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Auto attendants let people call your organization and navigate a menu system to speak to the right department, call queue, person, or an operator. You can create auto attendants for your organization with the Microsoft Teams admin center, or with PowerShell.

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Be sure you have read Plan for Teams auto attendants and call queues and followed the getting started steps before you follow the procedures in this article.

Auto attendants can direct calls, based on callers' input, to one of the following destinations:

Operator - the operator defined for the auto attendant. Defining an operator is optional. The operator can be defined as any of the other destinations in this list.
Person in the organization - a person in your organization who can receive voice calls. This person can be an online user or a user hosted on-premises using Skype for Business Server.
Voice app - another auto attendant or a call queue. (Choose the resource account associated with the auto attendant or call queue when choosing this destination.)
Voicemail - the voice mailbox associated with a Microsoft 365 group that you specify.
External phone number - any phone number. (See external transfer technical details).
Announcement (Audio file) - Play an audio file. A recorded announcement message you upload that's saved as audio in .WAV, .MP3, or .WMA format. The recording can be no larger than 5 MB. The system plays the announcement, and then returns to the auto attendant menu.
Announcement (Typed) - Type in a message. Text you want the system to read. You can enter up to 1000 characters. The system plays the announcement, and then returns to the auto attendant menu.

You'll be prompted to choose one of these options at various stages as you set up an auto attendant.

Note

When choosing Voicemail as a destination, two additional options are available:

Transcription (Default: Off) - when enabled, the voicemail message will be transcribed and included as part of the email.
Suppress Greeting (Default: Off) - when enabled, the standard system message 'Please leave a message after the tone. When you have finished please hang up or press the hash key for more options.' will be suppressed.

To set up an auto attendant, in the Teams admin center, expand Voice, select Auto attendants, and then select Add.

General info

Type a name for the auto attendant in the box at the top.
To designate an operator, specify the destination for calls to the operator. This designation is optional (but recommended). Set the Operator option to allow callers to break out of the menus and speak to a designated person.
Specify the time zone for this auto attendant. The time zone is used for calculating business hours if you create a separate call flow for after hours.
Specify a supported language for this auto attendant. This is the language that will be used for system-generated voice prompts.
Choose if you want to enable voice inputs. When enabled, the name of every menu option becomes a speech-recognition keyword. For example, callers can say 'One' to select the menu option mapped to key 1, or they can say 'Sales' to select the menu option named 'Sales.'

Note

If you choose a language in Step 4 that doesn't support voice inputs this option will be disabled.

Select Next.

Call flow

Xdj rx rekordbox performance. Choose if you want to play a greeting when the auto attendant answers a call.

If you select Play an audio file you can use the Upload file button to upload a recorded greeting message saved as audio in .WAV, .MP3, or .WMA format. The recording can be no larger than 5 MB.

If you select Type a greeting message the system will read the text that you type (up to 1000 characters) when the auto attendant answers a call.

Choose how you want to route the call.

If you select Disconnect, the auto attendant will hang up the call.

If you select Redirect call, you can choose one of the call routing destinations.

If you select Play menu options, you can choose to Play an audio file or Type in a greeting message and then choose between menu options and directory search.

Menu options

For dialing options, assign the 0-9 keys on the telephone keypad to one of the call routing destinations. (The keys * (Repeat) and # (Back) are reserved by the system and can't be reassigned.)

Key mappings don't have to be continuous. It's possible to create a menu with keys 0, 1, and 3 mapped to options, while the number 2 key isn't used.

We recommend mapping the zero key to the operator if you've configured one. If the operator isn't set to any key, the voice command 'Operator' is also disabled.

For each menu option, specify the following settings:

Dial key - the key on the telephone keypad to access this option. If voice inputs are available, callers can also say this number to access the option.
Voice command - defines the voice command that a caller can give to access this option, if voice inputs are enabled. It can contain multiple words like 'Customer Service' or 'Operations and Grounds.' For example, the caller can press 2, say 'two,' or say 'Sales' to select the option mapped to the two keys. This text is also rendered by text to speech for the service confirmation prompt, which might be something like 'Transferring your call to sales.'
Redirect to - the call routing destination used when callers choose this option. If you are redirecting to an auto attendant or call queue, choose the resource account associated with it.

Directory search

If you assign dial keys to destinations, we recommend that you choose None for Directory search. If a caller attempts to dial a name or extension using keys that are assigned to specific destinations, they might be unexpectedly routed to a destination before they finish entering the name or extension. We recommend that you create a separate auto attendant for directory search and have your main auto attendant link to it with a dial key.

If you didn't assign dial keys, then choose an option for Directory search.

Dial by name - If you enable this option, callers can say the user's name or type it on the telephone keypad. Any online user or any user hosted on-premises using Skype for Business Server, is an eligible user and can be found with Dial by name. (You can set who is and isn't included in the directory on the Dial scope page.)

Dial by extension - If you enable this option, callers can connect with users in your organization by dialing their phone extension. Any online user or any user hosted on-premises using Skype for Business Server, is an eligible user and can be found with Dial by extension. (You can set who is and isn't included in the directory on the Dial scope page.)

Users you want to make available for Dial By Extension need to have an extension specified as part of one of the following phones attributes defined in Active Directory or Azure Active Directory (See Add users individually or in bulk for more information.)

OfficePhone
HomePhone
Mobile/MobilePhone
TelephoneNumber/PhoneNumber
OtherTelephone

The required format to enter the extension in the user phone number field can be one of the following formats:

+<phone number>;ext=<extension>
+<phone number>x<extension>
x<extension>
Example 1: Set-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName usern@domain.com -Phonenumber '+15555555678;ext=5678'
Example 2: Set-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName usern@domain.com -Phonenumber '+15555555678x5678'
Example 3: Set-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName usern@domain.com -Phonenumber 'x5678'

You can set the extension in the Microsoft 365 admin center or the Azure Active Directory admin center. It can take up to 12 hours before changes are available to auto attendants and call queues.

Note

If you want to use both the Dial by name and Dial by extension features, you can assign a dial key on your main auto attendant to reach an auto attendant enabled for Dial by name. Within that auto attendant, you can assign the 1 key (which has no letters associated with it) to reach the Dial by extension auto attendant.

Once you have selected a Directory search option, select Next.

Call flow for after hours

Business hours can be set for each auto attendant. If business hours aren't set, all days and all hours in the day are considered business hours because a 24/7 schedule is set by default. Business hours can be set with breaks in time during the day, and all of the hours that are not set as business hours are considered after-hours. You can set different incoming call-handling options and greetings for after-hours.

Depending on how you have configured your auto attendants and call queues, you may only need to specify after-hours call routing for auto attendants with direct phone numbers.

If you want separate call routing for after-hours callers, then specify your business hours for each day. Select Add new time to specify multiple sets of hours for a given day, for example, to specify a lunch break.

Once you've specified your business hours, then choose your call routing options for after hours. The same options are available as for the business hours call routing that you specified above.

Select Next when you're done.

Call flows during holidays

Your auto attendant can have a call flow for each Holiday you've set up. You can add up to 20 scheduled holidays to each auto attendant.

On the Holiday call settings page, select Add.
Type a name for this holiday setting.
From the Holiday dropdown, choose the holiday that you want to use.
Choose the type of greeting that you want to use.
Choose if you want to Disconnect or Redirect the call.
If you chose to redirect, choose the call routing destination for the call.
Select Save.

Repeat the procedure as needed for each additional holiday.

When you've added all your holidays, select Next.

Dial scope

The dial scope defines which users are available in the directory when a caller uses dial-by-name or dial-by-extension. The default of All online users includes all users in your organization that are Online users or hosted on-premises using Skype for Business Server.

You can include or exclude specific users by selecting Custom user group under Include or Exclude and choosing one or more Microsoft 365 groups, distribution lists, or security groups. For example, you might want to exclude executives in your organization from the dialing directory. (If a user is in both lists, they will be excluded from the directory.)

Note

It might take up to 36 hours for a new user to have their name listed in the directory.

When you're done setting the dial scope, select Next.

Resource accounts

All auto attendants must have an associated resource account. First-level auto attendants will need at least one resource account that has an associated service number. If you wish, you can assign several resource accounts to an auto attendant, each with a separate service number.

To add a resource account, select Add account and search for the account that you want to add. Select Add, and then select Add.

When you have finished adding service accounts, select Submit to complete auto attendant configuration.

External phone number transfers - technical details

Refer to the Prerequisites in order to allow auto attendants to transfer calls externally. In addition:

For a resource account with a Calling Plan license, the external transfer phone number must be entered in E.164 format (+[country code][area code][phone number]).
For a resource account with a Phone System License and Direct Routing online voice routing policy, the external transfer phone number format is dependant on the Session Border Controller (SBC) settings.

The outbound phone number that's displayed is determined as follows:

For Calling Plan numbers, the original caller's phone number is displayed.
For Direct Routing numbers, the number sent is based on the P-Asserted-Identity (PAI) setting on the SBC, as follows:
- If set to Disabled, the original caller's phone number is displayed. This is the default and recommended setting.
- If set to Enabled, the resource account phone number is displayed.

In a Skype for Business hybrid environment, to transfer an auto attendant call to the PSTN, create a new on-premises user with call forwarding set to the PSTN number. The user must be enabled for Enterprise Voice and have a voice policy assigned. To learn more, see Auto attendant call transfer to PSTN.

Create an auto attendant with PowerShell

You can also use PowerShell to create and set up auto attendants. Here are the cmdlets that you need to manage an auto attendant:

When will Microsoft Teams start being included with new installations of Microsoft 365 Apps?

The date when Teams starts being installed with new installations of Microsoft 365 Apps depends on which update channel you're using. The following table shows the schedule.

Update channel	Version	Date
Current Channel	Version 1902	March 4, 2019
Monthly Enterprise Channel	Version 2003	May 12, 2020
Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview)	Version 1902	March 12, 2019
Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel	Version 1902	July 9, 2019

Note

Teams is also included with the following new installations:

Microsoft 365 Apps for business, starting with Version 1901, which was released on January 31, 2019. Microsoft 365 Apps for business is the version of Office that is included with some Microsoft 365 business plans, such as Microsoft 365 Business Premium.
Office for Mac, starting with Version 16.21, which was released on January 16, 2019. Office for Mac comes with any plan that includes Microsoft 365 Apps. For more information, see Microsoft Teams installations on a Mac.

How to exclude Microsoft Teams from new installations of Microsoft 365 Apps

If you don't want Teams included when you install Microsoft 365 Apps on devices running Windows, you can use Group Policy or the Office Deployment Tool. Or, as an alternative, you can let Teams be installed, but use Group Policy to prevent Teams from automatically starting when the user signs in to the device.

If you want to use the Office Deployment Tool, you can use the ExcludeApp element in your configuration.xml file, as shown in the following example.

Tip

Instead of using a text editor to create your configuration.xml, we recommend that you use the Office Customization Tool (OCT). The OCT provides a web-based interface for making your selections and creating your configuration.xml file to be used with the Office Deployment Tool. For more information, see Overview of the Office Customization Tool.

If you're deploying Microsoft 365 Apps by using the Office 365 Client Installation wizard in Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (current branch), you can set Teams to the Off position in the configuration UI.

If you're deploying Microsoft 365 Apps by using Microsoft Intune, there is a checkbox to exclude Teams on the Configure App Suite pane.

If you're letting your users install Microsoft 365 Apps for themselves from the Office 365 portal, you can't exclude Teams from being included as part of the installation, unless you use Group Policy.

To remove Teams after it's been installed, go to Control Panel > Uninstall a program and uninstall Microsoft Teams and any instances of Teams Machine-Wide Installer. If you previously installed Teams separately from installing Microsoft 365 Apps, you might see multiple instances of Teams Machine-Wide Installer. You can also use PowerShell to remove Teams as shown in this script sample.

What about existing installations of Microsoft 365 Apps?

Teams is also being added to existing installations of Microsoft 365 Apps on devices running Windows as part of the normal update process. There is no change to existing installations of Mac.

Whether Teams gets added to an existing installation of Microsoft 365 Apps is determined by what version is installed, what version you're updating to, and some other factors. Version 1906 that was released in Current Channel in July is the first version that started including Teams as part of the update process. But not all devices updating to Version 1906 or later have received Teams as part of the update process because the rollout has been a gradual process over several months. So if you've updated a device to the latest version of Microsoft 365 Apps, but Teams hasn't been installed, that is probably expected and not necessarily an error. It's likely a future update will install Teams. If you want Teams on that device now, you can install it manually from https://teams.microsoft.com/downloads.

Important

If you're updating your existing installation of Microsoft 365 Apps to Version 1908 (Build 11929.20300) or later, Teams will be added. To complete the installation of Teams after the update, either restart the device or have the user log off and log back on.

The date when Teams can start being added to existing installations of Microsoft 365 Apps depends on which update channel you're using. The following table shows the schedule.

Update channel	Version	Date
Current Channel	Version 1906	July 9, 2019
Monthly Enterprise Channel	Version 2003	May 12, 2020
Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview)	Version 1908	September 10, 2019
Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel	Version 1908	January 14, 2020

If you don't want Teams to be added to existing installations of Microsoft 365 Apps when you update to a newer version, you can use Group Policy or the Office Deployment Tool. Or, as an alternative, you can let Teams be added, but use Group Policy to prevent Teams from automatically starting when the user signs in to the device.

If you want to use the Office Deployment Tool, you need to run the Office Deployment Tool in /configure mode on each device before you update to the new version of Microsoft 365 Apps. The following is a configuration.xml file you can use with the Office Deployment Tool to exclude Teams from being added to your existing installation of Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise.

Note

Be sure you're using the most current version of the Office Deployment Tool available on the Microsoft Download Center.
If your existing installation of Microsoft 365 Apps has excluded other apps, such as Access, you need to include a line in your configuration.xmi file for each of those excluded apps. Otherwise, those apps will be installed on the device.
If you have Microsoft 365 Apps for business installed, use O365BusinessRetail for the Product ID in your configuration.xml file.

Also, in some situations, doing an Online Repair results in Teams being installed. For example, if Microsoft 365 Apps is configured to get updates from the Office Content Delivery Network (CDN) and the update channel or version you're using includes Teams as part of the installation.

Use Group Policy to control the installation of Microsoft Teams

If your organization isn't ready to deploy Teams and you use Group Policy, you can enable the Don't install Microsoft Teams with new installations or updates of Office policy setting. You can find this policy setting under Computer ConfigurationPoliciesAdministrative TemplatesMicrosoft Office 2016 (Machine)Updates.

Note

This policy setting only applies if you are installing or updating to Version 1905 or later of Microsoft 365 Apps.
To use this policy setting, download at least version 4882.1000 of the Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML), which were released on July 9, 2019.

If you enable this policy setting, Teams won't be installed in the following scenarios for Version 1905 or later:

New installations of Microsoft 365 Apps
Updates to existing installations of Microsoft 365 Apps
Users installing Microsoft 365 Apps for themselves from the Office 365 portal
An Online Repair of an existing installation of Microsoft 365 Apps

If you have Microsoft 365 Apps for business or can't use Group Policy for some other reason, you can add the preventteamsinstall value to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftOffice16.0commonofficeupdate key in the registry. The type for preventteamsinstall is REG_DWORD and the value should be set to 1 if you don't want Teams installed.

Use Group Policy to prevent Microsoft Teams from starting automatically after installation

If you want Teams to be installed, but don't want Teams to start automatically for the user after it's installed, you can use Group Policy and enable the Prevent Microsoft Teams from starting automatically after installation policy setting. You can find this policy setting under User ConfigurationPoliciesAdministrative TemplatesMicrosoft Teams.

By enabling this policy setting before Teams is installed, Teams won't start automatically when the user logs in to the device. Once a user signs in to Teams for the first time, Teams is configured to start automatically the next time the user logs into the device. The user can configure Teams to not start automatically by configuring user settings within Teams or by clearing the Open Teams on startup check box on the sign in screen for Teams.

Tip

If you've already installed Teams but you want to use this policy setting to prevent Teams from starting automatically, enable this policy setting and then run this script on a per-user basis to reset the autostart setting for Teams.

But even if you enable this policy setting so that Teams doesn't start automatically, an icon for Microsoft Teams will appear on the user's desktop.

Important

This policy setting only applies if you are installing or updating to the following versions of Microsoft 365 Apps:
- Version 1906 or later of Current Channel
- Version 1902 (Build 11328.20368) or later of Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel or Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview)
- Version 2003 or later of Monthly Enterprise Channel
To use this policy setting, download at least version 4882.1000 of the Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML), which were released on July 9, 2019.

If you have Microsoft 365 Apps for business or can't use Group Policy for some other reason, you can add the PreventFirstLaunchAfterInstall value to the HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftOffice16.0Teams key in the registry. The type for PreventFirstLaunchAfterInstall is REG_DWORD and the value should be set to 1 if you don't want Teams to automatically start after installation.

Shared computer and VDI environments with Microsoft Teams

If devices in your organization are shared by multiple users, be aware that Teams is installed separately for each user that signs into that device. Installations of Teams average about 500 mb, so hard disk space, as well network bandwidth for updates, might become an issue for these shared devices installed with Teams. In cases where shared devices are used by a significant number of users, you might want to consider not installing Teams on those shared devices.

If you plan to use Teams in a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environment, see Teams for Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure. Teams installed with Microsoft 365 Apps as described in this article is NOT currently supported in VDI environments.

Feature and quality updates for Microsoft Teams

After Teams is installed, it's automatically updated approximately every two weeks with new features and quality updates. This update process for Teams is different than the update process for the other Office apps, such as Word and Excel. For more information, see Teams update process.

Microsoft Teams installations on a Mac

If you're using Version 16.21, or later, of the Office suite install package to deploy on a Mac, Teams will be included as part of the installation.

If you don't want Teams included as part of the installation, there is an Office suite install package available that doesn't include Teams. You can also use the install packages for individual applications, such as Word or Excel. For links to the most current install packages, see Update history for Office for Mac.

If you're letting your users install Office for themselves on a Mac, such as from https://teams.microsoft.com/downloads, you can't exclude Teams from being included as part of the installation.

To uninstall Teams on a Mac, quit Teams by right-clicking the Teams app in the dock, then hold down Option and choose Force Quit. Open the Application Folder, select Microsoft Teams, and move it to the Trash.

What about Office 365 plans that don't include Microsoft Teams?

Some Office 365 plans include Microsoft 365 Apps, but don't include the Teams service. Even if a plan doesn't include the Teams service, Teams will still be installed with Microsoft 365 Apps, as described earlier in this article. To prevent Teams from being installed, follow the steps outlined earlier in this article.

For Office 365 plans that don't include the Teams service, a free trial version of Teams that's valid for 1 year is available. Your users can start using it when they sign in to Teams. For more information about this free trial version and providing your users access to it, see Manage the Microsoft Teams Commercial Cloud Trial offer.