If you’re wondering what countries operator connect is available, you’re in the right place. As the simplified alternative to direct routing for companies looking to bring their existing communications provider into the Teams ecosystem, Operator Connect has much potential.
Among the 270 million monthly active users currently leveraging Microsoft Teams, a significant portion has begun to transform their Teams investment into a comprehensive work hub for the new hybrid world. Over the years, the flexibility of the Teams environment has allowed it to become not just a tool for collaboration, but a fully-featured UC environment.
Today, Teams users can access everything from meetings and video to productivity tools and voice calls in the same place. While Microsoft does have its calling plans to offer those interested in Microsoft Teams UC, most companies prefer the flexibility and functionality provided by solutions like Operator Connect. What countries is operator connect available in, and can your business leverage this tool for your Teams strategy?
What is Operator Connect Geographic Coverage?
Microsoft has a huge presence worldwide. Components of the Microsoft ecosystem, from Microsoft Office to Azure and Dynamics, are available in locations all across the globe. However, this doesn’t mean every Microsoft service is available in every country.
Operator Connect is one of the more recent additions to the Microsoft Teams product map, which means it only began to roll out to some locations throughout the Microsoft map in the last couple of years. You may find that just because Microsoft and even Microsoft Teams is available in your area, this doesn’t mean you can access Operator Connect.
The good news is that there are many locations where Operator Connect is available, which you can find by visiting the 365 Admin Center. Notably, the places where Operator Connect is available are frequently changing as Microsoft continues to expand its services’ availability and work on enhancing its global footprint.
It’s also worth noting as Microsoft develops new partnerships with Operators capable of offering the “Operator Connect” standard of service, more locations will become available. In the meantime, if you can’t access Operator Connect in your region, you may need to consider looking into Direct Routing options as an alternative.
Which Countries Offer Operator Connect?
Operator Connect is available in 60 locations at the time of writing. It’s important to remember that the level of service available from your Operator Connect provider may vary. Although all vendors in the Operator Connect directory must offer a managed service experience for connecting companies to the PSTN environment, different businesses take different approaches. You may find the solution provided by the only company in your region isn’t suitable for your needs.
The countries where you can access Operator Connect today include:
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Chile
- Columbia
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- French Guiana
- German
- Greece
- Guadeloupe
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Kenya
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malaysia
- Martinique
- Mayotte
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Panama
- Poland
- Portugal
- Puerto Rico
- Reunion
- Romania
- Rwanda
- Saint Barthelemy
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Spain
- Svalbard
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Uganda
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Crucially, in every country mentioned above, there are different vendors capable of offering Operator Connect. Some countries have multiple vendors, while others only have a single solution. The various vendors available for foreign countries served by Operator Connect may also offer a combination of Operator Connect and Operator Connect Conferencing.
As Operator Connect Conferencing is a newer service added to the Microsoft Teams roadmap, there are fewer vendors offering this solution around the globe. You may only be able to access standard Operator Connect services if you’re located in one of the locations above.
Selecting a Country in Operator Connect
You can select a country in Operator Connect relatively easily. The whole purpose of Operator Connect is to make bringing your preferred communication provider into your Teams strategy as simple as possible. Because of this, Microsoft ensures you can manage most aspects of your Operator Connect experience within the Admin Centre for Microsoft 365.
Within the admin centre, you’ll be able to choose locations, operators, and even numbers for your UC strategy. Visit the “Operators” page and choose a location from the dropdown list. This list may change in future, so make sure you regularly check to see if new sites have been added.
Once you click on a location, you’ll be able to select the carrier you want to use for Operator Connect. After choosing your vendor, you can complete the form at the bottom of the admin centre page to give consent to your provider so that they can connect their services to your tenant of Teams.
What if Operator Connect isn’t Available in My Country?
As mentioned above, the Operator Connect service from Microsoft Teams is still growing. Just because you can’t access the solution in your country or region today doesn’t mean you won’t be able to do so in the future. If Operator Connect isn’t available in your country, you can wait and see if it becomes available at a later stage.
If you’re not willing to wait or you need to upgrade your communication strategy straight away, you can always consider looking for provider and voice services outside of Operator Connect. Although you won’t have the same simplicity with Direct Routing as you’d expect with Operator Connect, you can still use this service to connect an external business phone provider to Teams.
You can also look into deploying a Session Border Controller using in-house teams and experts and connect to a local PSTN carrier. However, this can be a more complex and time-consuming process. Some providers on Operator Connect may also be able to work with you to facilitate connections to other countries not yet available on Operator Connect. This is usually a service offered through SBC and Direct Routing technology.
The right provider can offer SBC managed services and guidance to help you deploy a comprehensive solution in hard-to-reach regions. However, you will need to discuss this option with your operator.
