Which licences do you need?
Calling is a separate layer on top of your plan.
Teams and Zoom are part of many subscriptions. Calling landline and mobile numbers usually isn’t. For that you need two things: a licence to make calls, and a connection to the phone network.
Map this out properly and you won’t pay twice, or buy something that’s already in your plan.
What do you need for Teams Phone?
Teams Phone Standard
An add-on to your Microsoft 365 plan, such as Business Basic, Business Premium or E3. Microsoft 365 E5 already includes Teams Phone, so you don’t buy it separately.
More about Teams Phone Standard →Calling Plan or your own operator
Get your numbers and minutes from Microsoft and you add a Calling Plan. Call through an operator (Operator Connect) or your own SBC (Direct Routing), and you pay the call costs to that party.
More about voice and connectivity →Shared devices
A phone at reception or in the canteen gets a Shared Space licence, a meeting room a Teams Rooms licence. Auto attendants and call queues run on a Resource Account licence.
More about shared devices →Note: in Europe, Microsoft also sells its suites without Teams. You then buy Teams separately, with Teams Phone on top. So check carefully which combination you have today.
What do you need for Zoom Phone?
Zoom Phone licence
Available on its own, or as part of a Zoom Workplace bundle. You choose between metered calling or a plan with unlimited calling within a region.
More about Zoom Phone licences →Zoom numbers or your own provider
Zoom provides numbers and calling minutes in many countries. Connect your own provider (BYOC) and you pay the call costs to that party.
More about voice and connectivity →Shared devices
For shared phones, such as at reception, there’s a separate licence per device. Meeting rooms get a Zoom Rooms licence.
More about shared devices →Five pitfalls we often see.
- Paying twiceTeams Phone bought separately, while it’s already in your E5 plan.
- Licences of former colleaguesAccounts of people who have left, still with a licence attached.
- A number for everyoneNot everyone needs their own number: a shared number or queue is often enough.
- Minutes that don’t fitAn unlimited plan for someone who hardly calls, or the other way round.
- Shared phonesA reception or canteen phone on a full user licence, where a device licence would do.
The checklist as a PDF.
Seven questions to take to your meeting or pass on to a colleague. Enter your name and email address and the PDF opens right away.
We only use your details to give you the checklist and, at most, to ask you once whether it helped. Read more in our privacy statement.
We’ll put it all side by side.
In the Cost check we compare your licences, numbers and call costs, and show where things can be simpler or cheaper. Independent: the report also includes options that don’t go through Cloud Avenue.