Access4, a wholesale provider of voice and Unified Communication-as-a-Service (UCaaS) solutions, has announced the inception of its Flex solution for Microsoft Teams. This ingeniously conceived solution is designed to serve the needs of their partners by enabling an integration of Access4's proprietary Teams Enhanced User features alongside their cost-effective Basic Channel service, all within the same customer tenancy.

Prior to the launch of Flex, customers were presented with only two options to utilise Microsoft Teams with Access4 - either a per user model offering Basic or Enhanced Users with advanced call features or Teams Basic Channel providing a shared service that offers standard calling features to multiple users all at once. The latter provided a cost-effective solution for deployments on a larger scale. Now, with the advent of the Flex option, companies have the ability to amalgamate the two options into one customer tenancy.

Flex solution offers the advantage of an intelligent pricing model which includes per seat payment for advanced users and shared Basic Channels for other users requiring standard Teams calling services. This gives companies the ability to take advantage of both advanced and basic services in a cost-effective manner, scaling with the size of their operation.

Expressing his views on the development, Tim Jackson, Managing Director at Access4, stated, "Our partners increasingly wanted to offer larger, mid-market customers the value of the Enhanced User as well as the Basic Channel products in one tenancy. [...] Now, with the benefit of our engineering and design investment, Teams Flex customers get the best of both worlds. Partners can offer customers the combination of Enhanced Users who have all the Microsoft Teams advanced features backed by our carrier grade hosted PBX, with Teams Channel giving the customer unlimited Basic user with a contended channel model."

Access4's Flex is designed to be a sure fit even for larger scale businesses with a high number of employees with basic calling needs. Simultaneously, it shields the advanced users in need of advanced calling solutions such as call centres, compliance-based call recording and analytics.

Steve Bower, Managing Director of BayCom ICT, an Auckland-based MSP, expressed his optimism about the new launch, stating, "We're very excited about Access4's latest innovation in the Teams Calling space. With Flex, we can provide our customers greater value and cost efficiency. Combining Enhanced Users with Channel enables us to remain competitive and holistically service our customers' needs."

John Lane, General Manager Sales at Virtual IT Group, an Australian-based MSP, praised Flex's differentiated character and option-enhanced user experience. He asserted, "The ability to add additional users and channels within the same customer tenancy will be extremely beneficial for our clients and highlights Access4's partner first approach."

Besides meeting design specifications for customers requiring more versatility, Access4's Flex also aids business continuity for customers. In the event of a Microsoft outage, the service allows customers to continue operating their businesses as they can take calls off the hosted PBX platform. This replicated sustainability can be accredited to Access4's central platform, independent of Microsoft's operating environment.