Many companies pay for three separate services: Microsoft 365 for documents and email, Zoom for video calls, and RingCentral or Nextiva for phone service. The result is a bloated communications budget and an IT department stuck managing three different interfaces and three support lines. Does it still make sense to keep things as they are, or is it time to switch to Teams Voice?
The short answer: if you’re already paying for Microsoft 365, adding voice calling inside Teams is significantly cheaper than a separate provider. Microsoft offers two options: Operator Connect and Direct Routing. With Operator Connect, you connect a carrier like Lumen, AT&T, or Verizon right inside the Microsoft 365 admin center — literally a few clicks. With Direct Routing, you install a small Session Border Controller and can use any SIP carrier, often with lower rates for international calls.
What do you get in return? A single app on your computer and phone. Your employees make calls, send chats, host video meetings, and share files — all inside Teams. Auto attendants, call queues, voicemail with transcription to email — everything works out of the box. No separate phone app. No separate login.
So where’s the catch? You need to configure quality of service properly, especially if you have many remote employees. Microsoft Teams is sensitive to jitter and packet loss. If your internet connection is poor, calls can glitch. That’s why we always run a network assessment before deployment. The second challenge is number porting. If you have 100 numbers from your old carrier, the process can take two to three weeks. But that’s handled by the carrier, not by Microsoft.
How does it compare to competitors? RingCentral is a mature product with great call analytics, but it’s more expensive and lives in a separate ecosystem. Zoom Phone is good for companies that live in Zoom, but Zoom doesn’t give you Exchange, SharePoint, or Defender. Teams Voice is the best choice for companies that already use Microsoft 365 and want to reduce the number of vendors they deal with.
Who should not switch? Very large call centers with thousands of agents — those still need specialized solutions. For a typical business with 50 to 300 employees, Teams Voice offers the ideal balance of price, features, and integration.