Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams

With Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams, you can seamlessly Bring Your Own Carrier (BYOC) for PSTN connectivity to power your pure-cloud UCaaS environment. This guide shows you how to bring your Bandwidth phone numbers to Microsoft Teams as part of its Microsoft Operator Connect program.

Bringing Bandwidth as your Microsoft-certified Operator allows you to seamlessly migrate your employee communications to the cloud, leveraging the simplicity of Operator Connect’s easy-to-use interface for number provisioning. Your platform can easily plug in Bandwidth’s owner-operated network with global reach, giving you direct-to-carrier quality and economics in 34 markets. Learn more about our UCaaS integration for Microsoft Teams, including the option to use Direct Routing for a hybrid or on-prem setup.

Getting started

We recommend reviewing Microsoft’s Plan for Operator Connect guide before getting started. You'll also need:

• A registered Bandwidth account with assigned numbers.
• A running Microsoft Teams Operator Connect Tenant.

How it works

To connect numbers from your Bandwidth account to Microsoft Teams and enjoy both inbound and outbound calling services with this simple configuration, complete the following steps:

1. Enabling Bandwidth in Operator Connect
2. Configuring Sub-accounts, Locations, and numbers

Note: Emergency calling will be configured separately.

Enabling Bandwidth in Operator Connect

Note: You’re required to have the appropriate O365 and MS Phone licenses in order to enable users for Operator Connect.

You can enable, edit, and remove operators in the Microsoft Teams admin center. To enable Bandwidth as your operator:

1. Log in to the Microsoft Teams admin center.
2. In the side navigation bar, select Voice and click Operator Connect.
3. Click All operators and select Bandwidth.

4. Under Operator settings, select the countries you’d like to enable for your account.

5. Provide your contact information, including your full name, email address, and phone number (optional), which will be shared automatically with Bandwidth, including your tenant ID (you can change this information later.) In addition, please indicate your company size. Bandwidth will use this information to contact you with more details about our integration with Operator Connect.
6. Accept the data transfer notice and click Save.

Note: If you plan to move numbers from Direct Routing to Operator Connect, you need to unassign the Voice Routing Policy and de-provision the numbers from the Direct Routing account before provisioning them in Operator Connect. For more information related to Operator Connect provisioning, see Configure Operator Connect.

If you plan to move from Calling Plans to Operator Connect and wish to keep the same number you'll need to port the numbers to Bandwidth. You must also remove the Calling Plan from the user.

Configuring Sub-accounts, Locations, and numbers

Configuring Sub-accounts

Sub-accounts in the Bandwidth App help organize your phone number inventory to make grouping services easier. Each account must have at least one Sub-account. Many users choose only to keep one, while others create two to represent development and production environments. To create a Sub-account, complete the following steps:

1. Log in to the Bandwidth App.
2. In the side navigation bar, select Account and click Sub-Accounts. 
3. Complete the following fields:
   • Name: Create a name for this Sub-account.
   • Customer ID: Enter a customer ID for your reference (optional).
   • Customer name: Add a customer name for your reference (optional).
   • Description: Provide a short description for this Sub-account (optional).

4. Click Attach an Address.
5. Create a new address or search for an existing one, and then click Continue. 
6. Click Create Sub-Account.

Configuring Locations

Locations in the Bandwidth App help you organize your phone number inventory and configure your integrations for Voice. When a number is added to a Location, it inherits the settings and properties of that Location. To create a Location, complete the following steps:

1. Log in to the Bandwidth App.
2. In the side navigation bar, click Account and select Locations.
3. Click Add Location.
4. Complete the following fields:
   • Name: Provide a name for this Location.
   • Description: Provide a short description for this Location (optional)
   • Sub-account: Select a Sub-account that you want to associate with this Location.
   • Default Location: Turn this switch on if you'd like this to be the primary Location. This means that when you order or port a number, this Location will show up first after you select your Sub-account.

5. Select Voice and click Integrations.
6. In the Integration Platform drop-down menu, select Microsoft Teams Operator Connect. 
7. In the Microsoft Teams Tenant ID field, enter your Tenant ID and click Create Location.
8. Under Number Assignment Type, select the appropriate option: 
   • User is for typical usages (End User Assignment)
   • Voice Application is for Microsoft Application Support of a Calling Group or an Auto-Attendant.
9. Click Create Location.

Note: If your Location has been successfully created, it means your Operator Connect tenant has been accepted. If you haven't requested Bandwidth as an Operator in your tenant, you'll receive the following error: "This tenant is not currently available for Operator Connect. Please accept Bandwidth as your Operator Connect provider first, and then you will be able to provision your location with this tenant."

Assigning numbers to Locations

The last step is to add numbers to the Location you just created. Any number within the Location will be automatically provisioned to your Microsoft Teams tenant. 

For more information, see how to search and order phone numbers or how to move phone numbers to a different Sub-account or Location.

Dynamic Location Routing (DLR) Emergency Configuration

If you plan to use Emergency Services on your new Operator Connect account, follow the steps in our Dynamic E911 for Microsoft Teams integration and testing guide. Please note that the only difference is that you won't use direct routing in this instance – you'll need to use Operator Connect.