Managing Microsoft Teams accounts can be a time-consuming process. Every move, add, and change adds up, but there’s no bigger task than the initial account setup.
On the face of it, it should be simple. Users receive a username and password and away they go. But you and I both know that there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes.
In this blog post, I’m going to introduce some best practices and a little software that can streamline your Teams account setup so you can get remove manual inefficiencies and gain back valuable time in your day.
What is the best way to set up Microsoft Teams?
The best way to set up Microsoft Teams is in a manner that benefits you (the Teams admin) and the user who’s going to be using it. This means reaching a compromise between user-focused and admin-oriented.
Sounds like an impossible dream, right? Well, it has been until now.
Let’s take a look at the current way most businesses are setting up Microsoft Teams for their users and groups, then compare it to a new streamlined process using Orto for Teams.
How businesses are currently setting up Microsoft Teams accounts
When a new starter joins your business, a ticket arrives at your desk with some detail for what they need:
- Laptop
- Access to relevant software
- Logins to relevant online systems
- Access to Microsoft Teams
- Phone number to make outbound calls
This is pretty standard and doesn’t take up too much of your time. In fact, you could probably do this on autopilot.
Why, then, is the cost of provisioning spiralling out of control?
Spoiler alert: You Could Save $500,000 Using This Microsoft Teams Provisioning Tool
It’s because everything on that support ticket isn’t everything that user needs. What really happens is:
- You provide a new laptop
- You configure credentials for all the apps they need
- You provision a new Microsoft user on Entra (Azure AD)
- You add a PSTN number from an existing range
- You mark the ticket as complete
What follows is a myriad of support tickets over the next few days and weeks, asking for bit part functionality as the user discovers they don’t have it (and needs it).
If this happens every single time a new user starts, the influx of tickets becomes overwhelming. You’re spending all your time fighting priority tickets while expected to enable new features and policies for this new user who’s now arranging meetings left, right, and center, and needs them recorded and needs access to new channels and files. Oh, and they forgot to include that they would like voicemail turned on and is music on hold possible?
Sound familiar?
When you’re working through tickets, trying to please everyone, under scrutiny from HR (for initial setup), new users (who just want to do their job), and department heads (who want their new users to be performing), you rush through things to get back to working on that important project you had scheduled for this week.
This is when manual errors happen. Whether you’re running scripts or making one-by-one changes in the Teams Admin Center (TAC), the pressure and monotony of making these constant changes will cause you (or any human) to make a small mistake once in a while.
Hey, we’re not calling you out here. It’s natural. Humans make mistakes. As a former provisioning manager, I’ve made loads.
Read: When I was a provisioning manager, I made lots of mistakes.
So, that’s the current process. It’s a bit of a rush job and everyone making the small but business-impacting changes is under pressure to get things right at the drop of a hat.
Doesn’t sound optimal, does it?
When it comes to Microsoft Teams account setup, there is another way.
How Orto streamlines Microsoft Teams account setup
Orto is so-called because Orto-matic. Get it? We’re talking about automated provisioning for Microsoft Teams.
Instead of the manual, click-by-click, script-by-script, painful process, you can create user persona templates. Once you have your set of templates, a new starter joins your business, and you select which they slot into.
When creating your new user’s Microsoft accounts using Entra (formerly Azure AD), all you need to do is select their user persona based on department, geography, or seniority.
Once selected, Orto does the configuration for you. You configure the Azure AD attribute and out comes a fully configured Teams account with the relevant permissions and policies needed for that specific job role.
Here are the policies we can automate assignment of, straight out of the box:
- App Setup
- Audio Conferencing
- Call Hold
- Calling
- Call Park
- Channels
- Compliance Recording
- Emergency Calling
- Emergency Call Routing
- Enhanced Encryption
- Events
- Files
- IP Phone
- Meeting Broadcast
- Meeting
- Messaging
- Mobility
- Room Video Tele Conferencing
- Shifts
- Survivable Branch Appliance
- Video Interop Service
- Voice Applications
- WorkLoad
- Meeting Branding
- Dial Plan
If you’re a Teams admin, here’s how your life could look:
The ROI of Microsoft Teams auto-provisioning is clear. You’ll save time, effort, and the cost of manual errors. Streamlining your Microsoft Teams account setup really should be a no-brainer.
Sounds good, but what if I’m not at that sort of scale?
Good question. And one that we get asked a lot.
What if you could have the benefits of user and policy management without the outlay for automation?
Orto also acts as a single pane of glass for Microsoft Teams management. You don’t have to start automating your Microsoft Teams account setup. But you can still benefit from and easy-to-navigate portal that grants you full access to TAC-like changes without the need for Microsoft Teams premium.
With Orto, you can:
- Save 77% on user management costs.
- Assign phone numbers, standard policies, and custom policies.
- Migrate users when they move departments or get a promotion.
- Add users as agents to all the Teams call queues they need based on their role.
- Grant your end users access to the right teams in Microsoft Teams based on their location, department, job role, or project.
How to get started with Orto for Teams
Sounds like something you want to get your teeth stuck into? I don’t blame you.
As a former provisioner, and someone who works with companies that have thousands of users, working with this new technology has somewhat filled me with jealousy. I wish I had access to it when my entire day was playing with BroadSoft and Skype for Business licenses.
If you’d like to start streamlining your Microsoft Teams account setup, book a demo with one of our Teams experts.
