Microsoft has confirmed a new contact center integration model for Teams, taking the total to three.
In a nutshell, the Unify integration model allows solution providers to build native CCaaS applications on Azure Communication Services (ACS), leveraging Teams' calling infrastructure.
This expansion of Teams Phone functionality into CCaaS environments is made possible by leveraging the following resources:
- ACS – call automation
- ACS – calling software development kit
- OpenAI
The vendor claims that Unify enables the development of “intelligent” CCaaS solutions that improve communication between customers and contact center agents.
In addition, Unify is equipped with Dual Persona, which means that calls made to or from ACS applications now alert only the Teams CCaaS identity.
This setup allows ISVs to route calls directly to their custom CCaaS client without triggering a ring within the Teams client itself.
The model also boasts enhanced AI support via a new API.
In discussing the news on LinkedIn, Chris Goodwill – a Strategic Partner Manager and Solution Specialist at Symity and self-described industry expert on Microsoft contact centers – wrote:
[Unify’s API] makes AI a first-class citizen and easier to use.
But why did Microsoft feel the need to release a fresh integration model?
Why New and Why Now?
Having been labelled as ‘Coming Soon’ on the Microsoft certification page (under the name ‘Power’) for several years, the company has clearly felt the need to bolster its integration options for quite some time.
While the vendor has not released any official statement on why it has finally decided to pull the trigger, it is interesting that the news comes just a month after the announcement that Microsoft was bringing Teams Phone extensibility to Dynamics 365.
This feature enables businesses to leverage their existing Teams voice infrastructure within the contact center, removing the need for a separate telephony system when using Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 CCaaS solution.
This makes Teams phone extensibility a key aspect of the new integration, with Goodwill describing it as “the technology enabler” for Unify.
Choosing the Right Integration
As mentioned above, Unify is the latest of three integration models that Microsoft currently offers to contact center solution providers.