Microsoft Teams Phone is powered by Microsoft 365 and, according to Microsoft, is “designed for small and medium-sized businesses and enterprise customers using Microsoft 365 that are seeking a modern phone solution.” Ultimately, it’s Microsoft solution to replace legacy phone systems and a growing number of organizations are expanding their use of Microsoft Teams with use of its cloud telephony component and allows users to have a voice and video solution on a computer, mobile device, or desk phone.If your business is considering Microsoft Teams Phone, here are a few things to consider.

Pros of Microsoft Teams Phone

It’s affordable

Microsoft Teams Phone is less expensive than most VoIP phone systems (the average cost of a VoIP phone system is typically between $25 and $40 per user/month). Microsoft Teams Phone Standard starts at $8/month/user. Microsoft Teams Phone with Calling Plan costs $15/month/user and Microsoft 365 E5 costs $57/month/user. And because it’s an add-on to your existing Microsoft 365 subscription, you won’t have any additional licenses to manage or software to install.

Click here to view what’s included in each of these packages.

It’s flexible

Use almost any computer headset, camera, microphone, and speaker set that you want, or you can use telephone desk sets that are Microsoft Teams compatible and function just like a regular high-feature desktop phone.

It’s a practical solution for 99% of SMBs

Most small businesses typically need their day-to-day phone system to include the basic functions. Their users need the ability to dial in and out, check their voicemail (transcription and voicemail to email is a Teams Phone perk), audio conferencing and call forwarding. Microsoft Teams Phone can easily handle all those features.

• Make and answer calls
• Merge calls
• Transfer and ring back
• Voicemail
• Call transcription
• Apple Carplay integration
• Auto attendant and call queue
• Voice-enabled channels
• CRM integration
• PSTN connectivity
• Direct routing (connect SBCs to phone system to use your own PSTN operator)

Seamless integration with Microsoft 365

Let’s face it: most VoIP phone systems are packed with too many features that can be complicated for new users to learn. Because Microsoft Teams Phone integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365, the learning curve is minimal.

Cons of Microsoft Teams Phone

Call quality depends on internet connection

Like all VoIP phone solutions, your call quality depends on your internet connection. If you’re trying to work somewhere that has poor internet connectivity, you’ll most likely have subpar service.

Support is limited

As a Managed Services Provider (MSP), we pride ourselves on being able to troubleshoot our clients’ network issues on a whim. Because there are some telephony issues that can only be resolved by Microsoft, we are limited as to what we can support.

Here are a few examples:

Microsoft Teams Phone Issues MSPs CAN support

• Call Flows – Group setup, Call Forwarding
• New user/Phone Line additions and subtractions
• Add users to phone queues
• Setup Phone queues and hunt groups
• Configure SIP Gateway (part of the setup)
• Device settings (language, time, etc.)
• Update application

Microsoft Teams Phone Issues MSPs CANNOT support

**If any of these issues occur, you will be required to work with Microsoft (1-800 number) directly to troubleshoot.

• Outages
• Assign new DIDs to existing users easily
• Port numbers out of Microsoft
• Utilize any SIP provider (select approved list)

Microsoft Teams Phone is built for general use

Microsoft Teams Phone may not be the right solution today for call centers, integrated voice response applications, systems that require hardware integration (like to unlock a door from a phone in the office), or for multinational companies with voice needs in areas that have government restrictions on permissible voice services.

Limited user capacity

Microsoft Teams Phone only allows up to 300 users, so if you’re organization has more than 300 employees, this might not be the solution for you.

Final Thoughts

Before making a final decision on whether to move forward with Microsoft Teams Phone, we’d strongly encourage speaking with an MSP or a telephony expert who can assess your network and provide a recommendation. The features and the cost are appealing at first glance, but it all boils down to your network and your organizational needs.