Businesses searching for office phone systems will come across both Mitel and Microsoft Teams. These are phone solutions popular all over the world with specific features targeting particular groups and enterprises. Before you decide to get either, it’s important to conduct an objective Mitel vs Microsoft Teams comparison.

A phone system aimed at large and medium enterprises may not work for small businesses. Similarly, one that solves a particular issue may not be enough to address other concerns. This guide to Mitel vs Microsoft Teams examines the two companies and explains their features to help you make the right decision for your business.

Mitel vs. Microsoft Teams: How do these two systems compare?

What to know about Mitel. The brand offers online communication solutions to help medium and large enterprises through a unified solution including video, messaging, voice, and more. The company’s primary target audience seems to be firms with a large number of employees and customers, and that need multi-media collaboration tools.

You can easily connect to your employees and customers and make use of Mitel’s call control and a wide range of communication features. As part of its unified communications (UC) platform, the company also has an extensive array of applications and desktop devices.

What to know about Microsoft Teams. The pandemic put the spotlight on virtual technologies that could help teams seamlessly collaborate. Microsoft Teams is one such solution that enhances internal collaboration.

A chat-based workspace that’s part of Microsoft 365, it lets team members share documents, send instant messages, view chat logs and make video and voice conference calls. A highly secure platform, Microsoft Teams comes with data encryption for added security.

Overview of Mitel vs Microsoft Teams

Before we get into a detailed comparison of Mitel vs Microsoft Teams based on their pricing, features and business viability, here’s an overview if you’re considering either of these solutions.

Mitel is a unified communication platform that’s ideally suited for medium and large enterprises that need to handle a substantial volume of both internal and external calls and multi-media messages. It’s an expensive proposition for small businesses and startups.

Microsoft Teams is designed primarily for internal collaboration and communications. If your business conducts multiple video calls with several internal and external participants and needs to share documents, this is the tool for you.

Pricing: Which offers the most value?

Businesses looking for Mitel phone alternatives are primarily discouraged by its complexity and pricing. The plans start at $20.99 per month per user. This doesn’t come with enhanced features. If you need those, you’ll have to choose more expensive plans starting at $26.59.

What about Microsoft Teams? It’s available only with Microsoft Office 365 subscriptions. The premium plans start at $4.80 per user per month but they come with an annual commitment. It’s worthwhile to note that the Microsoft 365 Business Basic plan will set you back by $6 per month per user. The more expensive Microsoft 365 E3 costs $36.

So, should you use Mitel or choose Microsoft Teams? If you already use the Microsoft Office suite of products, Microsoft Teams could be a viable option for you. Depending on your plan, it will also integrate with other apps from the Microsoft ecosystem.

Feature: Which delivers the essentials your business needs?

Mitel comes with voicemail, call recording, phone routing, conferencing, file-sharing, SIP trunking and real-time changes. The availability of these features would depend on the plan. But it delivers on its promise of being a UC solution.

Microsoft Teams has video calling, presence and instant messaging even in its free-to-download version. If you take the paid version, you’ll get apps from Office 365 including Word, PowerPoint, Excel and more. You’ll also get cloud storage that comes with OneDrive.

Integrations: What tools do these systems connect to?

A Mitel vs Microsoft Teams comparison shows that Microsoft Teams has a better list of tools that it connects to. Other than Microsoft 365, it also integrates with Asana, GitHub, Slack, Trello and Zendesk, among others.

Mitel has a narrower range of integrations, with Microsoft Outlook and Google Workspace being the prominent tools.

Chalkboard: The business-friendly alternative to Mitel and Microsoft Teams

If you’re comparing Mitel vs Microsoft Teams, why not consider Chalkboard, a phone system that has all the features that small businesses and startups need? Chalkboard gives you:

A new number. You can get a second number for work in a matter of minutes. This helps separate work and personal lives.

Contact organisation. Businesses can easily separate their work and personal contacts, which will make it easier to find relevant communication.

Group broadcast. Why type messages individually when you can text whole groups in one go with broadcast SMS? This is how you integrate marketing into your business phone.

Advanced messaging. With enhanced messaging features, you can talk to your customers like friends and build long-term relationships.

Number-sharing. With Chalkboard, users can share their numbers. So, if you use a number for customer support, there will always be someone to answer those calls.

Savings. Chalkboard is a highly affordable virtual number. You can scale up and choose a more premium plan as your business needs grow.

Improve your business’s communication with Chalkboard

It’s an affordable, flexible and easy-to-use business phone app that’s built for small businesses, startups and independent professionals. Download Chalkboard and try it now. It comes with all the features to meet your business demands.