MS Teams General Admin - CallTower Implementation
Getting Started
WELCOME TO THE CALLTOWER FAMILY! To get started with your Implementation, you will want to prepare your network and users for a successful Microsoft Teams implementation. We rely on the CallTower Connect platform to automate the roll out of Microsoft Teams. For Direct Routing Customers, CallTower Connect will build the Direct Routing Link and assign phone numbers to your users. For Operator Connect Customers, CallTower Connect will synchronize your emergency locations and upload numbers into those locations. For Direct Routing customers CallTower Connect utilizes a service account with Domain Name Administrator, User Administrator,Teams Administrator and Skype for Business Administrator Roles to build the Direct Routing Link to CallTower's SBC's, Once the initial configuration is complete Domain Name Administrator and User Administrator Roles can be removed and it will continue to manage phone numbers for user accounts and resource accounts. This is automatically included for our CSP Microsoft licensing customers on either Direct Routing or Operator Connect.
There are a few required steps you will need to take to prepare your network for Microsoft Teams. The following guide will help you determine which changes may be needed on your firewall and network configuration for the best possible experience when using Teams for voice. It will also provide an overview of troubleshooting tools in the Teams Admin Portal. Please provide your Networking and Administration teams with these links as soon as possible.
Please pay close attention to the network requirements sections and corresponding links:
Training & Setup Resources:
Customers are required to train their users and admins for Microsoft Teams. Microsoft provides some free online training which should be utilized by all your IT team members. CallTower also provides training options for end users under some conditions (user minimums are required, please ask your project manager for more information).
Microsoft Admin Training Resources:
- Getting started with admin training for Microsoft Teams
- Upgrade to Microsoft Teams
- Manage Team Collaboration with Microsoft Teams
CallTower Training Resources:
IMPORTANT: Microsoft Teams utilizes Skype for Business Online features from Office 365 to enable all enterprise voice features in Teams, including Inbound and Outbound PSTN Calling via Direct Routing or Operator Connect. Customers must complete any on-premises hybrid configurations and move their users to “Teams Only” mode prior to configuring Direct Routing or Operator Connect. Professional Services are available to give guidance on your Skype for Business on-premises migration (this is billed per hour after a signed Statement of Work).
Migrating Users from On-Premise to Teams Links:
Tenant Configuration:
CallTower will provide setup of Direct Routing: porting numbers to Microsoft Teams, configuring our Session Border Controllers (SBC), and configuring your tenant for Direct Routing using the provided Admin Service Account (which includes both configuring the trunk and provisioning of numbers in CallTower’s systems). If no service account is provided, the customer is responsible for assigning numbers and configuring all settings within their tenant and some PowerShell experience will be needed.
CallTower will provide setup of Operator Connect: porting numbers to Microsoft Teams, populating numbers within the Teams Admin Center. There is no service account required for Operator Connect. However, assignment of numbers to users would be done in the Teams Admin Center by a Teams Admin or Global Admin on the tenant. The first step it to grant Consent for CallTower to provide service via Operator Connect.
DNS and domain changes may be required. While CallTower will provide guidance for applying these changes, customers may need to make those required changes on their DNS infrastructure.
Teams Auto Attendant and Call Queue setup is available for all our Direct Routing and Operator Connect customers. Our Microsoft licensing customers will enjoy ongoing support of those configurations including moves, adds, changes, etc. There will be an additional service fee for these changes. For customers who do not get licensing through our CSP, additional professional services can be acquired for any required changes in the future. for Both Direct Routing and Operator Connect customers a Teams Admin account will be needed to perform these services.
Teams Number Assignment for Operator Connect customers. Service to assign numbers to users is available, During Implementation we can do this in bulk and only require a Teams Admin account to perform those actions. Our CSP customers additionally will enjoy being able to request this service from our Support Team after implementation has completed.
Non-Standard configurations options that may incur additional professional service fees include peer to peer extension dialing, Device Configuration Profiles, advanced network consulting, Office 365 / Email migration, consolidation of multiple domains, splitting a single domain, and migrations from on-premises Skype for Business servers.
User Configuration:
All Teams users and endpoints must have one of the following licenses:
Microsoft 365 Business plan and Microsoft Teams Phone Standard
Office E1 or E3 plan and Microsoft Teams Phone Standard
Microsoft E3 plan and Microsoft Teams Phone Standard
Office/Microsoft E5 plans (includes Microsoft Teams Phone Standard)
Auto Attendant and Call Queues need a Microsoft Teams Phone Standard - Virtual User
Common Area phones can use the Common Area Phone license
Conference room phones can use the Common Area Phone license or Teams Rooms Basic/Pro
Teams Room Systems require Teams Rooms Basic or Teams Rooms Pro
Once the proper license has been applied to the user, CallTower Connect will be able to assign numbers and call routing to the accounts. For Operator Connect you'll be able to assign the numbers directly to the users in the Teams Admin Center.
Support:
Operator Connect support is available for PSTN related issues including: Microsoft SBC Connectivity, Call Quality, Call Completion, Service Outages. Operator Connect customers will generally be able to Contact either Microsoft or CallTower to resolve issues with Operator Connect services.
Direct Routing support is available for PSTN related issues, resource accounts and inbound/outbound calling for all numbers associated with users. CallTower will support issues with voice quality or call completion caused by the PSTN or by CallTower’s infrastructure.
Additionally, if you are one of our Microsoft Licensing customers, we will provide support for all Microsoft services which are licensed through CallTower, including Teams client, Teams Admin Center and other Office 365 and Microsoft 365 services. We also provide support for engaging with Microsoft or with hardware vendors for devices purchased through CallTower.
For Direct Routing and Operator Connect customers who have opted out of Microsoft Licensing through CallTower, we do not provide support for the Teams application, phone issues (other than hardware under warranty), Office 365, Teams Phone System Features, Call Queues, Auto Attendants, and voice quality issues related to Microsoft or the customers' network.