Hello Readers, hope you’re well.

Another really quick post for you.  There was a Tech Community post today regarding updates to Auto Attendants and Call Queues.

The updates introduce new capabilities, including;

  1. Centralized holiday tables that can be reused across apps. You will find it under Org wide settings
  2. You can assign Direct Routing numbers to Auto Attendants and Call Queues (as of today DR with AA/CQ support Teams users only)
  3. You can assign a hybrid number to AA/CQ (currently in preview)
  4. You can assign Multiple numbers to an auto attendant or call queue
  5. Round Robin routing option is introduced in call queues

They also list some new features coming soon:

  1. Transfer out to PSTN from auto attendant and call queues
  2. Extension dialing from auto attendant
  3. Voicemail shared mailbox for auto attendant and call queues

This update comes just a few days after the control panels for AA & CQ moved from the Skype for Business Admin Centre to the Teams Admin Centre.  See my recent post here.

The focus of this post is the ability to use telephone numbers from your Direct Routing setup for your Teams Auto Attendants and Call Queues.

What do you need?

  • You need to have Direct Routing set up using your own SBC or using a Direct Routing service from a DRaaS provider.
  • You need an unused telephone number
  • You need a Resource Account (licensed with E1 and Phone System… for now*)
  • You need an Auto Attendant or Call Queue

You can set up a new Resource Account using the Teams Admin Centre or using PowerShell.

From TAC, expand Org-wide settings -> Click Resource Accounts -> New Account

new resource account 1

This opens the new resource account form.  Give it a Display Name, User name and choose a domain.  Then decide if it will be used for an Auto Attendant or Call Queue.

new resource account

If you want to do this using PowerShell, run the following

New-CsOnlineApplicationInstance -UserPrincipalName ra-drnum@ucstatus.com -DisplayName “Resource Account – DR Num” -ApplicationId “ce933385-9390-45d1-9512-c8d228074e07”

 

ApplicationId “ce933385-9390-45d1-9512-c8d228074e07” is the same as choosing Auto Attendant in the TAC.  If you want to use it for a Call Queue, the ApplicationID is “11cd3e2e-fccb-42ad-ad00-878b93575e07”.

One you have created your Resource Account, it should display in the TAC

new resource account 2

You’ll also need to assign this Resource Account an E1 and Phone System add-on license because you’re assigning it a number.  Microsoft did initioally say that they were working on a new license type for Resource Accounts that needed telephone numbers.  I had assumed it would have a charge.

They also announced this:

  • …You will need to use a user-based licensing temporarily until an app cost-free license model is available (work in progress)

For the next bit, I’ll assume you have an Auto Attendant.  I’ll do another post on the creation of an AA.

Now assign your Resource Account to the Auto Attendant you created.

assign Resource Account to AA

Now you need to assign your telephone number.  Since Office 365 isn’t aware of your on-premises number range, you need to do this next bit using PowerShell.  Run the following.

Set-CsOnlineApplicationInstance -Identity ra-drnum@ucstatus.com -OnpremPhoneNumber +442077891234

Assign a DR Number to Resource Account

Shortly after, you should see your Resource Account in the TAC, with your phone number

see number assigned in TAC

That’s all folks!


UpdateI’m getting a lot of reports from people that they’re unable to route calls to their Auto Attendant or Call Queue that uses the resource account with the direct routing phone number.  They say that they get a “404 not found” in their SBC traces.

Like many other problems with Teams admin, the solution, it seems, is time.  If you get this, just wait a while and it should start working.  This could be as little as 30 minutes or as much as several hours.

The moral of the story is, if it doesn’t work, wait a while and try again.

If this has happened to you, please leave a comment with an estimate of the time it took to start working.  Of if you have a different experience, please let us know.  We’d love to hear your story.

Thanks


 

Hope that was useful.  Stay tuned for more.