Looking for a list of the different Microsoft licences for communication and collaboration, what they do and what you might need to get calling using Teams? Well you're in the right place.
Here is a full breakdown of the common Microsoft 365 licenses, Microsoft Teams licenses and Microsoft Teams Phone licenses you'll need to create, collaborate and communicate using the Microsoft Suite. Stick around to the end of this post for a flowchart that will help you navigate how all of the licenses fit together.
There are a few different types of Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Most of which need businesses to purchase additional Teams Phone licensing for the user to activate a dial pad in Teams. If you're a company that has 300 employees or fewer you'll be using Microsoft 365 Business, any more than that and you will need Microsoft 365 Enterprise. Each of these have their own tiers.
Microsoft 365 Business licenses, which are for organizations that have fewer than 300 employees, are split into three options that have a per-user, per-month cost. These options are:
Microsoft 365 Business Basic - This is the license that covers all of a business' basic needs such as user management, custom emails and Microsoft Teams. It also comes with the Microsoft suite but only the web and mobile versions.
Microsoft 365 Business Standard - This has everything that the Microsoft 365 Business Basic license contains but also has some extras like the desktop versions of the Microsoft suite, Microsoft Loop and Microsoft Clipchamp.
Microsoft 365 Business Premium - This comes with some advanced features like Enterprise-grade endpoint protection, enhanced cyberthreat protection and advanced management options.
If you just want the desktop Microsoft 365 apps like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Powerpoint you can get these as a separate license as well.
Microsoft 365 Enterprise is split into two main options, again priced per-user, per-month. One of the main things to realise about Microsoft 365 Enterprise licenses however is that since the first half of 2024, none of them come with Microsoft Teams licenses included as standard. Microsoft 365 Enterprise licenses, which are for organizations with more than 300 employees, are split into two main options:
Microsoft 365 E3 - The E3 licenses include things like desktop versions of the Microsoft suite, the Enterprise version of Windows and core security and identity management capabilities
Microsoft 365 E5 - The E5 license is the most expensive Microsoft 365 option and comes with everything that the other packages have with some very advanced features on top. It should be noted that the only Microsoft 365 option that has external voice calling capabilities included is the Microsoft 365 E5 license, but you will also have to buy a Microsoft Teams license to activate them.
Click the image below for an in-depth table of exactly what is included in the various Microsoft licenses.
Now that Microsoft have realigned their licensing structure, going forward Microsoft Teams will no longer be bundled with most standard Microsoft 365 Enterprise licenses globally. The overall pricing structure has changed because of this, with Teams now being sold individually and potential buyers will notice that a lot of the packages that Microsoft offer now come with the addendum of "(no Teams)". The two Microsoft Teams licensing options are:
Microsoft Teams Essentials - This enables Microsoft Teams as well as some basic things like transcription and meetings with up to 300 attendees.
Microsoft Teams Enterprise - This lets larger organizations use Microsoft Teams with stricter encryption, more active support and a few other features that are tailored towards enterprise.
So what does this mean for businesses looking to get calling? In short, you may be glad to hear that the components are very much the same as they were before, its just that there is now the extra step of purchasing Microsoft Teams licenses as well as the usual Microsoft 365 Enterprise licenses. The other side of this change however is that now Microsoft Teams licenses are available on their own, you can theoretically just buy a Teams license and a Teams phone license to unlock calling options.
Up until recently if you wanted to dial externally with Teams you would need the right level of Teams Phone licensing per user, but more on this later.
So, what licenses are typically needed to make external calls using Microsoft Teams?
If you're using any of the Microsoft 365 Business licenses, any of the Microsoft Teams licenses individually or the Microsoft 365 E3 license you will need to purchase a Microsoft Teams Phone license as well. This is what activates the dial pad in Teams and you can even buy these licenses with minutes bundled in if you really want to commit to Microsoft acting as your Carrier, but you have a few options on this front.
Now that your Microsoft licensing stack is in place, you will need one final piece to get your users calling. There are three choices for doing this:
As we previously hinted at before, it is now even possible to make calls in Teams with just one Teams Phone license per organization and not per user. With our latest Direct Routing option Call2Teams Go Providers can simply offer businesses cost-effective Teams voice integrations.
Assembling your Microsoft licensing stack and choosing a calling option may seem like a daunting task, but with the proper guidance going from start to finish its simple.
Simply follow our interactive Microsoft licensing flowchart by clicking below.
Looking to find out more about how you can help businesses get calling in Teams? Get in touch.