Microsoft Teams Phone in Australia costs significantly more than the headline add-on price suggests. This guide breaks down every licensing layer you need to pay for, the real per-minute and per-user costs of calling plans versus Direct Routing, and the hidden expenses that most articles and MSPs never mention. By the end, you will have a clear picture of what a 10-seat Teams Phone setup actually costs in Australia and when a dedicated business phone company is the smarter call.
There is a persistent belief in the small business market that if you already pay for Microsoft 365, adding phone calls to Teams is almost free. It is not. Teams Phone involves stacking multiple licensing tiers, choosing a calling architecture, and absorbing several costs that Microsoft's own documentation buries. Australian businesses face additional wrinkles: Microsoft's Calling Plans have limited domestic rate packages here, number porting to Microsoft is slow and complex, and the PSTN copper shutdown means the timing matters more than ever.
Prices cited in this guide are AUD and reflect published Microsoft and provider rates as of early 2026. Microsoft licensing prices change periodically. Always verify current pricing at Microsoft's AU pricing page before committing.
The Licensing Stack: What You Are Actually Paying For
Teams Phone is not a single product with a single price. It is an assembly of three distinct licensing layers. You need all three for a user to make and receive real phone calls through Teams.
Microsoft 365 and Teams Phone pricing changes regularly, and Australian prices often differ from the US figures cited in most online guides. The per-user cost comparison in this guide is accurate as of mid-2026, but verify current prices at Microsoft's Australian pricing page before committing. More importantly: the cost comparison with a standalone cloud phone system is worth running before you commit, because the incremental cost can be higher than expected once Teams Phone licensing, PSTN connectivity, setup and support are included.
A common misconception is that Teams Phone is nearly free if you already pay for Microsoft 365. Your existing Microsoft 365 Business subscription covers Teams for meetings and chat, but not external phone calls. To make and receive real calls through Teams, you need to add the Teams Phone Standard licence (AU$15.00 per user per month, paid yearly, ex GST) and a calling plan or Direct Routing connection on top of that. The incremental per-user cost depends on the chosen Operator Connect or Direct Routing provider, call usage, shared infrastructure, setup and support charges; obtain an itemised Australian quote.
Layer 1: Microsoft 365 Base Licence
Every user who needs Teams Phone must have an eligible Teams licence, either standalone or included in a qualifying Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription. The most common tiers for small business in Australia are:
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic with Teams: AU$10.50/user/month, paid yearly, excluding GST at the time of review. Includes Teams, Exchange Online (email), SharePoint, and OneDrive. Does not include desktop Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint installed locally). Sufficient for Teams Phone from a licensing standpoint.
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Teams: AU$21.00/user/month, paid yearly, excluding GST at the time of review. Adds desktop Office apps, webinars, and Bookings. Most SMBs who need the Office apps land here.
- Microsoft 365 Business Premium with Teams: AU$32.90/user/month, paid yearly, excluding GST at the time of review. Adds advanced security (Defender for Business, Intune). Relevant for regulated industries or businesses with stricter security requirements.
If your team is already on Microsoft 365 for email and Office apps, you are already paying Layer 1. But if you are evaluating Teams Phone from scratch, this is your baseline cost before phone calls exist.
Layer 2: Teams Phone Standard Add-On
Microsoft 365 Business plans include Teams for meetings and chat, but they do not include the PBX features needed to connect to the public phone network. For that, you need the Teams Phone Standard add-on, priced at AU$15.00/user/month excluding GST on an annual commitment (verify current pricing at Microsoft's AU site, and note monthly billing typically costs more).
What Teams Phone Standard gives you:
- Cloud-based PBX features: auto-attendants, call queues, voicemail, hold music
- The ability to connect a calling plan or Direct Routing provider
- Emergency calling configuration
What it does not give you:
- Actual phone calls to external numbers. That is Layer 3.
This is where many businesses get a surprise. They pay for Teams Phone Standard thinking they are done, then discover they still cannot call a customer's mobile or landline without adding a calling plan.
Layer 3: The Calling Architecture (Calling Plan or Direct Routing)
Layer 3 is where the real cost and complexity decisions happen. For Australian deployments, compare Microsoft's own calling bundles (Option A), Operator Connect and Direct Routing, and check Microsoft's operator directory for any current Teams Phone Mobile availability.
Option A: Microsoft Calling Plans
Microsoft Calling Plans are Microsoft's own-brand PSTN connectivity product: you buy the calling plan directly from Microsoft and Microsoft handles the carrier relationship. The claim repeated across most online guides, and by AI-generated answers, is that Australians cannot buy them. That is wrong, and it is worth understanding exactly why the confusion exists, because it changes what you should budget.
What Microsoft actually sells Australians. Microsoft's Australian storefront prices these in AUD, per user per month, paid yearly on an auto-renewing annual subscription, excluding GST (read 8 September 2026):
- Microsoft Teams Phone Standard, AU$15.00. The calling-capable licence with no calling plan attached. On its own it cannot reach the public phone network.
- Teams Phone with pay-as-you-go calling (country zone 2), AU$19.50. Includes Teams Phone Standard plus a phone number with metered outbound minutes.
- Teams Phone with domestic calling (country zone 2), AU$32.90. Includes Teams Phone Standard plus a phone number with 1,200 outbound domestic minutes.
- Teams Phone with domestic and international calling, AU$50.90. Includes 1,200 outbound domestic or 600 outbound international minutes.
Watch the minute allowance, because most guides quote the wrong one. Microsoft publishes 3,000 domestic minutes for the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, and 1,200 for the rest of the world. The Australian storefront lists 1,200 outbound domestic minutes for the domestic-calling bundle, not the 3,000 that applies in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.
Where the "not available in Australia" claim comes from. Microsoft's country availability reference page for Australia still answers "Calling Plans are available to purchase?" with a flat No, and lists minutes for Calling Plans as "Not applicable" (read 8 September 2026). Each bundle on the pricing page carries the qualifier "Teams Phone with Calling Plan is available in specific markets." That reference page describes the older standalone Calling Plan add-ons, the ones you bolted onto a Teams Phone Standard licence, and Microsoft genuinely does not sell those here. The current products are sold as Teams Phone bundled with calling under the country zone structure, and those do transact in Australian dollars through Microsoft's own purchase flow, with GST applied at the Payment and Billing step.
Check the right field before you budget. If you want certainty for your own tenant, the determinant is not your billing address. Microsoft states that the country or region is based on the location of the user's licence in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Active Users, and explicitly not the billing address listed under Organization Profile. Confirm against the licence location you actually use.
Two limits are real whichever route you pick. Microsoft does not offer toll or toll-free service numbers in Australia, service numbers here can only be used for Audio Conferencing, and 1300 and 1800 numbers cannot be ported to Microsoft. If your main inbound line is a 1300 number, that alone rules out Microsoft-supplied numbering and points you at Operator Connect or Direct Routing, both priced below.
Option B: Direct Routing
Direct Routing connects Teams Phone to PSTN trunks through a Microsoft-certified SBC using supported firmware; confirm carrier, SBC and configuration compatibility before deployment. Instead of buying minutes from Microsoft, you buy them from an Australian business phone company, routed through an SBC into your Teams environment.
Why businesses choose Direct Routing:
- Access to competitive Australian VOIP carrier rates (typically lower than Microsoft's Calling Plan pricing)
- Potential to keep numbers with the existing carrier where that carrier supports or interoperates with the selected Direct Routing arrangement.
- More control over call routing, codec selection, and failover
- 1300/1800 number support is easier to manage through local carriers
What Direct Routing actually costs:
Direct Routing costs are less obvious because they combine several components:
- SBC hardware or managed service: If you run your own SBC (e.g. AudioCodes, Ribbon, Oracle), expect appliance or software licensing, hosting, configuration, certificate and ongoing administration costs, plus an IT resource to configure and maintain it. This is not a small business option. Managed SBC pricing varies by provider, call capacity, features and support scope; obtain an itemised quote for the proposed deployment. Some VOIP carriers bundle SBC as a managed service.
- VOIP carrier costs: Line rental plus call rates from an Australian phone line provider. Carrier charges vary by provider and can include number rental, trunks or channels, bundled calls and usage rates. Use the provider's current Australian rate card and an actual call-volume model. Volume plans can reduce these significantly.
- Microsoft Teams Phone Standard add-on still required: AU$15.00 per user per month ex GST, on top of Direct Routing costs.
Whether Direct Routing is cheaper depends on call concurrency and volume, carrier pricing, SBC delivery, support costs and existing infrastructure; there is no universal seat-count break-even point.
Option C: Operator Connect
Operator Connect is a middle-ground option. Certified Australian carriers connect directly to Microsoft's network infrastructure, so you get competitive carrier pricing without needing to manage your own SBC. The carrier handles the SBC component on their end.
Operator Connect providers certified in Australia include:
- Telstra
- Optus
- A growing list of smaller certified carriers
Operator Connect simplifies the architecture compared to self-managed Direct Routing, but you are still locked into a Microsoft Teams ecosystem and still paying the Teams Phone Standard add-on per user. Pricing varies by carrier. Operator Connect pricing and minimum commitments vary by carrier; obtain a quote for the actual seat count and calling requirements.
Hidden Costs Most Articles Do Not Mention
The base licensing stack (M365 + Teams Phone Standard + calling plan) is the visible cost. Here is what does not make the headline numbers:
Meeting Room Licensing
A shared meeting device needs its own Teams Rooms licence rather than a per-user Microsoft 365 licence. Teams Rooms Basic is free for up to 25 rooms on a certified device, but it does not include Teams Phone Standard, so on its own it will not give that room a phone number. Teams Rooms Pro is AU$59.90 per room per month excluding GST, paid yearly, and does include Teams Phone Standard. A shared phone in a common area is licensed differently again, through Teams Shared Space rather than Teams Rooms. Each physical meeting room requires its own licence. Three Teams Rooms Basic licences can cost $0, subject to the 25-room limit and certified-device requirement; three Teams Rooms Pro licences currently total AU$179.70/month, paid yearly, excluding GST.
Desk Phone Hardware
Teams-certified desk phones (Yealink MP series, Poly CCX series, AudioCodes C450HD (an end-of-sale native Teams model superseded by newer AudioCodes Teams phones such as the C455HD)) cost significantly more than equivalent standard SIP phones. A Teams-certified desk phone typically runs $300-$600+ per unit in Australia, Standard SIP phone pricing and compatibility vary; confirm that the exact model and firmware are supported and can be provisioned by the receiving provider. The ecosystem lock-in has a hardware cost attached to it.
Alternatively, businesses can use Teams as a softphone on laptops and mobiles (with the Teams app), or add USB headsets for call centre-style use. This avoids desk-phone hardware costs; users can take calls through supported Teams desktop and mobile clients.
Number Porting Fees and Complexity
For Microsoft's own bundles, Operator Connect or Direct Routing, obtain the gaining provider's written estimate; ACMA says individual local-number ports generally take 8-15 days and complex ports can take up to 30 days. During that window, businesses typically need to maintain their existing service, meaning they are paying for two phone services simultaneously. The existing provider may impose contract, early-termination or other migration charges; confirm these in writing before starting the port. Microsoft also does not support porting of 1300 numbers into Calling Plans.
Emergency Calling Configuration
Australian emergency-call handling depends on the selected carrier and PSTN architecture. Confirm the carrier's 000 routing and address process, configure any required Direct Routing policies, and test the documented procedure. For Direct Routing, configure emergency call-routing policies and ensure the carrier/SBC route handles 000 correctly. Microsoft documents dynamic location-based emergency routing for Direct Routing only in the United States and Canada; confirm the Australian carrier's emergency-address and routing process. Misconfigured or untested emergency calling (000) is a compliance risk and a safety risk. Allow setup time and, if using an MSP, confirm they have tested it explicitly.
MSP Margin and Setup Fees
Many Australian businesses deploy Teams Phone through a Managed Service Provider. MSP commercial arrangements and service charges vary. Ask for an itemised quote and a like-for-like comparison with other PSTN and cloud-phone options. Setup and migration fees vary by provider and scope; request a written quote covering configuration, number migration, testing, training and ongoing support. Ongoing management adds another layer. Not all MSPs explain the full cost picture upfront.
1300 Number Limitations
Microsoft Calling Plans do not support 1300 or 1800 numbers in Australia. If your business uses a 1300 number as its main inbound line, you cannot port that number to a Microsoft Calling Plan. You will need to either keep a separate VOIP service for 1300 handling and forward calls to Teams, or use Direct Routing or Operator Connect with a carrier that supports 1300. This is a significant gap for Australian SMBs where 1300 numbers are common as the customer-facing number.
| Plan/Tier | Monthly Cost (AUD, ex GST) | |
|---|---|---|
| M365 base licence | Business Basic (Teams included) | AU$10.50 |
| M365 base licence | Business Standard | AU$21.00 |
| M365 base licence | Business Premium | AU$32.90 |
| Teams Phone Standard add-on | Required for all users (cloud PBX features) | AU$15.00 |
| Calling Plan - metered | Teams Phone with pay-as-you-go calling (country zone 2), metered outbound minutes | AU$19.50 |
| Calling Plan - domestic | Teams Phone with domestic calling (country zone 2), 1,200 outbound domestic minutes | AU$32.90 |
| Direct Routing SBC | Session Border Controller (self-hosted or provider-managed) | Quote required |
| Direct Routing VOIP carrier | Published example: Caznet Direct Routing channel (one concurrent call, unlimited Australian calls, April 2026) | $45.41 per channel ($49.95 inc GST) |
| Operator Connect | Certified AU carrier (per user, unlimited local/national) | $18.00 ex GST (Telstra) |
Microsoft publishes Australian list prices directly in AUD. The quoted prices exclude GST and may depend on annual commitment; verify them before purchase. Check Microsoft's Australian pricing page for current rates before budgeting. Direct Routing and Operator Connect costs vary significantly by carrier and volume.
Total Cost Comparison: 10-Seat Teams Phone vs 10-Seat cloud phone system
Here is a cost model for a 10-person business. It assumes the business already has Microsoft 365 Business Standard licences for productivity, so Teams Phone cost is the incremental cost on top of existing M365 spend. All Microsoft figures are per user per month, paid yearly, excluding GST, read from Microsoft's Australian pricing page on 8 September 2026. Every figure below is from a primary source; where no price is published, this guide says so rather than estimating one.
Scenario A: 10 seats on Teams Phone via Operator Connect (Telstra)
- Teams Phone Standard licence: $15.00 x 10 = $150/month
- Telstra Operator Connect individual line: $18.00 ex GST x 10 = $180/month ($19.80 including GST, which is the figure Telstra's Critical Information Summary shows)
- Setup and porting, amortised over 12 months: varies by partner and is not published; get it quoted
- Total incremental licence and line cost: $330/month ex GST
Scenario B: 10 seats on Microsoft's own advertised calling bundle
- Teams Phone with domestic calling: $32.90 x 10 = $329/month ex GST, and this includes the Teams Phone Standard licence
- This bundle includes 1,200 outbound domestic minutes per user per month, not unlimited calling. Confirm it adds to your cart against the licence location in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Active Users, which is the field Microsoft uses to determine availability.
Scenarios A and B land within a dollar of each other at 10 seats, which is the genuinely useful finding. Buying calling from Microsoft and buying it from Telstra through Operator Connect cost effectively the same. So the decision is not about price. It is about who you want to be able to call when the phones stop working, and whether 1,200 included minutes per user covers your real call volume.
Scenario C: 10 seats on Teams Phone via Direct Routing
- Teams Phone Standard licence: $15.00 x 10 = $150/month
- A Microsoft-certified Session Border Controller, self-hosted or provider-hosted, plus one or more SIP trunks. Some Australian providers publish pricing and others quote case by case. For example, Caznet's April 2026 Critical Information Summary lists Direct Routing at $49.95 including GST per channel (about $45.41 ex GST), one concurrent call per channel, with unlimited local, national, mobile, 13, 1300 and 1800 calls to Australian numbers included. Channels are bought per concurrent call rather than per user, so the carrier cost depends on how many people are on calls at once. Vocus, Comms Group and Pure IP all offer it; get two written quotes.
- Total: $150/month in Microsoft licensing, plus the carrier's channel charges
Scenario D: 10 seats on a specialist Australian cloud phone system
- Per-user plans from Australian providers we track run roughly $9.95 to $29.95 per user per month, so $100 to $300/month for 10 seats depending on whether calls are included
- 1300 and 1800 availability, porting and charges vary by specialist provider; obtain an itemised quote.
- Setup, onboarding and porting fees vary by provider and scope; request a written quote.
Hardware is excluded from all four scenarios. Teams-certified handsets are materially more expensive than standard SIP desk phones, and that gap is covered in the hardware section above.
The honest summary: at 10 seats, Teams Phone lands around $330/month before hardware and before any calling costs Direct Routing would add, against roughly $100 to $300/month for a specialist Australian provider that also handles 1300 numbers. Teams Phone earns that premium when the business genuinely lives in Teams all day. It does not earn it on price.
When Teams Phone Makes Sense vs When It Does Not
Teams Phone is worth the cost when:
- Your team is already deeply embedded in Microsoft 365 and spends most of their day in Teams
- Your quoted Direct Routing economics are favourable after accounting for channels, usage, SBC delivery, setup and support; seat count alone does not establish the break-even point.
- You need advanced PBX features tightly integrated with Microsoft ecosystem (contact centre, CRM integration via Dynamics, complex call routing)
- You have an IT team or MSP who can manage the configuration and ongoing compliance
- You are not relying on a 1300 number as your primary inbound line
A dedicated business phone company is usually better when:
- You have 1-20 seats and are primarily looking for cost-effective calls
- You have or want a 1300 number as your main customer-facing line
- Your team does not live in Teams day-to-day (you use Teams for video meetings but not as a work hub)
- You want simpler setup, faster porting, and a single provider to call when something goes wrong
- Budget is a primary concern and you cannot absorb the Microsoft licensing layers
The pattern that plays out regularly: an SMB pays for Teams, then discovers Teams Phone requires additional licensing, then discovers the Calling Plan does not support their 1300 number, then ends up paying for both Teams Phone and a separate VOIP service. Two monthly bills, two admin burdens, no integration benefit. This is avoidable with the right information upfront.
For more on the VOIP side of this decision, see our VOIP cost guide for Australian businesses and our cloud phone system vs on-premise comparison.
Australian-Specific Realities for Teams Phone
NBN and call quality: Teams Phone calls run over your internet connection. NBN quality matters. On an NBN HFC or FTTP connection with adequate upload speed (Plan bandwidth for the number of concurrent calls and other network traffic; Microsoft recommends about 100 kbps up and down per Teams Phone device, while latency, jitter and packet loss also materially affect call quality.), Teams Phone call quality is generally acceptable. On older NBN technologies or connections with high jitter and packet loss, call quality degrades. Teams uses adaptive codecs that can compensate to a degree, but a poor NBN connection will produce poor call quality regardless of which phone system you use.
Number porting to Microsoft is slow: Australian PSTN number porting to Microsoft's Calling Plan infrastructure is handled through Microsoft's carrier agreements, which involve additional intermediaries compared to porting between local VOIP carriers. Australian local-number porting timeframes vary by complexity; ACMA says individual local ports generally take 8-15 days and complex ports can take up to 30 days. Plan for this if you are moving an existing business number.
Most fixed-line services in NBN fixed-line rollout areas have migrated away from legacy PSTN delivery, but Australia did not complete a nationwide copper PSTN shutdown in 2025; copper voice and copper-based access remain in some areas. Many Australian business phone services now use IP-based infrastructure, but legacy copper PSTN voice services remain in some areas. This means the underlying technology argument between VOIP and traditional phones is resolved. The question is which VOIP infrastructure you use and who controls it.
ACMA and Australian number regulations: Australian phone number regulations (ACMA's Numbering Plan) apply to Teams Phone deployments. If you are using Australian geographic numbers or 1300/1800 numbers, standard ACMA rules apply to porting, geographic number assignment, and usage. Teams Phone deployments that use Direct Routing or Operator Connect with Australian carriers operate under the same regulatory framework as any VOIP deployment.
For a deeper look at Teams Phone calling architecture decisions, see our Teams Direct Routing vs Calling Plans comparison. For a broader overview of Teams Phone as a platform, see our Microsoft Teams Phone System guide for Australia.
What Most Businesses Get Wrong with Teams Phone Pricing
Mistake 1: Assuming Teams Phone is nearly free if you already pay for Microsoft 365. The Teams Phone Standard add-on (AU$15.00/user/month ex GST) plus PSTN connectivity is at least $33/user/month on top of your existing Microsoft 365 licence, using Telstra Operator Connect at $18.00 ex GST per line. For a 10-seat team, that is $330/month ex GST in additional licence and line spend before hardware, setup, or 1300 number considerations. It is not free. It is not even close to free.
Mistake 2: Not checking 1300 support before committing. Microsoft Calling Plans do not support 1300 numbers in Australia. If your business has a 1300 number, you discover this after paying for Teams Phone Standard and a Calling Plan licence. The workaround (keeping a separate carrier for 1300 with call forwarding into Teams) adds cost and complexity that defeats much of the simplicity argument for Teams Phone.
Mistake 3: Taking the MSP recommendation at face value. MSPs often resell Microsoft 365 licences and make margin on the stack. The incentive to recommend Teams Phone exists regardless of whether it is the right fit for a 5-seat business. Ask your MSP to provide a cost comparison with a dedicated business phone company before committing. If they cannot or will not, that tells you something.
Your Next Steps Before Committing to Teams Phone
Before signing up for Teams Phone, work through this checklist:
- Check your 1300 situation. Do you have or want a 1300 number? If yes, confirm with Microsoft or your provider how it will be handled. Do not assume.
- Count your actual users. Teams Phone Standard is per user. Only count users who actually need to make and receive external phone calls, not everyone on your Microsoft 365 licence.
- Get a written cost breakdown. Ask your provider or MSP to itemise: base M365 licence, Teams Phone Standard per user, calling plan per user, any SBC fees if using Direct Routing, setup fees, hardware if applicable. Total monthly and annual figures.
- Model your call volumes. If considering pay-as-you-go calling, estimate actual minutes per user per month based on current call history. Compare against flat plan pricing.
- Compare against a VOIP-only option. Get a quote from a specialist Australian business phone company for the same number of seats. Use our VOIP cost guide as a framework. The comparison often surprises people.
- Check your NBN connection quality. Run a quality test (not just a speed test) on your connection. High jitter or packet loss will cause call quality problems regardless of which phone system you choose.
- Ask about porting timelines. If you are moving an existing number, get the expected porting timeline in writing and plan your cutover accordingly.
- Get a free recommendation if you are not sure. Use our Get a Recommendation page to describe your setup and get a matched recommendation for your business size and call patterns.
For a comparison of the dedicated VOIP options available to Australian small businesses, which may undercut Teams Phone depending on seat count, call usage, number requirements, setup and support inclusions, see Best VOIP Phone System for Small Business Australia.
Once you have the cost picture clear, the natural next question is whether Teams Phone is the right choice at all. See Microsoft Teams Phone vs cloud phone system for a direct comparison of the two approaches for Australian SMBs.
Teams Phone licensing is generally per user, while concurrent-call capacity and channel requirements depend on the chosen Direct Routing or Operator Connect architecture and provider terms. Our Phone Lines Calculator helps you separate those two numbers before you lock in a plan.
Microsoft Teams Phone pricing is genuinely complex, per-user licences, calling plan tiers, domestic vs international minutes, and PSTN connectivity fees all interact. Our Phone Bill Translator cuts through the complexity and shows what you will actually pay per month based on your usage.
If you are weighing up Microsoft Teams Calling against alternatives, 3CX is one of the most commonly compared options, particularly for businesses that want more control over their phone system without enterprise-scale pricing. Our guide to Microsoft Teams vs 3CX breaks down the key differences in cost, features, and operational model for Australian businesses.
What is the total cost of Teams Phone for a 10-person business in Australia?
At Microsoft's current Australian list prices, the cheapest complete route for 10 people is about $329 per month excluding GST: Teams Phone with domestic calling at AU$32.90 per user per month, paid yearly, which already includes the Teams Phone Standard licence and 1,200 outbound domestic minutes per user. Buying the pieces separately through Telstra Operator Connect lands within a dollar of it: Teams Phone Standard at AU$15.00 per user plus $18.00 ex GST per line, so $330 per month for 10 seats. Direct Routing is $150 per month in Microsoft Teams Phone Standard licensing for 10 users, plus provider charges. Some Australian providers publish pricing and others quote case by case, so compare at least two itemised offers. All three figures exclude your existing Microsoft 365 base licences, hardware (Teams-certified desk phones cost $300-600 each), setup fees, and 1300 and 1800 handling, which is not available through Microsoft-supplied Australian numbering and must be arranged with a suitable Operator Connect or Direct Routing carrier. Verify current Microsoft pricing before budgeting, as it changes regularly.
Can I use my existing 1300 number with Microsoft Teams Phone?
No, Microsoft Calling Plans in Australia do not support 1300 or 1800 numbers. If your business has a 1300 number, you cannot port it into a Microsoft Calling Plan. Your options are: (1) use Direct Routing or Operator Connect with a certified Australian carrier that supports 1300 numbers, routing calls through an SBC into Teams; or (2) keep your 1300 number with a separate Australian business phone company and forward calls to your Teams number. Option 2 means paying for two services. This is one of the most common unexpected limitations Australian SMBs hit with Teams Phone.
What is the difference between Teams Phone Direct Routing and Operator Connect?
Both Direct Routing and Operator Connect let you connect Teams Phone to an Australian phone carrier instead of using Microsoft's own Calling Plans. Direct Routing requires a Session Border Controller (SBC), either hardware you manage yourself or a managed service you rent from a provider, to bridge your carrier's SIP trunk into Teams. Operator Connect uses carriers who have direct certified connections into Microsoft's network, eliminating the need for a customer-managed SBC. Operator Connect is simpler to deploy than self-managed Direct Routing. In Australia, Telstra and Optus offer Operator Connect. Pricing for both options varies by carrier and seat count. Both require a Teams Phone entitlement for each user, either included in an eligible licence or purchased as Teams Phone Standard.
How long does number porting to Microsoft Teams Phone take in Australia?
Australian local-number porting timeframes vary with complexity. ACMA says individual Australian local-number ports generally take 8 to 15 days, while more complex ports can take up to 30 days. Obtain a written estimate from the gaining carrier, whether that is Microsoft, an Operator Connect carrier or a Direct Routing carrier. During the porting window, businesses usually need to maintain their existing phone service, meaning you are paying two bills simultaneously. Plan your cutover timing carefully, especially if you have a well-known number. If porting timeline is a critical factor, Direct Routing or Operator Connect with a local Australian carrier typically offers faster porting.
Do I need Teams Phone Standard if I already have Microsoft 365?
Yes. Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard and Premium are available in variants with and without Teams. Only a variant containing Teams, or a separate eligible Teams licence, supplies the required Teams entitlement. These plans do not include the PBX features required to connect to the public phone network. A Teams Phone entitlement is required for each user who needs the phone-system features, unless it is already included in that user's licence. Microsoft currently lists Teams Phone Standard at AU$15/user/month, paid yearly, excluding GST; a separate eligible Teams licence is also required. Without it, Teams users can do video meetings and internal calls, but cannot call or receive calls from external phone numbers, mobiles, or landlines.
Is Teams Phone cheaper than a cloud phone system solution for a small Australian business?
Cost varies by provider, calling pattern, required integrations, hardware and support. Compare current itemised Operator Connect or Direct Routing quotes with like-for-like standalone cloud-phone quotes. Teams Phone requires stacking a Microsoft 365 base licence, Teams Phone Standard add-on (AU$15.00/user/month ex GST), and PSTN connectivity (Telstra Operator Connect $18.00 ex GST per line). Standalone cloud-phone pricing, call inclusions, 1300 handling, porting charges and timeframes, and handset requirements vary by provider and plan; compare current itemised quotes on a like-for-like basis. The cost gap narrows if your business already pays for Microsoft 365 for other reasons and you are only comparing the incremental phone cost. Teams Phone delivers clear value at larger seat counts or when deep Teams integration justifies the premium.
What happens to Teams calls if my NBN goes down?
Teams Phone calls rely entirely on your internet connection. Devices that depend solely on the failed NBN connection will lose cloud connectivity. Calls may remain available through a Teams mobile client using mobile data, Teams Phone Mobile, configured forwarding, a secondary internet link, or a compatible Survivable Branch Appliance, depending on the deployment. Mobile diversion and other failover options vary by provider and architecture; confirm whether failover is server-side, how it is triggered, and whether it carries an additional charge. Configure this before you need it. For businesses where call availability is critical, a mobile failover or secondary internet connection (4G backup) is worth the modest additional cost.
Not sure whether Teams Phone or a dedicated business phone company is right for your business? Describe your setup and we will match you with the right solution for your team size, call patterns, and budget.
Get a Free RecommendationIf after reading this you're not sure whether Teams Phone is worth it for your specific setup, the comparison comes down to two things: how many users need phone calling, and whether the Teams integration is genuinely useful for your workflow. Tell us those details and we'll give you a specific recommendation. We reply personally, usually within one business day.
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