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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:
We finally have the answers to these questions:
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:
NOTE Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing is included with the Office 365 E5 and Microsoft 365 E5 base plans. Therefore, you would not add Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing with Dial-Out to USA/CAN to those plans. |
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.
Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing can be added to any base plan that includes MS Teams, including, but not limited to:
NOTE Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing is included with the Office 365 E5 and Microsoft 365 E5 base plans. |
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.
NOTE You can purchase both the Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing with Dial-Out to USA/CAN and Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing products, and assign the licenses to your users based on their requirements. |
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:
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.
NOTE Microsoft does not allow mid-term quantity reductions or cancellations. Depending on the renewal date of your Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing licenses, you may need to finish the term before you can cancel the subscription or reduce the quantity. |