--- title: "Set Up Secondary/Failover Voice Route" slug: "secondary-voice-routes" updated: 2025-07-07T15:20:20Z published: 2025-07-07T15:20:20Z canonical: "kb.connecttoteams.com/secondary-voice-routes" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.connecttoteams.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Set Up Secondary/Failover Voice Route This article discusses how an enterprise can set up a secondary route for failover. This also discusses how to turn that secondary route as additional primary route. > [!NOTE] > Note to the Reseller > > All mentions of “Service Provider” in this article refers to you - the Reseller. ## Secondary Voice Route It is highly recommended to configure an additional Direct Route - voice route that acts as a built-in redundant call path option out of Microsoft Teams. If the Direct Route to a certified SBC in a geo-graphic region is interrupted, the Teams call will automatically attempt to be routed to another certified SBC in a different geographic region. > [!NOTE] > Instructions to the Service Provider > > The instructions presented here are also available to you in video form. Watch the video [**here**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWY_4e4vRFg&t=572s)**.** ### How It Works After the Enterprise Admin [configures their first Direct Route](/v1/docs/set-up-direct-routing), they will be presented with an option to configure the additional voice route in the Enterprise Dashboard’s Enterprise Admin Action Items table. This is not mandatory, but recommended. **If the Enterprise Admin chooses to configure the redundant route, a second Direct Route will consume a set of Microsoft licenses1 the same way the original did; therefore the customer will either need two unassigned sets of licenses to configure both routes at once or they will need to:** - [configure the primary direct route](/v1/docs/set-up-direct-routing), - [recoup the licenses](/v1/docs/recoup-the-license-from-directrouting-user), - [allow time for propagation](/v1/docs/microsoft-slow-propagation), and - then configure the second direct route. Once the primary Direct Route is configured, an option appears on the dashboard of the global administrator to "sync voice routes." as shown below. ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/312e5ae5-e3c1-465d-8e37-f253a7ba8eee/Images/Documentation/image-6O4ZFI6R.png) When Enterprise Admin clicks on the **Sync Voice Routes** button, the new Direct Route to be used as a secondary Voice Route will appear showing setup process as shown below. ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/312e5ae5-e3c1-465d-8e37-f253a7ba8eee/Images/Documentation/image(232).png) Once the new Direct Route for automatic failover is completed, the additional route shows in a 'hover/wand over' as an additional Voice Route for the primary as shown below. ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/312e5ae5-e3c1-465d-8e37-f253a7ba8eee/Images/Documentation/image(233).png) Details for the secondary route also appear on the Direct Routing page for the Enterprise Admin as shown below. ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/312e5ae5-e3c1-465d-8e37-f253a7ba8eee/Images/Documentation/image(234).png) **In Microsoft Office Teams Admin Portals:** In the Teams Admin Center, the Voice Route will be labeled as SECONDARY as shown below. ## Setting up a Second Primary Domain If desired, this same failover Direct Route can be used to create a second primary route. The Service Provider has to allow the Enterprise to use the voice route as new SBC Region. > [!NOTE] > Instruction to the Service Provider > > To allow the enterprise to use the voice route as primary, add the voice route as additional SBC region. For more info, check [Edit an Enterprise](/docs/manage-enterprises#edit-enterprise) guide. ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/312e5ae5-e3c1-465d-8e37-f253a7ba8eee/Images/Documentation/image(236).png) Once the Service Provider has updated the SBC regions for the enterprise, the Enterprise Admin will get a new option on the "Direct Routing" tab as shown below. ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/312e5ae5-e3c1-465d-8e37-f253a7ba8eee/Images/Documentation/image(237).png) Click **Enable** button to add primary Direct Route capability to this secondary route without removing its ability to act as a failover route. When completed. the Direct Routing dashboard will look like picture below, with the primary route showing it has failover capability enabled and the secondary route showing as existing independently. ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/312e5ae5-e3c1-465d-8e37-f253a7ba8eee/Images/Documentation/image(238).png) **REMEMBER: When complete, a DirectRouting User will exist in the Microsoft Office tenant of the Enterprise for both routes as shown in the picture below. You can recoup all of the licenses but, as always,** **DO NOT DELETE these users.** ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/312e5ae5-e3c1-465d-8e37-f253a7ba8eee/Images/Documentation/image(239).png) **1NOTE**: If both gateways are already configured as primary routes, no licenses will be consumed by enabling failover capability. ## Next Step - After completing a Direct Route Setup, you may recoup the license used for the Direct Routing User. For detailed instruction, check the article [Recoup the License from DirectRouting User](/v1/docs/recoup-the-license-from-directrouting-user). A voice route, also called gateway, refers to the configuration settings that determine how incoming and outgoing phone calls made through Microsoft Teams are directed to the appropriate phone number on the PSTN, essentially defining the path a call takes based on the dialed number. This is represented as a "online voice routing policy" within the Microsoft Teams Admin Center. SBC Region refers to the voice routes (sometimes called gateways) in specific Azure Regions where the Session Border Controller (SBC) is geographically located. There may be more than one voice route per geography, such as *US West* and *CallApp US West* for specific situations. Note that SBC Region options starting with 'CPC' are reserved and should not be selected.