Plan Operator Connect for India
Operator Connect for India is another option for providing Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) connectivity with Teams Phone. Operator Connect for India has been designed to address the telephony regulatory issues specific to India.
This article describes benefits and requirements. For a list of operators participating in the Microsoft Operator Connect Program and the countries or regions where their service is available, see the Operator Connect directory.
After reading this article, you'll also want to read:
- Configure Operator Connect for India
- Plan and configure Location-Based Routing for Operator Connect for India
- Configure network settings for Location-Based Routing
With Operator Connect for India:
You'll need to acquire the appropriate license from a licensed telecom operator in India (that is, your carrier). This requirement must be met whether or not you have an existing Teams Phone license. For example, if you have a phone license included with an E5 license, you'll still need to purchase a license from your India operator.
Support for Other Service Provider (OSP) with international telephone numbers is pending. (OSP deployments are typically used for call centers.)
If you decide Operator Connect for India is the right solution for your organization, after reading this article, see Configure Operator Connect for India. The configuration article describes how to collaborate with your operator, and how to use the Teams admin center and PowerShell to deploy and configure Operator Connect for India.
For more information about Teams voice solutions and PSTN connectivity options, see Plan your Teams voice solution and PSTN connectivity options.
Benefits
With Operator Connect for India, if your existing telecom operator is a participant in the Microsoft Operator Connect Program, they'll provide your PSTN calling through Teams Phone. If your existing operator isn't a participant in the Microsoft Operator Connect Program, check the Operator Connect directory to find an operator in India.
The Operator Connect program provides the following benefits:
Leverage existing contracts, or find a new operator. You keep your preferred operator and contracts, or choose a new one from a selection of participating operators to meet your business needs.
Operator-managed infrastructure. Your operator manages the PSTN calling services and Session Border Controllers (SBCs), allowing you to save on hardware purchase and management.
Faster, easier deployment. You can quickly connect to your operator and assign phone numbers to users-–all from the Teams admin center.
Enhanced support and reliability. Your operator provides technical support and shared service level agreements to improve support service, while direct peering powered by Azure creates a one-to-one network connection for enhanced reliability.
Ability to assign wired numbers to Teams users. For more information, see Plan and configure Location-Based Routing for India.
Licensing and requirements
To enable phone number assignments with Operator Connect for India, make sure your users are:
Assigned the appropriate license. You'll acquire the appropriate license from your operator in India for each user located in India. To learn more, see What is Teams Phone? and Assign Teams add-on licenses to users.
In TeamsOnly mode. The user located in India must be in TeamsOnly mode, but your entire organization doesn't. To learn more, see Understand Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business coexistence and interoperability.
Support boundaries
For technical support, contact the customer support of your operator first. If needed, your operator can escalate your support case directly to Microsoft engineering through shared support channels.