What is Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile?

Bring Your Own Carrier “BYOC” solutions have taken the world by storm, driven by the changing demands of an evolving communication landscape, businesses have begun to prioritize more flexible, customizable ways to develop the ultimate UC environment.

Microsoft Teams is one of the pioneers leading the way in this versatile communications space. First, the company offered Direct Routing to bring other carriers into Teams through PowerShell connections. Next, Operator Connect was introduced to simplify the experience for the end-user by allowing them to control their assets within the Teams Admin Center.

Now, as mobile communications grow increasingly popular, Microsoft has also implemented a new addition to the Teams calling platform. Starting to roll out throughout the second half of 2022, Teams Phone Mobile is a fixed-mobile convergence solution, allowing companies to turn their mobile devices into a Teams phone endpoint.

Introducing Teams Phone Mobile

Microsoft announced Teams Phone Mobile as the next phase in the Teams Phone strategy. It provides companies with seamless integration of mobile functionality with Microsoft Teams productivity and collaboration features. As a “first of its kind” fixed-mobile convergence offering, Teams Phone Mobile is device agnostic, intuitive, and designed to be fully enterprise-compliant.

The Teams Phone Mobile experience builds on the foundations of the existing Operator Connect system. This means carriers provide their customers with a managed service, using APIs and back-end connections to bring a native experience into the Teams platform.

Initially, Microsoft started rolling the SIM/eSIM functionality out with a handful of operator partners, such as BT, Swisscom, Verizon, Rogers, and Telia. Going forward, more operators will be introduced as carriers complete their application process for the Operator Connect partnership program.

Notably, the service isn’t the same as a call forward or SIM ring service. The PSTN functionality of the mobile device will be delivered via Teams and the relevant operator. This means both inbound and outbound calls through the mobile phone will route through Teams directly, providing a single call history, voicemail, and presence experience. Microsoft also plans on rolling out SMS features for future Teams Phone Mobile packages.

What are the Benefits of Teams Phone Mobile?

Similar to the standard Operator Connect experience, Teams Phone Mobile provides users with a native Teams communication experience. The system integrates mobile numbers into the Teams infrastructure, so all mobile calls are issued through Teams, with access to all of the productivity, collaboration, and other functions offered by Teams.

Participants can also access screen sharing, busy features, and high-quality audio.