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 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 interface and the global reach of Bandwidth’s owner-operated network for number provisioning. 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:
Enabling Bandwidth in Operator Connect
Configuring Sub-accounts and Locations
Adding Operator Connect integration
Configuring your inbound traffic
Configuring and syncing 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:
Log in to the Microsoft Teams admin center.
In the side navigation bar, select Voice and click Operator Connect.
Click All operators and select Bandwidth.
Under Operator settings, select the countries you’d like to enable for your account.
Select your company size from the drop-down menu and add your contact information, including your full name, email, and phone number (optional), which will be automatically shared with Bandwidth together with your tenant ID (you can change this information later), so we can contact you with more details about our integration with Operator Connect.
Review and accept the data privacy terms, and then click Add as my operator.
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 and Locations
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:
Log in to the Bandwidth App.
In the side navigation bar, select Account and click Sub-Accounts.
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).
Click Attach an Address.
Create a new address or search for an existing one, and then click Continue.
Click Create Sub-Account.
Configuring Locations
Locations in the Bandwidth App help you organize your phone number inventory. 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:
In the side navigation bar, click Account and select Locations.
Click Create Location.
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.
Note: The Origination settings for the Universal Platform have moved to the Voice Configuration page and are now configured via Voice Configuration Packages. You’ll still need a Location to configure your Termination settings.
Adding Operator Connect integration
In the side navigation bar, click Account and select Integrations.
Click Add Integration and fill out the details according to the integration you want to set up. In the case of Operator Connect:
Under Integration product, select Voice Integration.
Under Unique name, provide a name for this integration. We recommend choosing one that identifies the integration type and region (e.g., Operator Connect EU or Operator Connect US).
Under Integration type, select the region. This can be Microsoft Teams Operator Connect NA or Microsoft Operator Connect EU. As we launch new regions for the product (e.g., APAC), they will become available in this dropdown once you’re contracted for them.
Under External ID, enter your tenant ID, and click Add.
Configuring your inbound traffic
After adding an Operator Connect integration, you'll need to configure your inbound traffic to route to it. To do that, create a Configuration Package:
In the side navigation bar, select Service Management and click Voice Configuration.
Click Add Package.
Create at least one primary route pointing to your new Operator Connect integration using the Advanced Call Routing (ACR) configuration:
Click Create Primary Route.
Under Action, select Route to integration.
Under Integration Type, select Microsoft Teams Operator Connect.
Under Region, select your region and click Save.
Complete the rest of the information and click Create Package.
Configuring and syncing numbers
Now you can order or port phone numbers. Once the numbers are available in your account, you can assign them to your Voice Configuration Package individually or in bulk on the My Numbers page or during the number ordering process. For more information, see Voice Configuration Packages.
Our Operator Connect integration allows you to directly synchronize your numbers with your Operator Connect account from the Bandwidth App. To access number syncing, navigate to the My Numbers page. If your account is enabled for Operator Connect integration, you'll see a new column called Operator Connect integration with the synchronization status of your numbers.
To synchronize, update, or remove your numbers from Operator Connect, complete the following steps:
Select the number(s) you want to configure and click Actions.
Select Sync with voice integrations.
From the Action drop-down menu, select one of the following:
Add integration: Synchronize your Operator Connect number to one of your Operator Connect integrations.
Change integration: Synchronize your Operator Connect number with a different integration (for example, UCaaS instead of CCaaS).
Remove integration: Remove a number from Operator Connect.
From the Voice Integration drop-down menu, select an integration and click Save.
The Operator Connect Integration column under the My Numbers page will now display one of the following statuses:
Active: The number has been synced to Operator Connect and has the correct VCP assigned to it.
Pending addition: The number is in the process of being synced to Operator Connect.
Pending removal: The number is in the process of being deprovisioned from Operator Connect.
Pending update: The number is in the process of being updated to another integration.
Failed to add: The number couldn’t be synced with Operator Connect. The customer can retry.
Failed to update: The number couldn’t be updated to another integration. The customer can retry.
Failed to remove: The number couldn’t be deprovisioned from Operator Connect. The customer can retry.
Needs attention: The number is synced to Operator Connect but lacks an assigned VCP (or has an incorrect one).