CallTower Expands Operator Connect Offering – UC Today
Following the successful introduction of Microsoft Operator Connect to the EMEA market in recent months, CallTower announced this month that it is expanding its premium Unified Communications services to the Asian Pacific region this summer.
The announcement is part of a global expansion, bringing Microsoft’s most innovative voice service component for Microsoft 365 users to more users worldwide.
“We are thrilled to bring more of our global customers the opportunity to join us with Operator Connect,” says CallTower’s Chief Revenue Officer William Rubio. “CallTower has over 20 years of history providing direct routing services to our international markets, so this is an exciting moment for us to bring them the smoothest voice experience for Teams.”
Advantages of Operator Connect for Teams Admins
Demand for Microsoft Teams has grown exponentially over the past few years as more organizations have shifted over to cloud deployments and services.
In 2024, the number of daily active users grew to over 320 million.
While direct routing for voice had long been an option for adding the PSTN services that organizations depend on, the ease of implementation for Operator Connect has led to a massive growth in demand.
Operator Connect allows admins to manage provisioning, voice mail, conferencing, and much more for their users, all through the ease of their Microsoft 365 portal.
Along with Operator Connect’s powerful core services, many customers take advantage of the premium-level additional features that a solutions provider like CallTower—one of the initial five vendors to offer Operator Connect in 2021—can offer them.
“CallTower is improving the outcome for the customer, helping them minimize the vendor management,” says Rubio to UC Today. “We’re doing the analog, text messaging, call compliance, analytics, CCasS, emergency failover, and many other features that the customer would have to outsource and get multiple different vendors to manage and acquire. We’re all doing it internally and that really is a big differentiator for a lot of customers.”
Supporting Customers and Partners in APAC and LATAM
Rubio tells UC Today that they will initially be rolling out Operator Connect into the Australian and New Zealand markets before continuing to launch it in additional locations, including:
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- Indonesia
- Philippines
- Thailand
- Taiwan
These locations should be operational by the end of Q2 24.
After that, they will expand into Latin America, starting with Brazil and Mexico before adding Argentina, Chile, Columbia, and Peru.
Tips for Choosing a Global Operator Connect Vendor
For organizations looking to make the move to Operator Connect, whether in these new international markets or even in the North American and EMEA markets where it is already established, choosing the right partner can be critical for success.
With all the possible criteria, here are a couple of points to consider:
1. Experience in the Market
How long has this vendor been providing voice? Not just PSTN but also within the Microsoft context.
For vendors like CallTower that work directly with Microsoft, the level of white glove support for customers is far more comprehensive than those vendors that are working through additional layers of service.
“Being able to provide the white glove experience for our customers comes on top of years of being a Gold Partner with Microsoft, helping to handle the lift for everything from the implementation of voice services in Teams all the way through lifetime support with our products,” says Rubio.
2. Global Context
Understanding the local regulations for everything from rollout to billing can be a major game changer in assuring the success of an organization’s relationship with its vendor.
With over two decades of experience in the international market, CallTower has built local relationships for voice that support their customers no matter where they are across the globe in over 100 countries.
“We are also set up to bill directly in local currencies,” says Rubio. “Alongside the USD, GBP, AUD, and Euro, we can add pretty much any currency within a 30-day time frame to support our customers.”
3. Feature Support
On top of the core voice services provided by Microsoft, what else can your vendor centralize for you?
Do they have WhatsApp and text message integrations or help you out with call recording compliance as part of your CCaaS?
Supporting Partners with the GTX Portal
As part of its global rollout, CallTower will also announce the launch of its GTX platform, which is designed to support partners in selling CallTower services.
Essentially a hub for CallTower’s partners, GTX will streamline the process for local partners who want to enable Teams for their customers.
Set up with the local partner’s branding and feel, the portal creates a seamless experience for the end user who enjoys the benefit of CallTower’s portfolio of services but with the local feel of the vendor that they are interacting with directly.
“This portal is yet another way that we are looking to support our global partners in leveraging CallTower and bring their customers the top-tier experience and value that we are able to offer,” says Rubio. “Hopefully, we can continue our successful expansion with Operator Connect to new markets, supporting customers directly and with our local partners on the ground and bringing the most innovative cloud solutions for voice to customers.”
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