VoIP • Microsoft Teams

Turn Microsoft Teams into your business phone system in South Africa

Teams Phone adds real calling to the app your team already uses. Here is how it connects to the phone network, what it actually costs in Rand, and when a standalone Cloud PBX is the smarter buy.

Last verified 26 June 2026 By the WhichVoIP editorial team 8 min read

$10 / userTeams Phone Standard licence

3 waysTo connect to the phone network

Keep your numbersPort existing SA numbers in

$10 / userTeams Phone Standard licence (USD list)

The short answer

Can Microsoft Teams work as a business phone system in South Africa?

Yes. With Teams Phone enabled, Teams becomes a full business phone system: real numbers, inbound and outbound calls, queues and an auto-attendant. You connect it to the public phone network three ways: a Microsoft Calling Plan, Direct Routing through a local SA provider, or Operator Connect. Direct Routing is usually cheapest for South African numbers and call rates.

$ Teams Phone Standard / user / mo

$ with a Calling Plan / user / mo

Ways to reach the phone network

R all-in via Direct Routing / user

South African office team on Teams calls with headsets — Teams Phone turns the app your staff already use into the company switchboard, with no separate softphone to learn.

What is Microsoft Teams Phone?

Teams Phone is the add-on that gives Microsoft Teams real telephone calling, not just internal chat and meetings.

Out of the box, Teams handles messaging, video and internal calls. Teams Phone adds the PBX layer on top: a real phone number per user, the ability to call and receive calls from any external landline or mobile, plus business features like auto-attendants, call queues, hold, transfer and voicemail. In other words, it turns Teams into your switchboard. What it does not include by default is the connection to the public phone network: that is a separate choice, and it is where most of the cost and the South-Africa-specific decisions live.

How Teams connects to the phone network

There are three ways to give Teams a dial tone. The one you pick decides your call rates and who you phone when something breaks.

Calling Plans

Numbers fromMicrosoft
SetupFastest
SA call ratesHigher
Best forQuick global rollouts

Most used in SA

Direct Routing

Numbers fromLocal SA provider
SetupProvider-managed
SA call ratesLowest
Best forSA businesses, local rates

Operator Connect

Numbers fromPre-integrated carrier
SetupFew clicks in admin
SA call ratesCarrier-dependent
Best forSimplicity without Calling Plans

How Teams reaches the public phone network

Operator Connect vs Direct Routing: who runs what

Both routes give Teams real South African numbers. The difference is who owns the box in the middle, and who you phone when calls fail.

	Operator Connect	Direct Routing
Session border controller (SBC)	Run by the operator. You deploy nothing.	A Microsoft-certified SBC is required: your own, or one your provider hosts for you.
Getting numbers	Buy new numbers or port existing ones through the operator, then assign them to users in the Teams admin centre.	Issued or ported by your voice provider and routed through the SBC.
Who can offer it	Only operators Microsoft has certified for Operator Connect.	Any provider running a certified SBC, which widens the choice of local carriers.
When calls fail	Shared support: Microsoft for Teams, the operator for phone-network faults, number provisioning and porting.	Your SBC vendor or hosting provider first. Microsoft may decline cases that involve a non-certified SBC.
Licence	Teams Phone per user, with users in Teams Only mode.	Teams Phone per user. Not supported in Islands mode.

You do not have to pick one route for the whole company. Microsoft supports Direct Routing alongside Operator Connect and Calling Plans in the same Teams tenant, so most staff can sit on one route while a legacy PBX or a contact-centre platform stays on Direct Routing.

Which to ask for: if the carrier you want is certified for Operator Connect and you want the fewest moving parts, Operator Connect is the simpler contract. If you want a particular local provider’s rates or features and it is not certified, hosted Direct Routing gives you the same Teams experience with that provider carrying the calls. Either way, ask anyone quoting you which of the two they are selling and who holds the SBC.

Source: Microsoft Learn planning guides for Operator Connect (updated 24 August 2026) and Direct Routing (updated 10 September 2026).

What does Teams Phone cost in South Africa?

Teams Phone pricing has layers, which is what makes it confusing to budget. Here is the honest breakdown.

The licence options

Licence	Price / user / mo	What you get
Teams Phone Standard	$10 (USD list)	PBX features (auto-attendant, queues, voicemail, transfer). No call minutes.
Teams Phone with pay-as-you-go calling	$13 (USD list)	Teams Phone Standard plus metered, pay-as-you-go outbound minutes billed by Microsoft. Suits low outbound volume.
Teams Phone with Calling Plan	$17 (USD list)	PBX features plus a bundle of domestic minutes. SA mobile rates tend to run higher than local providers.
Direct Routing (Standard + local)	$10 licence + local provider calling	Teams Phone Standard plus a local provider’s PSTN connectivity and inclusive minutes. Usually the cheapest for SA calling.

All of the above sit on top of your existing Microsoft 365 subscription, which you already pay per user, depending on your plan. So the real question is rarely “Teams Phone or nothing” but “Teams Phone added to what we already pay Microsoft, versus a standalone Cloud PBX.”

Worked comparison: a 20-user office

Line item	Teams Phone + Direct Routing	Standalone Cloud PBX
Microsoft 365 licence	Already paying	Not required for calls
Phone-system licence	Teams Phone $10/user (USD list)	Included in seat
PSTN / call minutes	Local provider, quoted per user	Included or per-minute
Typical all-in / user	Licence + calling, on top of your Microsoft 365 seat	R49–R79 per extension (11 providers), plus calls
Best when	Teams is already your hub	You want the lowest call stack

Watch-out: the Teams Phone seat looks cheap on its own, but it is an add-on. Always price it on top of the Microsoft 365 licence you already pay, then compare the total against an all-in Cloud PBX seat before you decide.

If your team already lives in Teams all day, the phone system that disappears into the app they use is worth a premium. If it does not, you are paying for that convenience twice.

WhichVoIP editorial view

Teams Phone or a standalone Cloud PBX?

Both are good systems. The right one depends on how central Teams already is to your day.

✓

Teams Phone makes sense when your team already runs on Microsoft 365 and Teams, you want one app for chat, meetings and calls, and your staff are hybrid or remote. The phone system effectively disappears into software they already open every morning.

A standalone Cloud PBX is the better choice when call volume is high and you want the lowest per-minute stack, you need advanced call-centre features (wallboards, detailed queue analytics), or much of your team is not on Microsoft 365 and would not use Teams anyway.

How to set it up in South Africa

Confirm your Microsoft 365 planCheck it supports the Teams Phone add-on; most business and enterprise plans do.

Add Teams Phone Standard licencesOne per user who needs to make and take external calls.

Choose your connectionDirect Routing through a local SA provider for the best local rates, or Operator Connect for fewer moving parts.

Port your numbersYour provider moves your existing geographic and mobile numbers across so nothing changes for callers.

Roll out and testPilot with one team, check call quality on your connection, then enable the rest.

Person on a Microsoft Teams voice call with a headset and laptop dial pad — Direct Routing keeps the familiar Teams dial pad while a local provider carries the calls at South African rates.

The bottom line

Microsoft Teams is a genuinely capable business phone system in South Africa once you add Teams Phone and connect it to the network, ideally through Direct Routing with a local provider for the best call rates. It shines when your team already lives in Teams. If your priority is the lowest possible calling cost or heavy call-centre features, a standalone Cloud PBX usually wins on price and depth. Price both as a total, not by the headline seat fee.

Our recommendation: if you are already on Microsoft 365, get a Direct Routing quote from a local provider and compare the all-in total against two Cloud PBX seats before committing.

Compare Teams-ready VoIP providers in South Africa

Get matched with local providers that offer Teams Direct Routing and compare real per-user quotes side by side. You can also compare VoIP providers first.

Get VoIP quotes for Teams Cloud PBX vs VoIP

Frequently asked questions

Can I make external phone calls in Microsoft Teams?

Yes, once Teams Phone is enabled and connected to the public network through a Microsoft Calling Plan, Direct Routing with a local provider, or Operator Connect. Without one of those, Teams only handles internal and online calls.

Can I keep my existing phone numbers?

Yes. Your geographic and mobile numbers can be ported across to Teams Phone, usually by the local provider handling your Direct Routing, so nothing changes for the people calling you.

How much does Microsoft Teams Phone cost in South Africa?

Budget $10 (USD list) per user per month for the Teams Phone Standard licence, on top of your Microsoft 365 subscription, plus calling. Via Direct Routing you add a local provider’s calling charges, so get a written quote for your user count.

What is Direct Routing vs Operator Connect?

Direct Routing connects your own South African voice provider to Teams, which usually gives the best local rates. Operator Connect is a pre-integrated carrier you pick in the Teams admin centre for fewer moving parts. Both give Teams real numbers.

Do I need special desk phones?

No. Most users just use the Teams app on their laptop or mobile with a headset. Certified Teams desk phones exist if you want a physical handset, but they are optional.

What about call quality?

Call quality depends on your internet connection. On a stable business line Teams calls are clear; on Direct Routing the local provider’s network also plays a part, which is one reason a local connection often beats a Microsoft Calling Plan for SA calls.

Do I need a separate phone system if I use Microsoft Teams?

No. With Teams Phone enabled, Teams is the phone system. You only need a voice provider or Calling Plan to carry calls to and from the public phone network.

Keep reading

Cloud PBX vs VoIP: what’s the difference? How much does Cloud PBX cost in SA?

Sources: Microsoft, Teams Phone plans and Calling Plans (microsoft.com / Microsoft Learn); pricing cross-checked against CloudTalk Teams Phone pricing guide 2026. Teams prices are Microsoft’s USD list prices; the Cloud PBX range is our published per-extension band. Verified 26 June 2026 against microsoft.com Teams Phone plans and pricing.