Ctelo Voice for Teams            
Alternative · Teams Phone

Shared Calling

A single service number and calling capability shared by many users — the Microsoft-native way to give Teams Phone to teams that don't need individual DIDs.

Shared Calling is configured with a mix of Teams Admin Center and PowerShell. The policy itself is PowerShell-driven today; use the toggle to reveal the exact commands.

Concept

Instead of assigning every user their own DID, Shared Calling attaches a single service number to a resource account and grants a routing policy to a group of users. Members of that group can make and receive PSTN calls using the shared number as their identity — with Teams Phone licensed as normal per user.

Setup order
  1. Step 1
    Provision a service number
    Ctelo Voice delivers a service DID via Direct Routing.
  2. Step 2
    Create a resource account
    Standard disabled Entra ID account with the free Virtual User SKU.
  3. Step 3
    Assign the number to the resource account
    In Teams Admin Center → Voice → Phone numbers, or with Set-CsPhoneNumberAssignment.
  4. Step 4
    Create the Shared Calling policy
    Defines the resource account to share and the emergency-calling behaviour.
  5. Step 5
    Assign the policy to a user group
    Grant to a Microsoft 365 group — new members inherit shared calling automatically.
  6. Step 6
    Confirm per-user emergency addresses
    Each user still needs a valid emergency location for 911/112 compliance.
Steps 1–3 live in the Teams Admin Center. Steps 4–5 are PowerShell today. Emergency addresses are per user in TAC.
Ideal for
  • Frontline / retail / site-based teams
  • Cost optimisation — no per-user DID
  • Users who mostly receive calls via a queue or attendant
  • Meeting-room or shift-worker scenarios
Trade-offs
  • Outbound caller ID is the shared service number
  • Per-user emergency addresses are still required
  • Group size limits apply — check current Microsoft caps
  • No individual DID means direct inbound calls need routing via AA / queue
Per-user DIDs vs. Shared Calling
Per-user DID
Each user has their own number and outbound CLI. Best when direct reachability matters — sales, support, exec.
Shared Calling
One number for many users. Fewer numbers to license and manage; inbound flows through an AA or queue. Ideal for frontline scale.