Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 news and opinions
Some UCaaS platforms allow users to send and receive mobile/cell phone SMS (Short Message Service).
Microsoft Teams Personal/Consumer/Home/for life does have SMS. Although we have had an “SMS use” report in Teams Admin Center for more than a year and the feature is rumoured to be coming, today you can not natively send SMS in Microsoft Teams for Business/Enterprise/Commercial.
Bandwidth, more commonly known for being the telco platform behind many UC platforms/providers, including some of Microsoft’s native Calling plans, and offering Direct Routing and E911 service, recently announced a new “Send-To” app that allows SMS messages to be sent from Microsoft Teams Channels.
The app works as a simple channel app/bot. You just add the app to a channel. Bandwidth provides the dedicated SMS cell number to send and receive SMS messages in the Teams channel. Each SMS becomes a thread in the channel so multiple channel members can view it and engage.
You can create contacts for the SMS users which are held in Teams.
This is not SMS enabling an individual Teams user’s phone number or bringing their existing cell/SMS into Teams; it is a dedicated group SMS number. Therefore technically it works regardless of Tams PSTN connectivity type (Operator Connect, Direct Routing or Microsoft Calling Plan). All the SMS messages are going via Bandwidth.  However, Bandwidth only sells Send-To in conjunction with their Duet for Teams SIP trunking and Emergency Services offerings. I think they are missing a wider addressable market here as many customers may want this solution alongside another operator/Microsoft Calling plans.
Right now, it is only US SMS numbers, but the US numbers send and receive messages to international numbers. I got to have a quick demo/test, and it sent and received SMS to/from my UK mobile number fine.
Pricing varies depending on usage, but generally includes a platform fee plus standard messaging rates; in addition to carrier surcharges. The messaging pricing is available here. Pricing varies per message, from $.004 per SMS outbound to .015 per MMS outbound.
Video overview of Bandwidth Send-To here.
[…] 1. Bandwidth Send-To App adds SMS Text Messages to Microsoft Teams […]
[…] Some UCaaS platforms allow users to send and receive mobile/cell phone SMS (Short Message Service). — Read on tomtalks.blog/bandwidth-send-to-bot-adds-sms-text-messages-to-microsoft-teams-channels/ […]
CallTower also provides individual SMS/MMS and Group SMS/MMS to MS Teams Direct Routing and Operator Connect. They include unlimited plans in the U.S & Canada.
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