MC387038: Call control with Bluetooth headsets and speakerphones

Updated November 3, 2022: We have updated the timeline and provided additional details for clarity. Thank you for your patience.

Updated September 7, 2022: We have updated the timeline and provided additional details for clarity. Thank you for your patience.

Updated June 23, 2022: We have updated the timeline and provided additional details for clarity. Thank you for your patience.

This new feature allows users to use the buttons on Bluetooth headsets, speakerphones or certified devices that don’t require a USB dongle to answer, end and even mute calls. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 84309.

Note: This feature supports both Windows 10 and Windows 11. Mac support will be upcoming in first half of 2023.

Use device buttons to control call (answer, end, hold) from Bluetooth audio devices without needing a USB dongle when connected to a Windows PC running Teams desktop client. For many headsets and speakerphones, this will work without requiring any user action to enable other than pairing the headset or speakerphone with the PC. Watch our certification page for additional information coming soon about devices tested to meet all certification criteria with native Bluetooth connections (w/o a USB dongle).

When this will happen

Public preview: began rolling out in mid-March but support was limited to Windows 10.

Standard and GCC: will begin rolling out in late August (previously late July) with support for Windows 11. Support for Windows 10 versions above 1803 (April 2018) will be enabled late September.

GCC-H: will begin rolling out in late July and be complete in late September (previously late August) for Windows 10 and mid-November (previously late October) for Windows 11.

How this will affect your organization

This feature uses industry standard communication protocol called Hands Free Protocol (HFP) and will work with most headsets that have an answer/end call button.

• If users can use the headset to answer cellular calls with their cell phone, then it indicates that the headset supports HFP and the user should be able to use it to answer calls with Teams.
• Mute control leverages industry standard mechanism so will also work for most devices that support a mute button.

Teams button support, which can be used for actions like meeting join, and raise/lower hands during meeting will only be available on certified models.

At this time, if a user has two or more audio devices connected to their PC, answering the call using device button is not supported (this is to avoid activating the wrong device). This limitation will be removed in upcoming updates to Windows that will allow Teams to know which device triggered the call answer action,but we do not have an estimated time at this time.

What you need to do to prepare

You might want to notify your users about this change and update your training and documentation as appropriate. Watch for announcements soon about full certification for native Bluetooth headsets which will validate device performance for things like audio quality, and Teams button support.

Message ID: MC387038
Published: 31 May 2022
Updated: 03 November 2022
Platform: Mac, US Instances, Windows Desktop, World tenant