience strategies often involve Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with specific performance thresholds to ensure consistent call quality. When these SLAs are not met, IT teams have the flexibility to make routing adjustments or escalate issues with carriers, reducing the impact on end-users and maintaining a high standard of communication quality.

Controlling Costs

For IT leaders, SIP carrier resilience also brings strategic advantages in optimising cost and control. By using a multi-carrier setup, enterprises can leverage cost-effective routing options, selecting carriers based on region, availability, or cost efficiency. This flexibility also improves resilience by allowing teams to quickly switch carriers during outages without manual intervention or complex configuration changes.

Disaster Recovery & Compliance

SIP carrier resilience contributes to disaster recovery and compliance efforts. For instance, in the event of a major outage affecting one region or carrier, critical communications can still continue uninterrupted, fulfilling business continuity requirements and supporting regulatory compliance, especially for emergency call handling. Teams Phone’s direct routing flexibility means that IT leaders can tailor resilience measures to the unique needs of the organisation’s communication landscape.

In summary, SIP carrier resilience is a key strategy for IT leaders who prioritise operational stability, cost efficiency, and quality control in their Microsoft Teams Phone environment. Through redundancy, real-time monitoring, and flexible routing configurations, SIP resilience ensures that voice communications remain reliable, empowering the organisation to maintain productivity under any circumstances.

SIP Carrier Resilience from Marlin Communications

Our service offers connections to 3 carriers (Gamma, Jola, and Bandwidth), which means that if one provider experiences a service-affecting outage on their network, we can route inbound and outbound calls through another. Furthermore, with Jola and Bandwidth, we are able to offer international SIP trunk services and global numbering in over 130 countries.

3. Enhancing Teams Phone Resilience Through Integration with Third-Party Systems

For organisations leveraging Microsoft Teams Phone as their primary voice solution, third-party integrations play a strategic role in enhancing resilience and extending functionality. Microsoft Teams offers a robust platform for communication, but by incorporating additional third-party systems, IT leaders can build a more resilient, flexible, and comprehensive solution tailored to unique organisational needs.

Contact Centre Solutions

One of the most valuable ways third-party systems enhance Teams Phone resilience is through contact centre solutions. Many organisations require specialised features, such as advanced call routing, customer relationship management (CRM) integration, and analytics capabilities, which go beyond Teams’ native features.

Integrating third-party contact centre solutions with Teams Phone allows organisations to create a seamless, resilient customer experience. In scenarios where a network disruption impacts the primary Teams Phone system, many third-party solutions can offer backup call routing and cloud-based options, ensuring continuity in customer-facing operations.

This redundancy is especially crucial for high-stakes environments like healthcare or finance, where reliable customer service is essential.

Session Border Controllers (SBC)

In addition to contact centre systems, third-party session border controllers (SBCs) are another tool that strengthens Teams Phone resilience.

SBCs act as a security and interoperability layer, providing secure connections between Teams Phone and other telephony networks. By leveraging third-party SBCs, IT teams can implement greater control over call traffic and manage failover paths for outbound and inbound calls in the event of service interruptions.

Certain SBCs can also manage call load distribution, enabling IT teams to maintain optimal call quality during peak times and reduce dependency on a single network path. This enhanced resilience ensures that essential communications remain unaffected by network issues or high usage demands.

SIP Gateways

SIP gateway solutions from third-party vendors allow Teams Phone to connect with legacy telephony systems, such as traditional PBX systems. This integration enables organisations with a mix of legacy and modern systems to transition gradually without compromising call continuity.

In a resilience context, the SIP gateway provides a backup communication path that can serve as a failover option if the primary Teams connection faces disruptions. By allowing hybrid telephony environments to function smoothly, SIP gateways offer an effective strategy for redundancy and resilience.

Monitoring & Analytics

Lastly, third-party monitoring and analytics platforms complement Microsoft’s native management tools by providing deeper insights into network performance and call quality. These solutions empower IT teams with proactive monitoring, enabling faster identification and resolution of issues before they impact end-users.

In summary, integrating third-party systems into Teams Phone significantly bolsters its resilience, providing organisations with flexible backup options, robust customer service capabilities, and comprehensive monitoring tools. For IT leaders, these integrations represent a proactive approach to ensuring reliable communications and business continuity across complex environments.

3rd Party UC Platforms from Marlin Communications

Whether utilising direct routing into Teams or a third-party application, we can deliver unified communication services within the Teams app through our other UC partners, such as Zoom Phone, GoToConnect, or 3CX. This approach ensures that if Microsoft experiences issues with the Teams Phone service, our alternative services can continue to function uninterrupted.

Teams Phone Resilience From Marlin Communications

Microsoft Teams Phone resilience is built on three key pillars that collectively ensure continuous, high-quality communication. First, local survivability through Survivable Branch Appliances (SBAs) provides essential voice services during outages, keeping remote and branch offices operational even when the connection to Teams is lost.

Second, SIP carrier resilience offers robust communication continuity by employing trunk redundancy, failover mechanisms, and monitoring for consistent call quality, enabling IT teams to mitigate carrier issues effectively.

Finally, third-party integrations extend Teams’ capabilities with enhanced contact centre options, session border controllers for security, SIP gateways for hybrid environments, and advanced monitoring. Together, these strategies create a resilient and adaptable Teams Phone environment, empowering organisations to maintain seamless communication under any circumstances.