Office 365 E5... Not Quite the Unification of Communications an Enterprise Requires

The 800 lb elephant has finally gotten into the cloud communications game, but really? After careful review of the product offering, I have to ask one question... "Where's the beef?" I certainly commend Microsoft for realizing that cloud communications is one of the fastest growing multi-billion dollar markets and will power the cloud marketplace to new heights. And to be clear, Microsoft has been in the on-premises communications space for years, first with Office Communications Server, which was re-named to Lync and then re-named to Skype for Business. Their newest offering, Skype for Business Online or otherwise announced as Office 365 E5, seems to be a half-step in the direction of cloud. I say half-step because it lacks significant and profound features, functionality and a total solution approach that most enterprises absolutely require when evaluating a migration to the cloud. You don't have to take my word for it (Review Office 365 fails at collaboration, by InfoWorld)! But if you want my take on Office 365 E5, read on and, "Take my word for it!"

No Integrated Contact Center/ACD/Auto Attendant Functionality

Billed as the enterprise voice release for Office 365, it is unfortunately missing key features that virtually all enterprises require: Contact Center/ACD/Auto Attendant capabilities. Real enterprises need a means to route callers from their 800 and main office numbers to the appropriate people within the organization. Without any integrated Contact Center, ACD or Auto Attendant capabilities, Office 365 E5 is not really an enterprise level product and would require additional IT resources and cloud service providers to add this functionality; thereby increasing cost, complexity and management.

PanTerra's Enterprise Level Contact Center/ACD/Auto Attendant Functionality Connects Customers to the Right People.

In addition to the Contact Management, Reports and Admin Controls detailed in my last post, PanTerra’s integrated enterprise Contact Center/ACD/Auto Attendant features also include:

• Unlimited Agents Located Anywhere in the World – Set up contact center agents anywhere in the world instantly with the flexibility to easily move, update, add, and re-assign agents at any time.
• Unlimited Call Queues and Minutes – never worry about scalability or cost as PanTerra's contact center supports unlimited queues and minutes at no extra charge.
• Integrated Business Analytics – Perform real-time performance tuning of the most critical part of your business: customer interactions, with built-in business analytics. With over 100 customizable KPI/SLA performance metrics, real-time monitoring and ad hoc/scheduled detailed reports, PanTerra's business analytics can optimize your business in real-time.
• Supervisory Modes – Supports silent listen, whisper and barge-in functionality per call per agent for training and quality control.
• Customer Call Back – Provides convenient call back functionality for customers, further increasing customer satisfaction and acquisition.
• Advanced Call Recording – Set call recording functionality on a per user basis with multiple recording options from manual initiation to record all calls. Call recordings are stored in PanTerra's HIPAA compliant SmartBox cloud storage.
• Unlimited Auto Attendants – Create unlimited numbers of Auto Attendants including auto attendant chaining. Advanced features include music on hold, customizable announcements, time-of-day routing, general voicemail and multiple assistants.

If it’s business-critical security features you’re looking for in Office 365 E5, you’re going to be very disappointed.  In my next post, I’ll give you a taste of why PanTerra is a better choice in the area of cloud security.