According to a study by DemandSage, “Microsoft teams had 280 million daily active users as of 2023.” This is due to the mass adoption of Microsoft 365 and, more recently, because of the urgent need for work from home (WFH) tools for remote employees following the COVID-19 crisis.

In 2020, organizations with on-premise exchange environments were forced to rapidly move to M365 (and Teams since it is included with licenses) to accommodate employees working remotely.  Many companies even changed recruiting criteria and began hiring workers who could work from anywhere that had Internet access.  

Teams is an easy tool for employees to start using quickly for internal collaboration via chat, screensharing, video, and more. However, organizations are struggling to understand how to adopt Teams as their single Unified Communications platform for all internal and external collaboration. Additionally, although Microsoft has auto attendants and call queues, companies that need more sophisticated contact center agents and CRM integration face challenges consolidating into a single platform for all things communication and contact management throughout the organization.

Below, we breakdown the ways you can utilize Microsoft Teams as your Unified Communications platform and have it function as your PBX or VOIP system.

Teams Licensing Limitations

To understand connecting Teams to the PSTN, you have to understand the licensing specifically as it relates to the PSTN connection.  The following Microsoft 365 licenses (and equivalents such as nonprofit) have Teams "included":

• Business Essentials
• Business Premium
• Enterprise 1 (E1)
• Enterprise 3 (E3)
• Enterprise 3 (E5)*

*The E5 license also comes with the Microsoft Phone System (formerly PBX) included as part of the license.  More information on this is below.

All of the above licenses come with Teams and the ability to chat, share files, host video meetings, and share screens with employees within your organization. However, if you want to dial a contact or host an audio conference with someone outside of your organization, you will need to start adding features through Microsoft or enable the voice connection through other methods.

Option 1: Microsoft Phone Systems

For Audio Conferencing - You will need the Microsoft Audio Conferencing feature (available as a free Teams add-on) (Learn more here).

For External Dialing - You will need the Microsoft Phone System License feature (included with the E5 license).

Plus Calling plans – For all licenses, you will need to purchase a domestic, international, or pay-as-you-go calling plan to dial externally. Unlimited incoming minutes are included.

• Domestic Calling Plan

• International Calling Plan

• Pay-As-You-Go Calling Plan

NOTE: Microsoft has recently started including limited calling plans with Enterprise 3 (E5) Plans in certain countries.

Pros:

• You can procure it all through your Microsoft Partner or Microsoft Direct.

• Teams supports native SMS.
• Self-Service
• Gartner® has recognized Microsoft as a Leader in the 2022 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS).
• Improved SLAs
• Teams Voice is the only native telephony option for Teams. All the other providers have to use an API to integrate into Teams.
• An independent voice study cited Microsoft as the top vendor for both ease of use as well as call clarity and quality in their Competitive Voice Services Reliability Benchmark.

Cons:

• Limited Voice Quality
• Capped Minute Plans
• Limited countries are included.
• Cost (approximately $24-$36/user/month) to add PBX
• No Salesforce integration

Option 2: Keep and Integrate Your Existing Phone System

If your existing phone system supports a SBC (Session Border Controller), you can connect to Microsoft Phone System using Direct Routing. This is a viable solution, but unless you have the expertise and are willing to invest more in your existing phone system, it is the most complex to implement. In addition, if you are using analog phones, you will need an Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA). There are some limits to the functionality of this method.

Pros:

• Employees continue to use their existing desk phones, while also having the full Teams collaboration and soft phone experience.

• No changes to phone numbers or connectivity are necessary.

Cons:

• Complex and time-consuming to implement.

• More ongoing management required.
• High costs (anywhere from $40-$60/user/month)

Option 3: Purchase Calling Plans Through 3rd Parties

Similar to purchasing through Microsoft, purchasing these dial plans adds additional costs to the licensing described above. Here are the four methods for purchasing calling plans:

1. Direct routing (uses native Teams Cloud Phone system features; supplier provides PSTN access and SBC as a service)
2. UCaaS dialer integration (embeds UCaaS supplier telephony into Teams desktop client, but all media and call control are handled by the UCaaS system vs. the Microsoft Cloud Phone System)
3. Bot integration (simple integration where users can type @SUPPLIER and initiate an ad hoc audio or web conference from within Teams, using the UCaaS collaboration platform)
4. 3rd Party (uses middleware and outsourced SBCs to embed PSTN dialing capabilities into Teams client)

Pros:

• Lowest-cost alternatives
• Higher SLAs
• Most robust dialing plans
• Least amount of effort to enable (i.e. porting, etc.)
• Integrated features such as receptionist application, overhead paging, call recording, CRM integration, or contact center

Cons:

• An additional app to install separately from Microsoft.
• Dependent on Microsoft for certain integrations and feature deployments.

Microsoft E5 Is Not the Only Option for You.

In summary, it’s important to know that getting the most expensive Microsoft 365 E5 license is not your only option if you want to use Teams as your phone system. Although it’s an option, it’s not the only way, and you should consider that in your analysis from a cost and feature perspective as you’re evaluating using Microsoft as your unified communications platform.

If you need help making a decision on how to use Teams as your phone system and want pricing quotes on your options (at no cost), contact us today!