In a previous post. you might have noticed I was pretty excited to see that the SIP Gateway for Microsoft Teams has launched. While limited, this allows for a ton of customers to re-use their existing fleets of supported handsets.
One of the things I have been asked a few times by my customers is “Should I keep my phones on 3PIP or move them over to SIP?”
12 months ago, my answer would have been no. But there have been considerable improvements to the SIP gateway that it is now (mostly) on par with 3PIP bar a few features.
- Calendar / One Touch Meeting Join
- Personal Contact Integration
- Corporate Directory Search
- Search by name
- User Status Integration
You should pay attention here. Because 3PIP is ending on July 31st 2023.
Unfortunately, in August of 2020, Microsoft announced that 3PIP would be supported “Beyond 2023” and has had a confusing message since then. The point of the matter is that 3PIP is going away, and you need to prepare!
My biggest issue with this question was there was no good answer here, no table I can point at that say “That feature is missing” like Luca’s awesome “Skype Vs Teams” comparison sheet. Thus, I spent a year making one.
Caveats
It should be noted that Ilya Bukshteyn (Teams Devices Lead) himself has publicly stated that in regards to 3PIP phones “They will not support any new Teams capabilities, ever.” Meaning they will get their existing Skype4B features and that’s it.
This document is up to date based on my testing/documentation available on 19th March 2023, using either documentation I’ve found online, or seen in my test handsets/deployments. But some of my 3PIP information is missing as my 3PIP phones will no longer sign into my tenant
All features are based on registration to Teams without using a third-party product. for example, SIP phones CAN have an address book via a provisioning server, but Teams doesn’t natively manage this.
If you want to use your own provisioning server with SIP phones, it should be noted that whilst they can have it configured, that process is not documented by Microsoft. But is something I’ll likely write up, once my Reverse Engineering Teams SIP Gateway series is complete
It’s also worth mentioning that SIP devices are not unified, So whilst some SIP devices may support a feature, others may not.
Deciphering Teams Firmware Numbers
In regards to Teams firmware numbers, the part we care about is the date on the end.
Phones Tested
To try and help the relevant people find this article, it’s worth mentioning the phones I’ve tested/seen or found references to in the official documentation and what modes are available that will work with Teams.
| Lync Phone Edtion Devices | Teams Phone Mode | 3PIP Mode | SIP Mode | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP 4110 and 4120 Mitel 6721 and 6725 Polycom CX500, CX600 CX3000 | No | No | No | Uses Lync Phone Edition and Windows CE, Not supported due to OS TLS limitations, even with an SBC |
| Polycom/Poly/HP | Teams Phone Mode | 3PIP Mode | SIP Mode | Notes |
| VVX series VVX150 VVX201 VVX250 VVX300 VVX301 VVX310 VVX311 VVX350 VVX400 VVX401 VVX410 VVX411 VVX450 VVX500 VVX501 VVX600 VVX601 | No | Yes (Deprecated) | Yes (best) | Supports more features in 3PIP mode, but is simpler to manage in SIP mode using TAC and using Poly Lens/PDMSE. VVX1500 not supported |
| Rove Series Base: B1, B2, B4 Handset: 20, 30, 40 | No | No | Yes (Fw 8.0.3 or better) | Simplest Wireless Option for Teams, Config guide here |
| CCX Series, CCX350 CCX400 CCX500, CCX505 CCX600 | Yes (Best) | Yes (Avoid) | No (The device has a SIP mode, but it’s not supported by Teams) | Whilst the CCX series can be used in 3pip mode. it’s highly recommended to use Teams mode. Early issues with slowness have been resolved. |
| Trio C60 | Yes (Best) | TBD | No | |
| Trio 8800 8500 Visual+ | Yes (Slow, no video) | Yes (Deprecated, Teams Video using RealConnect) | Yes | Run in 3PIP mode with Poly RealConnect for the best experience, Teams mode is very slow and does not support Video RealConnect may work in SIP mode, I haven’t tested it |
| Cisco | Teams Phone Mode | 3PIP Mode | SIP Mode | Notes |
| UC Phone 6821 7811 7821 7841 7861 8811 8832 8841 8845 8851 8861 8865 | No | No | Yes (MPP Fw required) | Devices must be converted to MPP (SIP) firmware, which requires a license from Cisco. In most cases, it may be simpler/cheaper to replace the handsets with old VVX or new Teams Phone devices. For a full list of supported devices see Docs.Microsoft |
| Yealink | Teams Phone Mode | 3PIP Mode | SIP Mode | Notes |
| Expansion Modules EXP50 | Yes (Best) | Not Tested | Not Tested | Expansion Panel Supported on MP56, MP58 and VP59 |
| MP Series MP52 MP54 MP56 MP58 | Yes (Best) | No | No | |
| VP Series VP59 | Yes (Best) Video and HDMI out! | No | No | Note, despite supporting meeting room like features and previously being marketed as “MTR Lite”, this is NOT an MTRoA Meeting Room device. |
| CP Series CP965 | Yes | No | No | Audio Only Conf Phone |
| T Series T21 T23 T27 T29 T30 T31 T33 T40 T41 T42 T43 T46 T48 T53 T54 T57 | No | Some | Yes (Best) | Avoid 3PIP mode on these, it was very short-lived and required faffing about with a licence. Jump straight to SIP |
| W Series W56 W59 W73 W70 W80 W90 | No | No | Yes (Best) | |
To the Features!
Basic Calling
| Feature | Teams Phone | 3PIP | SIP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Make and Recieve Voice Calls | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Make and Recieve Video Calls | Yes | No | No | |
| Hold/Resume | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Call Park | Yes | TBD | No* | *Phone attempts to dial *68(parkcode) and fails |
| Call Waiting (receive second call) | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Blind Transfer to Contact | Yes | Yes | No | No native contacts on SIP |
| Blind Transfer to Number | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Blind Transfer to Name | Yes | Yes | No | No name search on SIP |
| Consult Transfer to Contact | Yes | Yes | No | No native contacts on SIP |
| Consult Transfer to Number | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Consult Transfer to Name | Yes | Yes | No | No name search on SIP |
| Transfer Direct to Voicemail | Yes* | No | No | * Requires 2021022403 or better |
| Add 3rd party to existing 2 party call | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Bridge 2 calls (Conference) | Yes | Sorta | Yes | |
| Do Not Disturb | Yes | Yes* | Yes* | *Will not set DND on Teams Client, Calls will still ring other endpoints |
| Teams Walkie Talkie | Yes | No | No | |
| Multicast Paging (aka SIP Paging) | No | Yes* | Yes* | * Vendor-specific multicast paging. Separate from Teams. |
Note: Teams Walkie Talkie and Multicast Paging are not compatible, IE a user using Teams Walkie Talkie cannot Page a user using Multicast Paging.
Advanced Call Routing
| Feature | Teams Phone | 3PIP | SIP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Call Divert on Busy | Yes | TBD | Yes* | *using *34* codes |
| Call Divert on No Answer | Yes | TBD | Yes* | *using *34* |
| Call Divert All | Yes | TBD | Yes* | *using *33* |
| Native Call Park / Retrieve | Yes | No | No* | *Phone attempts to dial *68(parkcode) and fails |
| Set User Status | Yes | No | No | |
| One Button Voicemail | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Visual Voicemail | Yes | No | No | |
| Transfer to Another Device | Yes | No | No | This is another device signed in as the same user, IE the Teams Desktop Client, Mobile client or another desk phone * Requires 2021051303 or better |
| Make Call as Delegate | Yes | TBD | No | |
| Receive Call as Delegate | Yes | TBD | Yes* | * Shows Orignal Caller ID, No indication its a Delegated Call |
| Group Call Pickup | Yes | TBD | Yes* | * Shows Orignal Caller ID, No indication its a Group Call |
| Participate in Call Queues | Best | Buggy* | Yes | * Requires “Conference” mode to be disabled |
| Opt In/Out of Call Queue | Yes* | No | No | *Its buried under calling settings but its there |
| Emergency Calls while locked | Yes | Yes | N/A | (Handset must still be signed in!) |
| Dynamic Location for E911 | Yes* | No | Yes+ | *Requires 2021022403 or better + Certain devices only, see docs.microsoft for more info |
| Teams SBA Support | Yes* | No | Yes+ | * Direct Routing Only + Vendor-specific solution, external to Teams. Yealink and AudioCodes have more info. Poly can use a second-line registered to an SBC |
| Network Issues Banner | Yes* | No | No | Warns user if the network is causing quality issues * Requires 2020051601 or better |
Contact Management
| Feature | Teams Phone | 3PIP | SIP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Call History | Synced | TBD | No, Device Only | |
| Contact Sync with Teams Client | Yes | TBD | No | Alex has a tool to populate contacts here |
| Search Corporate Phonebook | Yes | Yes | No | Need to check on VVX |
| Contact Pictures from AD | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Presence Integration (See/Set presence from handset) | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Transfer to Speeddial | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Native Sidecar/BLF Expansion Module support | Yes* | No | No | * Requires 2020111101 or better |
| Sidecar Contact Management | Yes | Speed Dial Only External to Teams | Speed Dial Only External to Teams | Sidecars are not supported on anything but Teams mode, if you use a sidecar and configure it by hand it will work for transfers, but will not show line status. |
| Transfer to BLF Contact | Yes | Yes (Speed dial Only, no BLF) | Yes (Speed dial Only, no BLF) | Sidecars are not supported on anything but Teams mode, if you use a sidecar and configure it by hand it will work for transfers, but will not show line status |
Meetings
| Feature | Teams Phone | 3PIP | SIP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal Video Support | Yes | No | No | |
| Calendar integration / Reminders | Yes* | Yes | No | * Requires 2020071702 or better |
| One-Touch Meeting Join | Yes* | Yes | No | * Requires 2020071702 or better |
| “Meet Now” support | Yes* | No | No | Initiating a meeting on the device * Requires 2020111101 or better |
| Add/Remove Meeting Participant | Yes | TBD | No | |
| Proximity Join aka “Teams Casting” | Yes* | No | No | * Meeting room phones only! |
| Integration with PC meeting join dialog | Yes | No | No | (Ability to select the handset as an audio/video device when joining a meeting from the Windows client) |
| Device rings on “Request to Join” meeting | Yes | TBD | TBD | This is when someone asks you to join a meeting when you are running late |
| Live Captions | Yes* | No | No | * Requires 2020051601 or better |
| Raise Hand | Yes | No | No |
PC Integration
| Feature | Teams Phone | 3PIP | SIP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Better Together (via USB) | No | No | No | This was an LPE only feature, and wont be coming to Teams |
| Better Together over Ethernet | No | No | No | BToE was a Poly specific feature for Lync/Skype |
| Better Together (via Bluetooth) | Yes | No | No | * Windows clients with Bluetooth and in BTLE range of a bluetooth enabled handset only (No pairing is required and comms are NOT sent via Bluetooth, see Jeff’s blog for more) |
| Proximity Join aka “Teams Casting” | No | No | No | This is a Teams Meeting Room Feature and will unlikely come to handsets |
| Lock/Unlock with PC | Yes* | No | No | * 2020051601 or better, requires Better Together |
| Click to Call | No | No |
Authentication
| Feature | Teams Phone | 3PIP | SIP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modern Auth Support (MFA) | Yes | Yes | ||
| Hot Desking | Yes | No | No | |
| Username / Password Sign in | Yes | No+ | + Must be signed in via TAC | |
| Web Sign-in | Yes* | No+ | * Requires 2021022403 or better + Must be signed in via TAC | |
| Provision by MAC in TAC | Yes | No | Yes | * Requires 2021022403 or better |
| Change Handset Admin Password | Yes | Vendor Specific* | Vendor Specific* | * Requires provisioning server, but can be done on some handsets |
| Configure Screen Lock | Yes | Vendor Specific* | Vendor Specific* | * Requires provisioning server, but can be done on some handsets |
Administration
| Feature | Teams Phone | 3PIP | SIP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firmware Management | Yes, Managed by Microsoft | Yes, Provisioning Server | Yes, Managed by Microsoft* | *Poly Rove is managed directly by Poly |
| Enable / Disable PC Port | Yes | Vendor Specific* | Vendor Specific* | Requires provisioning server, but can be done |
| Log Upload to Teams Portal | Yes | No | No | |
| Remote Sign in via TAC | Yes | No | Required | |
| Remote Sign Out via TAC | Yes* | No | Yes | *2021101205 or better |
| Integration with Azure Company Portal | Yes | TBD | No |
Provisioning
| Feature | Teams Phone | 3PIP | SIP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local Provisioning via FTP | No* | Yes | Yes+, see note | * Only some basic settings can be set using vendor tools. All Teams related settings are in the Teams Portal + SIP handsets must be provisioned by the SIP Gateway, however, you can provision them locally and then handoff to the SIP Gateway provisioning file. |
| Provisioning from phone vendor cloud | No* | Yes | Yes+, see note | * Only some basic settings can be set using vendor tools. All Teams related settings are in the Teams Portal + SIP handsets must be provisioned by the SIP Gateway, however, you can provision them locally and then handoff to the SIP Gateway provisioning file. |
| Provisioning in Teams Admin Panel | Yes | No | Yes | |
| Supports moving from Skype to Teams without reconfiguration | N/A | Yes | No |
Codecs
| Feature | Teams Phone | 3PIP | SIP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encrypted Signaling | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Encrypted Media | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Siren | Yes | No | ||
| Silk High | Yes | Yes | ||
| Silk Low | Yes | Yes | ||
| G722.AMR | Yes | No | ||
| G722 | Yes | Yes | ||
| G711a/u | Yes | Yes | ||
| G729 | Yes | Yes |
Further Customisation
| Feature | Teams Phone | 3PIP | SIP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custom Call Progress Tones | No | Yes | Yes* | * Requires 2 step provisioning if handset supports it (VVX) |
| Custom ScreenSaver | Vendor Specific | Vendor Specific | Vendor Specific | |
| Custom Background | Vendor Specific | Vendor Specific | Vendor Specific |
Plan SIP Gateway – Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Docs
Skype for Business Certified IP Phones with Microsoft Teams – Page 2 – Microsoft Tech Community
Optimising the Polycom VVX for Lync/SfB | greiginsydney.com
Polycom VVX firmware v5 – now with BToE! | greiginsydney.com
Provisioning Polycom SIP Phones (schertz.name)
Microsoft Teams Phones – 2021 Update 1 : Jeff Schertz’s Blog
You have quoted “Search Corporate Phonebook” as available with a Teams Phone – I assume you mean you are able to search AD for internal contacts?
Do you have any view on whether we will ever get a central contact database for external contacts that are searchable and transferable within Teams?
Unfortunatley, no. But Alex Holeset makes a great tool you can use that uses the Grpah API to publish numbers into Teams handsets over here.
https://alexholmeset.blog/2021/12/13/microsoft-teams-speed-dial-contacts-provisioning/
Hi Mark,
this is a long asked feature….
You can try to use this Power App from Stefano Ceruti
https://stefanoceruti.wordpress.com/2020/07/23/create-a-global-address-book-for-teams/
Best. Luca
This is great mate, thank you for the effort.
Impressive work James, thank you!
Great comparison list!
Altough the yealink mp-series has a feature called “hybrid mode” in which you can register a sip-line, so it actually supports sip.
Correct. However, the SIP mode is not supported by the MSTeams Sip Gateway.
So whilst you can get the phone to do things like register directly to an SBC for failover, it is outside the Teams Ecosystem and thus not included here in the article.
I will say, Yealink constantly come up with “creative” solutions to work around certification. Remember when they called the VP59 an “MTR-Lite”?
Solutions like this might be cool, but make managing all these out-of-band solutions that may one day stop working, difficult.
Not to say that MS hasn’t had their own fair share of stuff “stop working” earlier than they said.