Being connected is more important than ever as COVID-19 expands and more faculty, staff, and students work remotely. Setting up conference calls for clients and coworkers is made simple by Microsoft Teams.
You may host a conference call whenever you want, thanks to the Microsoft Teams feature called Audio Conferencing. The Microsoft Teams conference offers enterprises dependable tools for collaboration and communication through desktop, web, and mobile applications.
Participants do not need to download Microsoft Teams to participate in a conference call; they can do so by simply dialing the number.
How to Set Up Audio Conferences in Microsoft Teams
To create a successful Microsoft teams conference call you have to follow the steps given below:
Step 1. Check to see if audio conferencing is offered in your nation or region:
Visit the Nation and Region Availability for Audio Conferencing and Calling Plans page and choose your nation or region to learn more about the Phone System, Calling Plans, toll and toll-free numbers, and Communications Credits as well as whether Audio Conferencing is available there.
Step 2. Obtain and distribute licenses:
A license is required for any user who plans to book audio conferencing meetings through dial-in. To find out which Audio Conferencing licenses you need to buy and how much they will cost, see Microsoft Teams add-on licensing.
You must assign the Audio Conferencing licenses to those employees in your company who will plan or direct meetings after you purchase them. For additional information, The employees in your organization who will plan or oversee meetings should be given user licenses for Microsoft 365 or Office 365 for business.
Additionally, we advise you to provide the same individuals who already have Communications Credits licenses (which are free) a license for Communications Credits.
Step 3. For your conferencing bridges, obtain service numbers:
You must obtain service numbers instead of using user phone numbers for audio conferencing. Both toll- and toll-free service numbers are available for your conferencing bridges. Three methods exist for obtaining toll and toll-free service numbers:
1. Using Microsoft Teams’ administration area – You can obtain service numbers for your conferencing bridges in some nations/regions using the Microsoft Teams admin center.
2. Transfer your current phone or service numbers to Microsoft 365 or Office 365 from your current service provider. To learn more about how to do this, visit Manage phone numbers for your company or Transfer phone numbers to Teams.
3. For new numbers, fill out a request form – You may occasionally not be able to receive your new service numbers through the Microsoft Teams admin portal, or you may require certain phone numbers or area codes based on your country or region. In that case, you must download a form and return it to Microsoft Teams.
Step 4. The conferencing bridge should be given a service number:
You must assign the toll and/or toll-free phone numbers for your conferencing bridge before you can use them on meeting invitations once you have them.
Follow these instructions to give your audio conferencing bridge a new phone number. Using Microsoft Teams’ administration area: Navigate to Voice > Phone numbers from the Home; Click Assign after selecting the phone number.
Step 5. Set the conferencing bridge’s default and backup languages:
The next step is to set the languages that the audio conferencing auto attendant will use to welcome callers when they dial a phone number for audio conferencing in Microsoft Teams.
Using Microsoft Teams’ administrative center:
Access Conference bridges under Meetings from the Home; After selecting the conferencing bridge phone number and clicking Edit, pick the default language.
Step 6. Set your conferencing bridge settings:
Verify that the default options, such as entry/exit notifications and PIN length, are what you want to use after configuring your conferencing bridge. If not, you can adjust them.
Using Microsoft Teams’ administrative center: Access Conference bridges under Meetings from the Home; Adjust the Bridge parameters. The Bridge settings pane will open as a result.
Step 7. Give users who run meetings dial-in phone numbers:
Refer to Microsoft Teams’ Set the phone numbers that appear on invitations. The provided phone numbers may not appear on your meeting invitation for up to 24 hours.
You can also configure phone numbers by including them in the Teams Audio conferencing policy and distributing them to your users. Phone numbers provided individually by users in the audio conferencing options tab are superseded by toll and toll-free numbers added to the policy.
The user-specified phone number entered into each user’s audio conferencing settings tab will be shown in Microsoft Teams meeting requests if no phone numbers are added to the Teams audio conferencing policy.
Step 8. Set up meeting invitations (optional):
When meeting invites are issued to attendees, the dial-in numbers that the user specifies will automatically be included. But if you’d like, you can also include your own text message, legal and support links, and small business logo. Visit Personalize meeting invitations.
Conclusion
Meetings can be set up by any faculty or staff member using the dial-in audio conferencing tools. A Teams meeting can be accessed from a phone by anyone with the dial-in number and Phone Conference ID.
When the Teams app, your browser, or a broad connecting line cannot connect you to a Teams meeting, dial-in audio conferencing is an alternative option that is accessible. You can be charged for long-distance calls. It’s not the cheapest choice to set up audio conferences with Microsoft Teams.
However, it is a safe, dependable, and accessible platform that offers sufficient documentation to help you navigate all of its various licensing problems and edge cases.