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Microsoft Teams Blog
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Direct Routing NOW in Public Preview

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Paul Cannon
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May 15, 2018

EDIT: we have announced GA for Direct Routing - please continue the conversation there.

 

Today, May 15, 2018, we are announcing that Microsoft Phone System Direct Routing is in public preview. If your country is supported by Teams and Phone System you can start a self-managed preview of Direct Routing now.

 

Back in December of last year, we began offering calling in Teams by turning on Microsoft Calling Plans. This enabled customers to begin exploring voice in Teams in 9 different countries. Today Direct Routing takes the next big step by allowing customers to connect voice trunks to Microsoft Teams in many more countries around the world.

 

 

Customers will need to focus on these key areas for a successful self-managed preview:

 

OFFICE 365. Ensure your Office 365 tenant is ready for a Direct Routing preview by having Teams working and ready for use. Begin piloting Teams today prior to getting the Direct Routing Preview started. You will also need to have Phone System in your Tenant. Phone System comes with E5 or can be acquired separately.

 

SESSION BORDER CONTROLLERS (SBC). Arrange to work with one of our partners who are being certified for Direct Routing. Due to the criticality of Enterprise Voice, Microsoft has been working closely with these partners to ensure compatibility. These vendors are in process and plan to have their SBC certification complete at the time of General Availability. Please review the content for Direct Routing from AudioCodes, Ribbon, and ThinkTel to understand their offers and start a pilot with them.

 

VOICE TRUNKS. Reach out to your telecom provider to arrange for new voice trunks or plan on using existing capacity from those provider(s).

 

GETTING STARTED. if you are new to Teams, please review our practical starting guidance.  It helps to be comfortable with Teams before proceeding to Calling. Next - review these two articles:  Plan Direct Routing and Configure Direct Routing. We have also recorded a deeper dive on Direct Routing to further aid in your understanding.

 

After reviewing this content, you will know if you are ready to begin with your resources. However, If you would like more assistance, please reach out to our partners referenced above. Either way, we look forward to you starting with Direct Routing and Calling in Teams.

Updated Jul 02, 2018
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