Overview
Microsoft Teams is a unified communication and collaboration platform that combines phone service, workplace chat, video meetings, file storage, and application integration.
8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams is a cloud-based PBX-to-PBX integration with Microsoft Phone System, which creates a seamless, behind-the-scenes integration of 8x8 Work phone service into Microsoft Teams.
In essence, the Voice for Teams service provides enterprise-grade telephony and global PSTN connectivity to customers who want to retain Microsoft Teams as their sole collaboration interface.
Note: The 8x8 Presence Sync with Microsoft Teams is supported in both 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams and the 8x8 Phone App.
Teams user logged in to the 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams App:
Applies To
- Microsoft Teams
- Microsoft 365
- 8x8 Voice for Teams
- X Series (including Metered and Pro migration licenses)
- 8x8 Work
- 8x8 Admin Console
- Contact Center
How It Works
The 8x8 telephony service essentially replaces existing or potential voice service offered by Microsoft Teams.
When the setup is completed, Microsoft Teams devices are registered as SIP devices, just like a desk phone. The required phone extension and user information is synchronized from 8x8 to the Microsoft Teams environment, and the user's 8x8 phone number will appear in Teams devices.
So when a Teams user makes or receives phone calls using a Teams client or device, the calls are transparently handled by the 8x8 phone service. The end user will probably not even be aware that they are using 8x8 unless they're told about it.
Supported Devices
8x8 desk phones are not required, but are supported. Customer 8x8 PBXs handle 8x8 desk phones directly, rather than through the Microsoft Teams infrastructure.
All other devices and clients typically supported by Microsoft Teams are also supported by 8x8 Voice for Teams. So in the event of service issues with Microsoft 365 services or Teams specifically, any assigned 8x8 desk phone would still continue to work.
Obtaining 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams Service
Requests for the 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams service must be directed to 8x8 Sales representatives or Partners.
8x8 Contact Center for Microsoft Teams
8x8 Contact Center is solution certified for Microsoft Teams. To configure 8x8 Contact Center for Microsoft Teams, agents must have an applicable X Series license for Contact Center in addition to 8x8 licenses required for Voice for Teams.
Once the required licenses are assigned, the agent will then need to ensure that their Workplace Number in Agent Workspace matches their 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams number.
Important Notes
- Only 8x8 X Series (including Metered and Pro migration licenses) are supported. CRM/Account Manager accounts are not compatible with the service.
- 8x8 Contact Center
- Contact Center is supported, but requires use of the AGUI. The Microsoft Teams dialpad will display call activity of the associated 8x8 Work extension.
- Auto Answer:
- Persistent: Auto Answer is supported (since call on Teams is already answered). Be aware that Persistent mode will make the user look busy in Teams for the duration of Contact Center login.
- Non Persistent: Teams Auto Answer is not supported.
- Contact Center Directory will show 8x8 hookstate for Teams users (will not reflect internal teams status).
- Contact Center Chat to Teams Chat is not supported.
- 8x8 Work for Desktop is generally not recommended for simultaneous use with Microsoft Teams. However, it can be enabled by a service administrator, such as in the event of Microsoft service issues.
- Microsoft's Phone System License is required per user for the Teams dial pad to be visible. There are various sets of Microsoft licensing (per user) which can be applied to use 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams:
- EITHER: Microsoft 365 E5 License (Microsoft Phone System license included).
- OR: Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard, or Premium, and Teams Phone Standard (which includes Microsoft Phone System).
- OR: Microsoft 365 E1, E3, or A1/G1, A3/G3 license and Teams Phone Standard (which includes Microsoft Phone System).
- Microsoft Teams Voicemail: It's recommended that Microsoft's implementation of voicemail in Teams be disabled, especially when agents are assigned to 8x8 Work ring groups and call queues. In this case, to avoid calls routing to voicemail instead of an available agent, Call Waiting should also not be disabled at the user extension level.
- Microsoft Azure is supported as an Identity Provider in the 8x8 Admin Console. Azure SCIM / sync is also supported with an Azure AD App Gallery application for 8x8. This means that Microsoft 365 administrators can push new user creation from Azure AD to the 8x8 Admin Console, which can then be synced to Teams via the 8x8 Voice for Teams Admin Portal.
- Initial sync of new Voice for Teams users can take up to seventy-two hours for Microsoft to complete, due to general service impact experienced by Microsoft 365 services—this is not an issue on the 8x8 side. The Microsoft Teams dial pad will appear for users only after sync has been completed. Note that this applies to ALL sync activity between 8x8 and Microsoft Teams, so any subsequent change made to a user in 8x8 Admin Console will require time to sync to Teams.
- Microsoft does not support Islands Mode for Direct Routing (such as 8x8 Voice for Microsoft Teams), so if your Microsoft Teams tenant is currently in Islands Mode, it must be migrated to Teams Only mode to work with the 8x8 service. Please see the following article for details: Voice for Teams: Teams Migration from Islands Mode to Teams Only Mode.
- Additional information can be found in the articles linked, below.