Wondering how to setup Microsoft Teams for phone and SMS? You may be surprised at how many options you actually have. Most Microsoft Teams fans already know there are many ways to make calls with Microsoft Teams.

You’re not limited to video and audio conferencing with the platform – you can make and receive external calls with Microsoft Teams Phone. Alternatively, you can connect Teams to your existing voice carrier using Operator Connect or Direct Routing.

What most people don’t realize, is that Microsoft supports SMS texting too. You don’t even necessarily need to take advantage of a third-party integration or a Teams Phone license. Free MS Teams users can send texts too.

Here’s your guide to setting up Microsoft Teams Phone SMS features.

Setup Microsoft Teams for Phone and SMS: Phone Options

Let’s start by covering your options for making Microsoft Teams phone calls. By far the easiest way to make phone calls with Microsoft Teams is to purchase the “Standard Teams Phone license” from Microsoft, and a calling plan straight from Microsoft.

There are plenty of different calling plans available that offer instant access to a cloud-based PBX system for outbound calling in multiple countries worldwide. You can pick from domestic plans, international plans, and even pay-as-you-go options.

Each of these plans come with their own specific features and capabilities. For instance, with a domestic plan, you get unlimited “incoming minutes”, and flexible outgoing minutes. With the international calling plans, you pay for both domestic and international minutes for outbound calls, which can reach users in 196 countries.

Once you have a calling plan, you’ll be able to call a phone number directly from within Teams, by using the dial pad in the app, or searching for a user with Teams search. Plus, users can “dial into meetings” using their phones, without paying anything extra.

However, if you’ve read our articles about Microsoft Operator Connect and Direct Routing before, you’ll know Microsoft’s calling plans have limitations. There aren’t a lot of advanced features to access (like in-depth analytics), and your number options will be limited too.

Direct Routing and Operator Connect for MS Teams Calling

Since Microsoft’s own calling solutions are pretty basic, most companies using Teams for external calls generally stick with third-party offerings (Direct Routing and Operator Connect). These options allow companies to choose an external partner for calling functionality.

Again, both options have their strengths and weaknesses. Direct Routing is the more flexible option, allowing companies to choose virtually any provider to add calling to their Teams ecosystem. You also get a lot more freedom to manage advanced calling needs.

You can use the SBC (Session Border Controller) required to leverage Direct Routing to connect older communication systems to the cloud, and experiment with SIP Trunks. Direct Routing also benefits from “local survivability” features, thanks to Microsoft’s Survivable Branch Appliance.

However, direct routing can be extremely complicated to set up and manage, and more expensive to implement, due to the need for in-house maintenance, configurations, and hardware.

Operator Connect is a much simpler option. With this, companies can choose a carrier from a pre-approved list within Microsoft Teams. The operator handles the SBC configurations and technical details, and users can manage all of their numbers and features within the Teams admin center.

The trouble is, Operator Connect requires companies to be “certified” by Microsoft – so there are fewer options. Plus, you don’t get as much freedom to customize your calling system to suit your specific needs here.

Setup Microsoft Teams for Phone and SMS: Enabling SMS

If you want to setup Microsoft Teams for phone and SMS capabilities, you also have a few options. Again, probably the easiest route is to take advantage of the built-in SMS capabilities in Microsoft Teams. These are available to all users – even if you’re on a free plan.

Microsoft’s “SMS chats” solution allows anyone to send messages from Teams to external contacts. The messages are routed through Teams, and they include your name, so users know who they’re speaking to.

Notably, this feature isn’t available everywhere. Currently, you can start one-on-one chats with SMS participants in the UK, US, India, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, and Columbia. If you need to text someone in another country, they’ll just receive an invite to “join Microsoft Teams” when you message them.

Notably, though, you can link an Android device to Microsoft Teams to connect your phone to the platform, access SMS messages and contacts, and receive notifications too.

How to Setup Microsoft Teams for Phone and SMS: The Free Version

Technically, you won’t be able to make calls to external contacts using the free version of Microsoft Teams, but you can still send SMS messages and receive notifications for free. All you need to do is log into your Microsoft Teams account and choose “New Chat”, from there:

  • Enter the phone number in your chat’s “To” field, and select it in the results.
  • Type the contact’s name into the Add contact name
  • Send a message via the chat section within Microsoft Teams.

The participant you message will receive an SMS from Microsoft to start the chat. This will include a link that allows users to continue chatting in the app. However, they’ll also be able to respond directly to the SMS if they don’t want to sign up for Teams.

The SMS features here are pretty limited, but there are a lot of commands that users can take advantage of. For instance, you can use the #continue to command to continue receiving SMS messages from a chat, without sending a message back.

Users can also mute and unmute SMS messages, view group details from Microsoft Teams, leave a group session, “stop all” SMS messages, and export SMS conversations.

The Problems with Microsoft Teams SMS (Free)

Adding texting functionality into Microsoft Teams has allowed Microsoft to address some of the evolving communication needs of businesses – but there are issues with this service. First, you can only send up to 1,000 SMS messages per group chat. After that, the only way for users to continue receiving messages is to join Microsoft Teams.

On the plus side, if you log into Microsoft Teams (Free) and have SMS messages connected to the phone number you use with the app, you can import previous chats and continue them in the platform.

Still, there are other issues to address too, such as:

Limited Number Control

One of the biggest issues of using the free method to setup Microsoft Teams for phone and SMS, is that unless you invest in a calling plan too, you can’t use your own number. You can’t even use your own number with MS Teams for SMS if you’re on certain calling plans.

All of the SMS messages you send will be routed through Microsoft before being delivered to a contact. This means they’ll include your name alongside a random short code number. Since these numbers aren’t in the standard 10DLC format, they could be seen as “spam”. That’s a problem if you want to use Microsoft Teams to contact customers through text.

No Advanced Messaging Features

With the free version of Microsoft Teams, you can only send “SMS” messages to contacts. That means your messages will be text-only. You can’t send GIFs and images (although they’re supported in standard Teams chats). You also won’t be able to add any other forms of media, like videos or audio clips.

Beyond that, just like Microsoft Teams’ calling plans have limited advanced features, there aren’t a lot of “extra capabilities” for SMS users too. You can’t access reporting or analytical tools, or create templates to help you send branded messages quickly. There’s no real support for “mass messaging” either – you can only communicate with a handful of users at a time.

No Automation Features

If you’re using SMS for customer service, sales, and advertising, there are no automation capabilities included with the free version of Teams SMS. You don’t get access to Copilot to respond to customer queries on your behalf, and you can’t set up comprehensive multi-message campaigns.

Although you could consider investing in Power Automate to allow for some workflow creation with specific triggers and message prompts – the options are pretty limited. Really, the free SMS feature is only intended for the occasional message to a customer or colleague.

How to Setup Microsoft Teams for Phone and SMS: Alternatives

Fortunately, there are alternative options if you want to setup Microsoft Teams for Phone and SMS. Just as you can connect Teams to a third-party carrier for standard calls through Direct Routing and Operator Connect, you can use third-party solutions to access robust SMS features.

This basically just involves finding a third-party integration for Teams that allows you to connect a mobile carrier to your service, use your own number, and access advanced features.

There are quite a few options out there, though some of the top solutions include:

  • YakChat: Available on the Microsoft Teams App store, YakChat supports SMS and MMS for Microsoft Teams. It also allows users to text contacts through Outlook, SharePoint, and Active Directory. Plus, you get bonus features like real-time translation, message archiving, flexible shared inboxes, and message templates.
  • Clerk Chat: Allowing users to setup Microsoft Teams for Phone and SMS simultaneously, Clerk Chat offers a managed service solution for calling and texting in Teams. It supports multiple different types of numbers, customizable text templates, reporting, analytics, built-in security, and has its own AI assistant.
  • HeyMarket: Another great app for Microsoft Teams, HeyMarket allows you to text-enable any Microsoft Teams number or VoIP number. It supports SMS routing and automation, as well as intelligent inbox management, list segmentation, and custom permissions.

Once you’ve chosen your provider, simply download the app for Microsoft Teams from your vendor, and follow their “configuration” process, to get everything set up.

The Benefits of an External Provider for Tams SMS

Using an external integration to setup Microsoft Teams phone and SMS capabilities does have some downsides. For instance, you’ll need to pay for a separate subscription to access all the features you need. Plus, there may be extra costs to consider for certain numbers and outbound rates.

However, you won’t be restricted to SMS exclusively (you can access MMS and a range of other messaging formats with most providers). Plus, you’ll be able to use the number of your choice, and access advanced features for message routing, automation, and personalization.

On top of all that, many SMS integration providers offer support for other capabilities, like AI assistants who can answer customer questions for you, or advanced reporting tools so you can monitor the impact of your campaigns.

Setup Microsoft Teams for Phone and SMS

So, there you have it, everything you need to know to setup Microsoft Teams for Phone and SMS. Now, all you need to do is decide which route you’re going to take. If you want a simple solution, using Microsoft’s calling plans and the free SMS features on Teams might be a good choice.

If you’re looking for something more advanced (for both texting and calling), consider a third-party provider. Direct Routing or Operator Connect will give you a lot more freedom to customize your calling experience with Microsoft Teams.

A third-party SMS integration, on the other hand, will ensure you can build and manage robust messaging campaigns within Microsoft Teams, for sales, marketing, and customer service.



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