Your people can now text clients from their work number, right inside Microsoft Teams.
The text shows up as an ordinary chat, the client sees your office number instead of someone's cell phone, and the conversation stays with the company when people change roles. Most owners have no idea it exists. The ones who do are surprised by what it takes.
It takes registration. The phone carriers treat business texting differently from texting a friend. Before a number can send, Microsoft passes two things to the industry registry: who you are, and what you will text about.
The second part is where applications get sent back. It needs the words you use to ask permission, a few sample messages, and a texting privacy policy and terms posted on your website. Review can take up to four weeks, longer when something has to be fixed. You also need Teams Phone with a Microsoft Calling Plan number.
It is for one person texting one person. A confirmation, a follow-up, a quick question answered. Not mass texts, automated reminders or marketing; sending those is the fastest way to have the number turned off.
Approval is the start, not the finish.
Ask first. Text only people who agreed to hear from you, or who texted you first, and keep a note of how they agreed.
Stop when asked. When someone replies STOP, Teams blocks the number for you. When someone writes "please don't text me," your people stop just the same.
Keep it out of texts. Account numbers, health information and anything confidential. Keep conversations to business hours.
Texts are records. They are kept like any other Teams chat, so your retention settings decide how long they last. For a Florida public agency, that is the public records law, and it is not optional.
What keeps it working is small: a one-page policy your staff sign, a short list of who can text, and fifteen minutes of training before a new department starts. Security + Compliance includes all three, and the registration itself: we prepare it with you, write the website pages it needs, and see it through to approval.
Questions people ask
Can you text from Microsoft Teams?
Yes, in the United States and Canada, on a Microsoft Calling Plan number, after the carrier registration is approved. It is one-to-one text only.
How long does Teams texting registration take?
Up to four weeks for review, and longer when an application is sent back to be fixed. Most rejections come from the website pages or the opt-in wording.
Are texts sent from Teams kept?
Yes. They are kept like any other Teams chat, for as long as your retention settings say.
