Call2Teams

To activate a dial pad in Teams you will need to have deployed voice.

The most important part of deploying voice in Teams is to choose the method that works for you: Calling Plan, Operator Connect or Direct Routing. Depending on which method you choose, you will also have to include some additional Microsoft licensing.

There are currently three options for organizations looking to route calls to and from Microsoft Teams. Those three ways of enabling voice in Microsoft Teams include:

1. Direct routing – This brings your existing phone lines to Teams
2. Microsoft Calling Plans – This effectively makes Microsoft your phone company, you purchase your plans and minutes straight from Microsoft
3. Operator Connect – Microsoft’s newest offering brings line and minutes from you carrier of choice via a pre-engineered solution using Microsoft Azure Peering Service (MAPS) for voice.

These three options all provide a native Teams dial pad within the Teams interface, meaning that outbound, inbound, and call controls are within the Teams environment.

Direct Routing is a toolkit that allows the integration of an existing phone system with Microsoft Teams – allowing users to make and receive external phone calls via the Teams dial pad.

The technical explanation: Direct Routing enables you to make and receive phone calls via the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The connection is made using a Session Border Controller (SBC) and session initiation protocol (SIP) trunks.

The simple stuff: If you’re looking at Direct Routing as an option, one of the best ways to connect your existing phones to Teams with minimal investment, technical knowledge or technical setup required, is to deploy a Direct Routing as a Service (DRaaS) option. DRaaS provides all of the technical stack that you will need, including SBCs.

Operator Connect offers the Teams administrator the ability to engage with Carriers for their lines and minutes, knowing that they have an approved and certified connection with Microsoft Teams.

It is the Microsoft-approved way for external Carriers to connect their phone systems to Teams.

When selecting this option, end-users not only have the flexibility of choosing their own Carrier, they can also be assured that the service, quality and customer experience levels set out by Microsoft are being met.

To start calling in Teams you will need:

1. A Microsoft Teams license, which can be purchased as a standalone or as part of a Microsoft 365 Business license. 

2. A Teams Phone license, which again can be purchased as a standalone or as a part of the Microsoft 365 E5 subscription. Thanks to one of our newest add-ons Call2Teams Go, users are now able to get calling with minimal licensing costs

3. A calling solution which can be either a Microsoft Calling plan, a Direct Routing option or through an Operator Connect carrier.

For more information on Microsoft licensing, you can read more here.

Partnering with Call2Teams is easy. Whether you’re a reseller, distributor or manufacturer, as part of a Call2Teams partnership we can ensure a rapid go-to-market and provide all the training and onboarding you will need.

This means that we help with everything from portal proficiency to sales strategy. From there it is up to you what kind of shape the partnership takes – how you sell Call2Teams is entirely up to you. 

Our partnership doesn’t end once you start selling though, you will have a dedicated account manager alongside you every step of the way and full access to our support system. 

Onboarding with Call2Teams is incredibly streamlined.

After a discovery call and contract signing you will have a 90 day ramp-up period. Directly after signing we will set up a live portal for you and begin getting you up to speed on sales training, give you access to our extensive library of learning materials, and train you using our portal.

You will also have a direct link to our customer success team throughout the entire onboarding process. 

As every Microsoft Tenant is different, setting up Call2Teams depends almost entirely upon your requirements. A simplified setup process includes contract signing, purchasing seats, adding configuration details, adding necessary authorisations and finally syncing to enable calling. 

As part of your Call2Teams agreement you will also be able to work with our customer success team who will be able to smooth out any nuances and guide you through getting started. 

Call2Teams is designed to play extremely well with others. It can be integrated with 30+ PBX networks and 30+ Trunk systems.

If a customer is using multiple PBXs at once Call2Teams can operate with them all simultaneously, performing a single platform configuration across multiple regions.