How to Set Up an Auto Attendant in Microsoft Teams

An auto attendant is the automated voice menu that greets callers and routes them to the right person or department — "Press 1 for Sales, Press 2 for Support." In Microsoft Teams, auto attendants are built in as a cloud feature, so you do not need separate hardware or a third-party IVR system.

This guide walks you through what auto attendants do, how to plan your call flow, and how to set one up step by step in the Teams admin centre.

What Is a Teams Auto Attendant?

A Teams auto attendant answers incoming calls with a greeting and presents callers with menu options. Based on the caller's choice (key press or voice command), the auto attendant routes the call to:

• A specific user or Teams-enabled phone
• A call queue (for departments like Sales or Support)
• Another auto attendant (for nested menus)
• An external phone number
• Voicemail

You can configure different greetings and routing for business hours, after hours, and holidays. Teams also supports dial-by-name and dial-by-extension, so callers can reach individuals without navigating menus.

What You Need Before Starting

Before you create an auto attendant, make sure you have the following:

• Teams Phone Standard licences for users who will receive calls
• A PSTN connection — Direct Routing, Operator Connect, or a Microsoft Calling Plan
• A resource account with a Teams Phone Resource Account licence (free) and a phone number assigned
• Audio files for custom greetings (WAV or MP3 format, under 5 MB), or you can use text-to-speech
• Teams admin access — You need the Teams Administrator or Global Administrator role

Step 1: Plan Your Call Flow

Before opening the admin centre, map out your call flow on paper or a whiteboard. Answer these questions:

1. What number(s) will callers dial to reach the auto attendant?
2. What greeting should callers hear during business hours? After hours?
3. How many menu options do you need? (Keep it to five or fewer for the best caller experience.)
4. Where does each option route — a person, a queue, or a nested menu?
5. What happens if a caller does not press anything? (Timeout routing.)
6. Do you need holiday greetings with special routing?

A simple example:

• Greeting: "Thank you for calling [Company Name]."
• Option 1: Sales → routes to the Sales call queue
• Option 2: Support → routes to the Support call queue
• Option 3: Accounts → routes to the Accounts team member
• Option 0: Operator → routes to the receptionist
• Timeout / no input: Routes to the receptionist after 10 seconds

Step 2: Create a Resource Account

Every auto attendant needs a resource account. This is a special account that is not tied to a real person.

1. Open the Teams admin centre at admin.teams.microsoft.com.
2. Navigate to Voice > Resource accounts.
3. Click Add and fill in a display name (e.g., "Main Reception AA") and username.
4. Set the resource account type to Auto attendant.
5. Assign a Teams Phone Resource Account licence (free) to the account in the Microsoft 365 admin centre.
6. Assign a phone number — either a service number from Microsoft or a DDI from your SIP trunk provider.

Step 3: Create the Auto Attendant

1. In the Teams admin centre, go to Voice > Auto attendants.
2. Click Add to create a new auto attendant.
3. Enter a name and set the time zone and language.
4. Under Call flow, configure the greeting — upload an audio file or type text for text-to-speech.
5. Add menu options (key presses 0–9, * and #). For each option, choose the routing destination.
6. Set the dial scope if you want to enable dial-by-name or dial-by-extension.
7. Configure after-hours call flow with a different greeting and routing if needed.
8. Add holiday call flows for dates when your office is closed.
9. Link the resource account you created in Step 2.
10. Click Submit.

Step 4: Test the Auto Attendant

After saving, wait a few minutes for provisioning. Then test by calling the number from an external phone:

• Verify the greeting plays correctly.
• Press each menu option and confirm calls route to the right destination.
• Test the timeout behaviour — let the menu expire without pressing anything.
• Call outside business hours to check the after-hours flow.
• If using dial-by-name, test by speaking or typing a colleague's name.

Best Practices for Auto Attendants

To give callers the best experience:

• Keep menus short. Three to five options is ideal. Long menus frustrate callers.
• Put the most common option first. If 60% of callers want Sales, make Sales option 1.
• Always offer an operator or receptionist option. Some callers will not want to navigate a menu.
• Use professional greetings. A clear, well-recorded greeting sets the right tone. Text-to-speech works for testing, but a professional recording is better for production.
• Review call analytics regularly. The Teams admin centre shows how callers interact with the auto attendant, which options are most popular, and where callers abandon.
• Update holiday schedules annually. Stale holiday greetings on a regular Tuesday are a poor experience.

Nested Auto Attendants

For larger organisations, you can nest auto attendants. For example, the main auto attendant might offer "Press 1 for Sales", and the Sales option routes to a second auto attendant with regional sub-options: "Press 1 for London, Press 2 for Manchester." Each nested auto attendant needs its own resource account.

For more on enterprise Teams telephony, see our guide to enterprise VoIP and UCaaS solutions. If you are also interested in call forwarding and routing options, our article on call forwarding for phone systems covers the wider picture.