How to Integrate Your Phone System with Microsoft Teams

Remote and hybrid employees are becoming increasingly common in today’s work environment. This flexibility enables workers to improve their work-life balance and better manage their time. However, it also requires your organization’s communication and office tools to keep up.

Microsoft Teams and Office 356 are unified communication platforms that have become vital workplace solutions. These central collaboration tools enable better communication and teamwork. With the right integration system, you can use Microsoft Teams as a powerful and scalable phone system, allowing you to manage external and internal calls effectively.

Intermedia offers a unified communication system to help organizations across various industries implement phone system integration with Microsoft Teams. In this article, we’ll explore Microsoft Teams phone integration options and highlight how our turnkey solution creates a seamless communication experience across all employee teams and locations.

Why Integrate a Phone System with Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams’ telephony offers private branch exchange (PBX) functionalities that integrate with your existing phone system and Microsoft 365 cloud environment. With Microsoft Telephony, you can integrate voice communications alongside your other collaboration tools, such as instant messaging, calendar management, and email.

Integrating your phone system with Microsoft Teams provides your business with numerous benefits, such as:

• Streamlining internal and external communication, resulting in increased employee productivity
• Improving customer service, which enhances the customer experience
• Reducing the need for multiple tools and platforms, which saves you money
• Enabling remote and hybrid workforces to stay connected, increasing collaboration

Integration Options: How to Add Voice to Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams phone integration can be done in three ways: using Microsoft Calling Plans, Direct Routing, and Operator Connect. Each of these methods utilizes either native calling plans and features or the services of a third-party provider. Before you choose which option is right for your business, you need to consider the pros, cons, and pricing of each.

Microsoft Calling Plans                       

Microsoft provides complete PBX capabilities for your organization through Teams phone. However, to make outside calls, you need to connect your Teams phone to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) through one of Microsoft’s native calling plans. These calling plans are Microsoft’s cloud-based voice solution for Teams users and are often the simplest way for MS Teams phone integration.

As part of the Microsoft Teams phone system, Microsoft Calling plans offer enterprises a way to integrate voice calling within the Teams environment. Using Microsoft’s infrastructure, you can make and receive calls from traditional phone lines and mobile lines. 

As with every system, there are pros and cons. Microsoft’s native calling plans offer a straightforward way for small businesses to get started with cloud telephony. Because Microsoft handles the PSTN connectivity, it is simple to deploy. Additionally, the calling plans seamlessly integrate with the Office 365 ecosystem, creating a unified platform for collaboration, which eliminates the need to manage multiple communication tools. 

These calling plans also provide essential calling features, such as auto-attendants, call queues, voicemails, and transfers, at a predictable monthly cost. Finally, Microsoft manages the entire infrastructure. This management eliminates the need for businesses to deal with third-party providers, which is beneficial for small businesses with limited IT resources.

Despite all these positives, integrating Microsoft Teams with native calling plans has some drawbacks, including:

• Limited customization: Compared to Direct Routing, calling plans offer less flexibility. Businesses often have limited ability to extend voice features, and their plans may not be compatible with legacy systems.
• Higher cost: The fixed monthly cost per user may be predictable, but it can be more expensive for larger companies or those with high call volumes due to the number of Teams phone licenses you need to purchase. Additionally, depending on the infrastructure your business needs, you may have a higher cost overall.
• Limited availability: Microsoft Calling Plans are available in a limited number of countries. For multinational companies that need global coverage, this can be a significant hindrance.
• Complex porting: Calling Plans offer limited support for complex needs. Additionally, it can be hard to port your existing phone numbers. If you have complex business needs, you may need to expand your IT department to provide dedicated Teams support.

Direct Routing

Direct Routing allows organizations to use Microsoft Teams as their phone system, connecting their Internal Teams communications with their existing phone network and telecom provider. This method relies on session border controller (SBC) devices to manage and control the connection between Teams and the PSTN to ensure security and compatibility.

Compared to native calling plans, Direct Routing is more cost-effective for larger organizations that manage their own legacy systems. Other benefits include:

• Flexibility with call routing, features, and integration with existing systems
• More scalability than on-premises PBX systems because it leverages the power of the cloud to meet your business needs

Operator Connect

A newer, simpler way to connect Teams to your existing telecom services is through Operator Connect. This method simplifies the process by letting you keep your current provider and manage your service through the Teams admin center. Basically, Operator Connect is a cloud-to-cloud connection between Teams and the PSTN that is managed by a certified operator.

This method requires no on-premises SBC and allows you to keep your existing business phone numbers. While there is a limited list of certified providers who offer this service, it can lead to lower costs and streamlined communication.

Why Choose Intermedia for Microsoft Teams Phone Integration

Intermedia’s Unite for Teams solution seamlessly integrates advanced calling, text messaging, and more into your Microsoft Teams platform without needing an extra phone license. Our all-in-one solution offers the following benefits for your organization:

• Clear call quality: Our enterprise-grade reliability and 99.999% uptime SLA provide high-quality voice and video calls directly within the Teams app.
• Call queues: Our call handling management tools help keep your team on track and ensure customers can reach the appropriate parties.
• Business SMS: Your team can send and receive text messages through Teams, so your communication can be all in one place.
• Global connectivity: Our platform offers unlimited calling and free calls to 33 countries to keep your global team connected.
• Advanced analytics: Our user-friendly dashboard allows you to access detailed analytics to gain insights into call performance and make data-driven decisions.
• Cloud-based technology: You don’t need to manage SBCs or extra infrastructure.
• Security and compliance: Our platform utilizes state-of-the-art encryption and security protocols to ensure your sensitive information remains protected, ensuring you adhere to industry requirements.
• Seamless setup: Intermedia acts as your telecom provider and will set up your unified communication system to integrate with your existing phone system. You can even keep your phone number.

How Intermedia’s Integration Works: A Simple Overview

When you partner with Intermedia to integrate MS Teams with your phone system, we handle the entire setup process for you. Our straightforward process will have you up and running in no time without much disruption to your daily workflow. We use the following step-by-step process to connect your phone system to Teams:

1. Choose Intermedia as your provider: When you choose us as your Teams phone provider, you receive access to a global cloud-based solution to keep your team connected from anywhere in the world.
2. Connect via Operator Connect or Direct Routing: With our cloud-based solution, you don’t need to support any extra on-site equipment and can keep your existing legacy system.
3. Configure user access and call routing: You can keep your existing phone numbers and desk phones. Additionally, our easy-to-use interface makes it simple to set up voicemails, auto-attendants, call routing, caller ID, call recording, and call queues.
4. Go live with Teams-enabled voice: You can make internal and external calls right from Teams, streamlining communication with team members, stakeholders, and customers.
5. 24/7 support: With Intermedia’s 24/7 support and training resources, you have access to help whenever you have questions.

Use Cases and Customer Examples

Intermedia has business innovators around the globe. These leaders are redefining the customer experience and using Intermedia’s cloud-based unified communication systems to take their business to new heights. Our platform offers many use cases across a range of industries, including the following:

Healthcare, Finance, and Regulated Industries

Intermedia’s secure and compliant telephony architecture ensures your company meets industry regulations. Our state-of-the-art, enterprise-level security features and intuitive contact center dashboard help you comply with global storage, retention, and communication policies, including:

• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)

Multisite Businesses

For growing businesses with multiple locations, our unified communication system integrates with Microsoft Teams. This allows you to consolidate communication across sites with a centralized phone system for a simplified calling experience. By integrating your infrastructure with Microsoft Teams and our calling capabilities, you can save your company money because you don’t have to invest in siloed infrastructure or new equipment.

Customer Support Teams

Leverage call queues, call forwarding, call routing, and voicemail to help your customer support teams manage high incoming call volumes. Our call management capabilities help your team effectively respond to customer inquiries. Additionally, you can integrate MS Teams and your phone system with your existing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform and help desk tools for seamless support. 

Sales and Field Reps

Calling with Microsoft Teams enables your representatives in the field to make outbound calls and receive transfer calls using existing lines and local numbers. Partnering with Intermedia enables you to leverage our existing text features, allowing your representatives to receive follow-ups via SMS and call-back texts within the Teams environment from their mobile phones. 

Streamline Your Communications with Microsoft Teams Phone Integration

Microsoft Teams phone integration is the key to unlocking streamlined communication for today’s business environment. Whether you want to be able to communicate with remote workers, simplify your operations, or improve the customer experience, utilizing Teams phone features is essential for powerful communication.

Intermedia provides a turnkey voice solution with a 99.999% uptime and 24/7 support. Our Teams calling solution can transform how you collaborate and communicate with internal employees and external stakeholders through texting, number porting, and call management. Request a call back and explore how our fully managed and cost-effective Direct Routing or Operator Connect lets you avoid the limitations of Microsoft Calling Plans, saving you time and money, while providing you with a scalable voice system.

Melinda Curtis

Melinda Curtis is a Director of Product Marketing at Intermedia, where she focuses on helping businesses improve employee productivity and enhance their customer experiences using Intermedia's award-winning cloud communications solutions. Melinda brings over 20 years of experience in telecommunications, having worked in B2C and B2B marketing, product management, and vendor management roles. In her free time, she loves to travel with her family.