Lync-to-phone for Office 365 gives your business the power of a complete communications system without having to install any costly equipment. With an appropriate Office 365 service plan and a
Lync-to-phone provider, you can give your users a complete unified communications experience:
Get the calling features you need to stay in touch and stay productive wherever you go:
| Lync-to-phone feature |
Description |
| Make calls to, and receive calls from, any phone number |
Extend the reach of Lync Online by connecting to the traditional telephone network |
| Forward callsSimultaneous ring |
Forward calls to another number, or have another phone ring at the same time as your work number |
| Transfer calls |
Transfer the call you’re on from your computer to your mobile phone or any other number |
| Caller ID |
You can screen calls, and identify yourself to outside callers |
| Call via your work number on your mobile device |
With the Lync client installed on your smart phone or tablet, you can display your work number to the person you’re calling |
| Delegate calls to an assistant |
Set up an assistant to make and receive calls on your behalf |
| Delegate calls to your team |
Define a group of colleagues who can pick up your incoming calls |
| Access voice mail from Lync or Outlook |
With Exchange Online Unified Messaging, you can check your voice mail directly from Lync, and receive transcriptions in email. Requires Exchange Online Plan 2. |
| Set up Unified Messaging access numbers |
If your business requires it, you can set up an external number that people can use to access their voice mail if they can’t get to a computer or mobile device.You can also add an auto attendant number for automated routing of incoming calls. |
The first qualified Lync-to-phone provider is Jajah Voice for Office 365, with phone numbers currently available for the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK). Additional providers are currently under evaluation but there is no immediate timeline available.
IMPORTANT: Lync-to-phone is not available in organizations with a hybrid server/service deployment.
Service Details
Your Lync-to-phone provider connects you to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). You can
- Re-use your existing phone numbers
- Get new local numbers
- Purchase domestic and international calling plans
IMPORTANT: Lync-to-phone service is billed separately from Office 365. You’ll receive two bills: one from Microsoft for Office 365, and one from your Lync-to-phone provider for telephone network connectivity.
Lync-to-phone is available with the following Office 365 service plans
| Office 365 service plan |
Additional licenses required |
| Midsize business and enterprise plans E1, E2, or E3 |
Lync Plan 3Exchange Plan 2 |
| Enterprise Plan E4 |
None |
Service Coverage
The first qualified Lync-to-phone provider is Jajah Voice for Office 365, with phone numbers currently available for the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK). US and UK numbers can be assigned to users in other countries, or used by businesses located in other countries, as long as those countries have Lync Online audio service available, and can provide a US or UK billing address.
| Location of your business or your users |
Lync-to-phone numbers available |
| US and Canada |
US numbers |
| United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (with some exceptions) |
UK numbers |
Emergency services
All emergency calls are routed by your Lync-to-phone provider to a national emergency dispatch center. The dispatch center first determines if the caller is at the location of record for that phone number, or at another location, and if necessary, updates the callers location. The call is then connected to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (in the US) or British Telecom (in the UK).
How it works
Lync-to-phone for Office 365 is a cloud-based voice solution that’s fully integrated with Lync Online and Exchange Online. This makes your job as an admin much simpler: the network connectivity and routing has already been taken care of, and the Lync-to-phone service provider delivers full data-center resiliency.
Once you’ve contacted a Lync-to-phone provider and purchased new phone numbers—or arranged to have your existing phone numbers ported over—all you need to do as an admin is
- Get the necessary licenses and assign them to users
- If you’ve purchased new phone numbers, assign them to users
- Set up your Lync-to-phone service provider in the Lync admin center
- Set up an Exchange Unified Messaging dial plan and assign it to users
See Administering Lync-to-phone for details.
Signaling and Media Flow
Signaling for call setup and control flows between the Lync client and the Lync Online infrastructure. Call media flows directly between the Lync client endpoint and the target of the call, as shown in the following figures.
In calls to or from the traditional telephone network, media flows between the Lync client and the Lync-to-phone provider’s PSTN gateway.
Figure: PSTN call flow
In a conference call, as shown in the figure below, media flows between Lync clients, PSTN callers, and the Lync Online conferencing server.
Figure: Conferencing call flow
Planning for Lync-to-phone
Review and complete all the Lync Online configuration tasks. Of particular importance:
IMPORTANT: If you plan to re-use your existing phone numbers with Lync-to-phone, make sure you complete the configuration steps in the following section before the ported numbers are activated.
Administering Lync-to-phone
Use the Office 365 portal to complete all of your Lync-to-phone configuration tasks:
- Assign licenses and phone numbers
- Access the Lync Online Control Panel and Exchange Control Panel
Figure: Office 365 admin home page
Once you’ve set up Office 365 and purchased Lync-to-phone service, complete these tasks to get up and running:
Figure: Lync-to-phone set up overview
Learn more:
Where to go for support
Both Microsoft and your Lync-to-phone provider are available to support their respective services. In general, Microsoft should be contacted first for support unless there is a problem specific to PSTN calling or the associated billing.
Contact Microsoft for these types of issues:
- Error when assigning phone number
- Call features not working – transfer, forward, simultaneous ring
- Exchange Voice Messaging not working
- Exchange Auto Attendant and Outlook Voice Access not working
- Audio Quality issues
Contact your Lync-to-phone provider first with these kinds of issues
- Incoming calls not completing
- Outgoing calls not completing
- Caller ID issues
- Call transfer to a number fails and the user is always returned to the original conversation
- Call forward to a number fails with a disconnect tone
- Gets disconnected in the middle of the call
- Keypad commands (DTMF signals) aren’t recognized
- Billing questions
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