Imagine if organizations could conduct high-quality VoIP calls from their legacy SIP phones without sacrificing functionality. This is precisely what Microsoft Teams SIP Gateway enables – launched in December 2021. The service allows users to connect their Teams account with a traditional phone line. This allows users to use their phone handset to dial into a meeting or make calls using their Teams account. The gateway also supports call routing so that users can manage their incoming and outgoing calls just like a regular phone line.

Understanding Microsoft Teams SIP Gateway

Microsoft Teams SIP Gateway can be an essential tool for businesses that use legacy desk phones and handhelds but are looking to upgrade Teams while preserving their investments. It provides organizations with a way to connect their on-premise endpoint environment to Microsoft Teams on the cloud.

Microsoft Teams SIP Gateway is an optional service that allows users to connect to Office 365 with a desk phone or handheld calling device. Businesses can use any supported SIP device with Microsoft Teams. SIP devices from Poly, Yealink, and AudioCodes are all compatible, as are Cisco IP phones with multi-platform SIP firmware, Skype for Business IP phones with standard SIP firmware, and SIP phones from Cisco.

How Does Microsoft Teams SIP Gateway Work?

The Microsoft Teams SIP Gateway allows users to connect their traditional phone system with Microsoft Teams. This can be done in a few different ways, depending on individual needs.

For example, users can use the SIP gateway to connect an analog phone to Teams, or they can use it to connect a digital PBX system to Teams. The SIP gateway also allows users to route calls from Teams to the traditional phone system and vice versa. When using the SIP gateway, users must configure their network and firewall settings to allow traffic to flow between the two systems.

Further, SIP gateway offers the following fundamental Teams calling functionalities:

● Calls both inbound and outgoing

● Call forwarding

● Dial-in and dial-out meetings

● “Do not disturb” settings on devices

● Message waiting indicator on voicemail

How to Configure the SIP Gateway

Configuring a SIP gateway for your business can seem daunting, but it can be a relatively straightforward process if admins follow the proper instructions. These are essential steps to take to get a SIP gateway for Teams implementations.

● Log in to the Teams administration console.

● Select Teams devices on the left and check if the SIP devices tab is displayed. If it is, your organization’s SIP Gateway service is enabled.

● If you do not see this tab, Microsoft Teams SIP Gateway is turned off. If that is indeed the case, there are two ways to enable SIP Gateway for the users in your organization: through the Teams admin portal or a PowerShell function.

Follow these steps to enable SIP Gateway in the Teams admin center:

● Navigate to the Teams admin center.

● Select Calling policies from the Voice menu on the left.

● Select the appropriate calling policy allocated to users on the right, or, if necessary, establish a new calling policy and administer it to the required users.

● Select Manage policies, then a policy, and finally Edit.

● Select Save after turning on the setting for SIP devices to be utilized for calls.

Users can also enable SIP Gateway with the PowerShell cmdlet “Set-CsTeamsCallingPolicy.”

Select a policy and set the “-AllowSIPDevicesCalling” property to “True” to enable users for SIP devices. Since the default answer is False, users will be unable to utilize their SIP devices unless it is actively enabled. Set the provisioning server URL for the SIP Gateway. Users can configure the SIP Gateway provisioning server’s URL in their DHCP server or manually if they operate remotely. Admins can set one of the following SIP Gateway provisioning server URLs for each SIP device:

●    EMEA: http://emea.ipp.sdg.teams.microsoft.com

●    Americas: http://noam.ipp.sdg.teams.microsoft.com

●    APAC: http://apac.ipp.sdg.teams.microsoft.com

Before configuring the SIP gateway, check if your company has access to the SIP Gateway license in the first place.

Benefits of the solution

The key benefits of Microsoft Teams SIP Gateway include the ability to:

●    Have Teams meetings on SIP devices – A user can attend a Teams meeting by dialing the meeting access number. Meeting attendees can invite a SIP device user to the conference by phoning out the user’s phone number. Asking a participant by clicking on ‘Request to Join’ will notify the user’s device. A participant who phones out a guest user’s number to include that person in a Teams meeting can include a guest user from another organization.

●    Manage multiple concurrent calls – A user can place a call on wait to make or receive other calls. The user also can combine two calls into one.

●    Enable local call forwarding – The user can configure the device’s forwarding rules (always, on timeout, and busy). If the device is linked to the SIP Gateway, the call will be forwarded to the destination address according to the device user’s rule.

●    Dial legacy systems – Users can make calls to the PSTN, and other SIP devices, including Teams and Skype for Business users. Remember that it is possible to call people with phone numbers since it is a dial pad-based VoIP system.

●    Receive calls from any number – Users can receive calls from the PSTN, Teams, or Skype for Business users using SIP devices and Teams and Skype for Business client apps. It is used as a Teams endpoint. Users will send incoming calls to the user’s device as well.

●    Access features like mute/unmute and hold/resume – One can utilize the capabilities on the device to hold and resume or mute and unmute a call.

●    Leverage voicemail – Callers can leave voice messages for solution users, saved electronically. Users can receive notifications when new voicemail messages arrive.

●    Quickly sign in and sign out from Teams – SIP devices can sign in and out of Teams on the device.

Microsoft Teams SIP Gateway is a great way to add next-gen calling capabilities to your organization. Users can connect their on-premises phone systems with Microsoft Teams with the gateway. The solution is available at no additional cost if you have a Teams phone license with PSTN enablement.



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