Overview

This article covers the changes Microsoft has made to their Audio Conferencing products for MS Teams, and how the changes affect you as an Evolve IP customer.

In the fall of 2021, Microsoft announced that starting in March 2022 they would be including audio conferencing for free with any base plan that includes Microsoft Teams. 

However, at that time, Microsoft did not provide any specifics on how that would work, which lead to some questions:

• Would audio conferencing be included with the base plans automatically?
• Would the existing Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing product be reduced from $4.00 to $0.00?
• Would there be a brand new product to replace Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing?

We finally have the answers to these questions:

• Audio conferencing will not be included automatically with the base plans that include MS Teams.
• The existing Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing product is being reduced from $4.00 to $2.50, not $0.00.
• A new $0.00 product SKU has been released by Microsoft called, Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing with Dial-Out to USA/CAN.

Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing with Dial-Out to USA/CAN

Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing with Dial-Out to USA/CAN is a new $0.00 add-on product SKU from Microsoft that provides the following features for free:

• Unlimited toll dial-in minutes. Toll-free dial-in is not included.

• 60 dial-out minutes per user, per month, pooled at the tenant level.

• The 60 dial-out minutes support dialing phone numbers in the United States and Canada only.

• The dial-out minutes cannot be used to dial the other Zone A countries that are included with the existing Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing product.

Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing with Dial-Out to USA/CAN can be added to any base plan that includes MS Teams, including, but not limited to:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard, and Premium
• Office 365 F3, E1, and E3
• Microsoft 365 F1, F3, and E3

Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing

Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing is the existing per user, per month, add-on product SKU from Microsoft that provides the following features for $2.50:

• Unlimited toll dial-in minutes. Toll-free dial-in is not included.

• 60 dial-out minutes per user, per month, pooled at the tenant level.

• The 60 dial-out minutes can be used to dial any Zone A country.

Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing can be added to any base plan that includes MS Teams, including, but not limited to:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard, and Premium
• Office 365 F3, E1, and E3
• Microsoft 365 F1, F3, and E3

Which Audio Conferencing Product Should I Purchase?

If your users host Teams meetings with people in the US and Canada only, you should purchase the free Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing with Dial-Out to USA/CAN product.

If your users host Teams meetings with people outside the US and Canada, you should purchase Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing for $2.50.

How to Get the Free Audio Conferencing Licenses

If you want to add, or switch over to, the new Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing with Dial-Out to USA/CAN product, you will need to get licenses added to your 365 tenant.

There are 2 ways to do this:

• You can get licenses directly from Microsoft in the M365 Admin Center
• You can request Evolve IP add the licenses to your tenant

After you have the licenses in your tenant, you can assign those licenses to your user accounts.  If you have user accounts assigned to the Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing license, you will need to switch them to the Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing with Dial-Out to USA/CAN license.