--- title: "Multi-Line Comes to Microsoft Teams Phone: What It Means for Enterprise Migrations" date: 2026-07-20T08:00:00-07:00 author: Entergrade canonical_url: "https://entergrade.com/blog/multi-line-comes-to-microsoft-teams-phone-what-it-means-for-enterprise-migrations" section: Blog --- July 20, 2026 # Multi-Line Comes to Microsoft Teams Phone: What It Means for Enterprise Migrations ![Eswar Kombankulam](https://assets.entergrade.com/_128x128_crop_center-center_90_none/Photo_Eswar-1.jpg) Eswar Kombankulam Senior Microsoft Teams Consultant For anyone who has spent time helping organizations move off legacy phone systems like Cisco CUCM or Avaya, you know the conversation that always came up: ​“But what about our multi-line users?” It was one of the stickiest objections in the Microsoft Teams Phone migration playbook. That objection just lost most of its teeth. Microsoft has begun rolling out native Multi-Line support for Teams Phone (MC1261591). It removes one of the last real blockers to using Teams Phone as a full PBX replacement. ## ## What’s Actually New Multi-Line lets a single Teams user hold up to 11 phone numbers - one primary, one private, and up to nine alternates. When placing outbound calls, users see a ​“Call As” dropdown in the Teams dial pad and choose which number to present as their caller ID. ![The Call As dropdown in the Microsoft Teams dial pad, showing a user choosing which line to use for an outbound call](https://assets.entergrade.com/images/Call-as-myself-on-Microsoft-Teams-Phone.png)Choosing the line to use for an outbound call via the ​“Call As” dropdown in the Teams dial pad.The flexibility is in how those numbers are sourced. You’re not locked into a single PSTN connectivity type. A user’s lines can be a mix of: - Direct Routing - Operator Connect - Calling Plans - Teams Phone Mobile (one per user) This hybrid assignment wasn’t possible before. It opens up practical architectural options for complex enterprise environments. Here are the key behaviors to understand about Multi-Line: - The primary number must be assigned and match the user’s usage location (applies to Operator Connect, Calling Plans, and Teams Phone Mobile) - A user can hold up to 11 numbers total: 1 primary + 1 private + 9 alternate - Only 1 Teams Phone Mobile (TPM) number is allowed per user - Alternate numbers can be from any region or type (Direct Routing, Operator Connect, Calling Plans, Teams Phone Mobile) - Inbound calls display which specific line is being called, so users always know which number was dialed - Users can select their outgoing number when placing calls, except on SIP desk phones - The following features apply at the user level only, not per line: Voicemail, Delegation, Call Group, and Call Settings ## ## Getting It Configured ![The Assign policies panel in the Microsoft Teams Admin Center, where per-line policies are applied to an alternate number](https://assets.entergrade.com/images/Assign-policies-in-Microsoft-Teams-Phone.png)Assigning per-line policies to an alternate number in the Teams Admin Center.The Teams Admin Center UI has reached feature parity. If the new Alternate phone number interface isn’t showing in your tenant yet, PowerShell (v7.6.0+) is your path forward. To bind an alternate number to a user: - GUI: Similar to the primary line assignment process, but per-line policies must be assigned after the alternate line is added. **Here’s the PowerShell:** Set-CsPhoneNumberAssignment -Identity user@​yourdomain.​com -PhoneNumber +1234567890 -PhoneNumberType DirectRouting -AssignmentCategory Alternate **Per-number policy assignments are handled separately:** Set-CsPhoneNumberPolicyAssignment -PolicyType OnlineVoiceRoutingPolicy -PolicyName International -TelephoneNumber +1234567890 **And to audit what’s assigned to a given number:** Get-CsPhoneNumberPolicyAssignment -TelephoneNumber +1234567890 If you’re managing number assignments at scale and want to stay out of PowerShell, that’s why we built [TeamsBoss](https://entergrade.com/products/teamsboss). [![Account details in Microsoft Teams Admin Center : Sample User account page with multiple lines](https://assets.entergrade.com/images/Use-multiple-phone-numbers-in-a-unified-experience-with-Teams-Phone-user-multi-line.png)](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoftteamsblog/use-multiple-phone-numbers-in-a-unified-experience-with-teams-phone-user-multi-l/4512534)Account details in Microsoft Teams Admin Center : Sample User account page with multiple lines from the Microsoft Teams Blog## ## Per-Number Policy Control One of the more useful aspects of this feature is that alternate lines aren’t just aliases - they can carry their own policy assignments, independent of the user’s primary line settings. Policies that support per-number assignment include: **Policy** **What It Controls** Tenant Dial Plan Number normalization for the alternate line Emergency Call Routing Policy Required for Direct Routing alternate numbers Emergency Calling Policy Emergency notification and routing behavior Calling Line Identity Policy Outbound caller ID masking per number Online Voice Routing Policy Required for Direct Routing; can be applied to any number type to route via a customer’s SBC Dial Out Restriction Policy Restricts outbound dialing scope per number (PowerShell only) Shared Call Routing Policy Enables soft phone numbers using Shared Calling (PowerShell only) This granularity matters. You can have a user’s primary line follow standard corporate routing while an alternate line behaves differently - applying international dialing permissions or routing through a specific SBC, for example. ## ## Licensing: What You Need to Know Microsoft’s position is straightforward: alternate lines carry the same licensing requirements as whatever capability they represent. Mixing PSTN types on a single user is supported, but the user must be properly licensed for each type in use. If your user’s primary number is via Direct Routing and you want to add a Calling Plan number as an alternate, that user needs a Calling Plan license. Once a user is already licensed for a given PSTN type, additional alternate numbers of that same type don’t require additional licenses. Audit your licensing posture before rolling this out broadly, especially where users will hold numbers across multiple connectivity types. ## ## Why This Matters for Migrations Multi-line limitations have historically been a forcing function that kept some organizations tethered to legacy PBX infrastructure. Departments running receptionist workflows, executives needing multiple direct numbers, or teams requiring distinct caller ID personas for different business units - these scenarios required workarounds or simply weren’t viable in Teams Phone. That friction is now largely gone. Teams Phone is a more credible replacement for complex PBX environments than it’s ever been, and this update should make those migration conversations easier to close. And if you’d like a second set of eyes on your environment before layering multi-line in, our [Teams Phone Health Check](https://entergrade.com/services/teams-phone-health-check) covers licensing, tenant configuration, calling policies, and voice routing against Microsoft best practices to uncover inefficiencies and risk. ## Important: Number Removal Behavior Be aware of these cascading behaviors when removing numbers or users in a Multi-Line environment: - Removing a number from a user also removes all associated number policies from that number - Removing a user’s primary line automatically removes all of their alternate numbers as well ## ## Current Limitations The following scenarios are not supported today: - India phone users - CP (Calling Plan) SMS on alternate numbers - Teams mobile app - Auto Attendant / Call Queues (check the Microsoft roadmap for current status) - SBA (Survivable Branch Appliance) For further details, see Microsoft’s official documentation: [Configure Multi-line in Microsoft Teams](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/multi-line) (Microsoft Learn). ## ## Planning a PBX-to-Teams Migration? [Talk to our consulting team](https://entergrade.com/services/microsoft-consulting) about whether multi-line closes the gaps that have kept your shared lines on the old system. ## More Posts Continue by reading our other blog posts. ![Singlewire Blog Feature Image 1](https://assets.entergrade.com/_672xAUTO_crop_center-center_85_none/Singlewire-Blog-Feature-Image-1.png) Mar 06, 2026 ### [ Entergrade Partners with Singlewire to Strengthen Emergency Notifications in Microsoft Teams ](https://entergrade.com/blog/entergrade-partners-with-singlewire-to-strengthen-emergency-notifications-in-microsoft-teams) The partnership will allow emergency alerts to reach internal response teams across devices and locations. ![Marketing](https://assets.entergrade.com/_128x128_crop_center-center_90_none/Untitled-design-12.png) Marketing at Entergrade ![Trust Center Blog Post Image Computer Option](https://assets.entergrade.com/_672xAUTO_crop_center-center_85_none/Trust-Center-Blog-Post-Image-Computer-Option.png) Jan 07, 2026 ### [ Introducing the Entergrade Trust Center ](https://entergrade.com/blog/introducing-the-entergrade-trust-center) We're proud to launch a centralized destination for info about our certifications, controls and practices. ![Paul Vaillant](https://assets.entergrade.com/_128x128_crop_center-center_90_none/1658/Entergrade_07.jpg) Paul Vaillant Co-Founder & CTO ![SOC2 and ISO Blog Preview Image](https://assets.entergrade.com/_672xAUTO_crop_center-center_85_none/Untitled-design.jpg) Nov 25, 2025 ### [ Entergrade Achieves SOC 2 Type II and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Certifications ](https://entergrade.com/blog/entergrade-achieves-soc-2-type-ii-and-iso-iec-270012022-certifications) These certifications independently validate the strength of our security controls and our operational discipline. ![Paul Vaillant](https://assets.entergrade.com/_128x128_crop_center-center_90_none/1658/Entergrade_07.jpg) Paul Vaillant Co-Founder & CTO