Manage and configure Microsoft PSTN numbers

14 minutes

To use Teams Phone, users need a phone number. In this unit, we look at how we can acquire phone numbers from Microsoft, an Operator Connect partner, or move existing numbers from other PSTN operators to Microsoft, a process known as porting.

Acquire Calling Plan licenses from Microsoft

To acquire phone numbers and phone service from Microsoft, you need to have one or more users with the Teams Phone Standard license, either as a stand-alone license or as part of a bundle like Microsoft 365 E5. To acquire the telephone number, you then need a Teams Calling Plan.

Teams Phone Standard is a license that enables the ability to make and receive phone calls, turning Teams into a "Private Branch Exchange (PBX)" or telephony system. However, to make calls you also need a phone number and Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) connectivity. This functionality can be provided by Teams Calling Plans (an add-on license), through Operator Connect, Teams Phone Mobile, Shared Calling, or via other operators with Direct Routing.

You can buy Microsoft Teams Domestic Calling Plans that only allow calling within the country/region of the user and have the option of pay per minute with communication credits for international calls or Domestic and International Calling Plans that provide minutes for both domestic and international calls. Microsoft also offers Pay As You Go (PAYG) calling plans in some countries/regions, including the US. The number of minutes bundled depends on the country/region, and the list of countries/regions that have calling plans is constantly expanding.

Having one or more Teams Phone Standard licenses or Calling Plan licenses on your tenant enable you to acquire PSTN phone numbers from Microsoft.

Acquire phone numbers from Microsoft

Giving phone numbers to users is a two-step process. You must first order and acquire telephone numbers from Microsoft before you can assign them to individual users or services. There are two main types of numbers you can acquire: user numbers to be assigned to end users also called subscriber numbers, and service numbers for services like Auto Attendant, Hunt Groups, Bots, or Conferencing. The following table defines the different types of numbers typically used with Teams Phone:

Number Type	Definition
User (subscriber)	Numbers for users in your organization
Call queue (Toll)	Service numbers for call queues
Call queue (Toll Free)	Toll free service numbers for call queues
Auto Attendant (Toll)	Service numbers for auto attendants
Auto Attendant (Toll Free)	Toll free service numbers for auto attendants
Dedicated conference bridge (Toll)	Service numbers for PSTN audio conferencing
Dedicated conference bridge (Toll free)	Toll free service numbers for PSTN audio conferencing

Depending on the country/region, user and service numbers are available in both geographic and nongeographic area codes. Some countries/regions, such as Denmark, only have nongeographic numbers available. Toll-free service numbers are also available in over 60 countries/regions. These numbers don't typically incur a toll cost to the caller, but the cost is paid for by the tenant organization with Communication Credits.

The number of Calling Plan user phone numbers you can acquire is equal to the total number Calling Plan licenses multiplied by 1.1 + 10 more phone numbers. The toll and toll free service numbers also have specific ratios you can acquire. The limits don't include phone numbers ported or transferred to Microsoft.

To acquire phone numbers for your tenant, perform the following steps:

Navigate to the Microsoft Teams admin center at https://admin.teams.microsoft.com.
Select Voice and Phone numbers.
Select Add to order more numbers.
Enter an appropriate name for your order and friendly description.
Select a Country or region. Some regions might only have service numbers; review the reference links for a list of all the countries/regions.
Select a Number Type, such as User (subscriber).
Under Quantity, enter the number of numbers that you want, within the limit of numbers available to your tenant.
Select the City you want from the list.
Location associates this number set to an emergency address. For European countries/regions, an emergency address must be aligned at time of ordering the numbers. If you don't have the emergency address already defined, you can select Add a location.
Under Area code, select a numeric area code.
Select Next, a set of numbers are reserved for 10 minutes. If you're happy with the numbers press place order to add them to your tenant. If you take more than 10 minutes, the phone numbers are returned to the pool of numbers.
If you're happy with the numbers offered, Select Place Order.
Select Finish after reviewing your order confirmation.

The new numbers appear in the list of phone numbers as soon as they become available.

Create Microsoft port request for user and service numbers

You might have existing phone numbers with another carrier/operator that you want to move to Microsoft calling plans; this move is called a Port. Once numbers are ported, the new service provider, Microsoft in this case, manages them and you can disconnect the service from the old service provider (subject to any contractual requirements you have with them).

You can port or transfer phone numbers in all the supported countries/regions. Most types of numbers can be ported in, but not all.

How you submit a port order request depends on the country/region or region where the phone numbers come from. Currently, the porting wizard in the Microsoft Teams admin center supports porting phone numbers for some countries/regions, for other countries/regions the process requires raising a ticket on the porting team.

To get phone numbers for other countries/regions, you can manually submit a port order.

After completing the port order request, it takes between 7-14 days to be processed. However, depending on your service provider it can take up to 30 days. If there are issues with any of the information, it can take longer. Disconnecting or canceling any of the phone numbers with your current provider before or during porting, can stop the process.

Each port must be for numbers with a single provider.

Information needed for a port request

As part of your port request, you need to fill out and upload a Letter of Authorization (LOA). The person authorized on the account must sign it, scan it (or take a good photo with one of those "scanning apps"), and send it to Microsoft.

To complete a port, you need the following information:

The account information for your current carrier such as account number, carrier name, address, Billing Telephone Number (BTN) for the range
You also need to know the exact name and address of the account. The "service address"
The numbers/number range you want to port in E.164 format

It's best to validate this information with your current provider before beginning the port process, as incorrect information, even slightly incorrect like a different spelling of the account holder or company name, can cause a port to be rejected or delayed.

Creating a port request with the porting wizard

For the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada you can use the porting wizard in the Teams Admin Center.

Navigate to the Microsoft Teams admin center at https://admin.teams.microsoft.com.
Select Voice and Phone numbers.
Select Port
Review the information provided about the porting process, Select Next.
Select a country/region. Some regions only support porting in service numbers. Review the reference links for a link to Microsoft Learn.
Select the country/region and type of phone numbers you wish to port in. The type options are based on the country/region you select
Fill in the order name, Email for Notification emails, and desired transfer date (the previous provider sets the actual date, called an FOC (Firm Order Commitment) date).
Fill in the Authorizing person on account details, that is, the details of the person on the existing provider's account; organization name, name, job title, phone number, email address, organization address.
Fill in the current provider details, the Billing Telephone Number (BTN), Account number, carrier name, and the address.
Fill in the service address. This address is what the existing operator would associate with the customer and number range.
Upload the number range in a Comma-Separated Value (CSV) file that has only one column named PhoneNumber (note, one word, no spaces). Each phone number is listed per row in E.164 format, for example, +1425550199
On the Complete your order page, upload a signed Letter of Authorization to upload a scanned copy of the signed Letter of Authorization (LOA).
Select submit to complete the order.

To see the status of your port order, in the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center > Voice > Port orders, and then select Order history.

Creating a manual port request

For all countries/regions other than the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada you must submit your port order manually to Microsoft.

To manually submit a new port order, you must do the following steps in order:

Download the Letter of Authorization (LOA) for the country/region. Available from Microsoft Learn. Link in the resources section.
Complete the form.
Send it to the Microsoft PSTN service desk.

Note

There's a check box to specify if you're porting user vs. service numbers. Each port must only be for one number type.

To contact the PSTN service desk, perform the following steps:

Navigate to the Microsoft Teams admin center at https://admin.teams.microsoft.com.
In the left-hand pane, select Phone numbers.
At the top of the page, select Get phone number support.
This link takes you to the Phone Number Service Center.
Select Create a new case.
Select the Case category and then Submit new request.
Select the Country that relates to the numbers being ported.
Provide an appropriate Title and Description.
Submit the case.
Microsoft communicates with you and updates the status in the portal under view my existing cases.

Manage the usage of a phone number

You might need to change the usage of a phone number after it was acquired for or ported into your organization. Phone number usage can be changed using the Teams admin center, whether it's a service or user number. To change the usage of a phone number by using the Teams admin center:

Open the Microsoft Teams admin center and sign-in with a Global admin or a Teams administrator account.
In the left navigation, select Voice > Phone numbers.
On the Phone numbers page, choose an unassigned number in the list, and then select Change usage.
In the Change usage pane, open the list of Available usages for the phone number and select the intended usage.
Select Apply to set the Licensed usage.