April 16, 2020 Direct Voice Routing for Microsoft Teams using TeamsHub by Cyclotron In this article, we explore automating Voice Routing features using TeamsHub by Cyclotron Introduction Microsoft Teams is an intelligent communication system that provides a flawless collaboration and immersive engagement experience of hi-def audio and video, calls, chat, screen-share and much more. Workgroup collaboration on projects, sharing ideas via conference meetings and delivering global live events became easier than ever. Thus, in a very short time, Microsoft Teams grew popular. Undoubtedly, Microsoft Teams is the next-gen collaboration suite that smart business leaders of today want to invest in. Microsoft Teams handles voice in two different ways using Microsoft Phone Systems/ Calling Plans Direct Routing Specific countries limit Microsoft Calling Plans. Therefore, configure a user’s existing phone infrastructure using Direct Voice Routing. Direct Voice Routing is one of the most important features in Microsoft Teams. It also incurs lower line costs than Microsoft’s Calling Plans. Direct Voice Routing Overview Direct Voice Routing requires Session Border Controller (SBCs) for Microsoft Teams. This enables connection to a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Firstly, you need to configure SBC as recommended by a certified SBC vendor. Secondly, connect it with Microsoft Phone System and enable direct routing and configure voice routing. Finally, translate numbers into an alternate format. Voice routing policy is a container that holds all routing elements such as PSTN Gateways, PSTN Usages, Dial Plans and Voice Routes in it. The ordering of PSTN Usages and Voice Routes is critical for sending calls in order to specific PSTN Gateways. In summary, Voice Routing Policy determines how a call is routed for that user. Using TeamsHub by Cyclotron Setting up voice features for Microsoft Teams requires in-depth knowledge of complex PowerShell commands along with rigorous experience in Skype. A user-friendly interface for creating, testing and troubleshooting Direct Routing configuration reduces the utility gap, making it simple and efficient. Let us look at some of the features that make the administrator’s job simple and easy. 1. PSTN Gateway PSTN gateway enables phone and media connection between two different types of networks. Configure all protocol related settings here including information to be sent to physically deployed SBCs in the PSTN gateway. This is to add SBC as a PSTN gateway and includes the following parameters shown below Additionally, set values as shown below 2. PSTN Usage PSTN usage has multiple voice associated routes to send calls to various regions. Assign PSTN usage, different voice routing policies. PSTN usage finds a matching rule related to call permissions when user dials a number to a particular site. The field Usage Name is a text pertaining to a geographical location, for example – US, US and Canada, International, etc. 3. Dial Plans Call authorization and call routing need dial plans, a set of normalization rules to translate dialed numbers to an alternate format. Different dial plans interpret the same string of numbers differently. Based on this interpretation, numbers are translated and routed. The dial plan follows a descriptive naming convention to identify assigned users. Create and manage a new dial plan simply by filling in the values in the given parameters using TeamsHub by Cyclotron. Dial Plan Name: Global/NR2 4. Voice Routes In TeamsHub by Cyclotron, creating a voice route can be followed with simple steps. A descriptive route name can be given to the Name field. Then, Number Pattern is a regular expression to match. Once matched, it sends the call to the defined SBC(s). You can then select FQDN, the domain name for your SBC and PSTN Usage. For example, the values for these parameters can be set as: Name: Route1 Number Pattern: [0-9]{10} FQDN: sbc.contoso.com PSTN Usage: US & Canada 5. Voice Routing Policy Using PSTN Usage(s) and their defined Voice Route(s), you can easily create Voice Routing Policy with TeamsHub by Cyclotron. For example, the values in the given parameters can be set as: Name: Policy1 PSTN Usage: US and Canada 6. Assign Voice Routing Policy Assigning a Voice Routing Policy is once again pretty straight forward. In TeamsHub by Cyclotron, simply select a Voice Routing Policy and username from Select People. So, when a user makes a call, based the Voice Routing Policy, a list of PSTN Usage(s) is returned. The Voice Routes linked with the PSTN Usages are verified to check if the number matches. If so, then the call is sent to the SBC(s) in the route with the highest priority. However, if call cannot be routed through the SBC for whatever reasons, the remaining matching routes are used. Thankfully, TeamsHub by Cyclotron makes voice configuration hassle-free for administrators. Summary When teams grow in large organizations, trying to work collaboratively in a fusion of several communication tools is neither practicable nor productive. It’s time to renounce old communication platforms and welcome a sleek, modern and efficient collaboration suite like TeamsHub by Cyclotron to provide you scalability and happier workforce. Suggested Reading Plan for Direct Voice Routing for Microsoft TeamsMicrosoft Article on Configuring Direct Voice Routing for Microsoft Teams If you liked this article, please feel free to peruse our blog section for more interesting content
April 07, 2020 Microsoft Teams for US Government and DoD Microsoft announces rapid enablement of Teams for US government entities As you may have noted, Microsoft recently announced the rapid deployment and enablement of Microsoft Teams for the US government and DoD. This was in response to the COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in both a health and economic crisis. You can find the full article here. Microsoft has released a Teams Guide for Rapid Enablement in GCC, GCCH & DoD. You can also access this via the link – https://aka.ms/TeamsGovFastPath You can find a webinar released by Microsoft on Youtube via the link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI4s3LE9lEY If you are a government entity and would like to leverage Microsoft Teams Cyclotron has offerings to meet your needs. We also cater to regulated industries such as Financial Services and Banking as well as Healthcare and Lifescience organizations. Additionally, we automate Microsoft Teams’ governance and engage users with our flagship product – TeamsHub by Cyclotron. TeamsHub by Cyclotron is a unified platform that simplifies, automates and streamlines governance. Also, with employee engagement features we provide a rich set of features along with governance. Furthermore, you can find more information in our blog articles. Finally, to know more about TeamsHub by Cyclotron please contact – sales@cyclotrongroup.com. We are totally committed to keeping our country safe and working 24X7. #MAGA. We look forward to hearing from you. About Cyclotron Cyclotron was proudly founded in San Francisco in 2014 with the sole intent of accelerating the success of our clients. We solve mission-critical business and technology challenges, through a proven network of industry-specific frameworks. We’re a trusted strategic partner to many innovative organizations in the financial, health and life sciences, public, retail, and technology sectors. Our solutions combined with your investment with us boost productivity, enhances collaboration, and integrates intelligence across your entire enterprise.
March 24, 2020 People Manager Framework and TeamsHub by Cyclotron: Adopting Microsoft Teams made easy San Francisco based Cyclotron Inc., a fast-growth company recently announced using the People Manager Framework to help Enterprises thinking of deploying or having recently deployed Microsoft Teams adopt it better, faster and easier. Along with its flagship TeamsHub by Cyclotron product, this makes Microsoft Teams experience much better for both administrators and end-users. A common scenario in any IT organization is to roll out a new application or software. This is done by the IT department after the decision by the executive sponsor has been made. However, the rollout and change enablement process most of the time involves very few training or immersion sessions. Champions are involved sporadically and getting buy-in from some business teams is a formality. This is then followed by mass communication and training sessions for everyone. In many cases, the wrong first experience creates end-user frustration. Also, all end users cannot be trained, all end users do not sit in the same office, or there is no one size fit all methodology especially in a multi-generational, distributed workforce. This is true for Microsoft Teams’ adoption as well. People Manager Framework is a simplified path for Hockey Stick adoption of Microsoft Teams by focusing on a starting point for the best end-user experience. By focusing on the persona of the employee and automating tasks such as Team creation, channels linking them to various Yammer and Stream groups, Forms and Flow, leads to manage resistance and increase adoption. This also helps in cutting down training costs and service desk tickets. Using TeamsHub by Cyclotron, provides you an intelligent, automated and intuitive system to manage all the governance, security policies, end-user experience features across the organization through a single interface. Using bots such as HR Assistant and communicator apps drives inclusivity as compared to email or other add-ons. About CyclotronCyclotron was proudly founded in San Francisco in 2014 with the sole intent of accelerating the success of our clients by solving mission-critical business and technology challenges, through a proven network of industry-specific frameworks. We’re a trusted strategic partner to many innovative organizations in the financial, health and life sciences, public, retail, and technology sectors. Our solutions combined with your investment with us boost productivity, enhances collaboration, and integrates intelligence across your entire enterprise.
March 20, 2020 Microsoft Teams adoption made easy using TeamsHub by Cyclotron In this article, we explore the best practices for Microsoft Teams. Using TeamsHub by Cyclotron makes this process faster, efficient and provides users with an engaging platform to enjoy collaborating with their co-workers Introduction Technology evolves and revolutionizes the future workplace in efficiency and productivity. However, people have been reluctant to embrace change and adapt to them quickly. Why do businesses face major IT failures after a successful implementation? Even cutting-edge technological solutions lack end-user adoption. Do people really fear to adopt new initiatives? The answer to this question is if that specific change can connect with user needs and wants. Also, businesses have not implemented best practices and simple communication. These two factors are critical for any initiative to be a success. Microsoft Teams adoption Microsoft Teams also has similar challenges for any organization. Adopting Microsoft Teams requires detailed planning, meticulous documentation as well as a good governance handbook. Microsoft has provided a quick start flipbook on adopting MS Teams. Microsoft’s site contains more detailed reading material. Drive faster adoption by making it simple, efficient and easy with TeamsHub by Cyclotron. So let us answer the question – “How do I help my business groups adopt Teams?” and how TeamsHub by Cyclotron can help. Firstly, by making governance rules applicable across Teams in a standardized and consistent manner. Secondly, by using the various features made available in TeamsHub by Cyclotron. Although IT professionals are important, it is the end-user adoption that makes or breaks a system roll-out. Here TeamsHub by Cyclotron scores over many other such products. By making it a single interface to collaborate across teams and also have employee engagement platform built-in. We specifically designed TeamsHub by Cyclotron around end-user adoption and engagement. Here we provide a single aggregated source of information across various digital streams. For example, corporate news and communications, recognitions and rewards as well as celebrating important milestones such as birthdays and anniversaries. To know more about TeamsHub by Cyclotron, please visit our site http://TeamsHub.io or contact sales@cyclotrongroup.com to request a demo. About Cyclotron Cyclotron was proudly founded in San Francisco in 2014 with the sole intent of accelerating the success of our clients. We solve mission-critical business and technology challenges, through a proven network of industry-specific frameworks. We are a trusted strategic partner to many innovative organizations in the financial, health and life sciences, public, retail, and technology sectors. Our solutions combined with your investment with us boosts productivity, enhances collaboration, and integrates intelligence across your entire enterprise
March 16, 2020 Cyclotron Announces Release of Employee Engagement platform to Boost Remote Worker Productivity Cyclotron Inc. announced a major update to its flagship TeamsHub product by launching TeamsHub Engage that adds to critical end-user productivity and employee engagement to its robust administration and governance feature set. TeamsHub by Cyclotron – Engage is a unified solution to engage employees on Microsoft Teams. It helps find expertise and personnel, share documentation, provide recognition for outstanding work, a medium to provide kudos for birthdays and anniversaries, and various other features to transform a normal environment into a highly collaborative, happy and engaged workplace. Along with these features, the powerful voice routing feature allows users to collaborate in real-time with voice, video, IM and screen share to boost remote worker productivity. In uncertain times such as the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic, which has caused travel restrictions and regional lockdowns, online collaboration has become even more important. Employer to employee communication is critical with periodic updates and notifications. At the same time, peer to peer collaboration is extremely vital to get work done and keep business moving. “We are excited about this release of TeamsHub by Cyclotron – Engage, the employee engagement platform on Microsoft Teams. It uses modern frameworks and design techniques for a slick premium experience and quick access to relevant information across multiple devices and screen resolutions. Our goal is to increase worker productivity and employee engagement for a globally distributed remote workforce.” – Amber Bahl, Founder and CEO of Cyclotron Inc. “TeamsHub by Cyclotron – Engage is the dedicated collaboration workspace for the entire organization. Plus it also encourages employees to have fun and be connected while doing the job at hand using various social features,” quotes Sunil Kumar, Director of Engineering. Logu Krishnan, Director of Technology further added, “Personalization is key for making TeamsHub Engage a success by tailoring it to be relevant for various user roles and personas. Using AI-powered chatbots, we further simplify daily routine tasks thus reducing time and effort.” About Cyclotron Cyclotron was proudly founded in San Francisco in 2014 with the sole intent of accelerating the success of our clients by solving mission-critical business and technology challenges, through a proven network of industry-specific frameworks. We’re a trusted strategic partner to many innovative organizations in the financial, health and life sciences, public, retail, and technology sectors. Our solutions combined with your investment with us boosts productivity, enhances collaboration, and integrates intelligence across your entire enterprise. For more information or to request a demo please contact sales@cyclotrongroup.com. The actual press release can be found on PRWeb For more information on Cyclotron visit – http://www.cyclotrongroup.com.
