Our “Look Back” series has brought to the surface blog posts and topics from 4, 6, even 15 years ago! This one is a look back to just this past December’s post “TLC Welcomes Teams Phone!” as technology is moving fast! 

Let’s talk about something that every graphic designer, and company, needs, but no one really talks about today – telephones! We all need phones to quickly communicate with clients, field new projects, and hunt for work. 

And for over 20 years, TLC Creative Services has maintained the same company phone number – even as it transitioned through multiple business phone providers! Six years ago, everyone at TLC Creative had a corporate phone with their own extension – sitting on their desk. It was a setup that seemed essential for many years. 

Yet as business communication evolved, we noticed something: our phone call usage was in free-fall, but projects and work were increasing. Where we once logged thousands of minutes in phone conversations each month, during an audit we discovered that we now averaged less than 50 minutes of monthly calls – total, for everyone! 

The lack of phone call minutes did not mean that communication within our team, or with clients, shrank – we were now talking in Microsoft Teams or Zoom for meetings, chat, and email. Phone calls, using an actual phone, have become rare occasions. 

Going Fully Virtual 

Now, after lots of planning and testing, TLC Creative officially ditched the desk phones and has gone virtual! Our longtime company phone number remains active, but now incoming calls ring to an auto-attendant that directs inquiries, provides key information, and connects callers to the right team members.  

The major shifts? 

  • All calls happen through the Microsoft Teams Phone, which is an add-on service to Business M365 accounts.  
  • Incoming calls, outgoing calls, voicemails, call transfers, and all traditional phone functions remain – just accessed via the Microsoft Teams app instead of a physical phone. 
  • Plus, all the telephone services work through the desktop Teams app, or the mobile Teams app. We are no longer tied to our desk – or even our computer! 

Honestly? This transition has been smooth for us, given how heavily we already rely on Teams calls for internal and client meetings. Using Microsoft Teams as our primary phone system was simply an adjustment to our daily workflow and learning how to use the Teams app phone tab when it became active. 

Something New! 

One missing piece to the TLC Creative phone system has always been text messaging —until now. 

Two months ago, Microsoft released SMS functionality for Teams Phone, allowing users to send and receive text messages directly in the Teams app! After working through the technical setup (something our IT manager needed 3+ weeks to accomplish – with the assistance of the Microsoft Teams Phone people), TLC Creative now has SMS capability on our business phone lines – yay! 

This update is especially important because it means we no longer need to use personal cell numbers for business communication. Now, all client interactions via text remain within our professional environment, further centralizing communication. 

What’s Next? 

While SMS is a welcome addition, it’s still a “Short Message Service”, so text only. We are hopeful that MMS (“Multimedia Messaging Service”) will be integrated, so photos, emoji’s and videos will be supported  

Overall, this shift to a virtual phone system has streamlined our workflow, cut costs, and aligned with modern business communication trends. Traditional phone calls are becoming increasingly rare, replaced by email, chat, and video meetings. And yes—our accounting department is happy with the cost savings! 

-Troy @ TLC