Access4 Launches Flex for Microsoft Teams

With a new Flex solution for Microsoft Teams, customers can seamlessly integrate Access4’s proprietary Enhanced User features alongside the cost-effective Basic Channel solution – all within the same tenancy. This innovative approach allows for a scalable and adaptable mixed-user environment, perfectly tailored to meet the diverse and demanding requirements of MS Teams Calling customers.

Melbourne, 20 May 2024 – Access4, the leading wholesale provider of voice and Unified Communication-as-a-Service (UCaaS) solutions, has launched Flex for Microsoft Teams, enabling partners to combine Access4’s Teams Enhanced Users and Teams Basic Channel services in the same customer tenancy.

Until recently, customers had two options for using Microsoft Teams with Access4, some chose a per user model offering Basic or Enhanced Users with more advanced call features. Others went for Teams Basic Channel, where they paid for a shared service that offered standard calling features to multiple users at once at a more cost-effective price point for larger scale deployments.

Now, companies can combine these two options in one tenancy. They can pay for each advanced user on a per seat model and pay for shared Basic Channels for other users requiring standard teams calling functionality. In this way, they have the best of both advanced and basic services together at a scalable price point.

“Our partners increasingly wanted to offer larger, mid-market customers the value of the Enhanced User as well as the Basic Channel products in one tenancy but were not able to scale the implementation owing to the per user license model,” said Tim Jackson, Managing Director, Access4. “Now, with the benefit of our engineering and design investment, Teams Flex customers get the best of both worlds. Partners can offer customers the combination of Enhanced Users who have all the Microsoft Teams’ advanced features backed by our carrier grade hosted PBX, with Teams Channel giving the customer unlimited Basic users with a contended channel model.”

“We’re very excited about Access4’s latest innovation in the Teams Calling space,” said Steve Bower, Managing Director of BayCom ICT, an Auckland-headquartered MSP. “With Flex, we can provide our customers greater value and cost efficiency. Combining Enhanced Users with Channel enables us to remain competitive and holistically service our customer’s needs.”

By supporting both per-user and per-channel billing models within a single customer tenancy, Access4’s engineering team created Access4 Teams Flex empowering partners to also offer customers the most cost-effective solution by assigning back-office users to the Teams Channel Basic product.

“This provides a better fit for large businesses which employ a very large number of staff with basic calling needs that are happy with the standard Teams calling features, as well as a small number of advanced users that require advanced calling solutions like call centres, compliance-based call recording and analytics,” said Jackson. “It’s a unique and innovative approach and can support businesses such as real estate agencies who typically have a core group of power users in the office handling a high volume of inbound calls, and also for the real estate agents that are out on the job and need to transfer calls and just want to be contactable.”

“Similarly, with car dealerships you will have staff in the office or the service centre providing service to customers calling for spare parts, but then there’s also the salesperson in the car yard selling a car and just needs a call transferred.”

While the new Flex solution will meet partner-requested design specifications for customers that require greater flexibility, the new solution also supports customers with their business continuity.

In the event of a Microsoft outage, the partner and the customer can take calls off the hosted PBX platform and still keep running their business. Enhanced Users, for example, can register a handset to the hosted PBX, divert calls to their mobile or download the Cisco Webex application and keep their calls coming in due to Access4’s platform in the middle that doesn’t require Microsoft’s environment to be operational.

“Access4’s Flex solution for Microsoft Teams is a highly differentiated product that adds to the flexibility and scalability of the existing Access4 platform,” said John Lane, General Manager Sales at Virtual IT Group, an Australian-based MSP. “The ability to add additional users and channels within the same customer tenancy will be extremely beneficial for our clients and highlights Access4’s partner first approach. We’re excited to see what else Access4 will be launching in this space.”

Jackson added, “Teams Flex will be the go-to solution for customers that need to balance a majority of ‘back office’ staff on the Teams Channel product with ‘front office’ staff on Teams Enhanced with advanced features and independent channels. This innovative product not only solidifies our commitment to providing top-tier telephony solutions but also reinforces our dedication to customer satisfaction through flexibility and efficiency.”