So by now you should know all about what a Microsoft Teams Phone is. But what are its features, and why should you get its license?
Well, if you are still debating if investing in this license is worth your company’s financial resources, here is a comprehensive list of the 26 features you will get out of it.
#1: Cloud Auto Attendants
As a user, you will be able to create a menu system that enables external and internal callers to locate and place or transfer calls to company users or departments in your organization.
Note that users do not need to be voice enabled to receive calls from the auto attendant dial by name, dial by number directory search. However, users do need to be voice enabled to receive calls from the auto attendant menu options.
#2: Cloud Call Queues
As a user, you will be able to configure how call queues are managed for your organization: for example, set up greetings and music on hold, search for the next available call agent to handle the call, etc.
Note that users do need to be voice enabled to receive calls from a call queue.
#3: Music On Hold
As a user, you will be able to play default music defined by the service or custom music uploaded by the tenant administrator when an external call from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is placed on hold. This feature works for one-to-one PSTN-to-Teams calls in addition to calls made to a call queue. This feature also provides on-hold notification parity with other platforms.
#4: Call Answer/ initiate (by Name and Number)
As a user, you will be able to answer inbound calls with a touch, and place outbound calls either by dialing the full phone number or by clicking a name in the client.
#5: Call Forwarding and Options and Simultaneous Ring
As a user, you will be able to set up forwarding rules so calls can go with them anywhere, or calls can be forwarded to colleagues or to voicemail.
#6: Group Call Pickup and Forward to Group
As a user, you will be able to share incoming calls with colleagues so that the colleagues can answer calls that occur when you are unavailable. Less disruptive to recipients than other forms of call sharing (such as call forwarding or simultaneous ringing) because you will be able to configure how you want to be notified of an incoming shared call.
#7: Transfer a Call and Consultative Transfer
As a user, you will be able to transfer calls to another person. Or, if you need to leave your office but want to continue the conversation, you can simply transfer the calls from your PC or IP phone to your cell phone.
Note that users do not need to be voice enabled to receive transferred calls from another user.
#8: Transfer to Voicemail mid Call
As a user, you will be able to transfer to voicemail during a call.
#9: Call Park and Retrieve
As a user, you will be able to place a call on hold in the Teams service in the cloud. When a call is parked, the service generates a unique code for call retrieval. The user who parked the call or someone else can then use that code and a supported app or device to retrieve the call.
#10: Call Phone Number from Search
As a user, you will be able to place a call from the search box by using the /call command and specifying a name or a number.
#11: Caller ID
As a user, you will be able to call from inside the company display a detailed caller ID that pulls information from the corporate directory, showing picture ID and job title instead of just a phone number.
For calls from external phone numbers, the caller ID as provided by the phone service provider is displayed. If the external phone numbers are secondary numbers in the corporate directory, then the information from the corporate directory will be displayed.
#12: Device Switching
As a user, you will be able to play a call or meeting on another HID device that is connected to Teams; for example, switching from their PC speakers to a headset.
#13: Presence-based Call Routing
As a user, you will be able to control inbound communications with presence, enabling you to block all incoming communication except from those specifically indicated.
#14: Integrated Dial Pad
As a user, you will be able to dial by name or by number anywhere in the search bar and in the dial pad, speeding up the process of making outbound calls.
#15: Federated Calling
As a user, you will be able to securely connect, communicate, and collaborate with users in federated tenants.
#16: Make and Receive a Video Call
If the user's account is enabled for video calls, you will be able to make face-to-face video calls with their contacts. All you need is a camera, your computer’s speakers and microphone. You can also use a headset if their computer doesn’t have a built-in audio device.
#17: Cloud Voicemail
As a user, you will be able to have your voicemail delivered to your Exchange mailbox as an email with the voicemail message as an attachment. You can then listen to the voicemail on your certified desktop phone, and on all Teams or Skype for Business applications.
Note that users do not need a Teams Phone license, nor do they need to be voice enabled to use Cloud Voicemail features.
#18: Cloud Voicemail User Settings
As a user, you will be able to configure their client settings for voicemail greetings, call answering rules, and greeting language, including out-of-office greetings.
Note that users do not need a Teams Phone license, nor do they need to be voice enabled to use Cloud Voicemail features.
#19: Secondary Ringer
As a user with multiple speaker devices connected to their PC, you will be able to choose to set a secondary device to ring in addition to their default speaker.
For example, a user with a headset connected to the PC and desk speakers can choose to have both headset and desk speakers ring when a call comes in so that they don’t miss a call.
#20: Distinctive Ring Alerts (Teams only)
As a user, you will be able to choose separate ringtones for normal calls, forwarded calls, and delegated calls so they can distinguish the type of call.
#21: Shared Line Appearance
As a user, you will be able to share their phone line so that another user can make and receive calls on their behalf.
#22: Busy on Busy (Teams only)
As a user, you will be able to configure how incoming calls are handled when you are:
in a call
in a conference
has a call placed on hold
The caller will then receive one of the following responses:
hear a busy signal when the callee is on the phone
will be routed accordingly to the user's unanswered settings. One option lets the caller leave a voicemail for the user who is already on a call
Moreover, the callee will simply get a missed call notification and won’t be able to answer incoming calls. However, do also note that this feature can be disabled by default, but can be turned on by the tenant admin.
#23: Call Blocking
As a user, you will be able to add (PSTN) phone numbers to a blocked list so that the next call from that number is blocked from ringing the user.
#24: Common Area Phones
A common area phone is typically placed in an area like a lobby or conference room making it available to multiple people. Hence, as a user, you will be able to set up common area phones as devices rather than users, and can automatically sign into a network.
#25: Media Bypass Support (for Teams Direct Routing only)
For better performance, you will be able to keep the media between the Session Border Controller (SBC) and the client instead of sending it through Teams Phone.
#26: Unassigned Number Routing
As a user, you will be able to route unassigned numbers to users, auto attendants, call queues or a custom announcement.
Please note that to use Teams Phone features, your organisation must have a Teams Phone license.
To purchase a Teams Phone license, simply click the green button below to contact us today.
The contents of this article is brought to you by Microsoft.
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