Question 1

How does Teams Phone work?

Accepted Answer

Teams Phone works by moving the job of a traditional phone system into the Microsoft 365 cloud, where a call-control service acts as the private branch exchange (PBX) that controls each call from the moment someone dials to the moment the call ends, all inside the Teams apps people already use.[1] Calls between two people in the same organization stay on the internet as encrypted data and never reach the public switched telephone network (PSTN), so internal calling carries no carrier toll.[1] Reaching an outside landline or mobile number takes two separate pieces: a Teams Phone license that switches on the calling features, and a PSTN connection that supplies real phone numbers and the path to the outside world.[1][2] That PSTN link can come from a Microsoft Calling Plan, an Operator Connect carrier, Teams Phone Mobile, or Direct Routing through your own session border controller, and one organization can use more than one at once.[2] After a user is licensed, given a number, and voice enabled, the cloud service sets up the call while the audio itself travels over the most direct network path available, secured with SRTP.[4][5]

Question 2

How do I choose a PSTN connectivity option for Teams Phone?

Accepted Answer

You choose a Teams Phone PSTN connectivity option by matching one of Microsoft's four models to where your users are, whether you want to keep an existing carrier, and how much of the telephony plumbing you are willing to run yourself.[1] A Microsoft Calling Plan makes Microsoft your carrier and is the simplest setup, but it is sold in only a limited set of countries.[1][2] Operator Connect and Teams Phone Mobile hand the carrier role to a certified operator that manages the connection for you, with Teams Phone Mobile built around a single SIM-based mobile number that also rings in Teams.[1][3][4] Direct Routing works in any country and connects almost any carrier through a session border controller you or a partner manage, which is why organizations pick it to keep a current carrier or connect legacy PBX and analog equipment.[1][5] One tenant can use several of these at once, so the practical decision is often per country or per type of worker rather than a single choice for the whole company.[1]

Question 3

What is the difference between Teams Phone and a Calling Plan?

Accepted Answer

Teams Phone and a Microsoft Calling Plan are two separate purchases that solve two different jobs, and most organizations that want full business calling buy both.[1] Teams Phone is Microsoft's cloud phone system, the per-user add-on license that provides private branch exchange (PBX) features such as auto attendants, call queues, and cloud voicemail plus the ability to dial regular phone numbers, but on its own it includes no minutes to the outside world.[1][4] A Microsoft Calling Plan is one of four ways to connect Teams Phone to the public switched telephone network (PSTN); it makes Microsoft your phone carrier and supplies the phone numbers and calling minutes.[2][3] Because a Calling Plan is an add-on to Teams Phone rather than a replacement for it, you buy the Teams Phone license first and then attach a Calling Plan, or buy the two together as a bundle.[2][4] Calls between Teams users in the same organization travel over the internet and need neither product, which is why the distinction only matters once you have to reach landlines and mobiles.[1]

Question 4

What Teams Phone license do I need?

Accepted Answer

To turn Microsoft Teams into a working phone, a user needs three things stacked together: a base Microsoft 365 or Teams subscription, a Teams Phone license (the entitlement Microsoft records internally as the Microsoft 365 Phone System application), and a way to connect to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) for calls outside your organization.[2][5] If your users are on Microsoft 365 E5 or Office 365 E5, the Teams Phone license is already included, so you add only a PSTN option; on E1, E3, or a Business plan, you buy a Teams Phone Standard add-on, listed by Microsoft at $10.00 per user per month.[2][3] Teams Phone on its own covers internal calls and PBX features such as auto attendants and voicemail, but it cannot dial a regular phone number until you attach a PSTN option like a Microsoft Calling Plan, Operator Connect, Teams Phone Mobile, or Direct Routing.[5][6] Microsoft also sells a Teams Phone with Calling Plan bundle, around $17.00 per user per month for a domestic plan in the US, UK, and Canada, or $13.00 for pay-as-you-go, which folds the license and Microsoft-carrier calling into one SKU.[3][4]

Question 5

How much does Teams Phone cost?

Accepted Answer

Microsoft Teams Phone starts at $10 per user per month for the Teams Phone Standard license, which adds cloud phone-system (PBX) features to an existing Teams or Microsoft 365 subscription but includes no minutes for calling outside your organization.[1] To place external calls you add a PSTN option: Microsoft's own Teams Phone with Calling Plan runs $17 per user per month with 3,000 pooled domestic minutes, and the domestic-and-international bundle is $34.[1][2] Microsoft 365 E5 and Office 365 E5 already include the phone-system license, so E5 customers pay only for the calling connection they choose.[4] Because most organizations also carry base Microsoft 365 licenses, a calling path, resource accounts, and administration, independent 2026 estimates put the real all-in cost closer to $25 to $35 per user per month.[8]

Question 6

Do I need a Calling Plan with Teams Phone?

Accepted Answer

Not necessarily. A Microsoft Calling Plan is only one of four ways to connect Teams Phone to the public switched telephone network (PSTN), so you can reach outside phone numbers through Operator Connect, Teams Phone Mobile, or Direct Routing instead, and you can even combine more than one.[1] Every external-calling setup does require two things: a Teams Phone license on each user, plus some PSTN connection that supplies numbers and access; the Calling Plan is Microsoft's own version of that connection, where Microsoft becomes your phone carrier.[1][6] If your people only call each other inside Teams, those calls run natively over the internet and never touch the PSTN, so no Calling Plan or any other PSTN option is needed at all.[6] A Microsoft Calling Plan makes the most sense when it is sold in your country and you want a single vendor for the software and the dial tone, and Microsoft offers Domestic, International, and Pay-As-You-Go versions.[2]

Question 7

What is the difference between Direct Routing and Operator Connect?

Accepted Answer

Direct Routing and Operator Connect are two of the four ways to connect Microsoft Teams Phone to the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and the core difference is who owns and manages the connection to your phone carrier.[1] With Operator Connect, you pick a carrier from Microsoft's certified operator program, and that operator runs the session border controllers (SBCs) and the PSTN calling service for you, so you enable them in the Teams admin center and assign numbers without touching any voice hardware.[2][5] With Direct Routing, you bring your own carrier and procure, install, and manage a certified SBC yourself or through a provider, which lets you use almost any trunk and connect legacy PBXs and analog devices, at the cost of running that infrastructure.[3][4] Both models require a Teams Phone license on each user, and one tenant can run both at once, mixing them by region or by type of worker.[1][6] Operator Connect tends to fit organizations that want managed calling with little setup, while Direct Routing fits those that need a specific carrier, a legacy integration, or coverage where the other options are not sold.[1][3]

Question 8

Does a Teams Phone license include a phone number?

Accepted Answer

No. A Teams Phone license does not include a phone number on its own, because Microsoft treats the license and the number as two separate purchases.[1][3] The license entitles a user to the Microsoft 365 Phone System features and its private branch exchange (PBX) capabilities, plus access to whatever phone-network connection your organization has set up, while the numbers themselves come from a separate PSTN solution.[1][4] Microsoft states plainly that telephone numbers are not included with Teams Phone licensing and are acquired through the service provider that supplies your connection to the public switched telephone network (PSTN).[3] You add that connection through one of four options, a Microsoft Calling Plan, Operator Connect, Teams Phone Mobile, or Direct Routing, and the option you choose decides who allocates your numbers.[2] The main exception is a bundled license such as Teams Phone with Calling Plan, which pairs the license with a Microsoft Calling Plan that does provide a number and outbound minutes.[7]

Question 9

Can Teams Phone make and receive calls to landlines and mobile phones?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Teams Phone can place and answer calls to and from ordinary landline and mobile numbers, but only after two separate pieces are in place: a Teams Phone license assigned to the user, and a connection to the public switched telephone network, or PSTN, that supplies the phone numbers and the route to the outside world.[1][2] Calls between people inside the same organization run natively over the internet and never touch the phone network, so the license and the PSTN connection matter specifically for reaching external numbers.[1] Microsoft supports four ways to make that PSTN connection, and a Microsoft Calling Plan, Operator Connect, Teams Phone Mobile, or Direct Routing each let a voice-enabled user dial out and take inbound calls on a real phone number.[2] Microsoft's product page states plainly that Teams Phone lets you make and receive voice and video calls over the PSTN or an internet connection, from the Teams apps on a computer, a mobile device, or a certified desk phone.[5][6]

Question 10

What is Microsoft Teams Phone?

Accepted Answer

Microsoft Teams Phone is the cloud-based phone system, or private branch exchange (PBX), built into Microsoft Teams and the wider Microsoft 365 service, where it handles call control so an organization can run its business calling inside the Teams apps people already use.[1] Calls between Teams users in the same organization stay on the internet and never touch the traditional phone network, while a Teams Phone add-on license plus a separate connection to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) lets those users dial and answer regular phone numbers.[1][2] The license adds enterprise calling features such as auto attendants, call queues, cloud voicemail, call transfer, and external caller ID on top of the basic calling already included with Teams.[3] Microsoft offers four ways to connect Teams Phone to outside numbers: its own Calling Plan, Operator Connect, Teams Phone Mobile, and Direct Routing.[2] Teams Phone was previously named Phone System, and it succeeds Skype for Business Online, which Microsoft retired on July 31, 2021.[9]