Microsoft Teams Phone Integration: Streamline & Simplify Business Communications

With the shift to hybrid work, many organizations have adopted Microsoft Teams for communications and collaboration (video meetings, screen share, and conferencing). These tools are reliable, robust, and user friendly, but what about good old fashion phone calls?

Microsoft Teams does not allow for external phone calls unless you have additional licensing, and that's where the opportunity to integrate Teams with your current VoIP/UCaaS provider's phone solutions is a game changer.

With many small and midsized businesses and nonprofit organizations preferring to work with smaller and more regional VoIP and UCaaS providers, there's the ability to utilize the familiar interface of MS Teams (mobile app and computer softphone) to make, take, and manage business phone calls and text messages.

Learn more about the options to use Microsoft tools while gaining enhanced capabilities and support from your VoIP and UCaaS provider of choice.

What Is Direct Routing and How Does it Work?

Microsoft Teams is a global leader in collaboration offering video calls, chat, and file sharing. With the right setup, Teams can also be your cloud-based business phone system.

Let's address the elephant in the room... Microsoft does not provide responsive, expert, hands-on, and personalized support for small and midsized businesses and nonprofits.

Good news, smaller VoIP providers can offer the game-changing integrations with Teams through Direct Routing.

Direct Routing with Microsoft Teams allows organizations to use their own phone service provider (like Recent Communications) to make and receive calls through Teams. Instead of using Microsoft’s Calling Plans, Direct Routing connects Teams to the VoIP provider's platform and network giving more control, flexibility, and often better pricing or features.

This solution is ideal for businesses that want to keep their existing provider or need advanced telephony options Microsoft doesn’t offer natively.

📌 Industry Insight: According to UC Today, Direct Routing offers more flexibility, better global coverage, and lower costs than Microsoft’s native calling plans—especially for businesses that want control over their telecom provider and existing infrastructure.

One Platform to Streamline Business Communications

Juggling multiple apps for messaging, meetings, and phone calls? That’s a productivity problem.

Integrating your business phone system with Microsoft Teams streamlines communications with one platform while gaining the functionality of your VoIP provider's advanced phone system features including:

• Combination of IP desk phones, mobile apps, and computer softphones

• Auto attendants, hunt/ring groups, custom call flows

• Call queues, agents, intelligent routing, timeframes

• Business phone numbers, direct dials, toll free numbers

• Individual and group voicemail boxes

• SMS/texting

With the goal to reduce the number of platforms while empowering people to utilize business technology tools, integrating your business phone solutions with Microsoft Teams could be a Win-Win for your organization.

📌 Industry Insight: UC Today compared Microsoft Teams Phone vs. 3rd Party/Direct Routing UCaaS Providers and found that 3rd party providers offer enhanced reliability, advanced phone system features, and deliver superior customer service and support compared to Microsoft and their Teams Phone offering.

Boost Team Productivity (and Morale)

When you roll out multiple platforms, processes, and technologies, do your people adopt and actually utilize the tools?

Integrating your cloud phone system within Microsoft Teams can streamline workflows and empower your people with a familiar and easy to use interface resulting in:

• Faster onboarding for new team members

• Fewer missed calls providing better customer experiences

• Privacy and continuity with phone calls and texts with business phone numbers

Benefits Integrating your VoIP Phone System with Microsoft Teams Using Direct Routing

✅ Advanced Phone System Features

Experience advanced features like auto attendants, hunt groups, call reporting, voicemail, SMS and more with your VoIP provider's platform while staff work within the Microsoft Teams interface (mobile app and computer softphone).

✅ Custom System Design

Work with your regional VoIP provider to tailor your phone system to optimize workflows and client experiences.

✅ Expert Implementation

Leverage your provider’s expertise to deploy custom phone solutions — avoid working directly with Microsoft.

✅ Improved Reliability

Rely on your VoIP provider’s proven platform for higher uptime and call quality. By diversifying your communications platforms, a Microsoft outage will not impact your ability to make and take business phone calls.

✅ Streamline Workflows & Empower People

Rather than learning another set of tools or worse, resorting to using personal cell phones for business calls, empower your team to use the familiar Microsoft Teams interface to make, take, and manage business phone calls and texts.

✅ Unified Management

Easily manage users and phone system settings through your VoIP provider’s centralized admin portal.

✅ Personalized Support

Experience superior expertise, responsiveness, and care working directly with your VoIP provider's support team rather than Microsoft.

Considering Integrating Your Business Phone System with Microsoft Teams?

If your business "lives in Microsoft Teams", but you don't want to deal with Microsoft directly to provide your phone solutions, you can work with a trusted and responsive VoIP provider.

With the right partner fueling reliable, secure, and feature rich solutions, leveraging the power of Microsoft Teams can level up your business communications.

Let our trusted team of experts help!

Contact:

📞 Call: 484-998-4500

💬 Chat: info@recentcom.com

🌐 Click: www.recentcom.com