Set up an auto attendant - small business tutorial

Auto attendants let people call your organization and navigate a menu system to speak to the right department, call queue, person, or an operator. You can create auto attendants for your organization with the Microsoft Teams admin center.

Video demonstration

This video shows a basic example of how to create an auto attendant in Microsoft Teams.

Before you begin

Get the service numbers (service numbers are a special type of phone number that are used by auto attendants) that you need for the auto attendants that you want to be accessible by direct dialing from outside your organization. This might include transferring numbers from another provider or requesting new service numbers.

Each auto attendant needs to be assigned a Microsoft Teams Phone Standard - Virtual User license. When you purchased Teams Phone Standard or Teams Phone with Calling Plan bundle licenses, you also received a number of Microsoft Teams Phone Standard - Virtual User licenses, so you probably don't need to request more. However, if you need more in the future, you can get them by following the instructions in Teams Phone Standard - Virtual User license.

If you want to have your auto attendant route calls differently on holidays, then create the holidays that you want to use before you create the auto attendant.

Follow these steps to set up your auto attendant

Note

If you're following the steps to set up the Teams Phone System with Calling Plan bundle for the first time and you're on Step 6: Set up an auto attendant for your company's main phone number, you've already finished the steps on this tab. Move to the next tab: Auto attendant general info.

Each auto attendant that you create requires a resource account. This is similar to a user account, except the account is associated with an auto attendant or call queue instead of a person. In this step, we'll create the account, assign it a Microsoft Teams Phone Standard - Virtual User license, and then assign a service number.

Create a resource account

You can create a resource account in the Teams admin center.

  1. In the Teams admin center, expand Org-wide settings, and then click Resource accounts.

  2. Click Add.

  3. In the Add resource account pane, fill out Display name, Username, and choose Auto attendant for the Resource account type

  4. Click Save.

    The new account will appear in the list of accounts.

Assign a license

You must assign a Microsoft Teams Phone Standard - Virtual User license to the resource account.

  1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, click the resource account to which you want to assign a license.

  2. On the Licenses and Apps tab, under Licenses, select Microsoft Teams Phone Standard - Virtual User.

  3. Click Save changes.

Assign a service number

If you need this auto attendant to be reachable by a phone number, then assign that number to the resource account.

  1. In the Teams admin center, on the Resource accounts page, select the resource account to which you want to assign a service number, and then click Assign/unassign.

  2. In the Phone number type dropdown, choose the type of number that you want to use.

  3. In the Assigned phone number box, search for the number you want to use and click Add.

  4. Click Save.