Enable Microsoft Teams SMS & Calling with Clerk Chat

Are you looking for an efficient and effective way to enable Microsoft Teams SMS and calling features for your business? You’re in luck – Clerk Chat has the answer.

On its own, Microsoft Teams is an incredible tool for communication and collaboration. Forrester studies even found that the platform can pay for itself in as little as six months. The only problem is that while MS Teams excels at enabling internal communication, it’s not designed for “external” conversations, through channels like phone calls and SMS.

Although there are a few tools you can use to make external calls with Teams, or even send SMS messages to a handful of users, the built-in features are extremely basic. For businesses that need to send personalized text messages to customers in bulk, access analytics, or communicate with consumers over the phone worldwide, Microsoft’s built-in features aren’t ideal.

Fortunately, Microsoft partners with companies like Clerk Chat, to give businesses the opportunity to enable new forms of communication within the Teams ecosystem.

Here’s how you can get started.

Can You Call a Cell Phone from Teams?

Technically, it is possible to make a phone call with Teams. The easiest way to enable phone calling in Microsoft Teams is to purchase a Standard Teams phone license and a calling plan from Microsoft directly. This gives you a cloud-based PBX system that enables outbound calling.

Once you have a calling plan, you can call a phone number from Teams by using the dial pad within the app or searching for a user using the Teams search bar. Users can also “dial into meetings” using their cell phones.

It’s also possible to send an SMS from Teams to a user. The only problem? Microsoft’s built-in solutions for Microsoft Teams SMS & Calling are extremely limited. Plus, these plans can be extremely expensive, particularly as your business and communication needs grow.

On top of that, the features available are pretty basic too. You can’t access in-depth analytics for your calls or texts or create templates for Microsoft Teams text messaging campaigns.

How to Make External Calls in Teams: The Partner Route

Since Microsoft’s own calling and SMS solutions are extremely limited, the company has decided to introduce various ways for companies to access the features they need elsewhere. Microsoft partners with leading communication and software companies, like Clerk Chat, to enable access to external and internal SMS communication and calling tools.

There are two core ways that third-party vendors can enable Microsoft Teams SMS & Calling capabilities for users. The first option is through Microsoft Teams Direct Routing. This service gives companies the ability to connect Microsoft Teams with the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), through the carrier of their choice.

It’s the most flexible way to add new communication features to Microsoft Teams, as you can choose virtually any carrier and customize your features to suit your needs.

However, Direct Routing can also be complex, which is why the tech giant introduced Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams. This solution also enables companies to connect their phone systems and SMS solutions to Microsoft Teams. With Operator Connect, the operator handles SBC (Session Border Controller) configurations, and other complex technical details.

Companies can simply manage their numbers and features through the Teams admin interface, allowing for a more convenient, simplified experience. However, it requires vendors to be certified by Microsoft and offers slightly less flexibility.

Companies like Clerk Chat offer a different solution, combining the best features of both Direct Routing and Operator Connect. Our Direct Routing as a service solution combines all the flexibility of Direct Routing with the simplicity of Operator Connect, enabling access to both Microsoft Teams calling and SMS functionality, in one convenient package.

Combining Microsoft Teams SMS & Calling

With Clerk Chat, you don’t have to choose between Direct Routing vs Operator Connect to leverage Microsoft Teams SMS & Calling. You can access a convenient, user-friendly solution that gives you both the customization options, and the straightforward experience you need.

You can avoid the geographical and feature constraints of Microsoft’s own calling plans, and access advanced communication features, with a comprehensive Microsoft Teams SMS integration.

It’s the best of both worlds!

The Features of Clerk Chat for Microsoft Teams SMS & Calling

As a certified Microsoft partner, and the preferred messaging partner for the tech giant, Clerk Chat has developed an intuitive solution for omnichannel communication in Teams.

Our technology gives companies a fully cloud-based phone system with advanced calling and SMS features they can access directly within the Teams platform.

The features include:

• Outgoing and incoming call support: Make and receive calls using your own business phone number.
• BYO phone number: Port your existing business number into Microsoft Teams, or get a new one..
• Voicemail: Your phone number will have a voicemail box accessible in the Teams interface, with playback controls, summaries, and transcripts.
• Notifications: Our Microsoft Teams SMS & Calling solution embeds directly into Microsoft Teams, giving you instant alerts via desktop, mobile, push, and banner notifications.
• Call Transfer and Call Forwarding: You can transfer calls to other team members and set up call forwarding to redirect calls to another phone number.
• Multilevel Auto Attendants: Route incoming callers to the right internal person or department, improving customer experience and internal efficiency.
• Analytics: Access end-to-end insights into how your team is performing across mobile and desktop SMS, WhatsApp, iMessage, and phone call channels.
• Call Queues: Call queues are essential for optimal customer service, distributing calls one at a time to employees based on the call order.
• Call From Anywhere: Using the Microsoft Teams app, you can send and receive calls on desktop, mobile, web, and even desk phones.
• AI SMS solutions: Clerk Chat’s intelligent SMS service allows companies to send personalized AI text messages to customers too, enabling 24/7 customer service, technical support, and automated marketing strategies.

Integrations for all the Apps you Use

Want to bring more of your technology stack together? Clerk Chat doesn’t just integrate with Microsoft Teams. We also support integration with a wide range of other valuable tools, such as Microsoft Outlook, for email interactions, and Microsoft Dynamics, so you can send more personalized messages to customers based on their behavior and purchasing history.

Our platform even connects with solutions for Microsoft Teams archiving, like Purview, to help you stay on top of your compliance requirements.

How Our Microsoft Teams Calling & SMS Solution Works

Making a phone call with Teams, or sending an SMS message shouldn’t be complicated. That’s why we made our platform incredibly easy to use. Once you sign up for Clerk Chat, you can integrate our application directly into Microsoft Teams, either from our website or Microsoft AppSource.

When you’re ready, you can choose between porting an existing number into Microsoft Teams, or choosing a brand-new number for Microsoft Teams Calling & SMS.

Clerk works with numbers from RingCentral, Twilio, Zoom Phone, Google Voice, and just about any other VoIP number. Once you go through the simple installation and setup process, you’ll see the Clerk App within your Microsoft Teams platform, in a panel on the left-hand side.

From your Clerk Chat panel, you can call a phone number from Teams, receive calls within Teams, and send and receive text messages, all without leaving your collaboration app.

You’ll have direct access to all of your existing Microsoft Teams contacts within Clerk Chat. However, if you have extra contacts outside of Teams, you can also sync them with our app from Salesforce, Google, or Outlook.

Combining Calling & SMS in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is an excellent tool for productivity and collaboration. But it doesn’t have the best external communication capabilities. Combining Microsoft Teams SMS & Calling features with Clerk Chat gives you a unique opportunity to get more out of your productivity suite.

After all, internal communication, from sharing files and documents, to engaging in video conferences, is only half of the story for businesses. When your team members need to connect with external team members or customers, they don’t want to switch to an alternative platform or tool.

Clerk Chat allows you to bring your essential business phone number and calling features into Teams easily, whether you’re using a traditional landline or a VoIP phone number.

More importantly, we ensure you can take an omnichannel approach to external communication, by enabling access to intuitive two-way messaging, AI texting, and SMS features too.

The Benefits of Microsoft Teams SMS & Calling with Clerk Chat

With our all-in-one solution, you can enhance both internal and external communications within Teams, and align your communication tools with the CRM, archiving, and other apps you already use. We offer an easy way to access benefits like:

• More productive teams: With everything they need for Microsoft Teams SMS, calling, and internal collaboration in one place, teams are more productive. They’ll even be able to access CRM records and archiving tools without leaving the Teams platform.
• Advanced features: With integrated tools for AI messaging, voicemail, and transcription, you can take your communication strategy to the next level. We even offer access to advanced solutions for routing and real-time notifications.
• Useful insights: Our built-in reporting solutions make it easy to keep track of how employees are accessing Microsoft Teams for calls, SMS, and even other messaging strategies. These insights can help you make intelligent decisions as your business grows.

What’s more, we can even help your business stay secure and compliant as you embrace the new era of digital communications. Not only does our app come with extensive user access control, with custom permissions, but it supports end-to-end encryption, and archiving integrations.

Get started today with Microsoft Teams SMS & Calling

Today’s businesses need to update their communication strategies if they want to boost collaboration and productivity, and deliver exceptional customer service. Microsoft Teams has the power to unify and support your teams. However, expanding the functionality of Teams with SMS and Calling capabilities can help you to boost your return on investment.

With Clerk Chat’s unified solution for Microsoft Teams SMS & Calling, you can turbocharge team productivity, serve customers in new and unique ways, and separate yourself from the competition.