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Can I change an existing Office 365 “Group” to a “Teams”?

In FAQ
August 12, 2020
1 Min Read
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Yes, it is possible. Or put it another way, you can create a Team from an existing Office 365 group. This is done from the Microsoft Teams app. Select Join or Create a Team; you’ll be presented with two options, Create Team or Join Team with a code. From that, choose Create Team and then select Create From… You’ll be presented with Teams or Office 365 group, there you must select Office 365 group. Next, you’ll be presented with a list of your existing Office 365 groups. Select the group for which you wish to create a Team. This will permanently add Teams to your existing Office 365 group.

The Team is now created and next, you can view its landing page. To verify members, select Manage Team All the owners, members, and guests from the Office 365 group must be there.

Contact a MachCloud expert to get more information on Office 365 to Teams migrations. 

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5 steps to choose the right Microsoft 365 plans

In Microsoft 365
August 5, 2020
3 Min Read
5

Microsoft 365 plans are readily adopted by companies that go for the cloud-first approach. Businesses must find the Right M365 plan for better productivity.

Deciding which M365 plan to choose for business is a common business decision. However, there are so many options with Microsoft 365 plans that might perplex you.  Managers and CSPs often find it too difficult to decide which Microsoft 365 plan to go with.

A basic Tip: Keep your cool and analyze your business requirements first.

With that said, let’s dive into the basic steps to ease the decision-making process for choosing the Right M365 plan for your business.

1.      Assess things properly

It is essential to know the type of computers the employees are working on, what the business’s core applications are, and what are the current issues with the systems. Further, you must know what are the areas for which you’ll have to adopt Microsoft 365 Migration.

2.      Know your needs

Answer the following questions to get a basic idea of your needs:

  • Why are you making the shift to the cloud? ( Increase security, increase productivity or it’s a nice-to-have thing for your business)
  • Do you fulfill specific compliance needs?
  • What are the critical business features that will benefit from a cloud-first approach?
  • Do you want an improved internal collaboration?

Amongst employees and departments, needs vary across the company. Your salespeople will have a few different needs than the dev. department.

3.      Plan a budget

For the company, it is required to take up a business plan that falls under the budget.  It is important to know that Microsoft 365 plans are flexible and billed per-user, month-by-month basis, or even based on a yearly contract.

In action to this, you need to have to cater for the migration costs. If you have an IT Team at hand, you might save some bucks there.

4.      Pick your plan

There are many Microsoft 365 plans to choose from. It is always great to get a comparison. Microsoft assists businesses with its comparisons of Business Plans and Enterprise Plans. You can choose from plans like Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, and Microsoft 365 Apps. In addition to this, there are other plans for nonprofits, first line workers, government, and education.

5.      Reevaluate the licensing and business requirements

Once you have adopted the plan and gone along with it for a year or so, you might want to reconsider opting to another option based on your changing business requirements. It is never too late to assess and start over the process again based on changing market trends.

Related:  TOP 5 BENEFITS OF OFFICE/MICROSOFT 365 FOR BUSINESS

MachCloud – the All in one communication platform for business

MachCloud is a comprehensive and cross-functional business communication platform. Born in the cloud, MachCloud has got all it needs for the latest digital business communication provisioning for the businesses of today. It provides Microsoft 365 Business plans and Enterprise plans. You can select what is suitable for your business according to the number of employees and other factors.

Get started with MachCloud for a smooth Microsoft 365 experience and expert advice on selecting the plan suitable for your business.

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How to set up Telephony in Microsoft Teams?

In FAQ
June 5, 2020
2 Min Read
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To set up business telephony in Microsoft Teams, the first thing you need to determine is whether the Microsoft service is available in your country. Select your country from Country and Region availability for Audio Conferencing and Calling Plans and find out if your country is on the list.

Microsoft 365 license agreement is needed in setting up Telephony in Microsoft Teams

 You need to get hold of the correct agreements and licenses. A Microsoft 365 license agreement is needed which is up-to-date and compatible with telephony and cloud PBX (E1, E3, or E5). After that, you need to assign a phone system and Calling Plans licenses to users in the organization. Get new numbers or port existing numbers from current service providers to Office 365. Then you need to Setup the calling plan, Audio conferencing, Cloud call queue, and Call auto-attendant based on your organizational needs.

A lot of manual work, which can be automated and supported by a Teams specialized Providers like MachCloud with its self-service portal.

DID YOU FIND THIS INTERESTING? WHY NOT READ: “Planning for Skype to Teams Migration? Here’s the guide“? 

Have more questions? Speak to one of our Teams Direct Routing experts today to learn more about setting up Telephony in Microsoft Teams.

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What is Teams Direct Routing?

In FAQ
June 5, 2020
1 Min Read
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In modern digital communication, Direct Routing is a process that routes Microsoft Teams to a traditional phone network i.e. PSTN. With Microsoft Teams Direct Routing, you get to connect Microsoft Teams with telephony Network Providers of your choice. This results in cheaper call rates for both local and international calls, better support, and more flexibility.

Direct Routing setup

A Direct Routing setup lets you configure your existing PSTN connectivity with Microsoft Teams client. The process requires connectivity to local PSTN Service – or Network Provider, O365 organization and related domains to carry out the desired cloud-based communication, organization-wide and globally.

DID YOU FIND THIS INTERESTING? WHY NOT READ: “Microsoft Teams Direct Routing: Where to start“? 

Have more questions? Speak to one of our Teams Direct Routing experts today to learn more. 

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Microsoft 365 | Rebranding Office 365 business plans

In Microsoft 365
April 17, 2020
3 Min Read
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The news is huge! Microsoft has decided to rebrand Office 365 business plans and name them on Microsoft 365 context, from April 21st, 2020. A few years ago when Microsoft 365 was introduced, its sole purpose was to provide a subscription bundle of Windows 10, Office 365 and Enterprise Mobility + Security. However, recently, Microsoft made an announcement that the tech giant has decided to rebrand a few subscription plans, and introduced a few new plans.

Which plans are affected by this M365 name change?

The flowing plans are affected by this announcement:

  • Office 365 Business and Office 365 Pro Plus

Both of these will be called Microsoft 365 Apps starting 21st April, 2020. To distinguish between the two, Microsoft will continue using “for business” and “for enterprise” as labels

  • Office 365 Business Premium

This will be rebranded Microsoft 365 Business Standard and all occurrences in documentation must be changed accordingly.

  • Office 365 Business Essentials

This plan will now be called as Microsoft 365 Business Basic from 21st April, 2020.

  • Microsoft 365 Business

Even though it is not a part of Office 365 family, Microsoft has announced this would be rebranded as Microsoft 365 Business Premium.

Which plans remain unchanged?

Other than the plans mentioned above, most plans are unaffected by the name change announcement. To give you a clear view you about whether your subscription plan is rebranded or not, take a look at the following list and find it yourself. The following plans have remained unchanged.

Office 365 for Government

  • Office 365 G1
  • Office 365 G3
  • Office 365 G5

Office 365 for Enterprise

  • Office 365 E1
  • Office 365 E3
  • Office 365 E5

Office 365 for Education

  • Office 365 A1
  • Office 365 A3
  • Office 365 A5

Office 365 for First line

  • Office 365 F1

The motivation behind rebranding

The Microsoft officials mentioned in the blogpost, where they announced the rebranding news, that the idea of rebranding is to indicate that Office 365 is not just Word, Excel and PowerPoint that half of the world still believes. Office 365 has grown a lot in the past years with products like Teams, Forms, Stream, and Planner and the name Microsoft 365 is a true depiction of what Office has evolved into, over the years. The officials confirmed that there won’t be any changes for now in price, features or the plans.

MachCloud – the favorite Microsoft 365 Provider for Resellers

If you are in search for a Platform to offer best in line Microsoft 365, look no further. MachCloud offers the best Reselling opportunity for all Office 365 resellers in the market. With better profit margins and a high reliability of services, MachCloud has become the favorite platform for Resellers. It offers basic plans like business plans (which include Business Basic, Business Apps, Business Standard and Business Premium), enterprise plans (which include Enterprise E1, Enterprise ProPlus and Enterprise E3) as well as Add-ons like Business Voice, Phone System and Business Apps. With the addition of delivering telephony services you offer a complete package, all from the MachCloud Portal.

Stay ahead of the curve and get your hands on MachCloud for a smooth and profitable service delivery to your customers.

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3 Popular Digital Communication Trends of 2020 from MachCloud Experts

In UC, UDCaaS, Unified Communications
March 4, 2020
3 Min Read
3

Communication trends 2020 are in demand since the cloud communication needs of the business emerge. In this era, there is no room for miscommunication, bad interpretation of messages, or sending the wrong information to any customer or colleague. This is the time of fast information communication with the right people at the right time with no delays or jitters.

UC Trends 2020 – Industry Analysis from MachCloud

Either it is normal workplace communication or customer management, cloud business phone is essential to be adopted in this era. We present you the much in-demand communication trends 2020 to give you an insight from our experts on what is latest on digital business communication trends in the workplace along-with marketing communication trends of today.

  • Trend # 1: Mobile communication due to changing demographics of the workplace

Workplace demographics are changing and this brings a major shift in business communication trends too. Today, the employees feel more productive and efficient while working from anywhere. Since the phone isn’t tied to the lines and wires, employees also prefer to work freely and not tied to the workplace of brick and mortar. So, Mobile communication is on the go. Work communication is taken one step further to the cloud.

ALSO READ: Securing your SBC Microsoft Teams Direct Routing Effectively

  • Trend # 2: Increased authenticity to combat security risks

With increased communication, we have seen increased VoIP attacks and better security needs for companies which are primarily dependent on communication devices and tools for their business operations. So a cloud business phone system equipped with the latest Cybersecurity tools is the most in-demand trend of today.

  • Trend # 3: Data-driven decision making approach

Data is the new oil, they say. Companies equipped with better data-processing approaches and who go for data-driven decision making approaches stay ahead of the curve. With emerging technologies, new data-gathering and analytics functions that have given raise to new marketing communication trends. These functions are able to monitor, manage and plan communications campaigns of businesses.

ALSO READ: Prevent security risks in telephone conversations

MachCloud – The one stop platform for the latest communication business needs

MachCloud is an integrated communication platform that fits the business needs of today. Equipped with best in line tools for smooth flow of communication, MachCloud is a gateway to your business communication. Services like MachCloud with flexible call plans and fewer complexities, secure and reliable PBX functionalities, Office 365 reselling, SIP trunking and many others are offered by the platform. It caters for all the needs of a modern day business communication.

Get started with MachCloud for an easy provision of cloud business phone for a successful business operation.

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5 Ways Business VoIP brings more Revenue

In Digital Communications, VOIP
December 12, 2019
2 Min Read
5

Business communication has transformed into digital business communication from the past few years. With Unified digital communications and even UDCaaS being in the norm, many businesses opt for a decent Business VoIP for many reasons.

Here are top 7 cloud business benefits once you deploy a decent VoIP in your workplace:

  • Reduce missed opportunities

With a VoIP, your incoming calls are not tied to one landline, so there is hardly any chance that you miss an important call. This is one of the many cloud business benefits that you can’t miss.

  • Stay customer friendly

A business VoIP app does a lot more than traditional receptionists on call. They provide multi-media messages and enable visual communication to tackle things faster than on call. Other digital communication tools like virtual PBXs have the potential to be integrated with your main CRM to provide a customer friendly user experience.

  • Reduced costs

With less initial costs and almost no jungle of wiring needed for your office workspace, the digital communication tools provide the best cloud business benefits by reducing costs for your business.

  • Enhanced Collaboration

Digital communication tools provide you better collaboration experiences for your employees. Business VoIP is more adaptable to change according to business needs.

  • Improved sales performance through reporting

With dashboards provided by digital communication tools providers, managers can know major KPIs like analytics and assess individual and team sales performance. This way, you can also track incoming leads which can help in pointing the right direction of investment.

ALSO READ Boost your Business Productivity with Teams Direct Routing Solutions

MachCloud – Promising Digital Communication Tools Under One Platform

MachCloud is the industry leading digital communication tools provider in the Unified communication market. With easy plans and pricing for SIP Trunking, Cloud PBX, Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Skype 4 Business and many more services, MachCloud provides products tailored according to your business needs. MachCloud is all-in-one toolbox for a customized and collaborative business communication experience.

Head up to MachCloud and get your digital communication tools in place according to your business needs.

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Time is Money: Invest in Digital Communications Solutions for your Cloud Business in time

In Business Communication
October 28, 2019
3 Min Read
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The Cloud has automated process like no technology before. Cloud automation is now a norm. There is a simple rule of thumb: if the business processes are automated, the employees can get more time to focus on higher value areas of the business.

The bottom line is: the more time staff members spend on petty everyday tasks, the less time they are spending over customer care and serving the business vision. Automating critical-but-time consuming business processes not only saves time but also add more value to the business. When planning for longer term benefits, the ROI of automation is promising than manual cost to implement issues.

Streamline your business

In order to streamline business, the processes have to be analyzed carefully to attain maximum perfection once the automated business process is in action. A fully integrated system is needed for a comprehensive insight towards the automation of whole business. This can not only automate business processes but also streamlines them for efficient outcomes.

Ease out the pain points of your employees

With cloud automation and better communication, employees don’t have to do follow routine tasks every day. Many business communication related tasks like reports after a video conference, camera focus on the speaker during a video conference

Modernize your workplace with Digital Communication Solutions

The trend for adopting cloud-based digital communications amongst Cloud businesses is increasing. Since the past 5 years, Gartner reports, the trend for UC communications is increasing and approximately 20% of companies opt for digital communications. Companies now understand the importance of a cloud-first strategy and opt for cloud based communications. Solutions like VoIP, IP telephony, Skype for business Server and Microsoft Teams are widely adopted. This not only opens a gateway to staying globally connected with clients but also makes the company grow steadily. A Modern workplace requires digital communications solutions so that all your employees are always on the go.

ALSO READ Ways Cloud Voice can boost cloud computing for business productivity

MachCloud’s best-in-line Digital Communication Experience

MachCloud is a full-fledge digital business communication platform with a cloud-first approach offering services like MachCloud and Office 365. MachCloud is the Industry-leading digital communications provider where there are pocket-friendly pricing plans that fit every business type. It’s Calling via Teams is a fruitful offer for cloud businesses. With updated infrastructure, MachCloud makes Digital Transformation an easy and promising task.

Get on board with MachCloud and experience digital transformation for better cost savings.

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An insight into Microsoft O365 groups management

In Office 365
September 23, 2019
3 Min Read
A

Management Is Everything. May it be financial, technical, digital communication based, or management of cloud business on the whole. With cloud management tools, the tedious task of management looks less burdening. The idea is to invest in the Right cloud management tools for a progressive cloud business.

Office 365 is a robust environment where cloud business can flourish if used the Right way. Many admins still don’t know how to unleash the potential of their cloud business with O365 groups feature provided under the Office 365 umbrella. For admins, they can control O365 groups option in three different ways:

  • Disable Office 365 groups self-service creation Option completely

Disabling the service altogether tenant-wide is the most straight forward approach. In such a case, users aren’t allowed to create things on their own, resultantly; the admin will be flooded with requests all the time to get users’ jobs done.  If this becomes time consuming, they might opt for alternate management tools which will do more harm than good.

  • Enable Office 365 groups creation for a selected pool of users

Users who are already comfortable with using O365 groups can be privileged to allow for creating O365 groups and their own resources like Planner. In this case, a PowerShell is run to make sure that the creation services are disabled for all other users. Only a selected group of individuals can utilize this service

  • Allow Office 365 groups self-service creation option to everyone

You can use this option when you wish to Empower your Team entirely. It is best suited when you have finally opted the cloud-first approach and enable digitization and agility rather than control and governance. Once your cloud business Team is mature enough, this option is defiantly a must

MachCloud – Industry-Leading Digital Communications Platform

MachCloud is a robust Communication platform which offers O365 Reselling for its Partners. When Partnered with MachCloud, CSPs get the benefits of hassle free business flows, automation, analytics and healthy margins. The O365 program is flexible on the whole. It gives you best possible profit margins to increase your revenue stream which you can set at your own pace. Experts at MachCloud are more than ready to assist you for any issue that you are stuck into. The bundle includes Microsoft technologies like OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook, and Skype for business, SharePoint, Exchange and many others. All are covered in affordable O365 plans and pricing including Office 365 Enterprise E1 and Office 365 Enterprise E3.

Get started with MachCloud today, for the best-in-line communication management and O365 management.

 

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3 ravishing features that make Microsoft Teams Online a Complete Calling Solution

In Digital Communications
September 12, 2019
3 Min Read
3

Microsoft_Teams-logo

Collaboration, Meetups and digital communications are the backbone of any business. With the news of Skype 4 Business functionality being integrated into Microsoft Teams soon, Teams can now be called as a “Complete Meeting solution”.  Microsoft’s big shift to incorporate Skype for Business into Microsoft Teams is the implementation of the plan where they wish to make Teams the primary communication client in Office 365. This is where the future of Intelligent digital communications begins. 

With Microsoft Teams online, you can provide the optimal collaboration solution within your organization and to your clients. Messages, calls, meetups and other business communication needs of today – all are catered by Teams. CSPs are eager to help customers to make the shift from Skype4B to Teams which includes deployments, management and up gradation.

Calls and Voicemail

The call and voicemail feature is a Must in every meeting and digital communications solution. There’s a full featured log maintained related to “Activities” related to your Teams call and voicemail usage. You can playback messages from voicemail again whenever you need. There is even a transcribing feature in Teams; this hint us that Teams has grown into an Intelligent Communication system. Using this feature, your voicemail messages can be converted into text, you can use this feature if you are in a public place where it’s too loud to listen to a message.

Persistent Chat features

Microsoft Teams online has given rise to the concept of synchronous communication. This way, your time to comprehend emails and respond to them separately, is reduced by a lot. The “Chat” tab is an alternate to emails. For quick conversations, you can move urgent email conversations into chats and so, as mentioned before, the time to comprehend the conversation is reduced.

Mobility

With the workplace of the future being digitized and everything needs mobility, MS Teams has made usage fairly easy. So, you can be at work on the go. With Microsoft Teams, you can duck out of your office early for a dentist appointment or to meet up with a friend at coffee shop; it is no longer a hurdle in your office work productivity. Mobility is a must and Microsoft Teams online has promised that. The same level of productivity can be achieved from your smartphone from that of your Office system.

ALSO READ 4 handy ways to start a Microsoft Teams call

MachCloud – The Best Digital Communications Provider for Business

We give priority to Skype for Business users with all the necessary deployment needs and our experts cater for the best solutions possible for our clients. MachCloud offers solutions like MachCloud, Cloud PBX, Office 365 plans, SIP Trunking and features like Calling via Microsoft Teams. With Unified invoicing and free calls mixing different technologies, MachCloud stands out from other Communication providers that make Digital communications deployment easier. It allows you to scale your business either way with no additional costs.

Head over to MachCloud for a more productive Communication solution with Microsoft teams online and other Microsoft Products in the forefront.

 

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