MS Teams Admin - Add a Resource Account
In Microsoft Teams, a Resource Account is required for each Teams Auto Attendant or Teams Call Queue, as the Resource Account is what gives the Auto Attendant / Call Queue a username in O365 / Teams as well as phone numbers (if needed).
Prerequisites / Important Notes
This document is intended for Office 365 Commercial environments. Office 365 GCC High may not have the same features.
For the user adding the Resource Account in O365 / Teams, they must have Global Administrator privileges or higher.
If the Call Queue / Auto Attendant the Resource Account will be associated with requires a dial-in number / DID to be assigned to it or needs the ability to transfer to external numbers (ex., any option in the Auto Attendant or Call Queue that will be routed to an external number), a "Microsoft 365 Phone System - Resource Account" license is required.
To get the Virtual User license, in the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Billing > Purchase services > Add-on subscriptions and scroll to the end - you will see Phone System - Resource Account license. Select Buy Now. There is zero cost, but you must follow these steps to acquire the license.
If the Call Queue / Auto Attendant the Resource Account will be associated with is only going to be accessed through an option from an Auto Attendant or a timeout from a Call Queue, it only needs a Resource Account (no Virtual User license required).
Ensure a DID is available in Connect for the Resource Account
Create a resource account
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In the Teams admin center, expand "Voice" and then click Resource accounts.
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Click Add.
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In the Add resource account page, fill out the Display name, Username, and Resource account type. The resource account type can be either Auto attendant or Call queue, depending on how you intend to use this resource account.
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Click Save.
Assign a license
For each resource account, you must assign a Microsoft 365 Phone System - Resource Account license.
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In the Microsoft 365 admin center, navigate to Active Users and click the resource account to which you want to assign a license.
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On the Licenses and Apps tab, under Licenses, select Microsoft 365 Phone System - Resource Account.
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Click Save changes.
Depending on your licenses, you may need to assign the Phone System - Resource Account under "Apps," which is below Licenses.
Assign a Phone Number / DID
Phone numbers / DIDs are assigned to Resource Accounts through Connect, just like with Teams users.
1. log in to CallTower Connect (connect.calltower.com)
2. Navigate to Menu > Administration > Corporate Administration > Direct Routing Teams > Resource Numbers (or click the Magnifying Glass icon on the left-hand side of Connect and search "Resource Numbers").
3. Once on the Microsoft Teams Resource Numbers page, click on the DID field to the right of the Resource Account, which should provide you with a dropdown arrow; clicking on this arrow will show you all of the Available /Unassigned Teams DIDs your company owns that can be assigned to the Resource Account.
You may need to scroll down through the list to find the number you want to assign, or you can type the number / DID in the search field just above the list in the dropdown menu to find it. Once you have identified the number you want to assign to the Resource Account, click on the number, then click "Save" in the bottom left.
If the Auto Attendant or Call Queue you have associated / will be associating the Resource Account with will have options to transfer or default /time out to an external number (a number that is not within your Teams environment), you will want to go to the "Dial External" column and click on the X to the right of the Resource Account so that it changes to a check-mark, then click Save; this means your Auto Attendant / Call Queue will be able to route calls out to external numbers, as this function is not enabled by default.
If you do not see the Resource Account you want to assign a phone number to list, you can click on the "Update from Microsoft / Re-Sync" button in the upper right; provided the Resource Account is provisioned correctly in O365, this button should update the Resource Numbers list and pull the Resource Account over (this may be necessary if the Resource Account was just newly created).
Once a phone number is assigned to a Resource Account, it can sometimes take between 24-48 hours for the number to start working. This is due to provisioning on the Microsoft side; however, the number can also start working as early as a few moments to a few minutes; it again depends on Microsoft provisioning.
NOTE: You can only perform one action at a time on a single Resource Account. Wait for the performed action to complete before you do another one.