3CX, Yeastar or Microsoft Teams Phone: which phone system for a Moroccan SMB

The short answer: for a customer service or sales team with queues, choose 3CX; for a physical site with desk phones, a door station and analogue lines to keep, Yeastar; for an office already fully on Microsoft 365 with no call centre, Teams Phone. These three solutions cover most of the telephony projects we deliver. We are a 3CX partner and a Yeastar certified partner, and we deploy Teams Phone for Microsoft 365 customers. Here is how we choose, project by project, and the traps to avoid before signing.

The three approaches in one sentence each

Before comparing features, understand that these three products follow different logics:

• 3CX is software: a full PBX installed on a server, local or in the cloud, built around apps and integrations.
• Yeastar is first a box: a standalone hardware PBX designed for sites with many desk phones, with a cloud edition too.
• Teams Phone is a service: telephony added to Microsoft Teams, with no server to manage, but fully dependent on Microsoft’s cloud.

The right choice depends less on feature lists than on how you work: where your staff are, how many calls you receive, what equipment already exists, and which tool your teams open in the morning.

3CX: the versatile software PBX

3CX is a software PBX, hosted by us, in your cloud or on a small local server. Its licence counts simultaneous calls, not users, which makes it economical for large teams with moderate call volume. The mobile and browser apps are mature: a salesperson on the road keeps the company number on their smartphone, a remote worker answers from their computer without a desk phone.

Queues, callbacks, statistics and the built-in WhatsApp channel suit customer service teams, as we explain in WhatsApp Business and 3CX for customer service. CRM integration covers Odoo, HubSpot and Microsoft 365, among others.

Its constraints: it needs a compatible SIP carrier, a well-placed server or hosting, and some administration (updates, backups, security). We go deeper in 3CX: why this phone system wins in SMBs.

Yeastar: the robust appliance for physical sites

Yeastar offers P-Series hardware PBXs, which accept FXO ports to keep analogue lines, and a cloud edition. It is the choice for sites that want a standalone box with no server to maintain and a simple admin interface. Capacity depends on the model, and advanced features come with licence plans that we detail in the quote.

It shines in clinics, hotels, industrial sites and schools, where desk phones, intercoms and door stations remain numerous, and where reception must keep working even when the internet connection is disrupted. The mobile apps have improved a lot, but the integration ecosystem stays narrower than 3CX’s.

Teams Phone: when everything already lives in Microsoft 365

If your staff spend their day in Teams, adding telephony to the same client removes one application: you call a customer from their contact card, transfer a call to a colleague whose availability you can see, turn a conversation into a video meeting. The Teams Phone licence adds to the Microsoft 365 plan, and a compatible carrier, through Direct Routing with an SBC or through Operator Connect where available, brings Moroccan numbers.

The limits: a per-user subscription that adds up every month, basic call-centre features without an extra licence, and strong dependence on the internet connection and on Microsoft’s service. Physical desk phones must be Teams-certified, which usually costs more than SIP phones. Before choosing, also check that your Microsoft 365 plan is the right one, see Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard or Premium.

The comparison, criterion by criterion

Criterion	3CX	Yeastar P-Series	Teams Phone
Nature	Software, on-premises or cloud	Hardware box, or cloud	Microsoft service
Licence model	Simultaneous calls	Box and feature plans	Per-user subscription
Total 3-year cost	Low to medium	Low to medium	Medium to high
Analogue lines	Via gateway	FXO ports	Gateway and Direct Routing
Microsoft 365 integration	Good	Fair	Native
Call centre, queues	Full	Fair	Basic without add-on
Works without internet	Yes, on-premises	Yes, on-premises	No
Mobile apps	Very mature	Good	Teams client
Administration	Technical	Simple	Microsoft console

This table summarises our field experience, not a universal truth: a 10-extension project and a 150-extension project are not priced the same way, and vendors’ commercial terms change. Hence the value of a quote based on your actual case.

Our method to choose, in five steps

1. Map how you use the phone. How many people take external calls, how many work remotely, is there a reception desk, a customer service team, field staff? The number of simultaneous calls at peak time matters more than headcount.
2. Inventory what exists. Analogue or digital lines, numbers to keep, reusable handsets, door stations, fax, alarms wired to a line: every legacy device shapes the choice.
3. Check the network. Firewall, PoE switches, WiFi, internet links: they make the call quality. We detail this in the 10 mistakes that ruin call quality.
4. Cost it over three years. Licences, subscriptions, handsets, gateways, hosting, SIP carrier and maintenance, not just the first-year purchase price.
5. Test before switching. A pilot with a few real users, then a phased migration with rollback available, as described in migrating to IP telephony.

Our recommendation, case by case

• Customer service or sales team with queues, callbacks and statistics: 3CX.
• Physical site with desk phones, door station, fax and analogue lines to keep: Yeastar.
• Office business already fully in Microsoft 365, with no call centre: Teams Phone.
• Multi-site: 3CX or Yeastar cloud, with SD-WAN links to guarantee voice quality, see FortiGate SD-WAN for multiple sites.
• Mixed case: Teams and 3CX can be combined to keep the Teams interface while using 3CX queues. It is more complex to run, so keep it for proven needs.

The mistakes we see most often

1. Choosing on licence price alone, forgetting handsets, gateways, hosting and the carrier.
2. Forgetting legacy equipment: a door station, payment terminal or alarm on an analogue line that stops working on cut-over day.
3. Adopting Teams Phone with a single internet link: the slightest outage makes the whole company unreachable.
4. Hosting the PBX far from users or behind a consumer box: latency, drops, choppy audio.
5. Neglecting number porting: a number your customers have known for years must be kept, and the porting schedule is prepared with the carrier.
6. Leaving the PBX exposed: admin interface open to the internet, no restriction on international calls, which opens the door to toll fraud.

Checklist before signing

• Number of users, remote workers and simultaneous calls at peak time.
• List of numbers to keep and existing analogue lines.
• Devices connected to the phone line: door station, fax, alarm, payment terminal.
• Call-centre needs: queues, recording, statistics, callback.
• Expected integrations: CRM, Microsoft 365, WhatsApp.
• Behaviour during an internet or power outage.
• Full three-year cost, including hardware, licences, carrier and maintenance.
• Network condition: QoS, voice VLAN, PoE, WiFi, dual internet links.

How we do it

We always start with an audit of the existing network and usage: it tells us whether the phone system will be reliable, whatever product is chosen. We then propose an architecture and a three-year comparative quote, followed by a pilot with your users before buying licences. The cut-over is phased, with number porting, staff training and a rollback plan. Once in production, the PBX, SIP trunks and call quality are monitored 24/7, and a critical incident is handled in under 15 minutes.

All of this is part of our IP telephony offer. Browse our case studies in telephony, then request your free initial audit: we reply within 24 business hours with a recommendation tailored to your company.