Microsoft Teams Voice

Your phone system is already in Teams. Now make it work for external calls.

Microsoft Teams is many businesses' primary communication hub. chat, video meetings, file sharing. but for external phone calls, many organisations still use a separate phone system or mobile phones. Teams voice calling through Direct Routing unifies everything. internal chats and calls happen in Teams. external phone calls happen in Teams too. one application, one interface, one place to manage presence and availability.

Teams voice is particularly powerful for hybrid and remote teams. someone working from home or a coffee shop uses Teams for everything. they make external calls through Teams, answering their business number from their laptop or phone. no need to forward calls to a mobile or juggle multiple devices.

Direct Routing explained

Direct Routing is the mechanism that connects Teams to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Without it, Teams can make calls to other Teams users but not to external phone numbers. Direct Routing bridges that gap. we configure a connection between your Microsoft 365 tenant and a carrier (typically your existing VoIP provider), and suddenly Teams users can call anyone outside the organisation and receive calls from external numbers.

How it works in practice

Calling external numbers

a Teams user wants to call a customer. they open the dial pad in Teams, enter the number, and press call. the call routes through the Direct Routing gateway to the PSTN and connects just like a traditional phone call. the caller's ID shows your business number (or a chosen number) rather than their mobile phone.

Receiving external calls

a customer calls your business number. the call arrives at the Direct Routing gateway, which routes it to the appropriate Teams user based on rules you've configured. hunt groups, call forwarding, and voicemail all work the same way as in a traditional PBX.

Presence and availability

Teams presence (available, in a call, in a meeting, do not disturb) syncs with the phone system. if someone is in a Teams meeting and their number is called, the call goes to voicemail or a message saying they're busy. this prevents interruption and reduces phone tag.

Number porting to Teams

if you have existing phone numbers (from Safaricom, Airtel, or another carrier), these can often be ported to your Teams voice system. your existing business number stays the same. customers still reach you on the same number. the infrastructure behind it is now Teams calling with Direct Routing.

Scaling from one person to hundreds

Teams voice scales elastically. if you start with 10 users and grow to 100 users next year, no infrastructure changes are needed. licensing changes (you need a Teams Phone license for each user making external calls), but the system itself scales. adding a new person with Teams voice capability is as simple as assigning a phone number and a license.

Cost efficiency

Teams voice calling is cost-effective, especially for businesses already using Microsoft 365. the licensing cost is modest. carrier costs depend on call volume, but inbound calls are usually free. compared to traditional PBX, Teams voice typically reduces telephony costs by 30 to 50% because you're using your existing data and Microsoft infrastructure rather than paying for separate phone lines.

Remote and hybrid work

Teams voice is ideal for distributed teams. someone can be in an airport lounge, at a customer site, or working from home. they use Teams on their laptop or phone and they have full access to their business phone number, voicemail, call forwarding, and availability. they're not tethered to an office or dependent on a mobile phone plan.