Troubleshoot Teams Calling Sign-In and Connection Issues

How to resolve common Teams Calling setup and connection problems — including a missing dial pad, "not set up for calls" errors, calls going straight to voicemail, desk phone sign-in failures, and Teams showing no calling features.

Issues

• There is no dial pad in my Teams app — I can't see the Calls section.
• Teams says I am "not set up for calls" or "calling isn't available."
• My Teams calls are going straight to voicemail even though I am available.
• I can receive calls in Teams but cannot make outgoing calls.
• My Teams desk phone won't sign in or keeps showing a sign-in screen.
• Teams shows a calling license error or says my account isn't licensed for calls.
• Teams Calling stopped working after a Teams update.
• I signed in to Teams on a new computer and the dial pad is missing.
• My desk phone disconnected from my account and needs to be set up again.

Environment

This article covers setup and connection issues that prevent Teams Calling from working as expected. These issues are typically caused by a missing license, a Teams update requiring a restart, or a configuration step that needs to be repeated after a device change.

• Desktop app: macOS (Sequoia 15.x, Tahoe 26.x or newer) and Windows 11
• Mobile app: iOS and Android
• Desk phone: Teams-compatible Poly phone
• Not covered here: Audio quality problems (echo, choppy audio, microphone not working) — see Troubleshoot Teams Calling Audio and Call Quality Issues in the Related Articles section.

Resolution

No dial pad or Calls section in Teams

The Calls section and dial pad only appear in Teams when your account has been assigned a Teams Calling license. If you have never had a Bowdoin phone number, this is expected.

• Never had a Bowdoin phone number: Submit a request through the Service Catalog to have Teams Calling enabled on your account. See Request a Teams Calling Phone Number or Desk Phone in the Related Articles section.
• Previously had calling but it disappeared: Try the steps below. If the problem persists, contact the Service Desk — your calling license may have been inadvertently removed.

Try these steps first:

1. Fully quit Teams — do not just close the window. On Mac: right-click the Teams icon in the Dock and select Quit. On Windows: right-click the Teams icon in the system tray and select Quit.
2. Reopen Teams and wait 60 seconds for it to fully load.
3. Check whether the Calls icon has appeared in the left sidebar. If it is not in the sidebar, click the three dots (More) to see if Calls is listed there.
4. If still missing, sign out of Teams: click your profile picture, select Sign out, then sign back in with your Bowdoin account.

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"You're not set up for calls" or "Calling isn't available"

This message typically appears when Teams cannot verify your calling license - often immediately after a Teams update or when signing in to Teams for the first time on a new device.

1. Quit and reopen Teams completely.
2. If the message persists, sign out and sign back in.
3. If you still see the error after signing back in, contact the Service Desk. Include a screenshot of the error message to speed up diagnosis.

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Calls going to voicemail when you are available

If incoming calls skip ringing and go straight to voicemail, work through these checks:

• Check your Teams status. If your status is set to Do Not Disturb, calls go directly to voicemail. Click your profile picture and set your status to Available.
• Check your call forwarding settings. In Teams Settings > Calls, confirm that Forward my calls is not set to Voicemail unintentionally.
• Check your call answering rules. In Teams Settings > Calls, check Unanswered calls settings — if the ring duration is set very short, calls may appear to skip ringing.
• Check that Teams is running. If Teams is fully closed on all your devices, incoming calls have nowhere to ring and go to voicemail after the timeout. Teams must be open and signed in on at least one device to ring.
• Mobile app only: Check that Teams has notification permissions and is not restricted by battery optimization settings — see Use Teams Calling on Your Mobile Device for platform-specific steps.

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Can receive calls but cannot make outgoing calls

This is almost always a license or provisioning issue rather than a software problem.

1. Confirm you can see a dial pad in Teams (Settings > Calls, or the Calls sidebar).
2. Try calling a known working number (e.g., the Service Desk at (207) 725-3030).
3. If the call fails immediately with an error message, note the exact error text and contact the Service Desk.

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Teams desk phone won't sign in or keeps showing the sign-in screen

1. On the phone screen, note the pairing code displayed.
2. On a computer, go to https://microsoft.com/devicelogin.
3. Enter the code and sign in with your Bowdoin Microsoft 365 account.
4. If the sign-in fails or the phone shows an error after completing the web step, restart the phone by holding the power button or unplugging the Ethernet cable for 10 seconds and reconnecting.
5. After the phone reboots, the sign-in screen should appear again — repeat the device login process.

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Teams Calling stopped working after a Teams update

After a Teams update, calling features occasionally do not load correctly until Teams is fully restarted.

1. Fully quit Teams (not just close the window — use Quit or system tray exit).
2. Wait 30 seconds, then reopen Teams.
3. If the issue persists, sign out, clear the Teams cache, then sign back in:

Clear the Teams cache on macOS:

1. Quit Teams completely.
2. Open Finder, press Command + Shift + G, and type: ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Teams
3. Delete the contents of that folder (not the folder itself).
4. Reopen Teams and sign in.

Clear the Teams cache on Windows 11:

1. Quit Teams completely.
2. Press Windows + R, type %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams, and press Enter.
3. Delete the contents of that folder (not the folder itself).
4. Reopen Teams and sign in.

Additional Help

If you need further assistance, you have several options:

• Bowdoin Bot: Chat with Bowdoin Bot directly from any KB page for instant answers.
• Phone: Call the Bowdoin College Service Desk at (207) 725-3030.
• In person: Visit the Tech Hub in Smith Union during business hours.
• Submit a ticket: Request assistance through the Service Catalog.