Forum Discussion
Using Teams for On-Call Solution
x_sysadmin_x Yes, this is something you can do. The feature you are looking is a Call Queue. The setting that allows individual group members to enable and disable calls is "Agents can opt out of taking calls" setting. Here are the docs: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/create-a-phone-system-call-queue
If you wanted calls to only be routed to these users outside of regular business hours, you could combine this with the Auto Attendant feature. In the "Call flow for after hours" section of the Auto Attendant wizard, choose the option to have calls redirected to the call queue. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/create-a-phone-system-auto-attendant
We just have one person on call for a week at a time, so we just configure the "Call flow for after hours" on the AA to forward the after hours calls directly to that individual, and whoever is on call reconfigures the AA when their rotation starts.
x_sysadmin_x Yes, this is something you can do. The feature you are looking is a Call Queue. The setting that allows individual group members to enable and disable calls is "Agents can opt out of taking calls" setting. Here are the docs: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/create-a-phone-system-call-queue
If you wanted calls to only be routed to these users outside of regular business hours, you could combine this with the Auto Attendant feature. In the "Call flow for after hours" section of the Auto Attendant wizard, choose the option to have calls redirected to the call queue. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/create-a-phone-system-auto-attendant
We just have one person on call for a week at a time, so we just configure the "Call flow for after hours" on the AA to forward the after hours calls directly to that individual, and whoever is on call reconfigures the AA when their rotation starts.
Thank you so much for the information, that's very helpful. I just need to purchase licensing and phone numbers? Is there anything else needed before hand for me to set this up?
Thank you!
x_sysadmin_x Yes, that's right. This article is a good starting point: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/set-up-calling-plans?toc=%2Fskypeforbusiness%2Fsfbotoc%2Ftoc.json&bc=%2Fskypeforbusiness%2Fbreadcrumb%2Ftoc.json
If your users already have licenses which include Phone System (e.g. O365 E5) you just need to purchase and assign Domestic Calling Plan licenses. Otherwise, you need to purchase and assign both a Phone System license and a Domestic Calling Plan. (You may be able to sign up for a free trial of these through the M365 Admin Center.)
Phone numbers are included with the Domestic Calling Plan licenses at no extra charge. Once you have the licenses you can go ahead and reserve numbers in the Teams Admin Center. Note that there are two different kinds of numbers: user numbers and service numbers. User numbers are assigned to your users, and service numbers are assigned to Resource Accounts, which are in turn assigned to your Auto Attendants and Call Queues.