Pause Inbound Calling Based on Teams Presence - Admin Guide

Overview

PBX users on Microsoft Teams can have their incoming calls automatically paused when they are unavailable in Teams.

When the Pause Inbound Calling based on Teams Presence feature is active, incoming queue calls do not ring through to unavailable users. This ensures that call queue and hunt group calls ring other available users instead of being answered by a busy user’s voicemail.

Important: Do not enable this feature if your users rely on Teams voicemail

Pause Inbound Calling is incompatible with Teams voicemail by design. When a user is unavailable in Teams, incoming calls are never routed to them — which means calls can never reach their Teams voicemail either. If your organization wants unanswered calls to be answered by users’ Teams voicemail, do not use this feature.

An Enterprise can adjust their PBX Configuration to activate this feature for the users in their system. Individual users can also manage the feature for their own account from a configuration page inside ConnecttoTeams apps. See the Pause Inbound Calling User Guide for the end-user experience.

Before You Begin

This feature requires the Presence Monitoring consent to be granted.

1. In the Enterprise Portal, go to the Dashboard.

2. Check the status of the Presence Monitoring consent. If it shows Pending Consent, click the Grant Consent button and complete the consent process.
   

3. Confirm that the Dashboard shows Granted Consent before proceeding.
   

4. If your organization has 650 or more users, require each user to consent to Presence Monitoring by pressing the person icon in the ConnecttoTeams app they are using. This step is explained in Pause Inbound Calling User Guide.

Note

Due to a Microsoft requirement, tenants with 650 or more users require each user's individual consent to subscribe to that user's Teams presence. For tenants with fewer than 650 users, presence notifications are received without individual consent — the enterprise-level consent is sufficient

Configuring the Pause Inbound Calling Feature

The feature can be enabled immediately when adding a new PBX — see the PBX Configuration Guide article for information on adding PBXs. The instructions below are for enabling the feature on an existing PBX.

1. From the menu, go to the PBX page.

2. On the Configured PBXs page, locate the relevant PBX record, click …, then click Edit.
   

3. On the PBX Settings page, mark the Pause Inbound Calling based on Teams Presence checkbox. When enabled, you are prompted to choose the Method used to pause inbound calling.
   

4. Choose the Method.
   
   The method options are:
   

   BS As-Feature-Event

   Sets the PBX user to Do Not Disturb (DND) when the user is unavailable in Microsoft Teams. The PBX must support the AS-Feature-Event subscription feature as defined in RFC 6665. Despite the name, this method is not limited to Broadsoft platforms — it works across PBX platforms, including Netsapiens. DND is applied at the user level on the PBX, so calls are paused across all of the user’s devices.
   
   

   
   When BS As-Feature-Event is chosen, you are prompted to select the Teams statuses that trigger the system to push DND to the PBX. The available statuses are shown below.

   

   Note

   Because this method applies DND to the PBX user, all of that user’s devices — including desk phones and other endpoints — will stop ringing while the user is unavailable in Teams, not just their Teams client app. Depending on how your PBX handles DND, direct calls to the user may route to the user’s PBX voicemail.

   If calls do not pause after enabling this method, your PBX likely does not support the AS-Feature-Event subscription feature; switch the Method to SIP 480 instead.

   SIP 480

   Causes the system to respond to any incoming call (INVITE) for an unavailable Teams user with a 480 Temporarily Unavailable message. The rejection applies only to the user’s ConnecttoTeams device (the Teams client); the user’s other devices, such as a desk phone, may still ring.

   If this method is chosen, set the Interval in Minutes with the desired length of time calls should be paused after a presence unavailability event. See More About the SIP 480 Method and Interval in Minutes below.
   
   

   Additionally, you may select the Teams statuses that trigger calls to be rejected. The available statuses are shown below.
   

   

Important

The NS As-Feature-Event also appears in the Method list, but it is currently not operational and should not be selected. Use BS As-Feature-Event or SIP 480 instead.

5. Click Save Settings. A confirmation prompt appears, warning that modifying PBX settings may cause disruptions to your users.
   

6. Click Save Settings again to confirm.

Result: The setting is saved and applies to all Teams users associated with the PBX, unless a specific user has overridden the setting from one of the ConnecttoTeams apps. See the Pause Inbound Calling User Guide.

Note to End Users

End users can see and manage these controls in their ConnecttoTeams app only if your Service Provider has enabled Show Pause Inbound on Presence state settings? in the app configuration. If this option is disabled, users see "Presence controls are not available for this account" — the enterprise-level setting still applies; users simply cannot override it.

Note to the service provider

To show the controls to the user, mark the Show Pause Inbound on Presence state settings check box in the App Management page for the Enterprise. The Service Provider Guide is available at Customize and Deploy Unified Connector App for an Enterprise.

More About the SIP 480 Method and Interval in Minutes

When SIP 480 is selected, any call (INVITE) from the PBX to an unavailable Teams user is rejected with a 480 Temporarily Unavailable response, and the Interval in Minutes value is passed to the PBX as a Retry-After header. Calls remain blocked until the user returns to an available status or the interval elapses — whichever comes first.

If the Interval in Minutes is set to 0, the expiry is turned off, and calls remain paused until the user returns to an available status.

Unlike BS As-Feature-Event, the SIP 480 method rejects calls at the device level — only the user’s ConnecttoTeams device (the Teams client app) declines the call.

Troubleshooting

Users do not see the Pause Inbound Calling controls in their app

If the Presence section of PBX Feature Management shows "Presence controls are not available for this account," the presence controls have not been enabled in the app configuration. Ask your Service Provider to enable Show Pause Inbound on Presence state settings? in the app's configuration. If users see no Presence section at all, confirm the Pause Inbound Calling feature is enabled in PBX Settings.

Calls still ring through to users who are unavailable in Teams

Check the following, in order:

1. Confirm the Presence Monitoring consent shows Granted Consent on the Dashboard — the feature does not operate without it.

2. Confirm the Method is not set to NS As-Feature-Event, which is currently not operational.

3. If using BS As-Feature-Event and calls still ring through, your PBX may not support the AS-Feature-Event subscription feature— switch the Method to SIP 480.

Users appear stuck in Do Not Disturb on the PBX

Earlier versions of the BS As-Feature-Event method could, in some configurations, leave users in a persistent DND state. If users remain stuck in DND, disable the feature (see below) and contact support.

Turning the feature off entirely

To stop pausing inbound calls, clear the Pause Inbound Calling based on Teams Presence checkbox in PBX Settings.

If presence behavior remains erratic, all presence activity — in both directions — can be stopped by revoking the Presence Monitoring consent: ask your Service Provider to revoke the consent for Presence Monitoring. This will trigger your Dashboard to show the Grant Consent action again, so the feature can be re-enabled later if desired.

Next Steps

• Inform your end users how to manage this feature with the Pause Inbound Calling User Guide.

• For adding new PBXs with this feature enabled from the start, see the PBX Configuration Guide.