Microsoft Teams has become the default workspace for millions of businesses. Meetings, messaging, file sharing: it handles the collaboration layer well. But when it comes to business telephony, Teams alone often leaves significant gaps: limited routing, uneven reliability, and licensing costs that rise as your organization grows. Sangoma Microsoft Teams Integration is designed to fill these gaps by adding PBX-level voice capabilities to the Teams environment your staff already uses every day.

Why Microsoft Teams alone may not be enough for business telephony

Microsoft offers its own phone solution through Teams Calling Plans, but most businesses with real voice requirements turn to third-party providers. According to a Cavell Group study, more than 90% of Teams users with telephony rely on external providers for calling services rather than Microsoft’s native option.

The gaps appear at several levels.

  • Call routing in Teams is relatively basic: hunt groups, call groups, and granular routing rules that most businesses consider standard in a PBX are either absent or limited.
  • On reliability, Microsoft updated the Teams Phone SLA to 99.999% in April 2024 (source), but this guarantee covers only Microsoft’s infrastructure. It does not protect against local Internet outages, ISP failures, or site-level disruptions—and Teams has no native call survivability mechanism to keep calls running when any of these events occur.
  • If Teams goes down, calls stop because there is no native call survivability.

Add licensing complexity to the mix, and it becomes clear why most businesses with real telephony requirements seek a third-party solution to sit behind Teams and handle the load.

How Sangoma integrates with Microsoft Teams

Sangoma offers two distinct integration methods: the Embedded App approach and Direct Routing. The right choice depends on the Sangoma platform your organization uses and the extent to which Teams is involved in your daily calling workflow.

Embedded App Integration

Sangoma offers two embedded app options. TeamHub for MS Teams is supported on Sangoma’s Business Voice and CommUnity platforms. Users get Sangoma calling, chat, SMS, and contact center features directly in Teams through the TeamHub interface, without needing a Microsoft Phone System license. The TeamHub Talk dial pad appears in Teams, so calls are made and received from the same window your staff already has open.

Sangoma Phone for MS Teams is for organizations using Switchvox as their PBX, offering the same integrated calling experience and keeping users in Teams while routing calls through their existing infrastructure. For more details on the features available through either embedded option, see the Sangoma Microsoft Teams Integration page.

Direct Routing

Direct Routing connects the native Teams dial pad to Sangoma’s infrastructure through certified session border controllers, enabling PSTN calls through the standard Teams calling interface. Users dial from Teams as they always have, while Sangoma manages call routing, reliability, and control in the background. Direct Routing is supported across all Sangoma platforms: Business Voice, CommUnity, and Switchvox, making it available regardless of your organization’s current phone stack.

A session border controller (SBC) is a dedicated device located at the boundary between the Sangoma network and Microsoft infrastructure. It manages call signaling, enforces security policies, and ensures that voice traffic is translated correctly between the two environments. Microsoft requires a certified SBC for all Direct Routing deployments, which is why this route involves more configuration than the integrated application options. It also requires a Microsoft Phone System license per user, because the native Teams dial pad needs this license to handle external PSTN calls. The integrated application paths (TeamHub for MS Teams and Sangoma Phone for MS Teams) bypass this requirement entirely because calls go through the Sangoma interface rather than the native Teams dial pad.

What are the benefits of integrating Sangoma with MS Teams?

Before discussing the individual benefits, it is useful to understand how the two integration paths differ in cost. TeamHub for MS Teams and Sangoma Phone for MS Teams are included at no extra charge with Sangoma UCaaS seats, with no Microsoft Phone System license required. Direct Routing uses the native Teams dial pad but requires a Microsoft Phone System license and connector configuration. For a detailed comparison of the two paths, Sangoma’s post on supercharging Microsoft Teams with Sangoma UCaaS explains the trade-offs.

Advanced call control that Teams cannot provide on its own

Teams Calling Plans have become more competitive; Microsoft currently offers them at about $17 per user per month, so cost is no longer the advantage of third-party providers. Sangoma’s real advantage lies in call management capabilities that Teams does not offer natively.

Sangoma adds call groups, queues, advanced routing rules, call recording, and granular administration controls that go well beyond what Teams offers out of the box. For organizations with multi-site setups or complex inbound call flows, the difference between native Teams call management and Sangoma’s PBX-level routing is significant. Business Voice Plus (BV+) also adds high-availability on-premises support for organizations that need a local backup layer in addition to cloud redundancy.

No retraining for existing MS Teams users

The Integrated Application and Direct Routing methods keep staff in the Teams interface. With the integrated application path, Sangoma calling features appear in the Teams sidebar: the calling dial pad, call history, and voicemail are available without opening another application. With Direct Routing, users make calls from the Teams dial pad they already know.

Call reliability and continuity

Microsoft now matches the industry’s 99.999% SLA for Teams Phone, but an SLA covers only the provider’s cloud infrastructure—not the entire call path. If a site loses Internet connectivity, an ISP experiences a regional outage, or Microsoft’s service itself goes down, Teams offers no built-in mechanism to keep calls going.

Sangoma builds call continuity into the integration itself. If Teams experiences an outage, calls continue through the Sangoma softphone or mobile client, so users can keep working without waiting for Microsoft’s infrastructure to recover. For organizations with on-premises requirements, BV+ provides a local survivability layer that keeps the site operational even when Teams and the cloud are unavailable.

A complete unified communications suite beyond voice

Sangoma integration adds capabilities that Teams does not provide natively: SMS with business numbers via registered 10DLC campaigns, contact center tools via Sangoma CX, AI features including call summaries and a knowledge bot, as well as the full TeamHub collaboration suite TeamHub collaboration suite. Teams handles video conferencing well, and that remains in place. Sangoma layers voice and unified communications capabilities unified communications capabilities that Teams does not cover, rather than duplicating what already works.

Flexible deployment in any business environment

Both integration paths, Integrated Application and Direct Routing, are designed to work in SMBs, large enterprises, remote teams, and multi-site organizations. Sangoma scales to match the size and structure of the business without requiring a fixed deployment model. SMBs often start with TeamHub for MS Teams for its rapid deployment and low license cost; larger or more IT-oriented organizations generally choose Direct Routing for the additional control it provides over routing and call plan configuration.

Full preservation of existing PBX infrastructure

Organizations using Switchvox do not need to replace their PBX to integrate Teams. Direct Routing layers Teams onto the existing Switchvox infrastructure, and Sangoma Phone for MS Teams brings the Switchvox calling experience into the Teams sidebar. Each approach preserves the investment already made in PBX hardware and configuration while extending Teams access to users who want it.

Simplified operations through a single provider

Managing voice, UCaaS, networking, and Teams integration through separate providers creates support gaps and contractual overhead. Sangoma covers all these layers: cloud voice, UCaaS, Teams integration, and network infrastructure, from a single platform. One provider, one support contact, and consistent service across the stack reduce the operational scope that IT teams need to manage.

How Sangoma supports your deployment

The deployment experience varies depending on the integration path. TeamHub for MS Teams and Sangoma Phone for MS Teams are designed for rapid deployment: users install the app from the Microsoft Teams App Store, sign in with their Sangoma credentials, and calling features are available immediately. No complex infrastructure configuration is required, and IT effort is minimal.

Direct Routing involves more configuration: setting up a certified SBC, provisioning a Microsoft Phone System license, and connecting routing rules between Teams and the Sangoma platform. The Sangoma team guides the process end to end, from initial configuration through testing and launch, so organizations do not manage the technical integration alone.

Ready to add complete business voice to Microsoft Teams?

Sangoma integration adds the calling infrastructure, reliability, and UC capabilities that transform Teams into a complete business phone system. Whether the right path is the integrated TeamHub app or Direct Routing depends on your existing setup and how deeply Teams is involved in your voice workflow.

To explore which integration model suits your organization, visit the Sangoma Microsoft Teams Integration page or book a discovery call with the Sangoma team.

FAQ about Sangoma Microsoft Teams integration

Do I need a Microsoft Teams Phone System license to use Sangoma?

It depends on the integration path chosen. TeamHub for MS Teams and Sangoma Phone for MS Teams do not require a Microsoft Phone System license: calling features work through the integrated Sangoma app, included at no extra charge with your Sangoma UCaaS seat. Direct Routing requires a Microsoft Phone System license because it connects the Sangoma infrastructure to the native Teams dial pad.

Can I keep my existing PBX when integrating Sangoma with Microsoft Teams?

Yes. If you use Switchvox, Sangoma Phone for MS Teams and Direct Routing work with your current PBX. Direct Routing overlays Teams on your current infrastructure without replacing it, and Sangoma Phone for MS Teams exposes Switchvox calling features in the Teams sidebar.

What calling features do we gain that Microsoft Teams does not provide?

Sangoma adds call groups, queues, advanced routing, call recording, granular administration controls, SMS with business numbers, contact center tools through Sangoma CX, and AI features including call summaries. It also offers 99,999% availability and call continuity during Teams outages, two areas where native Teams telephony falls short.

Will my team have to learn a new interface?

No. Both integration paths keep staff in Teams. The integrated app adds a Sangoma calling tab to the Teams sidebar; Direct Routing uses the Teams dial pad your staff already know. No new software or changes to daily workflows are required.

How does Sangoma improve reliability compared with native Teams telephony?

Sangoma and Microsoft now both offer a 99,999% SLA for telephony, but an SLA only covers the provider’s cloud infrastructure.

Will this work if we have remote, hybrid, or multi-site teams?

Yes. Both integration paths are designed to support distributed organizations. The integrated app and Direct Routing work over standard Internet connections, and the Sangoma mobile client ensures continuity for remote and hybrid teams. Multi-site organizations can also use Sangoma’s SIP trunk to extend reliable PSTN access across sites.