With Hybrid Work Still Rising, Verizon Partners with Microsoft to Help Mobilize Teams

For years, mobile employees have been a significant portion of the workforce. Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, the move to hybrid (or flexible) work has significantly increased the number of mobile workers—and we’re not looking back.

Despite some grumblings to the contrary (and many supporters of the return-to-work movement grabbing the spotlight), hybrid work is here to stay. In fact, a recent ZK Research survey showed that 75% of employees will work remotely at least one day a week for the foreseeable future. Ten percent of workers will be remote one day a week, 41% will be remote two-to-four days a week, and 24% will be remote all the time. Only 25% of workers will be in the office permanently.

Verizon partners with Microsoft to simplify Teams calling

Recently, Verizon partnered with Microsoft to offer external calling via the smartphone dialer for Teams, which now has more than 320 million active daily users. The joint solution, Verizon Mobile for Microsoft Teams (VMMT), facilitates an improved user experience and brings native mobile calling to Teams. Teams is an excellent collaboration tool, but calling through the application creates a layer of complexity. VMMT eliminates the complexity by removing the requirement to call through the Teams application.

Verizon is the first US mobile operator to offer a mobile calling solution for Teams and the first provider to provide a complete Teams calling suite, which includes VMMT, Verizon VoIP for Operator Connect, and Verizon Calling with Microsoft Teams. With VMMT, workers use the native dialer to make and receive Teams calls. The cellular network treats Teams calls as voice calls and prioritizes them over calls that run on data channels. As a result, even when data coverage is limited, users can make Teams calls.

Why enterprises should consider VMMT

Key benefits of VMMT include:

• A single number for making and receiving calls from the smartphone’s native dialer and Teams endpoints using a business-owned mobile number, which also reduces redundancies.
• Actual "unified communication" that gives remote, mobile, frontline, and in-office workers access to calling through Teams, with the ability to make and receive external calls.
• Simpler transitions from mobile voice calls to the full Teams experience.
• Integration with third-party compliance recording solutions for mobile calls without additional apps and corporate MDM solutions to extend enterprise-grade business policies across mobile devices.
• No need to have the Teams app open to make or receive a call.
• Integration of presence in Teams based on mobile device status.

Making life on the road seamless

The pandemic underscored the need for UC solutions. But it also revealed their shortcomings. Even as one of the most successful solutions, Teams has room for improvement. That’s where Verizon Mobile for Microsoft Teams comes in as a solution that eliminates some of the most troublesome limitations, such as blending the mobile, in-office, and remote experiences.

The business world is hybrid and is never going back to the way it was pre-pandemic. Mobile, frontline, and hybrid workers will continue to grow in numbers. So, building solutions that can make the life of a road warrior as seamless as possible will be critical. VMMT is a departure from the app-based mobility that businesses have relied on. However, nothing about the workplace is the same as pre-pandemic, and workers need new solutions to maximize productivity. VMMT enables workers to utilize Teams fully with the same experience when making a phone call. 

Zeus Kerravala is the founder and principal analyst with ZK Research.

Read his other Network Computing articles here.

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