Making and Receiving Calls in Microsoft Teams: A Quick Guide

Microsoft Teams Calling: How to start making and receiving calls

If we’ve set up Microsoft Teams calling for your business, here’s a quick guide to the basics: configuring your call settings, and the different ways to start a call.

For the full picture of what we set up and manage as part of your Teams calling service — including phone numbers, call routing, and voicemail — see our Microsoft Teams Calling page.

Setting up your call preferences

Most of the core configuration — phone numbers, calling plans, and call routing — is handled by us as part of setup. There’s also a level of personal configuration available to each user.

In Teams, go to Settings > Calls. From here you can set:

  • How incoming calls are handled, including forwarding to a colleague
  • What happens if you don’t answer, and how long before it redirects
  • Voicemail preferences and greetings
  • Ringtones for different call types

If you need someone else to make or receive calls on your behalf — for example while you’re away — this is configured under Settings > General > Delegation.

Ways to start a call

Teams gives you several ways to start a call, useful once you know where to look:

  • From a chat. Open a one-to-one or group chat and select the call icon. These calls stay private and don’t appear in your team channels.
  • From your contacts. Go to the Calls section, select Contacts, and call directly from your list.
  • From call history. Your previous calls — incoming, outgoing, and missed — are listed under Calls, with the option to call straight back.
  • From the dial pad. If your business has a calling plan set up (which we configure as part of your Teams calling service), you can dial any number directly from the Calls section.
  • From speed dial. Add your most frequent contacts to speed dial for one-tap calling.

Need help with your Teams calling setup?

If you’re having trouble with call quality, configuration, or want to add features like auto-attendants and call queues, get in touch — this is handled as part of your managed support contract.

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