Microsoft Teams Phone vs a VoIP Phone System: What's the Difference?

Microsoft Teams has become part of everyday working life for millions of people. Meetings happen through Teams, employees message each other throughout the day and colleagues collaborate on documents without necessarily being in the same building.

That naturally leads to a question.

If we're already using Microsoft Teams, do we still need a separate business phone system?

The answer depends on what you need your telephone system to do, because Microsoft Teams and a traditional VoIP platform can overlap considerably, but they're not necessarily the same thing.

Microsoft Teams Isn't Automatically Your Business Phone System

Most businesses begin using Teams for internal communication.

Employees can message colleagues, make Teams-to-Teams calls, hold video meetings and collaborate with people inside and outside the organisation.

That doesn't automatically mean somebody can pick up the phone and call your main business telephone number through Teams.

Microsoft Teams Phone extends the platform by adding business telephony capabilities, allowing organisations to use Teams as part of their external telephone environment when it is configured with the appropriate licensing and connectivity.

That can potentially mean employees use the same application for internal collaboration and external business calls.

For some organisations, that's extremely attractive.

What Does a VoIP Phone System Do?

A modern VoIP phone system also uses internet technology to handle business calls, but it is typically designed specifically around telephony.

Depending on the platform, businesses can have features such as call routing, hunt groups, auto attendants, voicemail, reporting, call recording and integration with other business applications.

Employees may use physical handsets, desktop applications, mobile apps or combinations of these depending on how they work.

In other words, VoIP isn't simply a cheaper version of a traditional landline. It can become a flexible communication platform connecting employees across multiple devices and locations.

So Which One Is Better?

There isn't a universal winner.

A business that already lives inside Microsoft 365 and Teams may find the idea of bringing telephone communication into the same environment very appealing. Employees are already familiar with the interface, and reducing the number of separate applications they use throughout the day can simplify communication.

Another organisation may have more complex telephone requirements or prefer a dedicated cloud telephony platform designed specifically around customer calls.

The right answer depends much more on how your organisation communicates than on which technology has the most impressive list of features.

Think About the Customer, Not Just the Employee

One mistake businesses can make when reviewing phone systems is looking exclusively at what employees see.

But half of every external telephone conversation belongs to somebody outside your organisation.

What happens when a customer calls your main number? How quickly do they reach the correct team? What happens when that person is already on another call? Can enquiries move between departments easily? What experience does somebody receive outside normal opening hours?

These questions matter regardless of whether the technology underneath the call is Microsoft Teams Phone or another VoIP platform.

Your phone system should be designed around the journey of the caller as well as the convenience of the employee.

What About Employees Who Still Want a Desk Phone?

The move towards cloud communications doesn't necessarily mean every physical handset needs to disappear.

Some employees are perfectly comfortable managing calls through a laptop and headset. Others may strongly prefer having a traditional handset on their desk. Reception areas, customer service teams and other roles can also have different requirements from hybrid employees.

This is why communication technology should follow working practices rather than forcing everybody into exactly the same setup.

A modern system can often support different devices and ways of working within the same organisation.

Consider How Your Business Might Change

The phone system you choose isn't just for the organisation you have today.

Perhaps you currently have one office but expect to open another. Maybe more employees are beginning to work remotely, or the business is growing and call volumes are increasing.

You might also want greater visibility over customer communication in the future.

A good communications strategy considers those possibilities before a platform is selected.

Otherwise, businesses can find themselves replacing one limitation with another.

Teams Phone or VoIP? Start With the Business

The technology should come second.

Start by asking how customers contact you, how employees communicate, where people work and what frustrations exist within the current phone system.

Once those requirements are understood, it becomes much easier to decide whether Microsoft Teams Phone, another VoIP solution or a combination of technologies is the most appropriate approach.

Complete IT Solutions helps organisations review their existing communications and identify solutions based around how the business actually works.

If you're already using Microsoft Teams and wondering whether it could replace or integrate with your existing business phone system, the best place to start is by understanding what you need the system to achieve.