Microsoft Teams gives businesses reliable collaboration and communication tools through desktop, web, and mobile applications. While most audio calls are made through the app, Teams uses audio conferences to let anyone easily dial in using a phone number.
How to Get Started with Audio Conferencing in Microsoft Teams
If your meeting is going to be audio-only, you can improve quality for those with limited internet access by setting up an audio conference. These audio conferences aren’t part of the free Teams package. You can use this Microsoft page to see the rates for your country through either a subscription or pay-per-minute plan.
Anyone setting up an audio conference will need a Microsoft Teams Add-On license or a full license for Microsoft 365. Depending on which license your organization chooses, you might also need audio conference licenses that are available through the Office 365 Enterprise E5 Trial. If your organization doesn’t have a phone system in place, you might also need a Microsoft Phone System license.
You can manage all of your product licenses from the Microsoft Admin Center. View all your personnel from this center by expanding the “Users” drop-down menu on the left and selecting “Active Users.” Click the three vertical dots next to the name of the user you want to assign licenses to, then select “Manage Product Licenses.”
In the new pane that appears on the right, open the “Licenses” drop-down menu and ensure that the necessary licenses are enabled.
If you’ve chosen the pay-per-minute audio conferencing plan, you might need to set up Communications Credits for people in your organization that will need to set up audio conferences. While Microsoft is the default telephony service provider for audio conferences in Teams, you can elect to use a third-party audio conferencing service if you already have one integrated into your organization.
How to Set Up Audio Conferences in Microsoft Teams
Once your Microsoft licenses are in order, you can set up your audio conferencing phone number through the Microsoft Teams Admin Center. Open the “Voice” drop-down menu on the left, then select “Phone Numbers.”
Click “Add” to create a new phone number. Alternatively, you can click “Port” if you want to transfer and existing phone number from an audio conferencing service provider.
Choose your country or region, number type, location, area code, and the desired quantity of audio conference phone numbers. You can click the “Information” icon next to most of these options to learn more about them. When you’re done, click “Next” at the bottom of the screen, and Microsoft will begin the process of setting up your phone numbers.
These phone numbers are automatically assigned based on availability in your area code, but you can always change your audio conferencing phone numbers at a later time. You can also set up default or alternate languages for your audio conferences.
Once your phone number has been set up, you’re ready to start hosting calls as the admin of your conference call lines. If desired, you can customize your meeting invites to include additional information or resources.
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Setting up audio conferences through Microsoft Teams isn’t the cheapest option. Still, it is a secure, reliable, and accessible platform that provides enough documentation to guide you through its myriad licensing issues and edge cases.
