Before you can achieve access to any cloud service a connection to the internet is required. Sounds simple enough, however, the challenge lies not only with the internet connection itself, but the provider of the service as well. Not all internet service providers (ISPs) and pathways to the internet are created equally which makes assessing and understanding the quality of the service you’re on a critical step toward maintaining business productivity.

If a customer has an issue with any part of Microsoft 365, MSPs just don’t have the native visibility to identify the root cause, let alone respond to and remediate the problem. Most of the time, it’s little more than checking Microsoft’s Service Health status to see if Microsoft knows it’s having a problem.

The ability to maintain successful operations in business requires specific agreements that are critical to helping justify service delivery, understand the service performance, and get a budget for any potential infrastructure projects. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are made between partners and customers and focus on the commitment of the partner to uphold an agreed-to level of service.

To maintain effective Microsoft Teams performance, you must first understand two things: the metrics that define an optimal Microsoft Teams performance and where your Teams performance currently ranks against those metrics. By establishing a Microsoft Teams service quality baseline for your business, you can determine what is normal in terms of performance, and what isn’t. More importantly, you can identify where and when your focus should be to improve the overall user experience.

It’s one thing to be using Microsoft Teams. It’s entirely different to have your users running Teams efficiently. From dropped calls to lags in response time to jittery video connections – Teams isn’t without its daily problems. And yet, you’re being held responsible to not just make sure Teams is up and running but to also improve the quality of the user experience and overall business productivity.

The effects of remote work go beyond an employee trying to remain productive and stay connected to their team. The organization’s IT team must deal with a host of challenges that stem from trying to keep everyone effectively connected to a network when there are things such as different internet service providers and routing paths to contend with. Another challenge faced by IT is the influx of ‘poor call quality issues because of the varying internet connections, equipment setups, etc.

It’s no secret that the modern era in which we live and work must fulfill an ever-increasing demand for digital transformation, especially when it comes to business. Microsoft Teams’ growth over the past year has been exponential, and while many companies rely on Microsoft 365 for their business continuity, very few of them have the tools to manage and support these services internally.

In the past year, Microsoft Teams has become one of the top videoconferencing and telecommunications platforms that have helped keep businesses productive throughout this global pandemic. Pivoting to remote/hybrid work environments in the long term is more easily achieved with a service like Microsoft Teams, which makes ensuring and maintaining optimal service on your end that much more important. Behold the key to help improve business productivity and optimize your Teams performance.