Microsoft Teams Shared Calling — Everything You Need To Know

One of the big announcements to come out of Microsoft Inspire 2023 was Microsoft’s unveiling of Shared Calling for Microsoft Teams. Here’s everything you need to know about how it works.

Screenshot of Shared Calling Shared at Microsoft Inspire 2023

What is Shared Calling in Microsoft Teams?

Shared calling allows organizations to save costs on their PSTN connectivity to Microsoft Teams by setting users to share a single phone number (PSTN) and calling plan. Up to 10,000 users can share the same number and plan.

Does Shared Calling work with Direct Routing and Operator Connect?

Yes, shared calling can be configured in Microsoft Teams with either Microsoft Calling Plans, Operator Connect or Direct Routing.

Note that a pay-as-you-go plan is required for Microsoft Calling Plans and must be assigned to the resource account tied to the shared main number.

What are the license requirements for Shared Calling?

Users needing to share a number need to have a Teams Phone license (e.g. Phone System or E5)

What is the 911 Call Back Number for users with Shared Calling?

A list of Emergency callback numbers can optionally be set up against the Shared Calling Policy. Users making outbound 911 calls will temporarily be assigned a callback number. This allows emergency responders to call the user back directly without losing time going through an auto attendant.

Callback numbers are reserved for 60 minutes before being released into the pool. If no emergency callback numbers are set, the phone number of the resource account (e.g. AutoAttendant main line) is used as the callback number.

What is the difference between Shared Calling and Call Queues?

Although both Shared Calling and Call Queues require a Resource Account and allow users to share a number, they serve different purposes.

Call queues automatically route calls to a team member/agent based on the presence of your team members and the referred routing method (Attendant Routing, Serial Routing, Round Robin, Longest Idle).

Shared Calling is intended to be associated with a resource account and Auto Attendant, where callers explicitly request the person they are trying to reach.

What about Shared Calling vs. Extension Dialing?

Sharing a main number is nothing new for folks doing Direct Routing. Organizations can continue to set up users with a shared main number and unique extension. Like with Shared calling, this reduces the cost of purchasing numbers/DIDs.

Assign a Number and Extension with Direct Routing in teams

One advantage this has over shared calling is that the numbers are explicitly assigned to the user and shown under their dialpad in teams and on their devices. Shared Calling users do not have their shared number displayed in either Teams Admin Center, on their devices, or within the Teams Client:

On the flip side, Shared calling offers the ability to assign temporary 911 call-back numbers natively in teams, whereas extension dialling does not.

How do I set up Shared Calling in Microsoft Teams?

At the time this article is published, parts of the setup require the Teams PowerShell Module version 5.5.0 or higher. The full details on how to set it up are published in the Plan for Shared Calling

Here are the TL;DR high-level steps:

Setup Your Resource Account and Auto attendant

1. Create a resource account
2. License it for calling. (For folks using Teams Calling plans - don’t forget to use a Pay-As-You-Go plan with Communication Credits)
3. Assign the resource account a phone number with a location/emergency address assigned (see locationIdparameter)
4. Associate resource account with an Auto Attendant

At this stage, you should be able to call your main # and hit your auto attendant.

Setup Policies

1. Create the Shared Calling policy using the New-CsTeamsSharedCallingRoutingPolicy cmdlet (remember, this command will fail if you did not set a location when assigning a number to your resource account)
2. Create Voice Routing Policy without PSTN usages. (Shared Calling users should not have an assigned voice routing policy with valid PSTN usages.)
3. Ensure a correct Emergency Call Routing Policy is setup to ensure users are enabled for emergency calling (see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/shared-calling-setup#emergency-calling-for-shared-calling-users)

Setup Your Teams Users for Shared Calling

1. Ensure users are licensed for calling (ex. assign Phone System or E5 license)
2. Enable users for voice (Use Set-CsPhoneNumberAssignment cmdlet with enterpriceVoiceEnabled- parameter to $true)
3. Assign the shared calling policy by using the Grant-CsTeamsSharedCallingRoutingPolicycmdlet
4. Assign them the Voice Routing Policy without PSTN usages created above.
5. Assign the correct Emergency Call Routing Policy to ensure they can make emergency calls.

Wait 30 minutes before placing test calls⌚️ (yes.. seriously, it takes time before calls start working)

Some Final Thoughts

Although extension dialling with shared main numbers is not new for Direct Routing users, this feature offers more cost-effective options for those using Microsoft Calling Plans or Operator Connect.

While Kari’s Law and Ray Baum’s Act do not require a direct callback number to be available, it is widely accepted that in emergency situations, every second counts. When a 911 operator has to call back a main number and go through an Auto Attendant, valuable time can be lost. Microsoft’s ability to assign a list of 911 callback numbers is an elegant solution to the problem.

I look forward to seeing how this new feature evolves and will keep an eye out for it popping up in the Teams Admin Center 👀.