Microsoft Teams Phone

Basic Teams Phone service includes unlimited domestic calls and Teams voicemail.

Yes. UCI phone customers will keep their existing phone number(s). Your phone number will be moved over to Teams Phone during your migration. After your migration, you will be able to make and receive calls using your UCI phone number using Teams Phone.

Yes. International calling will be an available option and will be billed at a per-minute rate based on the current rates for each country.

• If you currently have international calling capability on the campus phone system, you will automatically have international calling capability when you move to Teams.
  
• If you need international calling capability, and don’t currently have it, Please submit a Telephone Service Request.

Voice calls made through Microsoft Teams Phone will route through the campus phone system. Within your Teams app you will see a Calls tab that includes a dial pad, call history, voicemail and customizable features such as speed dial groups, call notifications and more.

To learn how to use Teams Phone, see the following guides.

1. Microsoft Teams Phone - Quick Reference Guide (PDF)
2. Get started with Microsoft Teams phones (from Microsoft)
3. Microsoft Teams Phone Service Customer Documentation

• Requests for new MS Teams phone service will be charged the current telephone installation rates, which is $10.75/month for FY 24-25.
• Labor for telephone engineering and field techs will incur based on project recharge rates for installing physical phones or setting up and configuring other telecom software requests (i.e. call queue, ADNs, etc).
• OIT will not charge you to move your phone from Mitel to MS Teams.

Current Employees

If you are a current employee with an existing UCI phone number, you will NOT be able to request for MS Teams phone service at this time. OIT is scheduling department migrations to convert existing UCI phone numbers to MS Teams phone service as the first phase. You will be migrated with your department.

New Employees

If you are a new employee and/or do NOT have a UCI phone number, you WILL be able to request for MS Teams phone service. Please submit a Telephone Service Request, select "Virtual Extension (Generic)" for Instrument Type, and enter "New Teams phone", your name, and UCInetID in the Description. You may enter any UCI location for the building and room fields. MS Teams phone location information changes based on where you are on campus.

If you're a Mitel user receiving a voicemail message from a Microsoft Teams user on your campus extension mailbox, it's important to know that you won't be able to respond directly to the Teams user through the voicemail system. Similarly, you won't be able to forward a voicemail message to a Teams user from the Mitel system. Please ensure to use an alternative method of communication for responding or forwarding messages to Microsoft Teams users. Once everyone is migrated to Teams Phone, this will no longer be an issue.

During our initial Teams Phone roll-out, MS Teams desk phones will be available for specific people who require a phone set. Otherwise, you will need to use the Microsoft Teams app on your computer or mobile device. Calls may be made from any device on which the Teams app is installed. When making calls from your mobile device via Teams, recipients will see your campus phone number as the call display.

MS Teams physical desk phones will be available during the migration for existing customers. Check with your supervisor for approval if you require a physical phone, as one-time and monthly charges will be applied to your department.

Virtually any headset that is compatible with your computer may work with the softphone, but some headsets work better than others.  Many headsets are available with a broad range of features, quality, and price.  Options include wired and wireless.  We recommend wired headsets with noise-canceling microphones for the best reliability and audio quality.  Many Teams Phone users have experienced poor audio quality when using wireless headsets.  Although many computers have adequate speakers and microphones that can be used instead of a headset, the audio quality is typically best when using a wired headset with a noise-canceling microphone (especially in noisy environments).

• Affordable USB wired headset
• Higher-end USB wired headset
• Higher-end wireless headset
• Higher-end single-ear headset

For basic troubleshooting and support in using Teams with your device, please reach out to the OIT Help Desk by calling (949) 824-2222 or emailing oit@uci.edu, and a technician will assist you. If the issue is with the device itself, you will need to contact the device's manufacturer for further troubleshooting.

Without Teams Phone Service: You can make calls to other UCI affiliates who are utilizing MS Teams service by using the Calls tab in MS Teams app, but you cannot call any 10-digit phone numbers (xxx-xxx-xxxx) or campus extensions (4xxxx).

With Teams Phone Service: After you have migrated to Teams Phone, you will also be able to make and receive calls to any 10-digit phone numbers and campus extensions. Voicemail and unlimited domestic calls are included.

We are removing MS Teams locations from the billing system, so there will no longer be locations on the phone bills for Teams services. However, you may reference older phone bills for the location of the number before it was moved to Teams.

Teams Phone service supports 911 emergency calling from the Teams app on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and web browser. Teams provides the 911 dispatcher with the location of the 911 caller, but the location is approximate and may be inaccurate.

For best results, do not use Teams app to call 911. Instead, call 911 directly by using your mobile phone.

• Move to Teams Phone 
  • It’s an easy and seamless process that keeps your existing phone number. You can fill out this form to get on the schedule.  
• Relinquish your campus phone number
  • Don’t ever use a campus phone? That’s fine too! We’ll retire your number
  • Fill out this form and select, please disconnect my UCI phone number.

If you never had a UCI Phone number, it is still important to fill out the form. On Question 6 of the form, select the "I do not have a UCI phone number and I should be removed from all future communications".

Check with your supervisor for approval if you require an MS Teams physical phone, as one-time and monthly charges will be billed to your department.  

If you have a dial pad when clicking on the MS Teams "Calls" icon, you have already been moved to MS Teams phone.

If you requested a new MS Teams physical phone, you will receive an email confirming your move date and OIT will install the phone before your UCI phone number moves to MS Teams Phone Service.  The phone will not be activated until your move date.   

After you have been moved to MS Teams Phone, you should send your old phone to e-waste.

Once your move date is confirmed, you will receive an email with your confirmed move date.  

If your move date has been confirmed, we cannot cancel the request.  If changes are made to your request, it will delay all other requests.

Please contact us.  If your move date has not been confirmed, we can make changes.  Please do not submit another request with conflicting information, we will not be able to process the request until we confirm which request is correct.

• You may not have a phone number.
• Please check with your supervisor to see if they ordered a UCI phone number when you were hired. 

Employees who have an existing campus phone number.  If you do not have an existing UCI phone number, and you need one, please submit a new telephone service request for MS Teams phone service. 

No.  One employee is assigned one MS Teams Phone number to one UCInetID.  Please do not fill out the survey form to assign multiple phone numbers to one employee.  Shared phones will be moved in a separate phase of the project.  We are only moving individual phone numbers at this time.

 Please submit a telephone service request.

• You may block your caller ID for calls you make to numbers outside of Teams Phone, such as mobile phones or landlines.  This will hide your number from the called party.
• When you call other Teams users, they will see that you are calling, and you cannot prevent them from finding your number in the Teams directory.  If you need to block your number or identity from other Teams users, you may contact our Help Desk (oit@uci.edu), and we may be able to offer you a solution depending upon your specific requirements.