How to Set Up Microsoft Teams Direct Routing: A Step-by-Step Guide

Before you begin: Ensure you have Global Administrator rights in your Microsoft 365 tenant to complete the setup.

Step 1: Add FQDN

Goal: Register your Session Border Controller (SBC) in the Teams Admin Center.

Open the Teams Admin Center at admin.teams.microsoft.com. Navigate to Voice > Direct Routing, and click Add.

Enter the FQDN provided by your consultant, set the port to 5061, and enable the SBC.

After adding, you will see the SBC listed. Ignore any warning messages at this stage.

Next, navigate to Voice routes and click Add.

Set a name for the route and change the Dialed number pattern to .* to match all outbound calls.

Under SBCs enrolled, click Add SBCs and select the SBC device you just added.

Under PSTN usage records, click Add, name the record, select it, then save and apply the configuration.

Step 2: Add Dial Plans for China

Goal: Configure normalization rules so users can dial numbers in the correct format.

Navigate to Dial plans in the Teams Admin Center and click Add.

Depending on your preference, configure the Normalization rules to automatically format local numbers to the required international or national format.

Use the Test dial plan feature to validate that your rules are working correctly.

Step 3: Configure Voice Routing Policies

Goal: Create a policy that defines which users can make calls and how calls are routed.

In the Teams Admin Center, navigate to Voice > Voice routing policies and click Add.

Under PSTN usage records, click Add, select the record you created in Step 1, and apply it.

Step 4: Assign Settings to Each User

Goal: Apply the dial plan and voice routing policy to individual users and assign phone numbers.

In the Teams Admin Center, go to Users > Manage users, select a user, and click Edit. In the Account tab, assign a phone number.

In the Policies tab, scroll down to find Dial plan and Voice routing policy. Edit them to select the correct policies you configured in Steps 2 and 3.

Log out of the Teams client and log back in to apply the new settings. You should now see the phone number available in your Teams client.

✅ Your Teams Direct Routing setup is now complete. Users can make and receive calls directly from Teams.

Conclusion

Setting up Microsoft Teams Direct Routing involves several interconnected steps, from configuring the SBC FQDN to assigning policies to individual users. While the process is technical, following this guide ensures a smooth deployment that provides enterprise-grade PSTN calling directly within the Teams environment.

If you encounter any issues during your Direct Routing setup, or if you need assistance with SBC configuration, SIP trunk provisioning, or full Teams Phone System deployment in China, CTS is here to help. Our certified engineers have supported hundreds of global enterprises in deploying Teams voice solutions. Contact us today to get started.