July 14, 2026
Teams Telephony - Simply Explained
Microsoft Teams Telephony transforms Microsoft Teams into a complete cloud-based business phone system, replacing traditional office PBXs with a modern, software-powered solution. In this episode, we explain Teams Telephony in plain English, showing how it enables organizations to make and receive business calls from virtually any device while integrating seamlessly with Microsoft 365. Whether you're an IT administrator, business owner, or simply curious about Microsoft's calling platform, this episode breaks down everything you need to know—from cloud PBX and licensing to calling plans, security, and real-world business benefits.
WHAT IS MICROSOFT TEAMS TELEPHONY?
Teams Telephony is Microsoft's cloud-based business phone system built directly into Microsoft Teams. Instead of relying on traditional desk phones connected to physical PBX hardware, your business phone number follows your Microsoft account across your laptop, smartphone, tablet, desktop computer, or certified Teams phone. Every device becomes your office phone, allowing employees to work from anywhere while maintaining the same business number, voicemail, contacts, and call history.
REPLACING THE TRADITIONAL PBX
Traditional phone systems required expensive hardware, dedicated phone lines, onsite maintenance, and complex upgrades. Teams Telephony replaces this entire infrastructure with a cloud-hosted Phone System managed by Microsoft. Organizations no longer need to maintain PBX hardware, install new phone lines for employees, or schedule technicians for everyday configuration changes. New users can often be provisioned in minutes simply by assigning licenses and phone numbers through the Microsoft 365 administration portal.
THREE WAYS TO CONNECT TO THE PUBLIC PHONE NETWORK
Connecting Teams to the public telephone network is one of the most important concepts to understand. Microsoft offers three primary connectivity options. Microsoft Calling Plans provide the simplest fully managed experience directly from Microsoft. Operator Connect allows organizations to continue using approved telecommunications providers while integrating seamlessly with Teams. Direct Routing offers maximum flexibility by connecting existing phone infrastructure through certified Session Border Controllers, making it ideal for organizations with more advanced telephony requirements or existing carrier investments.
LICENSING AND COSTS
Teams Telephony is licensed separately from the standard Microsoft Teams application. Organizations typically require a Teams Phone license alongside their chosen calling connectivity option. While pricing varies depending on licensing, calling plans, and deployment model, many businesses experience significant cost savings compared to maintaining traditional on-premises PBX systems. Reduced hardware investments, simplified administration, and cloud-based management often lower both operational costs and long-term infrastructure expenses.
ENTERPRISE FEATURES FOR EVERY BUSINESS
Teams Telephony includes advanced enterprise calling capabilities that were traditionally available only through expensive business phone systems. Features such as voicemail transcription, auto attendants, call queues, delegation, call park, presence integration, and intelligent call routing are built directly into the platform. These capabilities allow even small organizations to deliver professional customer experiences while simplifying internal communication and reducing administrative overhead.
SECURITY, COMPLIANCE AND RELIABILITY
Microsoft secures Teams Telephony using enterprise-grade encryption, Microsoft Entra identity, multi-factor authentication, and global cloud infrastructure. Organizations benefit from high availability, encrypted voice traffic, compliance capabilities, and centralized administration through Microsoft 365. Features supporting regulatory requirements such as GDPR and HIPAA help organizations protect sensitive communications while meeting industry compliance obligations.
HOW EVERYTHING WORKS TOGETHER
The true strength of Teams Telephony comes from the integration of its individual components. Incoming calls flow through auto attendants, call queues intelligently distribute conversations, voicemail automatically generates transcripts, and presence information helps users understand colleague availability. Because every capability operates inside Microsoft Teams, employees no longer need separate applications or disconnected communication systems. The result is a unified communication platform that combines chat, meetings, collaboration, and enterprise telephony into a single experience.
GETTING STARTED WITH TEAMS TELEPHONY
Organizations adopting Teams Telephony should begin by reviewing their existing Microsoft 365 licensing, evaluating the most suitable PSTN connectivity option, and running a pilot deployment with a small group of users before expanding company-wide. This phased approach allows businesses to validate call quality, user experience, and configuration while minimizing deployment risks and ensuring a smooth migration from legacy phone systems.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Teams Telephony is much more than internet calling—it's a complete cloud-native business phone platform designed for the modern workplace. By replacing traditional PBX hardware with Microsoft Teams, organizations gain greater flexibility, lower infrastructure costs, stronger security, enterprise-grade calling features, and seamless integration with Microsoft 365. Whether employees work in the office, remotely, or on the move, Teams Telephony delivers a consistent business calling experience from virtually any device.
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You've probably seen the phone icon in Teams
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and wondered if you can actually make a call from there.
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The answer is yes.
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And it's much more powerful than you might expect.
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By the end of this episode, you'll understand
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what Teams Telephony is, how it replaces your old office phone
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system, and the three main ways to connect it
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to the outside world.
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Traditional phone systems are expensive, complex,
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and tied to a desk.
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Teams Telephony changes all of that.
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It turns your laptop, phone, or tablet into your work phone,
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and it follows you wherever you go.
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We'll break it down into four building blocks, what it is,
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how it connects, what it costs, and what it can do for you.
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What Teams Telephony actually is.
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So what is Teams Telephony really?
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The simplest way to put it?
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It's a cloud-based phone system built
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right into Microsoft Teams.
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No separate hardware box, no tangled wires,
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no blinking lights on a server rack.
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It's all software.
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And that means you can get started in minutes, not days.
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Think of your old phone system like a private switchboard
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inside your office building, where every desk had a wire
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running back to that box.
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If you wanted to move someone's desk,
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you had to physically rewire things.
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Teams Telephony is that same switchboard,
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but it lives in Microsoft's cloud and follows you everywhere.
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Your phone number is no longer tied to a physical location.
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It's tied to you.
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The key point is this.
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Teams Telephony turns your laptop, smartphone,
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or tablet into your work phone.
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Same number on every device.
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So when someone calls your office number,
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it rings on whichever device you're signed into.
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You don't need a physical desk phone anymore.
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Why does this matter?
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Because you're not stuck at your desk to take business calls.
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You can work from home, from a coffee shop, from a client's office,
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and your phone goes with you.
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No call fording to set up, no separate apps to juggle.
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It's all built into Teams.
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Let me give you a concrete example.
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Imagine you're working from home and someone calls your office number.
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It rings on your laptop, you answer with your headset,
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and that's it.
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No forwarding, no hassle.
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The caller has no idea you're not at your desk.
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And if you need to step away,
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you can transfer the call to your smartphone
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and keep talking while you walk to the kitchen.
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So whether you're at home in the office or on the go,
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your work phone is always with you.
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What does this mean for you?
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Your phone is now an app that's always with you,
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working the same way,
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whether you're at your desk in a meeting room or on the road.
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The same dial pad, contacts, and call history, all inside Teams.
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That's the beauty of it, right?
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How it replaces a traditional PBX?
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So how does Teams actually replace the phone system's businesses
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have used for decades?
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Let me walk you through the old way first.
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20 years ago, buying a business phone system
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meant getting a big black box called a PBX,
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private branch exchange, that sat in a closet
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and routed calls through copper wires.
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Every desk phone had to be physically wired back to that box.
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VoiceMail was a separate system with its own tapes
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or digital storage and adding a new employee
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meant calling the phone company, waiting for a technician
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and paying for installation.
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That whole setup was expensive to buy, costly to maintain,
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and pricey to upgrade.
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The old way required a phone line for every desk,
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a separate system for VoiceMail and a technician
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for even simple changes like moving a phone.
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When the hardware aged out every five to seven years,
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you had to replace the whole thing at significant cost.
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Teams Telephone does all of that in software.
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There's no box, no wires, and you don't need a technician
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for simple changes.
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Microsoft runs the switchboard in their cloud data centers
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so you just need an internet connection
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and a license for each user.
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That's it.
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Let me explain the cloud PBX concept in simple terms.
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Instead of buying and maintaining your own switchboard
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in the office, you're renting a spot on Microsoft switchboard.
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They handle the complicated stuff
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like rooting, redundancy, and security updates.
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You just tell them which users get which numbers
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and everything else happens automatically.
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For small businesses, this is huge.
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You get enterprise grade features without the enterprise-sized
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price tag or complexity.
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A five-person company can have the same phone system
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capabilities as a 5,000-person company,
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auto-attendance, call-cuse, VoiceMail with transcription,
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all that used to cost thousands in add-on hardware are just included.
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Here's a concrete example.
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Adding a new employee used to mean ordering a new phone line
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from your carrier, waiting days or weeks for installation,
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and having a technician configure the PBX.
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With Teams, you assign a phone license and a phone number
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in the admin center.
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It takes about five minutes and the new employee
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signs into Teams to find their phone working.
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What this means for you is that your phone system scales
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with your business.
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You can add users instantly and remove them just as fast
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with no hardware to buy or replace.
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If you grow from 10 people to 50,
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you don't need a bigger box in the closet, just more licenses.
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The three ways to connect to the phone network.
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Now here's the part that confuses most people.
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How does Teams actually connect to the outside world?
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There are three ways.
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Here's the problem.
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Teams handles internal calls between people in your company
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for free.
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If you're both on Teams, you can call each other
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without extra cost.
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But to call a regular phone number,
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like a customer's mobile or a supplier's landline,
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you need a connection to the public telephone network.
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That's the network every phone in the world is connected to.
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And Microsoft gives you three choices
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for how to get there.
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First option is Microsoft calling plans.
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This is the simplest approach.
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You buy phone numbers and calling minutes directly from Microsoft
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and they handle everything.
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You don't need to talk to your phone carrier at all.
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The cost runs about $8 to $15 per user per month,
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depending on the plan.
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But it's not available everywhere.
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Microsoft calling plans only work in certain countries.
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So if you have offices in places where Microsoft
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doesn't offer the service, you'll need another option.
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Second option is operator connect.
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This is where you keep your existing phone carrier,
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but they connect directly into Teams
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with no extra hardware needed.
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Your carrier manages the connection on their end.
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Think of it as your phone company
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plugging their service straight into Microsoft system.
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This is becoming more popular
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because it gives you the simplicity of a managed service
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while keeping your existing carrier.
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Many major phone companies now offer operator connect,
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so it's worth asking yours.
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Third option is direct routing.
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The most flexible approach, but also the most technical.
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You use your own equipment, a device called
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a session, border controller or SBC
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to connect your existing phone lines to Teams.
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You manage the connection yourself
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or your IT partner does it for you.
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This gives you the most control
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and it's often the cheapest option
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if you already have phone lines
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and just want to connect them to Teams.
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But it requires someone who knows what they're doing
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to set it up.
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Here's an analogy.
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Calling plans is like buying a prepaid phone from Microsoft.
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Simple and everything's included,
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but you're limited to what Microsoft offers.
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Operator connect is like keeping your current carrier
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but plugging them into Teams.
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Your carrier handles the connection
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and you just use the service.
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Direct routing is like building your own bridge
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between your existing phone lines and Teams.
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It takes more work, but you get exactly what you want.
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Why does this matter?
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Because you're not locked into one approach.
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You can choose based on your budget,
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your location and your existing contracts.
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A small business in the US
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might use Microsoft calling plans for simplicity.
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A global company with offices in multiple countries
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might use Operator Connect to keep local carriers
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in each region and a company that already has phone lines
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and a good relationship with their carrier
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might choose direct routing to save money.
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What this means for you is that you have options.
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Don't let the technical names scare you.
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Your IT partner or Microsoft reseller
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can help pick the right one based on your situation.
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You don't need to become an expert
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on session border controllers.
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You just need to know that the options exist.
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Licensing and costs simplified.
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So you know what it is and how it connects.
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Next question everyone asks,
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how much does it actually cost?
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Here's the good news.
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If you already have Microsoft 365,
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your part way there because teams is included
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in your subscription, but telephony is an add-on,
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and you need two pieces to make it work.
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First you need a team's phone license
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which unlocks the phone system features
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like making and receiving calls, setting up auto-attendance
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and using voicemail and that costs about $8 to $10 per user per month.
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Second you need a way to connect to the phone network,
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which is one of the three options we just talked about.
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So the total cost is the phone license
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plus the calling plan or connection.
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Let me break down the pricing a little more.
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Teams phone standard costs about $10 per user per month
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and gives you all the PBX features.
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Then you add a calling plan on top of that
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which runs $8 to $15 per user per month
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depending on how many minutes you need
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or you can use operator connect or direct routing
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which is often cheaper per minute
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but has different pricing structures.
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How does this compare to a traditional phone system?
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A typical on-premise PBX costs about $15 to $25 per user per month
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when you factor in hardware, maintenance contracts
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and phone lines and that's just the recurring cost
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because you also have to buy the hardware upfront
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which could be thousands of dollars.
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Teams phone is often 30 to 60% cheaper than that
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so if you're spending $20 per user per month on your old system
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you might end up spending 10 to $14 per user per month with Teams.
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But here's something you need to watch out for.
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The real world cost can be two to three times
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the headline license price once you add calling minutes and support.
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So don't just look at the $10 number
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and assume that's your total cost.
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You need to factor in the calling plan
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any international calling and the cost of support
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if you're working with a partner.
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So get a full quote before you make a decision.
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Let me give you a concrete example.
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For a 10 person company, Teams phone might cost $150 to $250
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per month total for phone licenses plus a calling plan
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while a traditional PBX for the same company
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could easily cost $300 to $500 per month.
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Plus you had to buy the hardware upfront
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so you're saving money from day one
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and you never have to replace expensive hardware again.
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What this means for you is that it's almost certainly
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cheaper than what you're paying now,
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but get a full quote and don't forget
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to factor in the cost of your internet connection
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because Teams phone needs good internet to work well.
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And if your internet is slow or unreliable,
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you might need to upgrade that too.
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Features that matter to you.
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OK, so it's cheaper and simpler, but what can it actually do?
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Let's talk about the features that matter.
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The basics are straightforward.
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You can make and receive calls, transfer calls,
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put calls on hold and see your call history all inside Teams.
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Nothing complicated there, but the features
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that really make a difference are the ones
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that used to cost you extra money.
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Voice mail with transcription is a good example.
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When someone leaves a message,
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you get a written transcript right in your Teams chat
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so you can read it instantly instead of dialing
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into a voice mail box and listening through prompts.
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And if you want to hear the actual recording,
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you can play it back with one click.
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But most of the time, the transcript is enough
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because you know who called and what they wanted
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without ever listening to a message.
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Auto attendance are another big one.
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Think of it as a virtual receptionist
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that greets callers and roots them to the right place,
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like press one for sales, press two for support.
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You don't need a human being to answer the phone
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because the system handles it automatically based
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on the time of day, the day of the week, even holidays.
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And if your office is closed,
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the auto attendant can play a different greeting
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and offer to take a message.
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All of this used to require expensive hardware
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or a third party service, but now it's just a setting in Teams.
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Call Q's work hand in hand with auto attendants.
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When someone presses one for sales,
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the call goes into a queue
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and rings the first available person in the sales team.
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And if everyone's busy, the caller
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he has music or a message while they wait
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while the system distributes calls evenly
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so nobody gets overwhelmed, perfect for support teams,
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reception desks or any group that handles incoming calls.
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Delegation is a feature that assistants love.
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An assistant can make and receive calls
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on behalf of a manager.
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And when they call out, it shows up as the manager's number.
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So if a client calls back, they reach the manager,
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not the assistant.
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And it's a simple thing, but it makes a huge difference
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in how professional your company sounds.
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Call Park is one of those features
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you don't know you need until you use it.
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You put a call on hold, the system gives you a code,
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you walk to another room, pick up a different phone,
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enter the code and the call connects.
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Great for moving between meeting rooms
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or handing off a call to a colleague
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in another part of the building.
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And then there's presence integration.
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You can see if someone is on a call before you call them
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because their status shows in a call right next to their name
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so you know not to interrupt.
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And it reduces the number of times you call someone
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only to get sent to voicemail
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because they're already talking to someone else.
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Why does all this matter?
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Because these features used to require expensive add-ons
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or completely separate systems.
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Auto-attendants were a separate product.
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voicemail transcription was a premium service.
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Call Q's required special hardware,
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but now they're all built into Teams phone
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and you don't pay extra for them.
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Let me give you a concrete example.
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A small law firm with three lawyers
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00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:28,720
can set up an auto-attendant for their main number
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where callers press one to reach the first lawyer
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two for the second, three for the third.
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And if nobody answers the call,
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goes to voicemail and the lawyer gets a transcript
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in their Teams chat.
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And they can call back from their laptop
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or their phone with no receptionist needed,
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no extra hardware, no separate voicemail system.
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Everything works inside the app they already use
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for email and meetings.
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What this means for you is that you get a professional phone
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system without the professional price tag.
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Small businesses can sound like large enterprises
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and it all works inside the app you already use.
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Security and reliability.
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00:11:57,160 --> 00:11:59,600
Now let's talk about something that worries people.
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Security and reliability.
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00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:03,680
Moving your phone system to the cloud sounds risky.
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00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:04,680
What if it goes down?
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00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:06,320
What if someone eavesdrops on your calls?
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00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:08,960
Those are fair questions and here's how Microsoft handles them.
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Start with encryption.
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Every call made through Teams is encrypted in transit.
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That means the audio is scrambled as it travels
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between you and the person you're talking to
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using the same security standards
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that online banking users.
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For one to one calls, you can even enable end-to-end encryption.
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The audio is encrypted on your device
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and decrypted only on the other person's device.
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So no one, not even Microsoft can listen in.
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Uptime is another big concern.
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Microsoft guarantees 99.99% uptime for Teams phone,
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which works out to less than five minutes of downtime per year.
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Five minutes.
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Most on-premise phone systems can't match that
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because they depend on a single box in your office.
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If that box fails, your phones are down until someone fixes it.
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With Teams, Microsoft runs multiple data centers around the world.
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If one goes down, another takes over automatically.
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Identity protection is built into Teams users
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your Microsoft 365 log-in to authenticate you.
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So if you have multi-factor authentication enabled
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and you should, your phone system is protected by the same security.
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Someone can't just pick up a desk phone and make calls as you.
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00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:06,480
They need your credentials and your second factor.
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Think of it like a reception desk that checks your ID
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before letting you into the building.
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00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,200
Compliance is another area where Teams phone shines.
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It supports industry standards like HIPAA for healthcare
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and GDPR for privacy.
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Recording and archiving are built in
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so you can meet regulatory requirements
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without buying separate software.
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If you're in a regulated industry,
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you can record calls, store them securely,
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00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:28,040
and produce them for audits.
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Here's the thing.
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Your phone system is now as secure
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00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,720
as the rest of your Microsoft 365 environment.
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You don't need a separate security setup for your phones.
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00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,520
The same policies that protect your email and your files
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also protect your calls.
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Let me give you a concrete example.
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A healthcare clinic uses Teams phone for patient calls.
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All calls are encrypted.
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00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:46,800
The clinic can record calls for compliance purposes.
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00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:48,440
Voice mails are stored securely.
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00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:49,960
And because Teams supports HIPAA,
401
00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:52,120
the clinic stays compliant with regulations.
402
00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:53,960
No separate security system needed.
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00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:56,240
What this means for you is that you're not trading security
404
00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:57,320
for convenience.
405
00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:58,880
The cloud version is often more secure
406
00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:00,560
than an old on-premise system.
407
00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:02,640
Microsoft has security teams and infrastructure
408
00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:06,040
that most small businesses could never afford on their own.
409
00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:07,600
How all the pieces connect.
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00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:09,400
Let's step back and see how all these pieces
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00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:11,040
fit together into one system.
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00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:13,520
Because Teams telephony isn't just one thing.
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00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,640
It's a cloud PBX, a connection to the phone network,
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00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:17,920
and a set of features.
415
00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:19,920
All wrapped in the Teams app you already use
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00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:21,040
for chat and meetings.
417
00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:22,280
Here's the aha moment.
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00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:23,280
Most people miss.
419
00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:25,480
Most of us think of a phone system as hardware.
420
00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:26,320
A box in a closet.
421
00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:27,280
Why is in the walls?
422
00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:28,960
A plastic handset on your desk.
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00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:31,720
But Teams telephony is something different entirely.
424
00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:32,760
It's an identity.
425
00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:34,960
Your phone number is attached to you not to a desk.
426
00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:37,400
Wherever you sign into Teams, your phone follows.
427
00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:39,040
Sign in on your laptop in a coffee shop
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00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:40,400
and your office number rings there.
429
00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:42,200
Sign in on your phone while you're traveling.
430
00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:43,040
And it rings there.
431
00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:44,400
The number doesn't move.
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00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:45,280
You do.
433
00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:46,800
Now watch how the pieces interact.
434
00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:48,520
The customer calls your main number.
435
00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:50,600
The auto attendant picks up and plays a greeting.
436
00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:52,320
The caller presses one for support.
437
00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:53,880
That sends the call to a call queue.
438
00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:55,960
The queue rings the first available support agent
439
00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:56,880
on their laptop.
440
00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:58,240
If they answer, great.
441
00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:00,600
If everyone's busy, the caller hears music on hold.
442
00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:02,520
If nobody answers after a certain time,
443
00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:03,800
the call goes to voicemail.
444
00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:05,120
The system transcribes the message
445
00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:06,600
and sends it to your Teams chat.
446
00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,600
You read it, call back, and the whole cycle starts again.
447
00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:10,640
All automatic.
448
00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:12,000
No human intervention needed.
449
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:12,880
Why does this matter?
450
00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:14,360
Because these pieces work together
451
00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:16,120
to create a seamless experience.
452
00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:17,960
You don't have to think about the technology.
453
00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:19,440
The auto attendant doesn't need someone
454
00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:20,880
to manually transfer calls.
455
00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,360
The call queue doesn't need someone to watch who's available.
456
00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:24,560
The voicemail doesn't need someone
457
00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:25,840
to check a separate inbox.
458
00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:26,840
It all just happens.
459
00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:28,400
Let me walk you through a full example
460
00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:29,800
so you can see how smooth it is.
461
00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:31,520
A customer calls your main number.
462
00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:33,960
The auto attendant asks them to press one for support.
463
00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:35,320
The call goes to the support queue.
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00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:37,400
It rings the first available agent on their laptop.
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00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:40,240
They answer, help the customer, and hang up.
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00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:42,280
If that agent was already on another call,
467
00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:44,440
the system would ring the next available person.
468
00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,160
If everyone was busy, the caller would get voicemail.
469
00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,280
And later you'd see the transcript in Teams.
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00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:51,320
No missed calls, no lost messages,
471
00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:53,080
no angry customers who couldn't get through.
472
00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:54,720
What this means for you is that the magic
473
00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:56,160
isn't any single feature.
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00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:58,560
It's how they all connect to make your work life easier.
475
00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:00,040
The auto attendant, the call queue,
476
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,760
the voicemail transcription, the presence indicators,
477
00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:04,040
they're designed to work together
478
00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:05,760
so you don't have to think about them.
479
00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:09,480
You just do your job and the phone system handles the rest.
480
00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:10,800
Actionable takeaways.
481
00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:12,080
So what should you do next?
482
00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:13,160
I get this question a lot.
483
00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:15,280
Here are three simple steps to get you moving.
484
00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,480
Step one, check if your current Microsoft 365 license
485
00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:20,040
already includes Teams phone.
486
00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:22,600
If you have an E5 license, you're good.
487
00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:24,360
The phone system is already included.
488
00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:26,640
If you have E3 or business premium,
489
00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:29,560
you'll need to add the Teams phone license separately.
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It's about $8 to $10 per user per month.
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You can check this in your Microsoft 365 Admin Center
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under billing and it takes about two minutes.
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Seriously, it's that quick.
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It's a simple check that saves you a lot of money.
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Step two, talk to your phone carrier
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or a Microsoft partner about the best way to connect.
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Tell them where you're located and how many users you have.
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They'll help you choose between Microsoft calling plans,
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operator connect, or direct routing.
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You don't need to become an expert on this.
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A good partner will ask the right questions
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and give you a recommendation.
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They'll ask about your current setup and future needs.
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That's what they're there for.
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Step three, start small.
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Don't try to move your entire company at once.
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Pick a handful of users to pilot your new setup.
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Set up an auto attendant for your main number.
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Test it for a week.
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You'll quickly see how much simpler it is.
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Your pilot users will tell you what works and what doesn't.
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Then you can roll out to the rest of the company
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with confidence.
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You'll build confidence with each successful rollout.
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That's the smart way to do it.
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That's the system.
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Three ways to connect one app to use them all.
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If this episode helped you see the big picture,
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share it with someone who's still stuck with an old desk phone
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00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:31,600
and subscribe for more plain English breakdowns
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00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:32,960
of Microsoft Tech.
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I'm Mirko Peters from M365FM, and I'll
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see you in the next episode.
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,560
You've probably seen the phone icon in Teams
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and wondered if you can actually make a call from there.
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The answer is yes.
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And it's much more powerful than you might expect.
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By the end of this episode, you'll understand
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what Teams Telephony is, how it replaces your old office phone
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system, and the three main ways to connect it
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to the outside world.
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Traditional phone systems are expensive, complex,
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and tied to a desk.
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Teams Telephony changes all of that.
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It turns your laptop, phone, or tablet into your work phone,
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and it follows you wherever you go.
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We'll break it down into four building blocks, what it is,
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how it connects, what it costs, and what it can do for you.
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What Teams Telephony actually is.
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So what is Teams Telephony really?
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The simplest way to put it?
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It's a cloud-based phone system built
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right into Microsoft Teams.
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No separate hardware box, no tangled wires,
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no blinking lights on a server rack.
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It's all software.
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And that means you can get started in minutes, not days.
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Think of your old phone system like a private switchboard
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inside your office building, where every desk had a wire
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running back to that box.
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If you wanted to move someone's desk,
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you had to physically rewire things.
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Teams Telephony is that same switchboard,
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but it lives in Microsoft's cloud and follows you everywhere.
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Your phone number is no longer tied to a physical location.
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It's tied to you.
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The key point is this.
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Teams Telephony turns your laptop, smartphone,
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or tablet into your work phone.
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Same number on every device.
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So when someone calls your office number,
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it rings on whichever device you're signed into.
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You don't need a physical desk phone anymore.
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Why does this matter?
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Because you're not stuck at your desk to take business calls.
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You can work from home, from a coffee shop, from a client's office,
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and your phone goes with you.
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No call fording to set up, no separate apps to juggle.
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It's all built into Teams.
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Let me give you a concrete example.
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Imagine you're working from home and someone calls your office number.
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It rings on your laptop, you answer with your headset,
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and that's it.
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No forwarding, no hassle.
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The caller has no idea you're not at your desk.
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And if you need to step away,
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you can transfer the call to your smartphone
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and keep talking while you walk to the kitchen.
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So whether you're at home in the office or on the go,
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your work phone is always with you.
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What does this mean for you?
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Your phone is now an app that's always with you,
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working the same way,
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whether you're at your desk in a meeting room or on the road.
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The same dial pad, contacts, and call history, all inside Teams.
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That's the beauty of it, right?
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How it replaces a traditional PBX?
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So how does Teams actually replace the phone system's businesses
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have used for decades?
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Let me walk you through the old way first.
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20 years ago, buying a business phone system
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meant getting a big black box called a PBX,
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private branch exchange, that sat in a closet
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and routed calls through copper wires.
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Every desk phone had to be physically wired back to that box.
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VoiceMail was a separate system with its own tapes
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or digital storage and adding a new employee
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meant calling the phone company, waiting for a technician
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and paying for installation.
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That whole setup was expensive to buy, costly to maintain,
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and pricey to upgrade.
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The old way required a phone line for every desk,
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a separate system for VoiceMail and a technician
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for even simple changes like moving a phone.
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When the hardware aged out every five to seven years,
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you had to replace the whole thing at significant cost.
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Teams Telephone does all of that in software.
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There's no box, no wires, and you don't need a technician
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for simple changes.
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Microsoft runs the switchboard in their cloud data centers
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so you just need an internet connection
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and a license for each user.
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That's it.
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Let me explain the cloud PBX concept in simple terms.
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Instead of buying and maintaining your own switchboard
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in the office, you're renting a spot on Microsoft switchboard.
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They handle the complicated stuff
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like rooting, redundancy, and security updates.
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You just tell them which users get which numbers
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and everything else happens automatically.
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For small businesses, this is huge.
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You get enterprise grade features without the enterprise-sized
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price tag or complexity.
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A five-person company can have the same phone system
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capabilities as a 5,000-person company,
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auto-attendance, call-cuse, VoiceMail with transcription,
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all that used to cost thousands in add-on hardware are just included.
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Here's a concrete example.
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Adding a new employee used to mean ordering a new phone line
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from your carrier, waiting days or weeks for installation,
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and having a technician configure the PBX.
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With Teams, you assign a phone license and a phone number
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in the admin center.
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It takes about five minutes and the new employee
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signs into Teams to find their phone working.
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What this means for you is that your phone system scales
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with your business.
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You can add users instantly and remove them just as fast
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with no hardware to buy or replace.
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If you grow from 10 people to 50,
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you don't need a bigger box in the closet, just more licenses.
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The three ways to connect to the phone network.
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Now here's the part that confuses most people.
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How does Teams actually connect to the outside world?
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There are three ways.
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Here's the problem.
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Teams handles internal calls between people in your company
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for free.
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If you're both on Teams, you can call each other
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without extra cost.
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But to call a regular phone number,
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like a customer's mobile or a supplier's landline,
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you need a connection to the public telephone network.
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That's the network every phone in the world is connected to.
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And Microsoft gives you three choices
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for how to get there.
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First option is Microsoft calling plans.
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This is the simplest approach.
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You buy phone numbers and calling minutes directly from Microsoft
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and they handle everything.
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You don't need to talk to your phone carrier at all.
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The cost runs about $8 to $15 per user per month,
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depending on the plan.
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But it's not available everywhere.
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Microsoft calling plans only work in certain countries.
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So if you have offices in places where Microsoft
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doesn't offer the service, you'll need another option.
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Second option is operator connect.
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This is where you keep your existing phone carrier,
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but they connect directly into Teams
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with no extra hardware needed.
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Your carrier manages the connection on their end.
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Think of it as your phone company
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plugging their service straight into Microsoft system.
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This is becoming more popular
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because it gives you the simplicity of a managed service
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while keeping your existing carrier.
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Many major phone companies now offer operator connect,
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so it's worth asking yours.
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Third option is direct routing.
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The most flexible approach, but also the most technical.
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You use your own equipment, a device called
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a session, border controller or SBC
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to connect your existing phone lines to Teams.
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You manage the connection yourself
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or your IT partner does it for you.
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This gives you the most control
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and it's often the cheapest option
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if you already have phone lines
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and just want to connect them to Teams.
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But it requires someone who knows what they're doing
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to set it up.
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Here's an analogy.
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Calling plans is like buying a prepaid phone from Microsoft.
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Simple and everything's included,
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but you're limited to what Microsoft offers.
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Operator connect is like keeping your current carrier
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but plugging them into Teams.
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Your carrier handles the connection
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and you just use the service.
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Direct routing is like building your own bridge
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between your existing phone lines and Teams.
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It takes more work, but you get exactly what you want.
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Why does this matter?
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Because you're not locked into one approach.
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You can choose based on your budget,
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your location and your existing contracts.
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A small business in the US
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might use Microsoft calling plans for simplicity.
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A global company with offices in multiple countries
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might use Operator Connect to keep local carriers
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in each region and a company that already has phone lines
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and a good relationship with their carrier
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might choose direct routing to save money.
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What this means for you is that you have options.
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Don't let the technical names scare you.
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Your IT partner or Microsoft reseller
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can help pick the right one based on your situation.
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You don't need to become an expert
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on session border controllers.
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You just need to know that the options exist.
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Licensing and costs simplified.
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So you know what it is and how it connects.
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Next question everyone asks,
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how much does it actually cost?
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Here's the good news.
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If you already have Microsoft 365,
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your part way there because teams is included
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in your subscription, but telephony is an add-on,
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and you need two pieces to make it work.
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First you need a team's phone license
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which unlocks the phone system features
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like making and receiving calls, setting up auto-attendance
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and using voicemail and that costs about $8 to $10 per user per month.
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Second you need a way to connect to the phone network,
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which is one of the three options we just talked about.
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So the total cost is the phone license
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plus the calling plan or connection.
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Let me break down the pricing a little more.
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Teams phone standard costs about $10 per user per month
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and gives you all the PBX features.
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Then you add a calling plan on top of that
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which runs $8 to $15 per user per month
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depending on how many minutes you need
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or you can use operator connect or direct routing
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which is often cheaper per minute
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but has different pricing structures.
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How does this compare to a traditional phone system?
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A typical on-premise PBX costs about $15 to $25 per user per month
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when you factor in hardware, maintenance contracts
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and phone lines and that's just the recurring cost
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because you also have to buy the hardware upfront
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which could be thousands of dollars.
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Teams phone is often 30 to 60% cheaper than that
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so if you're spending $20 per user per month on your old system
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you might end up spending 10 to $14 per user per month with Teams.
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But here's something you need to watch out for.
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The real world cost can be two to three times
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the headline license price once you add calling minutes and support.
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So don't just look at the $10 number
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and assume that's your total cost.
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You need to factor in the calling plan
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any international calling and the cost of support
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if you're working with a partner.
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So get a full quote before you make a decision.
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Let me give you a concrete example.
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For a 10 person company, Teams phone might cost $150 to $250
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per month total for phone licenses plus a calling plan
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while a traditional PBX for the same company
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could easily cost $300 to $500 per month.
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Plus you had to buy the hardware upfront
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so you're saving money from day one
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and you never have to replace expensive hardware again.
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What this means for you is that it's almost certainly
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cheaper than what you're paying now,
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but get a full quote and don't forget
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to factor in the cost of your internet connection
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because Teams phone needs good internet to work well.
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And if your internet is slow or unreliable,
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you might need to upgrade that too.
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Features that matter to you.
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OK, so it's cheaper and simpler, but what can it actually do?
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Let's talk about the features that matter.
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The basics are straightforward.
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You can make and receive calls, transfer calls,
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put calls on hold and see your call history all inside Teams.
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Nothing complicated there, but the features
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that really make a difference are the ones
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that used to cost you extra money.
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Voice mail with transcription is a good example.
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When someone leaves a message,
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you get a written transcript right in your Teams chat
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so you can read it instantly instead of dialing
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into a voice mail box and listening through prompts.
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And if you want to hear the actual recording,
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you can play it back with one click.
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But most of the time, the transcript is enough
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because you know who called and what they wanted
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without ever listening to a message.
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Auto attendance are another big one.
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Think of it as a virtual receptionist
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that greets callers and roots them to the right place,
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like press one for sales, press two for support.
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You don't need a human being to answer the phone
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because the system handles it automatically based
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on the time of day, the day of the week, even holidays.
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And if your office is closed,
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the auto attendant can play a different greeting
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and offer to take a message.
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All of this used to require expensive hardware
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or a third party service, but now it's just a setting in Teams.
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Call Q's work hand in hand with auto attendants.
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When someone presses one for sales,
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the call goes into a queue
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and rings the first available person in the sales team.
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And if everyone's busy, the caller
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he has music or a message while they wait
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while the system distributes calls evenly
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so nobody gets overwhelmed, perfect for support teams,
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reception desks or any group that handles incoming calls.
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Delegation is a feature that assistants love.
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An assistant can make and receive calls
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on behalf of a manager.
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And when they call out, it shows up as the manager's number.
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So if a client calls back, they reach the manager,
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not the assistant.
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00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:33,240
And it's a simple thing, but it makes a huge difference
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00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:35,240
in how professional your company sounds.
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Call Park is one of those features
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you don't know you need until you use it.
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You put a call on hold, the system gives you a code,
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you walk to another room, pick up a different phone,
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enter the code and the call connects.
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Great for moving between meeting rooms
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or handing off a call to a colleague
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in another part of the building.
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And then there's presence integration.
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You can see if someone is on a call before you call them
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because their status shows in a call right next to their name
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so you know not to interrupt.
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And it reduces the number of times you call someone
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only to get sent to voicemail
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because they're already talking to someone else.
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Why does all this matter?
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Because these features used to require expensive add-ons
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or completely separate systems.
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00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:14,720
Auto-attendants were a separate product.
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voicemail transcription was a premium service.
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00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,000
Call Q's required special hardware,
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but now they're all built into Teams phone
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and you don't pay extra for them.
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Let me give you a concrete example.
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A small law firm with three lawyers
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00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:28,720
can set up an auto-attendant for their main number
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00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:30,800
where callers press one to reach the first lawyer
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00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:32,800
two for the second, three for the third.
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00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:34,040
And if nobody answers the call,
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goes to voicemail and the lawyer gets a transcript
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in their Teams chat.
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00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:38,920
And they can call back from their laptop
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or their phone with no receptionist needed,
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no extra hardware, no separate voicemail system.
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Everything works inside the app they already use
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for email and meetings.
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What this means for you is that you get a professional phone
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system without the professional price tag.
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Small businesses can sound like large enterprises
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and it all works inside the app you already use.
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Security and reliability.
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00:11:57,160 --> 00:11:59,600
Now let's talk about something that worries people.
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00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:01,320
Security and reliability.
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00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:03,680
Moving your phone system to the cloud sounds risky.
350
00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:04,680
What if it goes down?
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00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:06,320
What if someone eavesdrops on your calls?
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00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:08,960
Those are fair questions and here's how Microsoft handles them.
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Start with encryption.
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00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,840
Every call made through Teams is encrypted in transit.
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00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:14,680
That means the audio is scrambled as it travels
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00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:16,880
between you and the person you're talking to
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using the same security standards
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that online banking users.
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00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:22,920
For one to one calls, you can even enable end-to-end encryption.
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00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:24,920
The audio is encrypted on your device
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and decrypted only on the other person's device.
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00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:28,920
So no one, not even Microsoft can listen in.
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Uptime is another big concern.
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Microsoft guarantees 99.99% uptime for Teams phone,
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which works out to less than five minutes of downtime per year.
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Five minutes.
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00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:39,760
Most on-premise phone systems can't match that
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because they depend on a single box in your office.
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If that box fails, your phones are down until someone fixes it.
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With Teams, Microsoft runs multiple data centers around the world.
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If one goes down, another takes over automatically.
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00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:53,280
Identity protection is built into Teams users
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your Microsoft 365 log-in to authenticate you.
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So if you have multi-factor authentication enabled
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00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:01,680
and you should, your phone system is protected by the same security.
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00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:04,200
Someone can't just pick up a desk phone and make calls as you.
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00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:06,480
They need your credentials and your second factor.
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Think of it like a reception desk that checks your ID
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before letting you into the building.
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00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,200
Compliance is another area where Teams phone shines.
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00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:15,440
It supports industry standards like HIPAA for healthcare
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00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:17,080
and GDPR for privacy.
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00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:18,760
Recording and archiving are built in
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so you can meet regulatory requirements
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00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:22,200
without buying separate software.
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00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:23,920
If you're in a regulated industry,
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you can record calls, store them securely,
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00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:28,040
and produce them for audits.
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00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:28,840
Here's the thing.
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00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:30,320
Your phone system is now as secure
391
00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,720
as the rest of your Microsoft 365 environment.
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00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,040
You don't need a separate security setup for your phones.
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00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,520
The same policies that protect your email and your files
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00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:38,840
also protect your calls.
395
00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:40,280
Let me give you a concrete example.
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00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:43,080
A healthcare clinic uses Teams phone for patient calls.
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00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:44,280
All calls are encrypted.
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00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:46,800
The clinic can record calls for compliance purposes.
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00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:48,440
Voice mails are stored securely.
400
00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:49,960
And because Teams supports HIPAA,
401
00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:52,120
the clinic stays compliant with regulations.
402
00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:53,960
No separate security system needed.
403
00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:56,240
What this means for you is that you're not trading security
404
00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:57,320
for convenience.
405
00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:58,880
The cloud version is often more secure
406
00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:00,560
than an old on-premise system.
407
00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:02,640
Microsoft has security teams and infrastructure
408
00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:06,040
that most small businesses could never afford on their own.
409
00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:07,600
How all the pieces connect.
410
00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:09,400
Let's step back and see how all these pieces
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00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:11,040
fit together into one system.
412
00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:13,520
Because Teams telephony isn't just one thing.
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00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,640
It's a cloud PBX, a connection to the phone network,
414
00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:17,920
and a set of features.
415
00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:19,920
All wrapped in the Teams app you already use
416
00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:21,040
for chat and meetings.
417
00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:22,280
Here's the aha moment.
418
00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:23,280
Most people miss.
419
00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:25,480
Most of us think of a phone system as hardware.
420
00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:26,320
A box in a closet.
421
00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:27,280
Why is in the walls?
422
00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:28,960
A plastic handset on your desk.
423
00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:31,720
But Teams telephony is something different entirely.
424
00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:32,760
It's an identity.
425
00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:34,960
Your phone number is attached to you not to a desk.
426
00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:37,400
Wherever you sign into Teams, your phone follows.
427
00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:39,040
Sign in on your laptop in a coffee shop
428
00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:40,400
and your office number rings there.
429
00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:42,200
Sign in on your phone while you're traveling.
430
00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:43,040
And it rings there.
431
00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:44,400
The number doesn't move.
432
00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:45,280
You do.
433
00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:46,800
Now watch how the pieces interact.
434
00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:48,520
The customer calls your main number.
435
00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:50,600
The auto attendant picks up and plays a greeting.
436
00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:52,320
The caller presses one for support.
437
00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:53,880
That sends the call to a call queue.
438
00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:55,960
The queue rings the first available support agent
439
00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:56,880
on their laptop.
440
00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:58,240
If they answer, great.
441
00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:00,600
If everyone's busy, the caller hears music on hold.
442
00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:02,520
If nobody answers after a certain time,
443
00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:03,800
the call goes to voicemail.
444
00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:05,120
The system transcribes the message
445
00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:06,600
and sends it to your Teams chat.
446
00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,600
You read it, call back, and the whole cycle starts again.
447
00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:10,640
All automatic.
448
00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:12,000
No human intervention needed.
449
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:12,880
Why does this matter?
450
00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:14,360
Because these pieces work together
451
00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:16,120
to create a seamless experience.
452
00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:17,960
You don't have to think about the technology.
453
00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:19,440
The auto attendant doesn't need someone
454
00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:20,880
to manually transfer calls.
455
00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,360
The call queue doesn't need someone to watch who's available.
456
00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:24,560
The voicemail doesn't need someone
457
00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:25,840
to check a separate inbox.
458
00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:26,840
It all just happens.
459
00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:28,400
Let me walk you through a full example
460
00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:29,800
so you can see how smooth it is.
461
00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:31,520
A customer calls your main number.
462
00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:33,960
The auto attendant asks them to press one for support.
463
00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:35,320
The call goes to the support queue.
464
00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:37,400
It rings the first available agent on their laptop.
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00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:40,240
They answer, help the customer, and hang up.
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00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:42,280
If that agent was already on another call,
467
00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:44,440
the system would ring the next available person.
468
00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,160
If everyone was busy, the caller would get voicemail.
469
00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,280
And later you'd see the transcript in Teams.
470
00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:51,320
No missed calls, no lost messages,
471
00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:53,080
no angry customers who couldn't get through.
472
00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:54,720
What this means for you is that the magic
473
00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:56,160
isn't any single feature.
474
00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:58,560
It's how they all connect to make your work life easier.
475
00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:00,040
The auto attendant, the call queue,
476
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,760
the voicemail transcription, the presence indicators,
477
00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:04,040
they're designed to work together
478
00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:05,760
so you don't have to think about them.
479
00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:09,480
You just do your job and the phone system handles the rest.
480
00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:10,800
Actionable takeaways.
481
00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:12,080
So what should you do next?
482
00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:13,160
I get this question a lot.
483
00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:15,280
Here are three simple steps to get you moving.
484
00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,480
Step one, check if your current Microsoft 365 license
485
00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:20,040
already includes Teams phone.
486
00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:22,600
If you have an E5 license, you're good.
487
00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:24,360
The phone system is already included.
488
00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:26,640
If you have E3 or business premium,
489
00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:29,560
you'll need to add the Teams phone license separately.
490
00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:32,000
It's about $8 to $10 per user per month.
491
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,520
You can check this in your Microsoft 365 Admin Center
492
00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:36,640
under billing and it takes about two minutes.
493
00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:37,880
Seriously, it's that quick.
494
00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:40,160
It's a simple check that saves you a lot of money.
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00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:42,280
Step two, talk to your phone carrier
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or a Microsoft partner about the best way to connect.
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Tell them where you're located and how many users you have.
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They'll help you choose between Microsoft calling plans,
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operator connect, or direct routing.
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You don't need to become an expert on this.
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A good partner will ask the right questions
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and give you a recommendation.
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They'll ask about your current setup and future needs.
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That's what they're there for.
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Step three, start small.
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Don't try to move your entire company at once.
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Pick a handful of users to pilot your new setup.
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Set up an auto attendant for your main number.
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Test it for a week.
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You'll quickly see how much simpler it is.
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Your pilot users will tell you what works and what doesn't.
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Then you can roll out to the rest of the company
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with confidence.
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You'll build confidence with each successful rollout.
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That's the smart way to do it.
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That's the system.
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Three ways to connect one app to use them all.
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If this episode helped you see the big picture,
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00:17:27,120 --> 00:17:29,560
share it with someone who's still stuck with an old desk phone
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00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:31,600
and subscribe for more plain English breakdowns
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00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:32,960
of Microsoft Tech.
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I'm Mirko Peters from M365FM, and I'll
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see you in the next episode.
