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IT services provider, Empired (ASX:EPD), is among more than 30 early adopters tapping into a new native voice calling service, dubbed Telstra Calling for Office 365, resulting from a partnership between Telstra and Microsoft.
The first-in-market offering, which will be available for Telstra’s Australian business customers from the middle of 2018, lets end users access cloud collaboration and voice infrastructure services, with Telstra calling plans supported directly from Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams.
“We’re excited to be partnering with Telstra to bring this pure cloud offering to our customers in Australia and enabling all components of our modern workplace solution with the addition of voice services,” Microsoft Australia COO, Rachel Bondi, said.
“Telstra Calling for Office 365 is a unique solution to enable cloud voice within Office 365 and is testament to the strong partnership our two organisations have built over many years,” she said.
According to Microsoft, interest in the new product has been strong, with more than 200 Telstra customers taking part in a preview program over the last six months, and over 30 Telstra customers and partners currently participating in an Early Adopter Program.
Empired, an early adopter of the solution, has been working with Telstra, Microsoft, and at least six other early adopter partners. The publicly-listed Microsoft partner is currently working with several customers as part of the program.
“The new solution represents significant value for customers and can be compared to the shift that occurred when Microsoft introduced Office 365 and organisations could move applications to the cloud,” Empired cloud design and integration national business manager, Jaen Snyman, said. “Now they’ll be able to move telephony and unified communications to the cloud all through the same platform.
“Organisations will be able to start their Office 365 journey with just Telstra Calling for Office 365, removing telephony risk and complexity from the business.
“Telstra Calling for Office 365 only serves to make the whole Office 365 platform even more compelling. We anticipate many Australian organisations will look at implementing Telstra Calling for Office 365 over the next 12 months,” Snyman said.
