According to Microsoft, cloud-based calling will overtake premises-based calling by 2026 while, in the immediate term, the growth of Microsoft Teams in the context of the dramatic rise of work-from-home double year over year (from 2021 to 2022).
Will the world of work be completely run on the cloud, including all voice, video, and collaboration platforms in the future? This seems inevitable, but at the same time, analog devices are still with us and will remain that way in many industries, including government and military.
There’s no need to worry about the seamless orchestration of digital and analog devices; even telcos and Communication Service Providers have announced the “end of life” of analog networks. ConnX is helping customers digitally transform their communications and computing environments, enabling those customers to bring new life to their investments in faxes, alarm systems, desktop phones, and even PBX equipment with our POTS-D offering.
This not only extends the value of their I.T. investments but also optimizes applications like Microsoft Teams, which only truly works when those who use Teams can access it with analog devices.
Microsoft Teams Voice and Video for U.S. Government Agencies and Businesses Who Serve Them
The best news about what may have felt like another I.T. headache is that when organizations transform with the right solution and partner, operations become simpler! ConnX Direct Routing as a Service for Microsoft Teams streamlines and assures quality associated with the increasingly popular Microsoft Teams Phone System.
We have proven we can seamlessly and cost-efficiently deliver Teams via Direct Routing as a SaaS (DRaaS) while streamlining Teams users’ daily operation and management.
“To meet the unique and evolving requirements of the United States Federal, State, Local, and Tribal governments, as well as contractors holding or processing data on behalf of the U.S. Government, Microsoft offers the Office 365 Government GCC environment,” Microsoft explains on their website.
“Available through multiple channels including Volume Licensing, interested organizations go through a validation process to ensure eligibility before an environment is established.”
Regulations are relatively recent, and according to Microsoft, trials are available to only U.S. Government entities today. Ultimately, however, any organization that works with the U.S. Federal government agencies, and other State, Local and Tribal agencies, will need to adopt certified versions of Teams and ensure the tightest security capabilities are in place, given the growing volume, velocity, and sophistication of attacks.
Microsoft made significant improvements to the Government and Department of Defense (DoD) compliance of its cloud offerings for Microsoft 365 (M365), Microsoft Office 365 (O365), and Microsoft Azure, and is now hard at work to ensure Teams is fully covered in their overall I.T. portfolio.
For government contractors, the GCCH offering:
- Provides the foundation for cybersecurity and compliance.
- Impacts whether an organization qualifies to work on future contracts, including contract modifications and extensions.
- Directly impacts whether Prime contractors, partners, and customers can work with that organization.
- Directly impacts how cybersecurity and compliance are evaluated when awarding contracts.
The Benefits of Working with an Expert MSP
Simplicity is the name of the game when it comes to making solid and sustainable choices about GCCH solutions. Working with the government can be notoriously complicated and risky, but working with experts who make the procurement and ongoing management and maintenance of GCCH-compliant teams reduces friction and risk.
For a government contracting officer to buy anything, they must follow the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) with requirements to put out a call for bids to ensure that they are getting the best bang for taxpayers’ buck. While everyone is for fiscal responsibility, this process can be incredibly time-consuming.
Or – and this is where we are going rapidly today, the contracting officer can simply go to the GSA with its pre-approved contracts to discover, research, and procure services.
While federal, state, local, and tribal agencies in the U.S. have been slow to move to the cloud – make no mistake that the transformation to the cloud today is fully underway, in parallel to the cloud revolution for organizations of all sizes, from SMBs to large global enterprises.
Learn more about the U.S. Federal Government’s move to the cloud here.
And when your organization is ready to prepare for bigger and better business with your government customers, reach out to me to set up a discussion, and we can help you map your journey, making your Teams experience today much better (with predictable quality of service, all layers of security required, and instant integration of analog and digital devices).