Teams can make calls. The question is through whom
Teams is already there and it has a call button, so calling with Teams looks like a setting. It is not: Teams does not talk to the telephone network by itself, and there are three ways to make that connection. Which of the three you pick decides where your numbers live, what you manage yourself and what it costs you to leave. This page puts the three side by side and also says where Teams falls short as a phone system.
Three ways to tie Teams to the telephone network
To the user they do the same thing; they differ in who the supplier is and who holds the management.
Calling Plan: Microsoft is your provider
You buy the minutes from Microsoft alongside the licence. It is the shortest route and there is nothing to configure. Against that, the countries where it is available are limited, you no longer have a choice of tariff, and your numbers end up with Microsoft. For a small office in one country that is often exactly enough.
Operator Connect: your operator plugs in
An operator admitted by Microsoft connects its network straight into your Teams. You put no equipment in place yourself and connecting is a matter of granting permission in the admin centre. Your numbers stay with that operator and so does management of the connection. The choice is limited to the operators taking part.
Direct Routing: your own connection
An SBC sits between Teams and your provider, at your site or hosted. This is the route with the most freedom: any provider, any tariff, and the option of running an existing phone system alongside for a while. It is also the route with the most management, and the only one where a wrong setting shows up as a fault at your end and not at your operator’s.
Four things none of the three solves for you
They apply whichever route you pick, and they decide whether the move goes smoothly.
- Your numbersExisting numbers come with you, but that is a porting request with a date and a window, not something arranged on the day itself. As long as that date is not fixed, neither is the rest of the plan.
- The devicesNot every handset works in Teams: there is a list of certified models and outside it signing in becomes a problem. We supply what is on it, from Yealink, Poly, Jabra, EPOS, Snom and AudioCodes, and we say so when an existing handset cannot come along.
- The emergency numberA call to the emergency services has to appear to come from somewhere. In Teams that hangs off an address recorded per location, and it is a setting nobody tests until the moment it matters. With us it is part of the handover.
- The licenceCalling in Teams needs a separate licence on top of what you already have, and it counts per person who calls, not per user. Anybody who only calls internally does not need one. That saves money and it is often overlooked.
From the choice to the day the numbers move
We are not an operator, so we have no stake in which of the three it becomes.
- Choosing the routeBased on where you are, how many people call, what is in place now and whether you want to leave your current provider. That conversation takes an hour and prevents most of the regret.
- Configuring and connectingThe SBC under Direct Routing, the dial plan, the forwarding, the queues and the link to your existing phone system for as long as it is still there. If something is already running, we put the new situation beside it rather than over it.
- Supplying handsets and headsetsCertified handsets for the desks that need one, headsets for the rest, and meeting rooms that connect without fuss. Rolled out and signed in, not delivered in boxes.
- Where our boundary sitsWe do not sell call minutes or mobile subscriptions. The connection to the telephone network comes from Microsoft or from your operator; we supply the licences, do the configuration, supply the devices and manage it. So when you pick an operator we are not a party to it.
Where Teams falls short as a phone system
Four situations where a real telephony platform does better. We sell those too, so we have no reason to keep quiet about it.
- The switchboard and the front deskWork that involves transferring calls all day calls for a screen showing at a glance who is free and who is busy. Teams can transfer, but the controls are built for somebody who transfers now and then, not for somebody who does it for a living.
- A real customer service deskQueues with call-backs, listening in, call recording with a retention period and reporting per agent: that is contact centre software. There are packages that put it on top of Teams, but then Teams is the connection and not the phone system.
- The shop floor and the doorA DECT handset walking through a warehouse, a door station at the entrance, a speaker making announcements: those hang off a telephony platform and not off Teams. We link the two worlds, but it is a link and not a setting.
- Recognising who is callingAnybody who wants the customer record on screen the moment the phone rings ends up at a platform built for it. In Teams that can be added on, and then the question is whether it is worth it or whether the answer is a different platform.
What goes with this
Teams is one of the ways to make calls, and not always the best one.
Questions we get about this
The ones that come up most, answered briefly.
Can Teams simply call the outside world?
Not by itself. Teams has to be tied to the telephone network somewhere, and there are three routes: minutes from Microsoft (Calling Plan), an operator connecting directly (Operator Connect), or your own connection through an SBC (Direct Routing). Which of the three you pick decides where your numbers live and what you manage yourself.
Can we bring our existing numbers?
Yes, but that is a porting request with a date and a window, not something arranged on the day itself. Under Calling Plan the numbers end up with Microsoft, under Operator Connect they stay with your operator, and under Direct Routing with the provider you choose yourself.
Is Teams a full replacement for our phone system?
For most offices yes, for four situations no: a front desk transferring calls all day, a real customer service desk with queues and recording, DECT handsets and door stations on the shop floor, and caller recognition on screen. We supply telephony platforms too, so we have no reason to keep quiet about it.
First the route, then the rest
Say which countries you are in, how many people actually make calls and what is in place now. From that follows which of the three routes suits you, and whether Teams as a phone system is the right answer at all.
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