Issue/Question
- Can I use Teams to make a conference call?
- How can I use Teams for conference calls?
- Can Teams only do video calls?
Environment
Microsoft Teams has the ability to be used as a replacement to a traditional conference bridge system. Many of the features that are available during traditional conference calls are available on a Teams Voice Call. You can obtain the Teams dial-in number and a meeting-specific Phone Conference ID from any meeting created using or Including Microsoft Teams. The ability to create a Teams Voice meeting is available to all faculty, staff and students.
Important: Teams Conference Calls support both on-campus AND off-campus guests, both domestic and international. For international guests, they can choose a more local telephone number to call when joining a call. Read on for more information.
Resolution
To use Microsoft Teams to create and join a traditional conference call, you can follow the same steps as you would to create a Teams video meeting. See the "Related Articles" section for more information.
- To join a Teams meeting by telephone, rather than computer, open the Teams meeting invitation on your Outlook Calendar, from the Teams Calendar view or from the original meeting invitation.
- A telephone number will be displayed along with a "Phone Conference ID" number. You can use the number provided to dial in to the meeting, as you would a traditional conference bridge or phone conferencing system.
- Dial the number provided on a telephone and listen to the voice prompts. Enter the Phone Conference ID number when prompted. The number will usually be a series of 9 numbers followed by #. The number is truncated in the image above.
The phone number provided is a Maine-based telephone number. You can find other dial-in numbers that might be more local to meeting attendees by clicking on "Find a local number". This includes numbers in a variety of countries outside of the US.
Pro Tip: You can create a meeting with only yourself as invited attendee. Schedule a Teams meeting for yourself at the date and time you want to hold your meeting. Once saved, you can open the meeting and obtain the telephone number and Phone Conference ID number. You can then send those two items to anyone you would like to attend the meeting if you would rather not send a full Teams Meeting if you want to ensure no one uses their camera or computer to connect.
If you need further assistance, please contact the Bowdoin College Service Desk