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Teams calling: Calling Plans vs Operator Connect vs Direct Routing

How to connect Teams Phone to the phone network in Switzerland, including Teams Phone Mobile.

The options

  • Microsoft Calling Plans

    CHF 17.80

    user/month

    Microsoft list price for Switzerland, excl. VAT, as of 25 September 20261

    Includes

    • Microsoft acts as the PSTN operator; 99.999% SLA; needs a Calling Plan licence2
    • CH bundles: Teams Phone + pay-as-you-go calling plan (Zone 2) CHF 10.50; + domestic (1,200 min) CHF 17.80; + domestic & international (1,200 dom or 600 intl min) CHF 27.503
    • Switzerland: PAYG, 120-min domestic, 1,200-min domestic and International plans available; toll & toll-free numbers and Communications Credits supported4

    Limits

    • Premium-rate numbers not supported in Switzerland4

  • Operator Connect

    No separate list price — see what it requires

    Includes

    • Certified third-party operator provides PSTN; contract directly with the operator; enabled in Teams admin center2
    • 32 operators list Operator Connect calling for Switzerland, incl. Swisscom and Sunrise (CH only), Peoplefone, equada, BT, Colt, Orange Business, Vodafone Business5

    Requires

    • Teams Phone Standard licence (CHF 8.10) + Teams licence3

  • Direct Routing

    No separate list price — see what it requires

    Includes

    • Any PSTN operator via a certified Session Border Controller managed by you, an integrator or a DRaaS provider2

    Requires

    • Teams Phone Standard licence2

  • Teams Phone Mobile

    Operator_Connect_Mobile

    No separate list price — see what it requires

    Includes

    • Mobile operator SIM number is the Teams number2

    Limits

    • User numbers only; not for Audio Conferencing or voice-app (resource account) numbers2
    • In Switzerland only Swisscom (CH, LI) is listed for Teams Phone Mobile5

    Requires

    • Teams Phone Standard licence2

  • Teams Phone Standard (base licence for all models)

    MCOEV

    CHF 8.10

    user/month

    Microsoft list price for Switzerland, excl. VAT, as of 25 September 20266

    Includes

    • Included in M365 E5 / O365 E5 (with-Teams versions)7

    Requires

    • Separate Teams licence required3

Key differences

  1. All four PSTN models need Teams Phone; they can be combined within one tenant2
  2. Calling Plan = Microsoft as carrier; Operator Connect = carrier-managed, cloud-connected; Direct Routing = own SBC; Teams Phone Mobile = mobile SIM identity2

Who it’s for

  • Calling Plans: small/medium organisations wanting the simplest Microsoft-billed setup
  • Operator Connect: organisations wanting a local carrier (e.g. Swisscom, Sunrise) without running SBCs
  • Direct Routing: complex estates with existing PBX/SBC, analog devices or special carriers
  • Teams Phone Mobile: mobile-first users on Swisscom

ClearSource’s reading of Microsoft’s documentation — not a recommendation for your situation.

Where Microsoft’s own pages disagree

  • Microsoft 365 E7: the Swiss comparison table doesn’t show clearly which Intune Suite items (Remote Help, Enterprise App Management, Endpoint Privilege Management, Advanced Analytics, Cloud PKI, Plan 2) are included; Microsoft’s pricing update says the E5 packaging changes apply to E7 too.78
  • Naming: Microsoft Learn (17 September 2026) calls the products “Microsoft Copilot” and “Microsoft Copilot Business”, while the Swiss and US pricing pages still say “Microsoft 365 Copilot” and Microsoft’s licensing list still says “Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365” (Microsoft_365_Copilot).91011
  • Switzerland isn’t in the EEA, yet Microsoft’s Swiss pages sell “EWR” (EEA) suites without Teams. The Swiss price gaps between with and without Teams (about CHF 6.93 for enterprise suites, 2.61 for Business, 1.30 for Business Basic) differ from the euro minimums Microsoft committed to the European Commission (EUR 8.00 / 3.00 / 1.50).712

Sources

  1. 1microsoft.com
  2. 2PSTN connectivity options (Microsoft Learn) (6 August 2026)
  3. 3Microsoft Teams Phone (de-ch) (24 September 2026)
  4. 4Teams Phone availability in Switzerland (Microsoft Learn) (24 December 2024)
  5. 5Microsoft Teams Operator Directory (JSON feed) (24 September 2026)
  6. 6microsoft.com
  7. 7Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans & pricing (de-ch) (24 September 2026)
  8. 8microsoft.com
  9. 9learn.microsoft.com
  10. 10microsoft.com
  11. 11Product names and service plan identifiers for licensing (Microsoft CSV) (19 August 2026)
  12. 12microsoft.com

Official Microsoft pages (and, for print services, the vendors’ price pages), read on or before 24 September 2026.

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