Teams Phone shared voicemail and call routing

Overview

This guide explains how to create a centralised voicemail system in Microsoft Teams using Auto Attendants, Resource Accounts, and a Microsoft 365 Group inbox. The goal is to ensure that all voicemail messages, whether during or outside working hours, are delivered to one shared inbox, without requiring additional Teams Phone licences.

Summary

External calls come in to a main phone number assigned to Resource Account 1.
Auto Attendant 1 handles the incoming calls.
During business hours, calls are routed to the user.
If the user doesn’t answer, their Teams settings redirect the call to Auto Attendant 2.
Auto Attendant 2 routes all messages to an M365 Group inbox, which stores MP3 voicemails and transcriptions.

Required Components

Component	Purpose
Resource Account 1	Has phone number, linked to Auto Attendant 1
Resource Account 2	No phone number, used internally by Auto Attendant 2
Auto Attendant 1	Handles incoming calls, routes to user or to voicemail handler
Auto Attendant 2	Handles unanswered calls and routes them to M365 Group
Teams User	Receives calls during business hours
Microsoft 365 Group	Receives all voicemails with MP3 + transcription

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Create Resource Accounts

Navigate to Teams Admin Centre > Voice > Resource Accounts

Create [email protected]
- Assign a Phone System – Virtual User licence
- Assign the main external phone number
Create [email protected]
- Assign a Phone System – Virtual User licence
- Do not assign a phone number

Overview

Summary

Required Components

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Create Resource Accounts

2. Create Auto Attendant 1 (Main Line)