One of our readers recently forwarded me this announcement from AT&T – apparently Operator Services and Directory Assistance will no longer be available on their U-verse voice lines – starting January 1, 2023. Instead, they advice that “Addresses and numbers can still be located using online services, such as internet search engines, including Google®, Bing®,… Continue Reading
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CLECs should think twice about nationwide service
We often work with clients that operate both an ILEC and a CLEC. Typically the ILEC was the original business, but then it made sense to start offering competitive voice services in surrounding areas, and so a new CLEC was created to take advantage of those opportunities. In these initial CLEC rate centers, telcos often… Continue Reading
What is Operator Connect Mobile?
Metaswitch recently announced a couple of products that help support Microsoft’s new Operator Connect Mobile service. In this article we’ll help you to understand what this new service is, and whether it’s relevant for you. How is Operator Connect Mobile different? You may recall that Operator Connect is an integrated way for a service provider… Continue Reading
Managed SBC for Operator Connect – the simplest deployment option
When Microsoft first announced Operator Connect six months ago, I was both impressed and concerned. I was impressed at their vision for how easy it could be to set up SIP trunks with a service provider of your choice within Teams. But I was also very concerned that they would cherry pick a few large… Continue Reading
Operator Connect – Microsoft anoints the telco aristocracy?
This week Microsoft announced a new tier in the Microsoft Teams hierarchy. Previously we had Teams Calling Plans (calling through Microsoft) and Direct Routing (choose your own carrier), but soon there will be a third option Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams. However, to describe it as the third option is misleading, because this clearly sits… Continue Reading
Microsoft Teams integration: our recommended approach
We’ve been discussing Microsoft Teams integration over the past few weeks, and it’s time to draw some conclusions. In this article I’ll be providing specific advice for how service providers should respond to business customers who are using Teams. Step 1: Decide how integrated you want to be Echoing the three tiers I discussed in… Continue Reading