GuideVoice · 6 min
How do we add phone calling to Microsoft Teams?
Through Microsoft directly, your big carrier or a Teams voice specialist. Going direct leaves you owning the lines, the gear, porting, 911 and the support.
The Clectiv team ·
If your company lives in Teams, putting the phone there too is the obvious move. Doing it directly with Microsoft is a difficult project, because so much of the work lands on you. A provider whose core business is Teams voice takes that work on.
What are the three ways to put calling in Teams?#
All three put phone numbers in Teams. They differ in who supplies the numbers and the calling, and what you run. Every user also needs a Teams Phone license, included in some Microsoft 365 plans and sold as an add-on to others.
| Route | Who supplies numbers and calling | What you run |
|---|---|---|
| Calling Plans | Microsoft, in the countries it covers | Nothing extra |
| Operator Connect | A carrier in Microsoft's program, connected straight into your Teams | Nothing extra; numbers are managed in the Teams admin center |
| Direct Routing | Any carrier you choose, through your own SIP trunks | A certified session border controller (the box that links your lines to Teams), or a provider who runs one |
SIP trunks are phone lines delivered over the internet instead of over copper. Direct Routing is how they reach Teams. You can mix routes, because the route is set per user.
AT&T, Verizon, 8x8, NTT, CallTower, Pure IP, Momentum and NuWave all sell Operator Connect, and CallTower, Pure IP, Momentum, NuWave, Verizon and Ooma sell Direct Routing. That's a sample of the voice providers we work with, and Clectiv AI runs the process for you: start a project.
Before you call anyone#
Microsoft, the carriers and your current phone provider can all wait until Clectiv AI has your people and numbers. After that, Clectiv AI runs the process, bids it out to the providers that fit, has them compete, and lets you choose. Call one first and its route becomes your route, whether it fits or not.
What does doing it directly with Microsoft involve?#
Microsoft sells the Teams Phone license and Calling Plans. The work around them is yours. Here's what you'd own:
- Carrier procurement. Buying phone lines country by country, and managing each contract.
- Session border controllers. Buying, setting up and running them, if you use Direct Routing.
- Number porting. Moving every number off your old carrier, on dates you manage.
- E911 and support. Making emergency calls carry the right location, and answering every "my phone doesn't work" ticket.
That's why it's a difficult project. All of it sits outside Teams, and all of it has to work on the first day.
A provider that specializes in Teams voice takes it on. Voice is its core business, so it handles the lines, the gear, the porting and the support, end to end, E911 included. Write down who calls, from where, with Clectiv AI, and the plan scopes what each provider takes over.
You don't start from scratch. Clectiv AI runs the process we ran for companies in your position, so you start where they left off. It carries the plan straight to these providers, after the best pricing, terms and contract we can get.
AudioCodes and Sangoma sell session border controllers for Direct Routing, and Intrado sells E911 for business phone systems. Those are some of our voice providers for this, and Clectiv AI runs the process with them for you: start a project.
Which kind of provider fits us?#
It depends on who carries your calls today, and how your people like to call. Two kinds of buyer, two kinds of provider:
- You're a customer of a big carrier. AT&T and Verizon both sell Teams calling, so your plan can voice-enable Teams through the carrier you already use.
- You're not tied to a big carrier. More nimble providers bring the ways your people call together, Teams, softphone, desk phone and mobile, and let each person use what suits them.
Some call the second one bring your own platform. Teams becomes one of the ways your company calls, not the whole phone system.
CallTower and NuWave manage Teams alongside other calling platforms, and Momentum and Crexendo offer Teams alongside phone systems of their own. All of them are voice providers we work with, and Clectiv AI runs the process for you: start a project.
One hint: the license price is Microsoft's. Proposals differ on the calling around it, and that's where the Clectiv team negotiates.
Common questions#
What's the difference between Operator Connect and Direct Routing?#
Do we need a Teams Phone license?#
Should we set up Teams calling directly with Microsoft?#
Can we keep our current phone carrier?#
What is a bring-your-own-platform approach?#
How does Clectiv AI get this done?#
Put it in Clectiv AI. Tell it how many people use Teams and where they are. It scopes the project with you and writes your plan: what each site has, who needs what, what stays, and when your contracts end.
Then the Clectiv team takes your plan to the Teams calling and cloud phone providers that fit, all at once, through our partner network of 620+ providers. Each one bids, they compete on the same plan, the team pushes on terms, and you choose.
You inherit what others learned. Clectiv AI runs the process that got them there, so you start where they left off. It takes the plan straight to the providers that fit, for the best pricing, terms and contract we can get.
It's free to you, and it gets moving in days, not months. The rest of what we source in voice is on the voice page.
If the old system is end of life, read what your best options are for a new phone system.
Sources and method. No prices appear in this guide. How each route works follows Microsoft's own description of Teams Phone. Provider names are examples of who sells Teams calling and the pieces around it, from Clectiv's provider directory, not a ranking.