Can Microsoft Teams Replace My Office Landline?

By Helion Cloud Team

Yes, Teams can replace your phone system. We explain how it works and what to watch out for.

The question comes up often: we already have Teams for meetings, can we use it for phone calls too? The answer is yes, with a few important nuances.

How it works: Teams Phone in 2 minutes

Teams Phone transforms your Teams app into a real business phone. You get a real phone number, receive and make calls from Teams on PC, Mac, mobile or tablet. Colleagues have an internal extension. You can keep existing numbers (number porting).

3 ways to connect Teams to the phone network

Microsoft Calling Plan: lines directly from Microsoft (~€12/u/month). Operator Connect: your telecom operator connects directly to Teams via API. Direct Routing: your integrator connects existing SIP infrastructure to Teams. Most flexible, from €6/line/month.

What does it cost?

Physical IPBX 20 users: €5,000-15,000 + ~€150/month maintenance. 3-year total: ~€25,000. Teams Phone 20 users Direct Routing: €0 hardware + ~€15/u/month. 3-year cost: ~€10,800. That's 57% cheaper. For a full cost comparison against a classic PBX, see our detailed Teams Phone vs traditional telephony comparison.

What to check before getting started

Internet connection quality (dedicated bandwidth + QoS), emergency number configuration in Teams Admin, CRM integration with Dynamics 365, HubSpot or Salesforce.

Summary

Teams Phone is mature, reliable and cheaper than a classic PBX for most SMBs. Helion Cloud deploys Teams Phone with Dstny for companies in Lille. Free demo on request.

Sources and references

Microsoft Teams Phone Operator Connect

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