11 Microsoft Teams Phone Updates: Operator Connect, Apple Car Play, More
The rollout of Operator Connect aims to make it easier to integrate with PSTN providers.
September 30, 2021
![Microsoft Teams at desk Microsoft Teams at desk](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt10e444bce2d36aa8/blt187bdbf6f501e773/6524434b42661e50c358f13d/Microsoft-Teams-feature.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Microsoft/Shutterstock
Operator Connect lets organizations use PSTN services from their preferred operators in Teams. Microsoft claims it is simple to deploy through the Teams Admin portal, which provides management of certified hardware, and shared support and service level agreements (SLAs). Microsoft said it gives operators deeper integration with the Teams platform enabling simplified networking, provisioning, management and reporting APIs. It is now available initially from 12 carriers in roughly 50 markets, with more markets and operators planned.
Customers who don’t want to go through operators can also use Microsoft Teams Calling Plans provided by the company. The number of markets available since Microsoft launched Teams Calling Plans last year has doubled. Adding to the 27 markets, coverage is now available in Poland, Estonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Latvia and Lithuania, bringing total coverage to 33.
A new capability designed to reduce distractions from spam calls, Spam Identification blocks calls from unfamiliar phone numbers. This feature, now available, also digitally attests outgoing calls to reduce the chances of their calls being rejected.
Beginning next quarter, Teams Phone users will be able to record and see transcriptions of their one-to-one calls. Currently, that feature is only available in Teams Meetings.
Teams support for Apple CarPlay is now generally available for both meetings and calls. Users with Apple iPhones and vehicles equipped with Apple CarPlay can now use the Teams call controls from the vehicle’s dashboard display or, they can use Apple Siri. To enable Teams on CarPlay, users must have iOS version 14.7.1 or later.
Microsoft Teams users can more easily switch from one device such as a PC, and switch to another, perhaps a mobile phone with the setting or status carrying over. For example, if the user PC was muted, it would remain in that mode after switching to a mobile phone. Microsoft has extended the feature to Teams Phone.
The push-to-talk, walkie-talkie feature in Microsoft Teams first appeared with last year’s launch of the Samsung’ Galaxy XCover Pro, a semi-rugged Android phone. In October, Microsoft will release a new walkie-talkie, push-to-talk function for desk phones, letting employees quickly connect to each other.
Microsoft’s new SIP gateways, set for release in November, will enable Teams core calling functionality on select Cisco, Poly, Yealink and AudioCodes phones that support Session Initiation Protocol connectivity. The gateway provides functionality for these phones such as making and receiving calls, hold and resume and transfers, dialing in or out of meetings, integration with Teams routing policies, and others, all of which can be managed in the Teams Admin Center.
Building on the remote provisioning capability added to Teams admin portal, Microsoft is now allowing tenant administrators to sign out from devices.
The Whiteboard introduced a new user interface that offers improved functionality that Microsoft made easier to use. Inking and content creation menus that are separated, aiming to offer less confusion when used on desktops, laptops and tablets. The app bar is on top of the canvas provides. The version for mobile devices hides the creation panel and board controls make better use of the limited display space. The new Whiteboard comes with 40 new templates.
Adding to the ability Teams admin center to collect application log, it can now also gather company portal, device management and media logs, allowing for improved debugging.
Adding to the ability Teams admin center to collect application log, it can now also gather company portal, device management and media logs, allowing for improved debugging.
Promised enhancements to Microsoft Teams Phone are now available. They include Operator Connect, spam call identification and Apple CarPlay support. Microsoft demonstrated the features, many of which the company revealed late last year, during this week’s Enterprise Connect virtual conference.
During a keynote session, Microsoft Teams general manager Nicole Herskowitz outlined the new Teams Phone updates. The ability to make spontaneous calls from Teams is an important component of Microsoft’s employee productivity strategy. Herskowitz touted the rapid growth of Microsoft Teams Phone.
Microsoft’s Nicole Herskowitz
“The future of calling is where calling meets collaboration,” Herskowitz said. “Nearly 80 million monthly active users and over 180 countries are relying on Teams Phone to stay connected.”
Microsoft revealed the 80 million monthly active Teams Phone users figure during a recent earnings report. Overall, the company reported 250 million monthly active users of Teams. The total number of calls surpassed 1 billion during the quarter, which ended June 30.
Microsoft’s 80 million users is significantly higher than the 4 million active Webex Calling customers Cisco disclosed earlier this month. But Lorrissa Horton, vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Webex Calling and Online business challenged the Microsoft figures.
Cisco’s Lorrissa Horton
“It’s not an apple-to-apples comparison,” she told Channel Futures earlier this month. “Microsoft announced a number that is not specific to calling; they only announced a number that was how many people use the app to make calls. But those are not necessarily PSTN calls or using the like call control infrastructure.”
Teams-Enhanced PSTN Partner Integrations
Herskowitz said new Microsoft Teams Phone releases will make it easier to enable PSTN calling, provide more “natural ways” of integrating calling into workflows with more flexibility. Operator Connect, which is now generally available with more than a dozen operator partners covering 50 markets. Herskowitz said in the coming months, Microsoft will extend Operator Connect into more market.
“This makes it easy to bring your operators to teams if they are participating in the program,” she said.
Letting customers maintain relationships with their existing communications operators will let them save on infrastructure purchase and management, Herskowitz explained.
“You will benefit from enterprise grade reliability and shared technical support,” she added.
Microsoft Teams services run on the Azure network backbone, which is connected to the customer’s telephony service provider linked to the Microsoft Azure Peering Service (MAPS). Calls from Teams Phone go through the Azure Front Door Service, Microsoft’s content delivery network (CDN), with added security. The service has more than 100 edge locations globally, according to Microsoft.
“It helps meet latency and compliance needs to route voice traffic via Azure’s super-fast network,” Herskowitz said. “And there it leaves the Azure cloud to go to the telephony service provider. They now use their network service fabric to connect the call to the recipient’s PSTN number. All this happens seamlessly as you make and receive calls. And the performance is just like it would be with the connections directly over their services.
Furthermore, partners can provision these services through the Teams Admin Center, where an administrator chooses an operator partner, assign phone numbers to users and set up policies.
“Teams Phone brings PSTN and VoIP calling together with chat and document collaboration to make calls richer, and more collaborative than ever,” Herskowitz said. “This integration brings together the different communication modalities you rely on to be productive and get work done.”
A breakdown of the new Microsoft Teams Phone services and some that are planned for later this year and into 2022 appear in the slideshow above.
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