When researching a suitable tool, you’ll need to ensure that the tool’s features support your vision and needs in Teams. At the very least, the number management software should include:
| Must Haves | Nice To Haves |
| Automatically build number ranges from your Teams tenant so when you purchase more numbers from Microsoft or your Operator Connect partner, these numbers appear in your number management tool. | Proactively alert admins when number ranges are becoming fully allocated. |
| Synchronize the user assignment of numbers to the number records to ensure that availability and usage is representative of what is configured in Teams. | Ability to assign number categories to user personas so the next free number in the category is automatically selected. |
| Ensuring when change happens directly in Teams it is reflected in the number management tool automatically. | Ability to protect Teams configuration against out of process changes. |
| Allow number categorization by type, location, and business use case. | Pro-active number reservations for future use. |
| Enable descriptions or labels to provide contextual awareness for other administrators. | Number quarantine when numbers are unassigned for a period in case they need to be re-assigned back to the same user. |
| Ability to directly assign numbers to Teams users from the number management solution rather than using the TAC or PowerShell as a separate process. | Granular role-based control that permits admins in different areas to manage their permitted numbers and users. |
| Audit process to log change of numbers. | API for programmatic initiation of a number assignment or unassignment. |
Top 5 Number Management Tools for Teams
When it comes to selection of your product, it really comes down to features you absolutely need and can’t live without – and cost.
Many organizations will compromise on the selected product due to cost and replace the capabilities of the tool they really wanted with human workarounds, custom script processes, or both.
The reality is that doing this will end up costing you more than buying the tool you need, and you won’t end up solving the problem you set out to solve in the first place.
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