Comparisons
Intulse vs Microsoft Teams: What Are the Differences?
Microsoft is definitely a name that every business owner is likely to know. As one of the largest players in business software, like Microsoft Office, it also makes sense that they would dip their toes in the water when it comes to offering communications solutions. Over the years, they have acquired companies and solutions like Skype and others, which have morphed into Microsoft Teams. Teams is included by Microsoft in many of their subscription-based solutions, but they offer licensing to turn it into a VoIP phone solution, of sorts. If you’re looking for a VoIP phone provider and Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solution, it makes sense that businesses and organizations will compare Intulse to Microsoft Teams when considering a new phone system.
The goal of this article is to help you see the similarities and differences between both cloud communications systems so you can make the best choice. Ultimately, a cloud-hosted communications system should make your life easier, not just by offering solid phone communication, but also through other tools and add-ons. However, with all of the providers out there (including Intulse), it is not an easy task. Basically, there are a few boxes most businesses and organizations want to check:
- Does it fit in your budget?
- Is it easy to use, and have the features you need?
- Will it improve your current processes and make life easier?
We have a full standard feature comparison of Intulse vs Microsoft Teams here, where we’ve leveraged the data from sites like Capterra to put together a comprehensive list, but with this post, we wanted to focus on the bigger differences rather than just basic features. Which UCaaS platform will be best for you? Let’s dig in.
We’re going to compare the following aspects of Intulse and Microsoft Teams:
Intulse vs Microsoft Teams: VoIP Business Phone Pricing
In terms of pricing, Intulse and Microsoft Teams are pretty different, mostly because Microsoft Teams is an added license to an existing Microsoft account. As price is one of the primary considerations for many businesses and organizations, we thought it would be a top-priority item to examine. Both Intulse and Microsoft Teams can offer highly functional unified communications like tools chat, business texting, but the big difference is in VoIP phone service. It’s actually quite difficult to compare pricing models because of how Microsoft Teams is purchased, above and beyond other Microsoft subscriptions. For example, if you aren’t adding Teams to another subscription you can only get an extremely basic version.
What Makes Intulse the Better, More Affordable Choice for VoIP Phones?
The quickest comparison here is our feature set before we even get to pricing. To compare the two solutions fairly on price, you really need to consider features and to get close on features you actually need to add actual VoIP phone provider into the mix that integrates with Microsoft Teams for it to really work well. While it is a solid solution, when clients move to Intulse from Teams we are often told of the many frustrations with and limitations of their system.
Because of those limitations, obtaining full pricing that includes basic phone features like voicemail – that’s right, Teams does NOT have voicemail – you’re going to have to price in a 3rd-party provider for phones. Ironically, Intulse has a Microsoft Teams integration, so you could actually work with us if you really want to use Teams, but at that point, why? You will need to see if the monthly or annual cost includes required or “hidden” fees, such as E911 or 10DLC, in the base pricing of any provider. Most don’t, but we do.
You can review our VoIP phone pricing here. What you will find is that we don’t hide features or any fees, and our pricing breakpoints are driven by the number of users, but don’t let price be your only deciding factor. Be sure to take a look at the other key differences.
Intulse vs Microsoft Teams: 3rd-Party Integrations
When it comes to VoIP phone solutions, and most especially to Unified Communications systems, integrating with 3rd-party services like CRMs, ChMS platforms, archival solutions, and other hosted business software is extremely important. Many businesses and organizations leverage online hosted tools like CRMs to help them manage their business information, leads, and notes about communications.
Many VoIP providers like Intulse offer direct, 3rd-party integrations with these kinds of tools. However, it’s one thing to say that you have an integration, but what if that integration only offers a function like “click-to-call”? Is it really providing value?
What Makes Intulse the Better Integration Provider for VoIP Integration?
Intulse, like most VoIP and UCaaS providers, offers integrations with the most popular 3rd-party tools: CRMs like Salesforce, Zoho, SuiteCRM, and Hubspot. Archival tools like Smarsh or Global Relay. Business automation software like Zapier. Even church management software (ChMS) systems like RockRMS, Planning Center, and more. Sure, many providers do the same.
The biggest difference is what the Intulse integrations do. Yes, we offer click-to-call capability directly from the CRM and as a browser extension, but the Intulse App takes it all to the next level. These features really aren’t available from other providers:
- Caller ID populates from CRM data
- Get desktop pop-up alerts when someone calls with their CRM info
- From the Intulse App, search and call/text anyone from your CRM or ChMS
- Call/text data is automatically logged in a client record
- Add call notes during and after a call into a CRM/ChMS record from the Intulse App
- Record calls and store links to them within the client record
Because we have an integration with Microsoft Teams, it means that we can provide all of these functions that Microsoft Teams is actually missing! These are just a few of the features that our integrations offer, and really are not available from any other VoIP or UCaaS provider. Intulse pretty much stands alone in the integrations category. Microsoft Teams primarily integrates with other Microsoft products, but other developers have created plugins that can be used with Teams to get some of this functionality.
Intulse vs Microsoft Teams: Standard & Extended Features
As VoIP phone and Unified Communications providers go, Intulse could not be more different. Simply put, Microsoft Teams is not a VoIP solution, though many businesses and organizations will try to make it work like one. Yes, you can make and receive calls, but simple tools like caller ID, voicemail, call recording to name a few are not included in Microsoft Teams at all. One of the most challenging things for someone searching for a VoIP phone provider would be discovering what features come with the system, that is, unless you’re looking at Intulse. While some add-ons are an additional cost, all of the features you would expect a phone system to have are included in our regular pricing.
With Microsoft Teams a “phone system” is not what you will be getting. No voice mail, no caller ID, no call monitoring, no call queues or call distribution – the list is shockingly long, and it’s basically why you would still need to get a VoIP phone system that integrates with Teams (again, Intulse does), to make it actually work reliably.
What Makes Intulse the Better Call for VoIP Phone Features?
Simply put, we include almost all of our features as standard regardless of how many users or devices you have. You can use desk phones or be on the go – and this is a major differentiator with Teams. You pretty much have to be in front of your computer or on a mobile device to make or receive a call. We make it easy to see what features you are getting, and what add-ons and options are available that you may need, and what they cost. When you consider:
- How much simpler our pricing model is, and how many features are included
- How much more powerful our 3rd-party integrations are compared to others
- How accurate our estimates are, usually being within a few dollars per month of the actual price
We believe it makes Intulse the clear choice as your provider for VoIP phones and Unified Communications.
Intulse vs Microsoft Teams: Customer Support
One of the most common pieces of feedback we receive about our team is how happy people are about our customer support. This is probably one of the biggest differentiators between Intulse and almost every major VoIP phone and Unified Communications provider out there, including Microsoft Teams. Have you ever tried to reach Microsoft by phone for support?
What Makes Intulse the Better VoIP Phone Provider Based on Customer Support?
Our clients have been clear when they have spoken: Intulse answers the phone when you call for support, and our support is 100% based in the U.S. These two facts are huge. In fact, we cannot say enough about our customer support team and how proud we are about how quickly issues are resolved. Additionally, our personal touch for client onboarding has been a huge hit as well.
When we ask clients as they come on board why they are switching, the lack of customer support from their previous provider is often one of the top reasons we hear. Other reasons included a lack of being able to reach someone for help, waiting days for a support ticket to be resolved, customer support being incredibly difficult to understand when they could be reached, and many more. That’s why we have focused on developing and maintaining an amazing support team and an equally awesome online support center and knowledge base. Long story short, Intulse has you covered on support.
Intulse vs Microsoft Teams: Who Is The Winner?
Ultimately that answer is up to the customer, but in this comparison we do feel that it’s a pretty clear choice. Only one of the two systems actually provides phone support without the use of a 3rd party.
But, no two businesses or organizations are the same, nor do any of them have the exact same needs. What we know at Intulse is that we have worked to build a solution that provides the best VoIP phone service and Unified Communications platform which is one of the best options out there. Of course, we are going to say we’re good, though. Who wouldn’t? Really it just comes down to what you need and want for your business or organization. If you want better customer support, more powerful integrations, transparent pricing that is easy to understand, and one of the most feature-rich VoIP phone systems on the market then Intulse is probably a good choice for you. When it’s all said and done, the team at Intulse would love to serve you, but more than anything we want you to have the solution that is right for you.