How to Make and Answer Phone Calls in Teams

Applies to: Microsoft Teams with Teams Phone (Windows, macOS, web, mobile)
Article Type: How-To
Last Updated: 2026-07-29

Summary

Your company replaced the desk phone with Microsoft Teams and handed you a number with no training. This article covers the whole job: making and answering calls, moving a caller on without dropping them, checking voicemail, and getting work calls to ring on your mobile.

Prerequisites

• Microsoft Teams on Windows, macOS, the web, or a phone.
• A headset, or a working microphone and speakers.
• For calls to and from ordinary phone numbers: a Teams Phone licence with a calling plan, Operator Connect, or Direct Routing, assigned by your IT department. Step 2 shows how to check, and gives the ticket wording when it is missing.

Instructions

Teams handles two different kinds of call, and telling them apart saves a great deal of confusion:

• Teams-to-Teams calls work for everyone who has Teams. You call a colleague by name and the call travels over the internet. No phone number is involved.
• Phone calls reach ordinary numbers — clients, suppliers, the dentist. These need a Teams Phone licence and a calling plan, and they come with a real phone number of your own.

1. Open the Calls App and Find the Dial Pad

1. Look at the app bar down the left edge of the Teams window and click Calls — the handset icon.
2. If Calls is not in the app bar, click the … button at the bottom of the strip, find Calls in the flyout list, right-click it, and select Pin. The icon moves into the app bar and stays there.
3. The Calls app opens with a column on the left holding History, Voicemail, and Contacts, and the calling area on the right.
4. Look in the calling area for the numeric keypad — a twelve-button grid with a Type a name or number box above it.
5. Under the keypad, your own number is listed beside a label such as Work number. Write it down. That is the number people see when you call them.

2. Check Whether Your Account Can Dial Real Phone Numbers

The dial pad appears only when IT has assigned you a Teams Phone licence and a calling plan, so its presence is the whole diagnosis.

1. In the Calls app, look at the calling area on the right.
2. A numeric keypad with a work number underneath it. Your account can dial and receive ordinary phone numbers. Continue to Step 3.
3. A search box with contacts and history, but no keypad. Your account can call colleagues inside Teams, and nothing else.
4. To be certain, click your profile picture, select Settings, then click Calls in the left column of the settings window. Accounts with calling show Call answering rules, Voicemail, and Ringtones sections. Accounts without it show a near-empty page, or no Calls entry at all.

Raise a ticket and tell IT: "My Teams Calls app has no dial pad, so I cannot dial or receive external phone numbers. Please assign me a Teams Phone licence with a calling plan, or add me to Direct Routing, and allocate me a phone number."

Note: A missing dial pad is a licensing question, not a fault on your computer. Reinstalling Teams, clearing the cache, and restarting will not produce one.

3. Make a Call to a Colleague or an Outside Number

To call a colleague:

1. In the Calls app, click the Type a name or number box above the keypad.
2. Start typing the person's name. Matching colleagues appear in a list underneath as you type.
3. Click the person, then click Call. Their Teams client rings on every device they are signed in on.
4. From an open chat you can skip all of that — click the handset icon in the top-right corner of the chat window and choose Audio call or Video call.

To call an outside number:

1. Click the Type a name or number box and type the number in full, including the country code: +1 555 0100, or +44 20 7946 0000. You can also click the digits on the keypad.
2. Click Call. The calling area is replaced by a live call window showing the number, and you hear a ringing tone through your headset.
3. If your organisation uses short internal extensions, type the extension on its own — for example 4021 — and click Call.

Note: Teams does not need a leading 9 for an outside line the way an old desk phone did. When a number fails to connect, retype it starting with + and the country code. That format works from anywhere and is the single most common fix.

During the call, the call toolbar gives you Mute, Camera, Share, Dial pad (for automated menus that ask you to press a number), and More actions (⋯). Click Leave to hang up.

4. Answer, Decline, or Reply with a Message

An incoming call appears as a notification in the bottom-right corner of the screen on Windows, and the top-right on macOS, even when Teams is minimised.

1. Read the notification. It shows the caller's name for a colleague, or the phone number for an outside caller.
2. Click the blue handset icon to answer with audio, or the camera icon to answer with video.
3. Click the red handset icon to decline. The caller is sent to your voicemail.
4. Some builds add a chat bubble icon to the notification for replying with a message. Click it, type a line such as In a meeting, will call you back in 20 minutes, and send it. The call is declined and your message lands in the chat with that person. If the icon is not there, decline the call and send the chat message yourself.
5. To handle a call from the keyboard, press Ctrl + Shift + A to accept audio, Ctrl + Shift + S to accept with video, or Ctrl + Shift + D to decline. On a Mac, use Command + Shift with the same letters.

Note: Setting your status to Do not disturb sends incoming calls straight to voicemail without ringing you at all. If callers report reaching voicemail while you sit at your desk, check your presence before anything else.

5. Put a Call on Hold and Transfer It

To put a call on hold:

1. In the call window, click More actions (⋯) on the call toolbar.
2. Select Hold. The window changes to an On hold banner with a Resume button, and the caller hears hold music.
3. Click Resume to pick the call back up. Both of you are reconnected and the banner disappears.

To transfer a call straight through — a blind transfer:

Use this when you know the right person is free and expecting it.

1. Click More actions (⋯) on the call toolbar and select Transfer.
2. Type the colleague's name or a phone number into the Transfer to box and select them from the list.
3. Tick Ring back if there's no answer when the option is offered, so an unanswered call returns to you rather than vanishing.
4. Click Transfer. Your call window closes and the caller starts ringing at the other end.

To speak to the colleague first — consult then transfer:

Use this when you need to explain who is calling and why.

1. Click More actions (⋯) and select Consult then transfer. Some builds put it under Transfer > Consult first.
2. Choose Chat to message the colleague, or Call to speak to them. Your original caller is placed on hold and cannot hear the conversation.
3. Explain the call. Once the colleague agrees to take it, click Transfer at the top of the consultation window.
4. If they decline, click Leave on the consultation and then Resume to return to your caller with an answer.

Verification: Stay at the screen for a second after clicking Transfer. The call window closing on its own confirms the transfer went through. An error banner means the destination rejected it and the caller is still on the line with you.

6. Check Call History and Voicemail

Call history:

1. In the Calls app, click History in the left column.
2. Each row shows the name or number, an arrow icon marking the call as incoming, outgoing, or missed, the time, and the duration. Missed calls are marked in red.
3. Hover over a row and click the handset icon that appears at the right to call back.
4. Click More options (⋯) on a row for Chat, Add to speed dial, or Add contact.

Voicemail:

1. Click Voicemail in the left column of the Calls app.
2. Click a message to open it. An audio player appears with the recording, and a written transcript sits underneath.
3. Click the play button to listen, or read the transcript when you are somewhere you cannot play audio.
4. Click More options (⋯) on the message for Call back, Chat, or Delete.

To record your greeting:

5. Click your profile picture, select Settings, then click Calls in the left column.
6. Scroll to the Voicemail section and click Configure voicemail.
7. Click Record a greeting. Teams places a call to the voicemail service — follow the spoken prompts to record, review, and save.
8. To use a typed greeting instead, type your wording into the Your custom greeting box. Teams reads it aloud to callers in a synthetic voice.

7. Set Up Call Forwarding and Simultaneous Ring

Getting work calls onto your mobile takes one setting, and it is the one nobody shows you.

1. Click your profile picture in the top-right corner, select Settings, then click Calls in the left column of the settings window.
2. Under Call answering rules, pick one of the two options:
   • Calls ring me — your Teams clients ring. Use the Also ring dropdown underneath to add a second destination.
   • Forward my calls — your Teams clients stay silent and the call goes elsewhere immediately.
3. For simultaneous ring to your mobile: select Calls ring me, then set Also ring to New number or contact. Type your mobile number in full international format, such as +1 555 0100, and press Enter. Your Teams app and your mobile now ring together.
4. For straight forwarding: select Forward my calls, then choose Voicemail, New number or contact, or Call group from the dropdown underneath.
5. Under If unanswered, choose where an unanswered call lands — Voicemail, another person, or a number — and set Ring for this many seconds before redirecting to a value between 10 and 60. Twenty to thirty seconds gives you time to reach the phone.
6. Close the settings window. Changes save as you make them; there is no Save button to click.

Verification: Call your work number from a phone that is not part of the rules. Your Teams client and your mobile ring together, and leaving it unanswered lands the call wherever you set If unanswered.

Note: If the New number or contact field rejects your mobile number, your calling policy does not permit forwarding to external numbers. Raise a ticket and tell IT: "Please allow call forwarding to an external number on my Teams calling policy so my work calls can ring my mobile."

Troubleshooting

INFO

Almost every Teams calling problem falls into one of two piles. A missing dial pad is a licence question and only IT can resolve it (Step 2). A dial pad that is present, with calls behaving oddly, is your call answering rules or your presence status (Steps 4 and 7). Work out which pile you are in before troubleshooting anything else.

Symptom / Error	Potential Cause	Solution
No dial pad in the Calls app	No Teams Phone licence assigned	Send IT the ticket wording in Step 2. Reinstalling Teams does not produce a dial pad.
Calls icon missing from the app bar	Pushed into the overflow menu	Click … at the bottom of the app bar, right-click Calls, and select Pin (Step 1).
Outside numbers fail to connect	Number not in full international format	Retype it starting with + and the country code, for example +1 555 0100 (Step 3).
Callers reach voicemail while you are at your desk	Status set to Do not disturb, or forwarding is on	Check your presence, then your Call answering rules under Settings > Calls (Steps 4 and 7).
Your mobile does not ring alongside the desktop	Simultaneous ring not configured	Set Also ring to your mobile number in international format (Step 7).
International numbers are rejected	Organisation blocks international dialling	Most companies block this by default to prevent fraud. Raise a ticket asking for international dialling to be enabled on your calling policy, and say which countries you need.

Related Articles

• How to Set Up and Use Zoom Phone
• How to Fix Audio Not Working in Microsoft Teams — Microphone and Speaker Troubleshooting
• How to Fix Your Teams Status Stuck on Away or Offline
• How to Manage Teams Notifications
• How to Submit an Effective IT Support Ticket

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