Teams Phone System receiving calls

[Patrick Yore]

Hi,

A couple of questions..

• A user requires a Phone System license to allow them pickup a PSTN call transferred to them i.e. receptionist receives then transfers the call, true/false?
• Does a user with Phone System license have a DDI or extension to allow PSTN calls be transferred to them?
• Can a Phone System user receive external PSTN calls direct or do they need to have a calling plan?
• Does the user require a Phone System license and calling plan to receive a DDI or is it possible with just a Phone System license

Thanks

P

[#2]

@Patrick Yore 

• A user requires a Phone System license to allow them pickup a PSTN call transferred to them i.e. receptionist receives then transfers the call, true/false?
  • No, you can transfer to internal users without Phone System or to guests and external users.
• Does a user with Phone System license have a DDI or extension to allow PSTN calls be transferred to them?
  • No. They will not be able to receive calls and might not be able to dial out depending on setup with carrier.
• Can a Phone System user receive external PSTN calls direct or do they need to have a calling plan?
  • They need Calling Plans or Direct Routing setup.
• Does the user require a Phone System license and calling plan to receive a DDI or is it possible with just a Phone System license
  • They need Calling Plans or Direct Routing setup. Calling Plans will give users a phone number from Microsoft. Direct Routing will give users a phone number from another carrier than Microsoft.

[#3]

@Linus Cansby, I have a follow-up question for clarification of point 1.  Can a main line auto-attendant be used to connect inbound PSTN calls to employees who only have a Phone System license (No Calling Plan and no Phone number).  Management is interested in this setup: One phone number per office (from MSFT, no Direct Routing) with an auto-attendant, external PSTN caller uses Dial by name, call is directed to Employee's MS Teams and potentially forwarded to their cell phone number if not picked up.  Employees use their Cell phone for all outbound PSTN calls.

Thoughts?

[#4]

@Alex Carlock Hi, did you ever receive any feedback on this or run a test yourself? We’re looking to setup the same, one incoming number, routing to a group of users. Only ever an incoming call and group/user transfer. The users will never be making outgoing calls, therefore have no need for a calling plan. Thanks

[#5]

We never ran a serious test, but in some limited testing it seemed to work. The scenario I listed works for inbound calls to a main line that are then redirected via Dial-By-Name to someone with just a phone system license (part of M365 E5). I'm sorry I don't have more tested information.

[#6]

@Alex Carlock - Thanks for the reply. That does kinda answer my question. It does seem to suggest you can transfer incoming calls to Teams Phone System (non call bundled) licences, I think that’s what comes with the E5 licence. I’ll have to find a way of testing that myself. 

[#7]

Yes, that's correct. M365 E5 includes M365 Phone System. Any plan with Phone system should work (O365 E5 or O365 E3 + M365 Phone System). It would even be worth trying a lighter license with just MS teams and not phone system (I can't try that because all of our people have a license that includes Phone System). Do you have Teams set up with a PSTN number connected to an Auto Attendant?

[#8]

@Alex Carlock - I don't have that exact setup to test that, all our Teams Phone licences are call bundled licences. I have found though, from Microsoft, that this won't work. You can't route incoming calls to non Teams Phone licensed users. You do have to have a Teams Phone licence with a call plan or direct routing.

The best solution I've found in the UK is Gamma's Operator Connect. Gamma and BT (in the UK), are the only 2 telco providers that can offer this plugin to Teams Phone system. It allows you to setup users with a Teams Phone only licence (or an MS E5 / Office E5 licence) and hook in Gamma as the call provider. They provide low cost connection and more comprehensive bundles, on a per/user basis. This works out much lower cost and more manageable than using the Teams Phone with Calling Bundle / International Calling Bundle / Communications Credits (which need a credit card in your Tenant to work).

I'll let you know how I get on with this.

https://www.gamma.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Operator-Connect-V1p4-Nov-2021.pdf