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Microsoft Teams with Direct Routing

If you are already familiar with Microsoft Teams you will know what a great multi-platform collaboration tool it is allowing secure communication and sharing between your team members. However you can now turn teams into the UC platform you need by adding the ability to dial PSTN services (Landline and mobile phones) through the Teams app.

The service is called direct routing and it allows the MS Teams platform to connect to your own VoIP provider through a SBC (Session Border Controller). This means you have more flexibility over your phone service and are not tied to Microsoft calling plans.

We can provide a fully managed per seat service or consultancy and implementation services to get you up and running with Teams Direct Routing.

Learn more about MS Teams – https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software

Contact Us to get started or just to talk through what we can do.

How it Works

The Direct Routing service connects the Microsoft Teams PBX to our SBC which securely connects calls to and from the VoIP provider.

Prerequisites

To use MS Teams and direct routing you will need the following, which we can provide along with upgrade and security services for Windows 10.

• MS 365 Business Standard (or above) or MS 365 E1 (or above)
• Business Voice (without calling plan) or Phone System License
• SIP service (Recommend Invosys)

Getting Started

Note: If you have taken managed Microsoft 365 from EASY WIFI then we will complete these steps for you.

Step 1 – Add the domain we have assigned for the SBC to your Microsoft Account. Login to https://admin.microsoft.com and select “Show All” from the left menu. Then select “Settings” > “Domains”.

Note: You may be asked to validate the domain using a TXT record. Contact EASY WIFI with the TXT contents to complete this step.

Step 2 – To complete adding the SBC to Teams a user MUST exist with the required license and using the sub domain we have just assigned. E.g. admin@customer-sbc1.routing.cloud-teams.co.uk.

Once added this can be changed back to the original user or removed and the license re-assigned.

Step 3 – Setup the SBC in Teams Admin. Access the Teams Admin Center https://admin.teams.microsoft.com/ and select “Voice” from the left menu and then “Direct Routing” from the sub menu.

Pattern Example ^+44(1|2|3|7)(\d{9})$

There are many policy options for call routing but for now we will just concentrate on the core setup. For more detailed information contact your EASY WIFI account manager.

Step 4 – Setup user for Enterprise Voice using Powershell. Each user must have a phone number assigned and enterprise voice enabled to use the Teams dial pad.

Open Powershell in Administrator mode:

Make sure the following modules are installed and up to date.

install-module AzureAD
install-module AzureADPreview
install-module MSOnline
Uninstall-Module -Name MicrosoftTeams
Install-Module -Name MicrosoftTeams -Repository PSGallery

Then run the following, you will be promted for your admin login several times.

Connect-MicrosoftTeams
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
$credential = Get-Credential
Connect-MsolService -Credential $credential
Connect-MicrosoftTeams -Credential $credential
Import-Module SkypeOnlineConnector
$SfBoSession = New-CsOnlineSession
Import-PSSession $SfBoSession
$SfBoSession = New-CsOnlineSession –Credential $credential –OverrideAdminDomain “yourdomain.onmicrosoft.com”

Set-CsUser -Identity “” -EnterpriseVoiceEnabled $true -HostedVoiceMail $true -OnPremLineURI tel:+44XXXXXXXXXX

It can take a few hours to propogate but then restart your Teams app and the dial pad will be available.

Connecting with HikConnect

As part of your installation Easy WiFi can provide secure access to your HikVision CCTV system. For each required NVR or camera you will need to install the Hik-Connect App on your device available from the Google Play store and iTunes store.

Key areas are highlighted with an ORANGE outline. Please make sure all details and instructions are followed precisely to avoid any connection issues.

Step 1 – Open the Hik-Connect app and tap the + symbol at the top right.

Step 2 – Select “Manual Adding”

Step 3 – Tap the area labelled “Adding Type”

Step 4 – Select “IP/Domain”

Give the device a name like “Office NVR” and fill in the remaining details provided by your Easy WiFi account manager and make sure you tap the save icon at the top right.

Navigating the Dashboard

We have provided a reference guide to the dashboard below and a list of features but we are always adding new ones so don’t hesitate to get in touch if there is something you would like to see.

Dashboard front page

1. Network Health – Shows which part of your network are up or down.
2. Manage Router/APs – Click here to see a detailed list of your sites and information about them, Add a new device (see post How do I claim my device) , and grouping.
3. User Registration – A quick view of how many users have signed on to the WiFi and whether they are new or returning.
4. Manage users/ Manage vouchers – Click manage users to see a list of guest and secure users, add secure users (see the post How do I add a secure user) and export user data. Click manage vouchers to generate WiFi vouchers for guest usage and a list of generated vouchers.
5. Reports – Shows a detailed view of your network (see further details below)
6. Analytics – A quick view of the network usage.
7. Hotspot pages – Click here to see a list of your hotspot pages, information about them and you can also create a new hotspot profile from this page (see post How do I create a new hotspot?).
8. Network hardware map – Shows the locations of your network hardware.
9. Alarms and events – Shows status changes in your network hardware.

Reports

1. Date field – Change the date to show the reporting information for the time period you need .
2. User registration – A line graph showing new (Blue) and returning (Grey) WiFi users for the time period chosen for the report.
3. Visit rate – A bar graph expressing how many times users visited as a percentage in the period of a month.
4. Return rates – A bar graph expressing the return rates as a percentage in the period of a month.
5. User demographics – A bar graph expressing the demographics of the WiFi users.
6. Top 10 sites – A table of the top 10 sites for user registration in ascending order, the table also shows the sites NAS ID and Network SSID.
7. Network usage (connections) – A line graph showing total connection (grey) and unique connections (blue) over the period chosen for the report.
8. Network usage (data) – A line graph showing the upload (blue) and download (grey) trends for the period chosen for the report.
9. Active users – How many users are currently online.
10. Alarms – Hardware and external program (e.g Slack) alerts.

Splash page editor

1. Time of day settings – From these settings you are able to change the splash pages graphics depending on what time of the day it is, this could be especially useful if you have time dependant offers on throughout the day or if you want your splash page to reflect the time of day (e.g Good morning, Good afternoon, Good evening)

2. Time of day preview – Shows a preview of the design of your splash page in each time slot.

3. Image/Graphics – After you have configured the time of day settings upload the images for your splash page (each time-based profile will need images uploaded separately). You will need a page logo and a portrait and landscape background image.

4. Page headings – Here you are able to personalise the heading and sub heading for the splash page.

5. Colour and Layout – in this section you are able to customise the splash page to you brand by changing the colours of the different parts of the splash page (hex numbers will be required for accuracy) and layout of the text on the page, from here you can also add modals

6. Data capture – Toggle betwen the options to choose which data you need to capture when a user signs up for the website. Don’t forget to save your changes or they wont be applied.

7. Registration options (profile) – Click Add registration option to Create a registration options profile for your splash page you will need to choose the Type of sign in (e.g. voucher, social media, email etc), the access time which can be anything from 1 hour to one year, whether you need to capture data from the user and finally what bandwidth restriction you want to give the user. You are able to have an unlimited number of profiles so you can apply different options for different users.

8. Secure user registration options – Here you have the option to turn on secure user registration which gives users the opportunity to sign on to secure WPA-2 enterprise WiFi, you are also able to change the name for the secure network. If you have made any changes click update secure WiFi to save your options.

9. Post login link – Enter a the website address you would like your user to be sent to post login.

10. Social links – Enter you Social media profile links to add follow buttons to the bottom of the splash page.

11. Promotional modals – Options for the users marketing preferences pop-out and its text.

12. Integrations – Options to integrate third party services and products such as Mail chimp and Tripadvisor for marketing purposes or there is an option to add additional GDPR information for your users.

13. Site data – Custom meta data for individual sites (this will not change your splash pages)

14. Splash profile settings – For advance users only as it changes the site that the splash pages are connected to.

How do I create a new hotspot?

• Sign in to the dashboard through the Easy Wi-Fi website.
• Open the menu on the Right hand side and select Splash Pages from the list.

• Click on Create a profile

• Choose Create new one from the NAS ID drop down menu and enter the devices NAS ID. There is also an option to to personalise the network ID.
• When this is completed, click Continue.

• Customise the text for the landing page, then click Continue.

• The data capture form allows you to choose what information you would like from the your hotspot users on sign in, with the exception of Facebook where all the data is captured by default.

• From the next page you can turn data capture options on or off and issue bandwidth and time limits to the hotspot users. When completed click continue.

• Upload your company logo to customise your splash page and enter the post login URL for your hotspot users.

• After clicking Continue you will be taken back to the splash pages screen where your new splash page will be listed.

• From the splash page listing you can Configure the hotspot landing page or Remove the splash page.

How do I claim my device?

• Sign into the dashboard through the Easy Wi-Fi website.

• From the dashboard open the menu and click on Routers and Access Points.

• At the top left of the screen click on Add new device.

• Ensure Your device is powered on and connected to the internet.

• Enter the ETH1 MAC address (you will find this on the side of the box your device came in or on the bottom of the device) into the Device MAC field on screen .

• Once the details have been entered correctly click Claim Hardware, you will find your device listed at the bottom of the screen.