CCaaS stands for contact center as a service: your contact center operates in the cloud, and you pay for it as a service. So you don't need to manage your own telephone switch or servers. Sounds simple, but the choice isn't. Especially not if your organization is already using Microsoft Teams.

What's included in a CCaaS solution?

The exact content varies by provider. These are the components you usually encounter:

  • Routing: a query reaches the right employee, for example, based on skill or language.
  • Multiple channels: phone, chat, email, and messaging services come together in one place.
  • Self-service: a menu or AI agent handles simple questions independently.
  • Customer context: a link with your CRM shows who is calling and what it's about.
  • Management: team leaders see live wait times and occupancy and review reports afterward.
  • Quality: record, transcribe, and assess conversations.

CCaaS or UCaaS: what's the difference?

UCaaS stands for unified communications as a service. That's communication for your entire organization: calling, meeting, and chatting. Microsoft Teams is a well-known example.

CCaaS focuses on one task: properly handling customer questions. In short, UCaaS ensures that colleagues are reachable, and CCaaS ensures that customers are assisted. In our article Teams Telephony or a contact center, you can recognize the signals indicating you need the latter.

CCaaS and Microsoft: three methods

Working with Teams? Then you have roughly three routes.

1. Teams itself

Teams has menus (auto attendants) and queues (call queues). According to Microsoft, this is just enough for some organizations. Then you don’t need CCaaS.

2. A certified solution for Teams

Microsoft has a certification program for contact centers that collaborate with Teams. A provider can connect in three ways:

  • Connect: via certified session border controllers and Direct Routing.
  • Extend: as an app in Teams, via Microsoft Graph connections. Employees call from the Teams client.
  • Unify: as a standalone application on Azure Communication Services, utilizing Teams' calling infrastructure.

You can find which provider uses which model in the Microsoft list. The model determines where your employees work and how your telephony operates, so always inquire about it.

3. Dynamics 365 Contact Center

Dynamics 365 Contact Center is Microsoft's own CCaaS solution. It works with the CRM of your choice and includes routing, IVR, AI agents, summaries, and live transcription. Voice runs on Azure Communication Services.

What should you consider when choosing?

  1. Where do you want your employees to work? In Teams, in your CRM, or in a separate workspace?
  2. Which CRM do you use? And how deep should the integration be?
  3. How does your telephony operate? Do you want to keep your current numbers and provider?
  4. Which channels do you really need? Start with what your customers already use.
  5. What do you want to achieve with AI? And is it available in Dutch and in your region?
  6. What are the total costs? Look beyond the license: call and AI usage also count.

At 365 Angels, we supply Dynamics 365 Contact Center, Luware, Tendfor, and Voca, among others. So, we have no reason to steer you in one direction.

Not sure which route suits you? Schedule a conversation and we'll take an honest look together.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does CCaaS stand for?

Contact center as a service: contact center software you consume as a cloud service.

Is Microsoft Teams a CCaaS solution?

No. Teams is mainly UCaaS. It does have menus and queues, and you can connect a contact center to it.

Does Microsoft have its own CCaaS product?

Yes, Dynamics 365 Contact Center.