Teams Phone extensibility (TPE) is a Microsoft technology built on Azure Communication Services (ACS) that enables third-party applications, including Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solutions, to integrate directly with Microsoft Teams Phone.
This allows organizations to unify UCaaS and CCaaS on a single platform, bringing customer-facing and internal communications together inside the familiar Teams environment. Even more importantly, TPE makes it possible to enhance contact centers with advanced AI features – such as conversational bots, intelligent routing and real-time sentiment analysis – without introducing a separate telephony stack.
Inside Teams Phone Extensibility: How It Works
Azure Communication Services APIs and SDKs are used to connect CCaaS platforms with Teams Phone, enabling seamless integration between customer-facing contact centers and the organization’s internal collaboration environment. Once connected, Teams Phone serves as the unified telephony layer, handling both employee communications and contact center calls within the same platform.
On top of this, Teams Phone extensibility makes it possible to embed advanced AI capabilities into the customer journey. Features such as automated greetings, real-time transcription and sentiment tracking can be applied to contact center interactions, helping businesses create smarter and more personalized customer experiences while leveraging their existing Teams ecosystem.
What Are the Advantages of Teams Phone Extensibility?
The advantages of Teams Phone extensibility extend well beyond simple integration. By consolidating UCaaS and CCaaS into a single system, organizations eliminate the complexity of maintaining multiple telephony platforms. This unified approach also reduces administrative overhead and simplifies day-to-day management.
Cost efficiency is another key benefit. Companies can use their existing Teams Phone licenses for contact center scenarios, avoiding the need to purchase or maintain separate systems or additional Azure Communication Services numbers. This not only lowers expenses, but also maximizes the value of existing Microsoft investments.
From a customer experience perspective, TPE unlocks new levels of service quality. By enabling AI-driven features such as intelligent call routing, conversational bots and real-time sentiment analysis, businesses can enhance self-service capabilities, empower agents with better tools and deliver faster, more personalized support.
Organizations also gain the advantage of extending Teams Phone’s robust enterprise features – such as “five nines” availability, E911 emergency calling, dial plan policies and centralized management – into their contact centers. Deployment and management are simplified as well, since the entire solution is integrated directly into the Teams environment rather than built on a separate system. Finally, because TPE-based solutions operate within the customer’s Azure tenant, businesses retain full control over their data, ensuring strong security and compliance with enterprise standards.
How Does Teams Phone Extensibility Benefit Operator Connect Partners?
Operator Connect is a Microsoft program that gives customers the flexibility to choose which operator they would like to select for their PSTN calling directly from the Microsoft Teams admin center. For partners, Operator Connect is a streamlined way to extend PSTN connectivity to their customers without the need for heavy upfront investment in infrastructure.
Teams Phone extensibility represents another major opportunity for partners. By bridging UCaaS and CCaaS, TPE enables partners to differentiate their services with integrated, AI-powered customer engagement features. It allows them to add value for enterprise customers who want both collaboration and contact center voice running on Teams Phone, and it ensures long-term customer stickiness by positioning Operator Connect as the foundation of a unified communications and customer experience solution.
How AudioCodes Live Platform Makes It All Simple
At AudioCodes, we know Operator Connect partners need more than just connectivity – they need automation, simplicity and scalability. That’s why we created AudioCodes Live Platform, a cloud-based solution that enables partners to deliver Operator Connect services rapidly and reliably.
Live Platform offers automated provisioning and lifecycle management, reducing time-to-market while centralized monitoring and control streamline ongoing operations. It fully supports Teams Phone extensibility, enabling partners to extend their Operator Connect offerings with advanced CCaaS integrations.
With Live Platform, Operator Connect partners can roll out services faster, reduce complexity and unlock new revenue streams by delivering modern, AI-powered contact center capabilities on top of their Teams voice services.
AudioCodes Voca Conversational Interaction Center
AudioCodes’ award-winning Voca Conversational Interaction Center (Voca CIC) is a lightweight, omnichannel Teams-native contact center solution. Available as a fully integrated service via AudioCodes Live Platform, Voca CIC was announced by Microsoft as a design partner for Teams Phone extensibility at Enterprise Connect 2025 and is one of an exclusive group of Unify-certified CCaaS solutions, leveraging TPE to offer seamless Azure-native integration with Teams.
The Next Step for Operator Connect Partners
Teams Phone extensibility is a game-changer for unifying UCaaS and CCaaS, enriching contact centers with AI and ensuring seamless integration with Microsoft Teams Phone. For Operator Connect partners, the combination of TPE, AudioCodes Live Platform and Voca CIC offers a unique way to deliver innovative services, stand out in a crowded market and drive customer satisfaction.
