Using the SMS Connector App (Legacy)

An end-user guide to sending and receiving SMS and MMS messages with the legacy SMS Connector App in Microsoft Teams

Migration recommended - legacy app

The SMS Connector App (Legacy) will be retired in mid-2026. The end of life date for the PBX and CallApp apps will be announced soon.

All new capabilities now ship exclusively on the Unified Connector App, and CallApp and Chat services are already available only through the Unified Connector App. See the comparison of the apps in SMS Connector App vs Unified Connector App article.

If your organization is still on the legacy app, enterprise administrators should contact their ConnecttoTeams service provider to scope and schedule the migration.

About This Guide

This guide shows end users how to send and receive SMS and MMS messages in Microsoft Teams using the SMS Connector App (Legacy). It covers where your conversations appear, how to open and use the SMS Composer, and how to manage incoming messages.

If your organization uses the newer Unified Connector App instead, see Using the Unified Connector App for SMS.

Before You Begin

• Your Enterprise Admin must configure your user for SMS and assign a phone number to you or to an SMS group you are a member of.

• Your organization's Global Admin must have deployed the legacy SMS Connector App to Microsoft Teams.

Knowing When the App Is Ready

Follow these steps to confirm the legacy SMS Connector App is ready for you to use:

1. In Microsoft Teams, navigate to the Teams app catalog.

2. Under Apps › Built for your org, locate the app. (The app name may vary if it has been customized by your service provider. Use the name and icon your Enterprise Admin provided.)
   

3. The app is ready when the button next to it reads Open.
   

Once available, click Open to start using the app. For quicker access in the future, you can pin the app to your Microsoft Teams sidebar.

If the button stays on “Add”

If the button is still on "Add" after 24 hours, contact your enterprise administrator. They can work with your service provider to redeploy the app at a higher version number.

Opening the SMS Connector App

1. In Microsoft Teams, go to Apps › Built for your org.

2. Locate the SMS Connector App (Legacy) — your service provider may have renamed it.

3. Click Open.
   
   
   The app loads with the first tab showing the SMS Page.

   

Where Your SMS Conversations Live

In the SMS Connector App (Legacy), incoming SMS messages are delivered into Microsoft Teams as channels under a team that represents your hosted SMS number.

• Each hosted SMS number you are assigned appears as a Team.

• Each remote party you exchange messages with appears as a channel inside that team.

The team name is a raw SMS number, an SMS group name, or — if available — an Outlook Contact name. Channel names follow the same rule for the other party.

Tip — pin the right card

Pin the card representing the linked SMS/MMS conversation for easier access when the normal chat in the channel grows in length.

For a better experience, the team name can be renamed. See the Renaming and Restoring Deleted SMS Teams and Channels guide for steps. Do not delete a team dedicated to SMS — doing so will cause SMS messages to fail to deliver to your Teams user. The same guide explains how to restore a deleted SMS team.

The SMS Page (Inside the App)

The SMS Page is the central hub inside the app for managing your text messages. It works the same regardless of which connector app your enterprise has deployed.

To access the SMS Page, follow the steps laid out above in the section Opening the SMS Connector App..

From this interface, you can:

• View, send, and receive SMS and MMS messages.

• Broadcast messages to multiple recipients.

• Send group texts (if supported by your assigned SMS number).

• Manage your Outlook Contacts directly within the app.

To see the full guide, see the Using the SMS Page within the AppPage guide.

Sending SMS with the SMS Composer

The SMS Composer is a dedicated dialog for sending SMS and MMS messages from within Microsoft Teams. It is the recommended way to start a new conversation and gives you fine-grained control over the sender number, recipients, message body, and attachments.

Launching the SMS Composer

There are several ways to open the SMS Composer from within Microsoft Teams. The most common method is from an existing SMS channel using the Respond to Message button.

From a Teams Channel

Every SMS message card posted in a Teams channel includes a Respond to Message button. Clicking it opens the SMS Composer with the sender and recipient already filled in.

1. In Microsoft Teams, open the Teams pane and find the team for your hosted SMS number.

2. Click the channel that represents the remote party.

3. Locate a previous incoming SMS card in the channel.

4. Click the Respond to Message button on that card.

If the channel is for a single remote number, the SMS Composer opens with the recipient pre-filled with that number (or its matching contact name). If the channel is for a group text, the recipient is pre-filled with all members of the group text.

Reply only - not for starting new group texts

From a Teams channel, you can only reply to an existing group text. To initiate a new group text, use the SMS Page in the app. See the Group Texting guide for more information.

From the Activity Feed

Incoming SMS messages also generate a notification card in the Microsoft Teams Activity Feed, each with the same Respond to Message button.

1. Open the Activity feed in Microsoft Teams.

2. Find the notification card for the incoming SMS.

3. Click the Respond to Message button on the card.

From Actions and Apps in Teams Chat

You can also launch the SMS Composer from the native Teams chat composer:

1. Open any Teams chat and click the + or ⋯ icon in the chat composer.

2. Type “sms” in the search box and select the SMS app.

App name may differ

Your service provider may have renamed and rebranded the SMS app during deployment. Use the app whose name and icon match what your ConnecttoTeams provider directed.

From Compose SMS in Chat Actions

The SMS Composer can also be invoked from the Chat Actions menu of any existing Teams chat message

1. In any Teams chat, hover over a message and click the ellipsis (⋯) icon to open the More actions menu. You can also open this menu by right-clicking anywhere in the conversation pane.

2. Click the “Compose SMS” action added by the ConnecttoTeams SMS app.

The SMS Composer opens, ready for you to fill in.

Using the SMS Composer

Once the SMS Composer is open, sending a message takes three steps:

1. Select the sender number (From). Open the From drop-down and choose the SMS Caller ID you want to send from. If only one number is enabled for your account, it will be the only option.
   

2. Select the recipient. Type the contact name (if saved) or the full mobile number of the target recipient.
   

3. Optionally, add more recipients.
   
   You can broadcast to multiple recipients by pressing Enter or comma between entries, up to a maximum of 10.
   

4. Compose your message text, add an attachment if needed, and click the Send icon.
   

Contacts

To know more about saving contacts, refer to Working with Contacts.

Group texts are not supported here

The SMS Composer does not currently support initiating group texts (a single thread with multiple participants who can see one another). To start a gorup text, use the SMS Page in the app - see the Group Texting guide.

MMS limitations

When sending MMS, carrier-imposed limits apply to file types and sizes. Review the MMS limitations guide before sending media attachments.

Quick Reply by App-Tagging

App-tagging lets you send a single, quick SMS message directly from a channel reply box, without opening the SMS Composer. It is the fastest way to send a one-off text — but it has limits.

When you can use app-tagging

App-tagging only works in a channel associated with the other party's SMS phone number.

It can only send plain text (no MMS).

It cannot be used to initiate or reply to a group text.

1. Open the team for your hosted SMS number and select the channel for the remote party.

2. Click Reply, then invoke the SMS app by typing the @ sign followed by the app name — for example, @sms.
   

3. Type the desired message after the app tag and click Send.
   

Depending on your Teams channel notification settings, a confirmation will appear in the banner and in the Activity feed.

“Reply” is not equal to send SMS

The Reply option directly below an SMS card is Microsoft Teams' standard reply — it posts a regular Teams chat message and is not sent as an SMS.

Receiving SMS and Notifications

You receive incoming SMS messages in two places:

• In the Teams channel that represents the remote party (under your hosted-number team).

• In the Microsoft Teams Activity feed as a notification card, with a Respond to Message button you can click to reply.

If you use Microsoft Teams on a mobile device, you will also receive push notifications for incoming SMS messages.

Deleting an SMS from a Teams Channel

Messages you no longer need can be deleted directly from the Teams channel. Deleting a message in the channel also removes it from the embedded SMS app.

1. In Microsoft Teams, find the team for your hosted SMS number and click the channel for the recipient.
   

2. Locate the message you want to delete and click the trash icon to the right of it.
   

3. Click Delete in the confirmation pop-up.
   

Channel and SMS app stay in sync

Messages deleted from the Teams channel are also deleted from the embedded SMS Page.

Need More Help?

If your connector app is missing, your conversations are not appearing, or you have questions about features described here, contact your IT administrator or your ConnecttoTeams service provider. They can confirm your hosted SMS number assignment, verify that the legacy SMS Connector App is deployed to your account, and assist with any organization-specific configuration.

Related reading:

• Using the SMS Page within the App

• Renaming and Restoring Deleted SMS Teams and Channels

• Group Texting

• Working with Contacts

• MMS limitations