Pros & Cons
-
- Reliable performance in testing
- Powerful AI features with the Copilot add-on
- Extensive admin capabilities
- Excellent 24/7 tech support
-
- Expensive, with confusing pricing
- Can be excessively complex to manage
Microsoft Teams Phone Specs
| E911 Service | |
| SIP Phone Support | |
| Software Phone | |
| Toll-Free Option | |
| Video Conferencing | |
| Voicemail to Email | |
| Voicemail Transcription |
Microsoft Teams Phone is an optional extension for the Microsoft Teams communications app that extends its voice over IP (VoIP) capabilities. On the one hand, it offers an extensive set of telephony features and competitive Copilot AI capabilities in an easy-to-use interface. But on the other hand, it's not nearly as seamless to set up and administer as top competitors, and its many required components quickly add to the cost. If your company already uses Microsoft Teams and has dedicated staff to manage the experience, then Teams Phone might make sense for one-on-one customer support, sales, and other business calls. If your company doesn't use Teams, you are better off with one of our Editors' Choice winners for the category: Intermedia Unite, RingCentral RingEX, and Zoom Phone all cost less and are easier to manage.
Pricing: More Complex Than It Looks
Microsoft offers four main Teams Phone plans, but these aren't the only costs you need to pay to get up and running.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)The Teams Phone Standard plan ($10 per user per month, billed annually) provides the basic cloud-based phone system. With this plan (and all others), however, you need to add a subscription to Microsoft Teams (starting at $4 per user per month, billed annually). By itself, this plan adds some call handling capabilities to supplement the existing user-to-use VoIP functionality of Teams. But to support outside cell or landline via the PSTN, you need to add a calling plan for each user.
You can bundle a domestic calling plan with Teams Phone ($17 per user per month, billed annually) or a domestic and international calling plan ($34 per user per month, billed annually). Each user gets an allocation of 3,000 monthly minutes (50 hours) for calls to Canada, the UK, and the US with these plans, while the latter provides 600 monthly call minutes (10 hours) to international numbers. Alternatively, you can opt for a Teams Phone plan with a pay-as-you-go model ($13 per user per month, billed annually). Here are the SMS and audio conferencing and calling rates.
AI features cost extra. For call transcription, call summary, and chatbot functionality, you have to add the Microsoft Copilot add-on ($30 per user per month). But that add-on requires an eligible Microsoft 365 Business account (starting at $6 per user per month, billed annually). Microsoft conveniently bundles those together as the Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Microsoft 365 Copilot plan ($42.50 per user per month, billed annually). That's the minimum plan you need if you want the desktop versions of the Microsoft 365 apps.
Given all these dependencies and assuming you want the full Teams Phone experience, it's best to pick the Microsoft 365 Business plan with Copilot you want first, and then add the Teams Phone add-on (with or without a calling plan). Finally, if you want an auto-attendant (a bot that answers the phone and direct calls to the right number), you need to add a “resource account” for another $4.80 per user per month and a separate calling plan.
Therefore, for the full functionality of Microsoft Teams, you should expect to pay a minimum of around $60 per user. That's a lot higher than what RingEX ($25 per user per month, billed annually) and Unite ($27.99 per user per month) charge for equivalent plans. Both include premium AI, calling, faxing, SMS, and video meeting features.
Interface and Ease of Use: Complicated Setup, But a Clear Design
I tested Teams Phone via the iOS, macOS, and Windows versions of Teams, though it's also available via the Android version. The add-on's interface is extremely intuitive and consistent with the rest of Microsoft Teams, and the experience felt snappy across all the devices I used for testing.
The setup process for Teams Phone is unusually complicated to the point that you might need a certified Microsoft tech to help you. Fortunately, Microsoft provides complementary guidance and extensive documentation to help you get going.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)Once Teams Phone is up and running, calling options are clear and straightforward. You can click on contacts or use the dialpad to make calls. Once you are in a phone call, you can easily access Copilot, adjust viewing options, put the call on hold, and transfer the call.
Similar Products
Our Current Picks for The Best Business VoIP Services for 2026
As for contact management, Teams Phone also works as expected—it connects seamlessly with Microsoft Outlook. It can also sync with other contact management apps from companies like Google. However, there isn’t a way to import contacts manually like with RingEX or Unite. One alternative might be to manage contacts via the People app.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)Again, since this is a Microsoft product, an extensive online knowledge base is available. The customer support is also excellent—you can engage 24/7 with a tech by chat, email, or phone. During a test support call related to configuring the auto-attendant, a technician expertly guided me through the resource account configuration.
Desk Phone Support and Integrations: Extremely Versatile
If you want to use Teams Phone with a desk phone, it supports several models from companies such as AudioCodes, Crestron, Lenovo, Polycom, and Yealink. It also works with dozens of headsets, speakerphones, and even meeting room hardware. No other VoIP I've tested is as flexible; here's the full list of options.
As for integrations, Teams Phone works with about 30 contact center products from companies like 8x8, Cisco, Intermedia, and IPDynamics. Microsoft unsurprisingly steers you toward its Dynamics product for CRM functionality, but more than 2,500 third-party integrations are available for Teams itself.
Audio and Video Calling Experience: Crisp and Clear
Using Teams Phone daily for several weeks revealed the service's reliability. Phone calls sounded clear and were free of any issues, including distortion. Call quality was always pristine between the web app and mobile phones in testing.
Teams Phone doesn't currently support call center features such as barging or whispering, which is surprising given its power in other areas. However, Microsoft says it will add such features to Teams Phone this year.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)Video calls were also crisp in testing. Of course, that's part of the main Microsoft Teams app rather than this VoIP add-on, but it's important to consider the app as a whole. The video conferencing interface is straightforward, with easy options for configuring your webcam and audio settings, ending calls, and sharing your screen.
I wholly enjoyed the Copilot features in Teams Phone. The chatbot can bring you up to speed with a call summary and list action items. But it can go far beyond that to tell you, for example, who spoke the most during a call. I also asked detailed questions about a long meeting comparing antivirus apps, and Copilot created a chart that summarized the pros and cons that participants discussed in the meeting. You can even ask Copilot to give you information to share in a meeting, such as a summary of national news. I can't overstate the convenience of having access to a powerful AI assistant, right from the Teams Phone interface. Unite's AI assistant isn't as capable, for comparison.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)On the analytics front, Teams Phone has dozens of options related to call quality, monitoring, and service level. Some charts, for example, show the number of minutes people had to wait before someone answered a call, while others show how many calls ended up in a waiting queue.
Administration Experience: Could Be Easier
As mentioned, admin functions and configuration steps in Teams Phone might require help from a Microsoft tech. It took me nearly three hours to correctly add and link subscriptions to calling plans, Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, and the resource account necessary for the auto-attendant. Other services I've tested, such as Vonage Business Communications and Zoom Phone, make it much simpler to get started and even include an attendant for no extra cost.
Getting the Copilot icon to show up in the interface was especially tedious. You have to enable Copilot for each user and enable a rule related to recording and transcribing the call. (Microsoft says it is streamlining the process this year.) Moreover, it took about two days after purchasing the Copilot subscription and configuring these settings for the Copilot icon to appear during a Teams Phone test call.
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)Even more advanced admin tasks, such as configuring Teams Phone to work with your PSTN phone company, take considerable time and resources. The same is true for integrations with the aforementioned call center and telephony products.
The admin functions can be overwhelming at times, but the extent of the options ultimately helps improve communication. For example, you can configure automatic callback settings (not something I usually see), set up a dialpad key that initiates a callback, and tweak the wait time necessary before sending a call to someone else. You can also make sure that someone gets an email if a call doesn’t go through.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: Microsoft/PCMag)
Microsoft Teams Phone
Microsoft Teams Phone is a full-featured add-on with powerful AI calling features, but its administrative complexity and high costs are downsides for small businesses.