Microsoft's Teams Phone offering has become a global leader in the unified communications space with over 12 million Teams Phone Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) users. With Teams averaging 270 million active users a month, you can see why companies would turn to this widely used platform for their telecommunication needs. Integrating your phone system with your collaboration solutions provides flexibility in your work style and endpoints. In this article, we will discuss the four ways your organization can enable Teams Phone for your users and the benefits of each.
Licensing
Before discussing the different options for enabling PSTN connectivity, let's discuss licensing, as Microsoft's licensing models can be complicated for most. All the options below will require your users to be licensed with what Microsoft calls Teams Phone Standard. Regardless of who your operator is, this license allows for the phone features to be enabled in the Teams client.
E5, A5, and G5 licenses include this functionality and will require no add-on licenses. Anything below these will require the addition of the Teams Phone Standard add-on, which at this time, retails for $8.00 per user/per month. Those who choose Microsoft Calling plans will require an additional license which we will cover below.
Calling Plans
33 markets
Rapid provisioning
Local, long-distance, and international calling
Number porting and E911 compliant
Microsoft Calling Plans for Teams Phone will be the easiest option for provisioning and enabling your users with PSTN capability. Microsoft acts as your phone operator and can be spun up with no additional hardware or configurations. This option does require additional licensing to be purchased from Microsoft. As mentioned above, all users will need an E5 or equivalent or a Teams Phone Standard license and a Calling Plan. There are three options for calling plans.
Domestic Calling Plan
International Calling
Pay-As-You-Go Calling Plan
All of these options include unlimited incoming minutes but will vary on the outgoing minutes. For example, the Domestic calling plan will include 3,000 local or long-distance minutes per user per month for those based in the US, UK, or Canada and 1,200 minutes for those based anywhere else.
For those who do not utilize E5 licenses, Microsoft has conveniently packaged both the Teams Phone Standard and the Domestic Calling Plan license into one SKU, Microsoft Teams Phone with Calling Plan. Although you're not saving money, it can make license administration easier by managing a single SKU as opposed to multiple.
Who is this option a good fit for?
Calling plans are typically ideal for small to medium businesses with relatively simple telephony needs and who want a quick and easy phone system set up. This option may become pricier for larger organizations or may not be available in your country at this time.
More info on Calling Plans can be found here.
Operator Connect
60+ markets
40+ operator connect partners
Bring your own operator
Simple provisioning
Operator Connect allows your organization to bring your own operator to Teams Phone easily and without additional hardware or configurations. Your operator partner sets up and maintains the required Session Border Controllers (SBCs) needed to connect the PSTN to Microsoft Teams, allowing you to save on hardware and management. This option also allows you to take advantage of existing operator contracts and maintain your current rates if they are an Operator Connect partner.
Keep in mind that different operators will provide different support models and Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Your users will still need an E5 or equivalent or a Teams Phone Standard add-on license. In addition, you will pay the rates provided by your choice of operator.
Who is this option a good fit for?
This option is suitable for any size business whose preferred operator is already an Operator Connect partner or where calling plans are unavailable in your country. This model is easy to deploy and does not require additional configurations.
More info on Operator Connect can be found here.
Direct Routing
180+ markets
Utilize existing PSTN service
Highly customizable
Available globally
Direct Routing (DR) for PSTN connectivity to your users offers the most customizable experience and is the primary choice for large or complex organizations. DR allows you to bring virtually any PSTN trunk to your Teams users, allowing you to take advantage of existing contracts with your operators.
Additionally, and most importantly to some, Direct Routing allows you the interoperability to connect your Teams environment to 3rd party Private Branch Exchanges (PBXs), either on-prem or cloud-based and analog devices. This can be a huge win for larger organizations or those with a more complex telephony presence.
Who is this option a good fit for?
Any size organization with existing telephony hardware allowing them to integrate with other systems, including existing PBXs, analog devices, call centers, etc. Others may choose this option if any others are not available in their country, or that may want to bring their existing PSTN trunks or contracts with them.
More info on Direct Routing can be found here.
Teams Phone Mobile
Currently available in Canada and Switzerland
US, UK, Germany, and Sweden coming soon
Single phone number across all devices
This is Microsoft's newest offering for connecting your users to the PSTN with a true single number and made for high mobility. This option provides users with a sim-enabled phone number that can be used both on their mobile devices and Teams, all using the same number.
In the previous examples, a user's office number is assigned to them in Teams and can be accessed and utilized anywhere they are signed in. For mobility, a user can sign into the Teams app on their cellular device and have access to their office number. Still, the device itself will require a sim card for data connectivity and, therefore, a separate phone number.
With Teams Phone Mobile, the same number assigned to a user in Teams is also assigned to their sim card and used for data connectivity while mobile, giving the user a single number no matter where they are.
As stated, this option is brand new and has a very limited market. We will monitor this offering closely as Microsoft builds its partner network to allow for additional markets and options.
Who is this option a good fit for?
For organizations that deploy company-owned cell phones and fall into the limited market availability. This option offers the most cutting-edge technology to deploy a true single phone number experience for your highly mobile workforce.
More info on Teams Phone Mobile can be found here.
Conclusion
Hopefully, we have provided a good overview of the options for providing PSTN connectivity to your Teams environment to give your users a true unified communications experience. By providing Teams Phone to your users, your organization can offer a simple and flexible voice platform while consolidating your toolsets.
Our Tier 4 IT Solutions experts have been deploying Teams Voice solutions to clients since its release. We have helped organizations modernize and simplify their telephony presence using the above mentioned options. Contact us today for a free consultation on the best option for your organization and how we can help with your deployment, support, and training.
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