SMS Connector Installation Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

Use this guide as an overview to help you configure SMS services using the legacy SMS Connector App and Unified Connector App—collectively referred to as SMS Connectors. It outlines the key setup steps and provides direct links to related articles for detailed instructions and configuration guidance.

Setting Up the SMS Connector Service for an Enterprise

Setting up an SMS Connector involves the collaboration of the Service Provider and the Enterprise Admin with Global Admin role in Teams Admin Center. Some tasks can be delegated to non-Global Admins, but due to Microsoft’s security policies there is no way to complete setup without the Global Administrator’s initial involvement.

Instructions for the Service Provider

Carry out the following steps in the ConnecttoTeams Service Portal.

1. Configure the enterprise for SMS service.

   Choose the path that applies:

   Scenario	Action
   New enterprise	Create the enterprise with SMS service included. In the Registered Email ID field, supply the Microsoft Global Administrator’s email address. The Global Admin will receive the invitation email which contains instruction with a with a link to start the set-up process.
   Existing enterprise	Edit the enterprise to add SMS to the Service field.

2. Review your app template.
   If you wish to apply app template changes to all your enterprises, update your Reseller-level default app template:
   - Unified Connector App → Build Unified App Template.
   - Legacy SMS Connector App → Build SMS App Template.

3. Customize settings specific for the enterprise
   This prepares the app for the deployment by the Global Admin (covered in the next section):
   - Unified Connector App →  Customize and Deploy Unified Connector App for an Enterprise
   - Legacy SMS Connector App → Customize and Deploy SMS App for an Enterprise.

4. Configure SMS carrier profiles
   Configure SMS Carrier Profiles and assign applicable profile(s) to the enterprise.

5. Configure SMS Domains (conditional)
   If the underlying SMS provider is one of these SMS providers - Netsapiens, RingLogix, United Cloud, Viirtue, configure the SMS domains for your enterprise.
   Otherwise, skip this step.

6. Upload SMS Capable Numbers
   If the Reseller is providing SMS phone numbers to enterprise, upload new phone numbers with SMS capability or edit existing phone numbers to add SMS support.
   
   Ensure each number is:
   - Configured with the correct SMS Carrier Profile with valid API credentials,
   - Properly assigned to the target enterprise.

Instructions for the Enterprise Admin

1. Prepare Teams Admin Center
   - Enable the Messaging Policies for SMS and Chat Apps

   - Ensure you have custom apps enabled for Teams

2. Accept the invitation and grant permissions (new enterprises)
   If you are a new enterprise, your Microsoft organization's Global Administrator should follow the instructions provided in the invitation email.

   Clicking the COMPLETE button in that email will prompt the Global Admin to grant the required permissions.

   
   Then, using Global Admin credentials, log in to the appropriate portal:

   Your services	Portal to use
   Messaging only (SMS, Chat)	Messaging Portal
   Both messaging (SMS, Chat) and calling (PBX, CallApp)	Enterprise Portal

   
   You’ll be asked to grant permissions. These must be accepted before the enterprise can access the portal.
   

3. Sync your user groups (optionally)
   
   Limiting service to specific user groups

   If your organization is large and you only need to enable services for a subset of users, you can scope the rollout by selecting the Teams groups that ConnecttoTeams syncs with. See instructions here.

   Recommendation: If your organization does not have strict requirements on which users are managed, leave the group selection blank. Limiting by group comes with a performance trade-off due to technical limitations in the Microsoft API integration.

   Things to know

   • Sync latency. Updated group selections may take up to 10 minutes to reflect in the user list, due to latency when pulling data from Microsoft.

   • Performance impact. Narrowing by group is slower than syncing the full directory.

4. Upload phone numbers (if applicable)
   If allowed by service provider, upload phone numbers with SMS capability.
   

5. Configure SMS Users and SMS Groups
   Note: This tasks can be delegated to non-Global Admins.
   Configure SMS users individually or in bulk, and any SMS Groups as needed.
   

6. Deploy and sync the app
   Choose the path that applies:

   - Unified Connector App → Deploy and Sync the Unified Connector App
   - Legacy SMS Connector App → Deploy and sync the SMS Connector app..
   

7. Verify SMS Domain (if shown)
   
   If your navigation menu shows the SMS Domains page, verify that your Domains have
   - Subscription ID filled in
   - Date Subscribed filled in
   - Expiry Date set to a future date.
   
   This ensures your Teams users will your inbound SMS messages. If any of these are incorrect, reach out to your Service Provider to troubleshoot the issue.
   
   Note: You won’t see this page if your underlying SMS Provider does not require you to configure this.

8. Direct your users to the user guide
   Share the Getting Started with SMS and MMS: End User Experience with your users.
   

9. Ongoing user management

   1. You may find the need to disable SMS for a user or unassign phone numbers as part of user management.

   2. Sync the connector app
      
      When a sync is required

      When changes are made to SMS assignments, a sync of the deployed connector app may be required so that the changes take effect for the affected Teams users.

      
      The trigger depends on which app your enterprise uses:

      Connector App	Sync required when…
      Legacy SMS Connector App	Any SMS number is assigned or unassigned
      Unified Connector App	A user is assigned an SMS number for the first time - either as a personal number or as a member of an SMS group

      
      Completing the sync
      When a sync is needed, a sync task automatically appears in the Dashboard's Tasks table. The enterprise admin should:

      1. Open the Tasks table in the Dashboard

      2. Locate a Sync SMS App task (legacy) or Sync Unified App task (Unified)

      3. Complete the task to finalize the changes

Troubleshooting Issues

There may be issues with the deployment of the app. Review the troubleshooting guides for app deployment issues here.

Suggested Further Reading

• For the step by step guide for configuring PBX Connector app, click here.

• For the step by step guide for configuring SIP Trunk Connector app, click here.