How to choose the right Microsoft Teams calling plan

Microsoft Teams already runs the day for many organizations. It provides messaging, generates meetings, and enhances collaboration. But when it comes to enabling Teams calling via the public switched telephone network (PSTN), that’s a different story.

Voice often still lives on a separate telephone system using a legacy private branch exchange (PBX). Unfortunately, a carrier contract built around office locations doesn’t jive with how people actually work today.

That separation adds cost, fragments the user experience, and prevents organizations from getting full value from a tool they’ve already deployed.

Microsoft Teams Phone now supports more than 20 million public switched telephone network (PSTN) users globally, more than doubling in just a year. The platform is ready for enterprise voice. But making it work at scale, with consistency, means choosing how to connect Teams to the PSTN in a way that fits your users, footprint, and goals.

Microsoft Teams PSTN connectivity options

The way you connect Teams to the PSTN determines how much control you retain, how quickly you can scale, and how well the solution aligns to your current infrastructure.

There are four PSTN connectivity options for Teams Phone:

• Operator Connect from third-party operators bridges the gap between simplicity and scale. It lets you work with an approved telecom provider while managing service directly through the Teams admin center. For organizations with a global footprint or hybrid workforces, Operator Connect offers a clean balance between reach, reliability, and ease of use.
• Teams Phone Mobile simplifies deployment by letting Microsoft act as your carrier. Bundled domestic or international minutes are provisioned directly into your tenant. This model works best for organizations operating in Microsoft-supported countries with straightforward calling needs, but it offers limited flexibility.
• Direct Routing from third-party operators delivers full control over your voice environment. You can connect your own session border controllers (SBCs), preserve legacy systems, customize call flows, and integrate specialized infrastructure. This model is ideal for regulated industries, multi-site environments, and enterprises that need advanced compliance or interoperability.
• Microsoft Teams Calling Plan is a fully integrated cloud solution from Microsoft as your PSTN operator. Licenses are available to suit your user base and physical infrastructure for assigned and common area phones. Phone management and reporting is performed via the Microsoft Teams Admin Console.

Each model solves a different problem. However, none is one-size-fits-all. Understanding the differences and what makes the most sense for your organization can separate a fast, frictionless rollout from a strategy that stalls midstream.

Expanding Microsoft Teams functionality with third-party operators

Many organizations are not fully aware of the additional value different third-party operators can provide over a Microsoft calling plan. Microsoft 365 (M365) Operators can offer lower overall costs while providing connectivity to multiple cloud platforms, including Zoom, Webex Calling, Microsoft Teams, Genesys Cloud, and others. They deliver global connectivity with calling rate cards for different countries, and some have a Metaswitch infrastructure to assist in supporting legacy analog device connectivity.

These operators also provide global PSTN connectivity to highly regulated countries and offer FedRAMP and GCC High call plan availability. Organizations benefit from superior SLAs, call routing flexibility, and failover capabilities, along with enhanced managed services availability. Private trunks with Contact Center and Mass Notification cloud providers keep voice traffic on-net, reducing PSTN per-minute charges. Additional advantages include enhanced performance monitoring and reporting, text messaging capabilities, unique Teams mobile communications offerings, and custom billing and invoicing options.

Where the right Teams Operator and calling plan make a difference

A national retailer with thousands of frontline workers across stores and distribution centers doesn’t have the time or staffing to manage infrastructure region by region. They need a voice solution that’s scalable, low-touch, and easy to provision across a transient workforce. Operator Connect gives them the geographic coverage and admin simplicity they need, with enough control to manage numbers centrally.

A healthcare provider supporting inpatient, outpatient, and telehealth operations has different priorities. Legacy analog devices, like nurse call buttons, patient room phones, and fax lines, are tied to compliance workflows. They can’t replace everything at once, and they can’t risk a gap in continuity. Flexible call routing and legacy device connectivity let them maintain the systems that still serve critical functions while gradually integrating Teams where it makes sense.

A global manufacturer may need a hybrid approach. Some third-party operator infrastructures can support complex routing and legacy PBX systems in core regions in combination with Operator Connect to enable lighter, faster deployments in branch offices or new sites without the overhead.

Ultimately, these decisions will shape the end-user experience, the total cost of ownership (TCO), and the organization’s ability to scale, adapt, and support different modes of work.

However, without the right expertise, it’s challenging to determine the best approach for your business. That’s where SHI has you covered.

Making Microsoft Teams Phone work for you

Our experts start by assessing your current voice environment. That includes identifying legacy dependencies, evaluating Teams usage, and aligning calling models to user needs across the organization. For customers transitioning from on-premises PBX systems or juggling multiple telecom contracts, we help streamline carrier decisions and eliminate unnecessary complexity.

As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, we work with leading carriers to provide services across regions and offer hosted SBC options for customers that need custom call routing without managing hardware. All configuration is handled by Microsoft-certified architects who understand how to balance flexibility with governance.

But voice is only part of the equation.

Through our unified communications and collaboration services, we help merge messaging, meetings, and voice into a single Teams experience. That includes deploying contact center platforms, enabling call recording and compliance solutions, and streamlining device provisioning and adoption.

If you want to modernize customer interactions, our omnichannel customer experience offerings expand Teams to support chat, social, email, and SMS within a single agent experience so users can connect how they want, without switching systems.

Every deployment is different. But our goal stays the same: deliver secure, scalable communications that work across regions, teams, and use cases.

Get more from what you already use

You don’t need to start over to modernize voice. If you already use Microsoft Teams, the foundation is in place. What matters next is how you connect it.

That decision shapes more than call quality. It defines how easily users can work across locations, how much control IT retains, and how well your tools scale as the business changes.

Your investment in Microsoft Teams has likely proven fruitful. Now it’s time to unlock its full potential.

Ready to optimize your Teams calling strategy? Contact our experts to discover which calling model delivers the best combination of features, cost savings, and scalability for your organization.