Teams Phone Agent is an AI receptionist for the calls your team could answer in their sleep
By Brett Gavaghan, Founder of Adaptd ·
Microsoft's Teams Phone Agent answers incoming calls, handles common questions, books appointments and passes callers to the right person with a summary. Microsoft says it rolled out in September.
The short version
- Teams Phone Agent is an AI voice agent that answers business calls, handles common questions and books or changes appointments.
- Microsoft says it rolled out in September 2026 for organisations using Teams Phone, after an early-access preview from June.
- Write down your ten most common phone questions before you switch it on, and keep a human transfer option.
Some calls need a person. Others are 'what time do you close?' for the fourth time before lunch. Microsoft would like an AI to take the second kind.
What is Teams Phone Agent?
Teams Phone Agent is an AI receptionist that answers incoming calls on a Teams Phone line. It answers questions from a knowledge base you set up with files and web pages, books, reschedules and cancels appointments, and transfers callers to a person or team with a summary of the call.
It works in more than 60 languages. Microsoft's own example is a home services company letting customers book or change a plumbing or electrical job by phone, without the usual phone tag.
Who can use it, and when?
Teams Phone Agent is for organisations that already use Microsoft Teams Phone. Microsoft first offered it through its Frontier early-access program in June, and its September Copilot update, published on 30 September, says it rolled out that month.
Admins set it up in the Teams admin center. Custom voice agents built in Copilot Studio, for jobs like taking payments, are billed by usage. Microsoft's update doesn't list a price for the standard agent, so check your licensing with your Microsoft partner or in the admin center.
Should your business use it?
Your business should consider Teams Phone Agent if staff spend real time each day answering the same handful of questions or shuffling bookings. If most of your calls are complaints or complex quotes, a person is still the better first voice.
My advice: start with opening hours, locations and bookings, and make 'talk to a person' easy to reach. Then listen to a week of call summaries before you add anything else. A receptionist that knows when to hand over is worth more than one who knows everything.
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