Given I'm considering suggesting to my organization to migrate from Mitel on prem to 3CX Direct Routing integration into MS Teams, could I get feedback from any current admins with 3CX integrated into MS Teams - what impact did you experience yesterday during the global MS Teams outage?
The purpose of Direct Routing integration is not to provide a redundancy solution and won't prevent potential Microsoft outages.
Direct Routing is intended to extend your phone system and give users the opportunity to answer calls through Microsoft Teams or make calls via Microsoft Teams.
Don't think of using 3CX as a 'converter'; it's not designed for that. It's also not a calls distributor. Instead, view the Teams integration as an additional “phone device” for the user, similar to a Softphone.
Now that the warnings have been made, here are the strengths and weaknesses, I'm being completely transparent:
[Positives]
The setup is really easy, including the dial plan!
The 3CX Enterprise license is a minimum requirement but justified.
I like this integration because we use Microsoft Teams every day for meetings. “Useful for adding a non-Teams participant. I use it on PC, I prefer using the 3CX app on my mobile.
- Calls coming from outside answered with MS Teams;
- Calls made to the outside from MS Teams;
- Calls from a colleague using 3CX to call me;
- Calls to a colleague contacted on their 3CX extension number.
The "in conversation" status is "synchronized" and visible to all Teams and 3CX users.
The integration is super stable.
[Negatives]
For now, the statuses (Do Not Disturb, Away, etc.) are not synchronized between MSTeams and 3CX. To be developed.
The "in conversation" status during MSTeams to MSTeams calls (without dialing the extension number) is not synchronized with 3CX. Maybe a "monitoring by 3CX" will come?
No option to uncheck the "MS Teams" function in a 3CX status (equivalent to Push Notifications). Once activated, it will always ring if the 3CX status is on Available or Business Trip (Custom1). Therefore, do not activate Push on the 3CX app to avoid conflicts.
No synchronization of 3CX users in MSTeams. Manually add contacts (colleagues) with their extension numbers. It's a pity not to be able to see the status of colleagues (on 3CX); I use the 3CX WebClient for this.
In summary, I consider this more of a gadget than a main solution.
Although Microsoft Teams is popular, it's not perfect.
Being dependent on Microsoft servers (Highly available) but not immune to routing problems (server hops).
In my opinion, the integration of 3CX Direct Routing is good but not as good as the 3CX applications on PC/MAC and Mobile. Ultimately, I set up a second line for myself (a different extension number) in 3CX that works with MSTeams, while keeping my main, well-known extension without Teams integration. This gives me control over when I want it to function or not ring when I receive calls.
