Microsoft Teams Voice has quietly become one of the most practical upgrades available to Australian businesses already running Microsoft 365. Instead of paying for a separate phone system — a hosted PBX, an ageing on-premise box, or a bundle of mobile plans — Teams Voice turns the platform your staff already use every day into a complete business phone system.
This guide explains how Microsoft Teams Voice actually works in Australia: what it is, how it connects to the phone network, what licences and numbers you need, what call quality depends on, and what it realistically costs. It is an informational guide — for implementation, number porting, and managed Teams Voice, see Mycelium 365's Microsoft Teams Voice service.
What is Microsoft Teams Voice?
Microsoft Teams Voice (also called Microsoft Teams Phone) is the capability that allows Microsoft Teams to make and receive real phone calls — to mobile phones, landlines, and any PSTN number — not just Teams-to-Teams calls. It turns Teams from a collaboration platform into a complete phone system, replacing the traditional PBX or hosted telephony solution most Australian businesses still pay for separately.
The distinction matters. Out of the box, Teams handles internal communication well: chat, video meetings, file sharing, and calls between Teams users. But the moment a customer, supplier, or job applicant dials your business number, that call needs to reach the Public Switched Telephone Network — and standard Teams cannot do that. Teams Voice is the bridge between the two worlds.
Once enabled, every user gets a real phone number inside Teams. They can make and receive external calls from the same Teams app they use on their laptop, mobile, or a desk phone. Callers dial your normal business number and reach your team wherever they are working — office, home, or on the road. Features that used to require PBX hardware, such as auto attendants (press 1 for sales), call queues, voicemail-to-email, and call recording, are configured in the Teams admin centre.
The result: one platform for calls, video meetings, chat, and file sharing — and one less phone system to pay for, maintain, and eventually replace.
How Teams Voice connects to the phone network
Teams Voice requires a connection to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) — the underlying infrastructure that carries all phone calls in Australia. There are two ways to make that connection, and the right choice depends on your existing contracts, call volumes, and how much flexibility you need.
Operator Connect. Microsoft-certified carriers — including Telstra and Optus in Australia — connect directly to Teams through the Microsoft admin centre. There is no on-premises hardware and no SIP trunk to manage: you select your carrier, assign numbers, and the carrier handles the PSTN side. Provisioning is fast, changes are self-service, and the carrier relationship is simple. Operator Connect is the right choice for most small and medium Australian businesses that want a clean, cloud-managed phone system without legacy complexity.
Direct Routing. Direct Routing connects Teams to any PSTN carrier via a Session Border Controller (SBC) — a device or cloud service that sits between Teams and your chosen SIP provider. It is more flexible: you can keep an existing SIP trunk agreement (often with negotiated call rates), integrate legacy telephony such as analogue lines, lift phones, or paging systems, and route calls in ways Operator Connect does not support. Direct Routing is the right choice for businesses with existing carrier contracts worth keeping, high call volumes where per-minute rates matter, multi-site requirements, or legacy equipment that cannot move to the cloud.
A practical rule of thumb: if you are starting fresh and want simplicity, choose Operator Connect. If you have an existing SIP trunk with competitive rates, complex call flows, or legacy integration needs, Direct Routing usually wins on flexibility and total cost. Some businesses run both — Operator Connect for most staff and Direct Routing for a contact centre or a site with special requirements. For a technical guide to Direct Routing specifically, see our Teams Direct Routing guide.
What you need to run Microsoft Teams Voice in Australia
There are four requirements, and most Australian businesses already have the first one:
- A Microsoft 365 licence that includes Teams. Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium, or any Enterprise licence qualifies — Teams itself is included.
- A Microsoft Teams Phone licence. This is the add-on that unlocks PSTN calling, priced at approximately $11 per user per month. It is included in Microsoft 365 E5, so businesses on E5 need nothing extra.
- A PSTN connection. Either Operator Connect through a certified carrier, or Direct Routing through an SBC and SIP provider, as described above.
- A phone number. Either ported from your existing provider, or a new number assigned by the carrier. Every user who makes or receives external calls needs a number; shared numbers handle reception and hunt groups.
Beyond the licences, a successful deployment needs configuration work: auto attendants, call queues, emergency calling addresses, caller ID policies, and user assignment. That is typically delivered as a fixed-price implementation project rather than left to internal IT to figure out.
Number porting — keeping your existing numbers
Australian businesses can port their existing phone numbers to Teams Voice — direct dial-in numbers (DDIs), hunting groups, and main business lines. Your customers keep dialling the numbers they know; nothing changes from their side.
The porting process is managed by the carrier (for Operator Connect) or the SIP provider (for Direct Routing), coordinated by the IT partner implementing Teams Voice. The typical porting timeline in Australia is two to four weeks from application to cutover, depending on the losing carrier and the complexity of the number range. Simple single-number ports are faster; large DDI ranges with multiple services attached take longer.
The most common porting delays come from paperwork mismatches — the account name or ACN on the porting form not exactly matching the losing carrier's records — and from numbers bundled with other services such as fax lines or EFTPOS that must be separated first. An experienced implementation partner audits the existing bill before lodging anything, so surprises surface early rather than the week before cutover.
Mycelium 365 manages the full porting process — including any interactions with the existing carrier — so your team is not stuck translating between telco paperwork and Teams configuration.
Teams Voice call quality — what affects it and how to optimise it
Teams Voice call quality is determined by network quality — specifically the latency, packet loss, and jitter on the internet connection between the user and the Microsoft network. Microsoft publishes network quality thresholds for Teams calls: packet loss below 1%, latency below 100 milliseconds, and jitter below 30 milliseconds.
Australian businesses on standard NBN often experience acceptable call quality, particularly on business-grade fibre and fixed wireless services. The problems usually appear in three places: congested connections at peak times, Wi-Fi networks that were designed for web browsing rather than real-time voice, and home internet connections shared with streaming and other household traffic.
Businesses with higher call volumes, multiple sites, or staff working from home benefit from QoS (Quality of Service) configuration on the router, which prioritises Teams Voice traffic over less time-sensitive traffic such as file downloads and cloud backups. Mycelium 365 configures QoS as part of every Teams Voice implementation, and validates call quality with synthetic testing before and after cutover.
Because call quality depends so heavily on the underlying connection, the internet service itself matters. Teams Voice call quality depends on your internet connection — see managed business internet for how a monitored, business-grade connection removes the most common cause of poor calls.
Replacing your PBX with Microsoft Teams Voice
The migration process is deliberately low-risk. Teams Voice is configured in parallel with the existing PBX — auto attendants, call queues, and user settings are built and tested while the old system keeps running. Numbers are then ported in a single cutover window, typically overnight or on a weekend, and the PBX is decommissioned once all users are confirmed live on Teams.
Staff need minimal training. Teams calling works the same way as the Teams video meetings they already use — the only difference is dialling a phone number instead of a colleague's name. Most users are comfortable within a day, and the mobile app means their desk phone number finally follows them.
Auto attendants (IVR menus) and call queues (hunt groups) are recreated in Teams — often with more capability than the legacy PBX provided. Time-based routing (different menus after hours), voicemail transcription to email, call analytics, and native call recording are all standard configuration rather than expensive PBX add-on modules.
The old PBX handsets are the one visible change. Most businesses retire them entirely — staff use headsets with their laptops or the Teams mobile app — though Teams-certified desk phones remain available for reception and common areas.
How much does Microsoft Teams Voice cost in Australia?
There are five cost components:
- Microsoft 365 licence — which most businesses are already paying for email and Office.
- Teams Phone add-on — approximately $11 per user per month (included in E5).
- PSTN call charges — billed by the carrier per minute, or included in a call plan with bundled minutes. Australian local and national calls are typically unmetered on call plans; mobile and international calls are rated.
- Implementation — a one-time, fixed-price project covering configuration, porting coordination, testing, and training.
- Ongoing management — user changes, call flow updates, and carrier liaison. Teams Voice management is included in the Modern Workplace package.
For a 20-user business moving from a hosted PBX, the maths usually works out well: the hosted PBX lines, per-user handset rental, maintenance contract, and separate phone bill are replaced by a modest licence add-on and a carrier plan. Most businesses pay less in total than their existing phone system within 12 months — and gain a platform that also replaces separate video conferencing and internal chat tools.
For an accurate quote covering implementation, number porting, and managed Teams Voice, see Mycelium 365's Microsoft Teams Voice service.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Microsoft Teams Voice?
Microsoft Teams Voice (also called Microsoft Teams Phone) enables Teams to make and receive real PSTN calls — to mobile phones, landlines, and any phone number — not just Teams-to-Teams calls. It replaces a traditional PBX or hosted phone system, turning Teams into a complete unified communications platform for Australian businesses.
How does Microsoft Teams Voice connect to the phone network in Australia?
Teams Voice connects to the PSTN via either Operator Connect (Microsoft-certified carriers like Telstra or Optus, configured entirely in the Teams admin centre) or Direct Routing (any SIP carrier connected to Teams via a Session Border Controller). Operator Connect is simpler; Direct Routing is more flexible and often cheaper for businesses with existing SIP trunk agreements.
Can Australian businesses keep their phone numbers when moving to Teams Voice?
Yes — existing Australian phone numbers (DDIs, hunting groups, main business lines) can be ported to Teams Voice. Number porting typically takes two to four weeks from application to cutover. Mycelium 365 manages the full porting process including coordination with the existing carrier.
How much does Microsoft Teams Voice cost for an Australian business?
Key costs: Microsoft Teams Phone licence (~$11/user/month), PSTN call charges (billed by carrier), one-time implementation cost, and ongoing management (included in Mycelium 365's Microsoft 365 managed packages from $95/user/month). Most businesses pay less in total than their existing hosted PBX within 12 months.