Sep 14, 20232 min read

All Onboard the New Microsoft Teams Phone

Are you the kind of person where if the latest technology comes out, you have to be the first one to try it?

Well then, if you are, let me tell you all about the NEW Microsoft Teams Phone!

So what is this NEW Microsoft Teams Phone?

Microsoft Teams Phone is Microsoft's technology for enabling call control and Private Branch Exchange (PBX) capabilities in the Microsoft 365 cloud with Microsoft Teams.

Teams Phone works with Teams clients and certified devices. It allows you to replace your existing PBX system with a set of features directly delivered from Microsoft 365.

This means that calls between users in your organization are handled internally within Teams Phone, and never go to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) – and this thereby removes long-distance costs on internal calls.

Then you might ask, what about for external calls?

Well, for making external phone calls, Teams Phone does too provide add-on options for connecting to the PSTN as well. This integration hence allows Teams users to call out via regional SIP trunk carriers and offers a seamless unified calling experience for both 3CX and Teams users.

So what are some of the features of Microsoft Teams Phone?

With Teams Phone, users can use Teams to place and receive calls, transfer calls, and mute or unmute calls. Teams Phone users can click a name in their address book, and place Teams calls to that person. To place and receive calls, Teams Phone users can use their mobile devices, a headset with a laptop or PC, or one of many IP phones that work with Teams.

Teams Phone administrators can manage calling options and settings from the same console used for messaging, collaboration, and so on.

Then how about external calling and connecting to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)?

Well, the good news is that for external calling, Teams Phone can be connected to the PSTN in one of the following ways:

Purchase a Microsoft Calling Plan (domestic or domestic and international). Microsoft Calling Plan is an all-in-the-cloud solution with Microsoft as your PSTN carrier
Use your existing telephony infrastructure for on-premises PSTN connectivity
You can connect your on-premises telephony infrastructure to Teams Phone by using Operator Connect or Direct Routing

Finally, what other services does Microsoft Teams Phone provide?

What’s more is that Microsoft Teams Phone can also be used for services and voicemail, such as:

Auto attendants – Auto attendants can be used to create a menu system for your organization that lets external and internal callers move through the system to locate and place or transfer calls to company users or departments in your organization
Call queues – Call queue greetings can be used when someone calls in to a phone number for your organization. These greetings include the ability to automatically put the calls on hold and to search for the next available call agent to handle the call. The people on hold can also listen to music while on hold. You can create single or multiple call queues for your organization
Voicemail – Cloud Voicemail is automatically set up and provisioned for all Teams users