Auto Attendants and Call Queue's redirect not working for external callers

It sounds like you're experiencing issues with your Auto Attendants and Call queues not routing calls correctly for external callers. Here are a few things you can check:

1. External Transfer Settings: Ensure that your Auto Attendants and Call queues are configured to allow external transfers. You can verify this in the Teams admin center by checking the call routing options for both Auto attendants and Call queues.
2. Resource Accounts Licensing: Make sure that the Resource Accounts associated with your Auto attendants and Call queues have the necessary licenses assigned. This is crucial for handling external calls properly.
3. Voicemail Configuration: Since you mentioned using O365 group mailboxes for voicemail, ensure that these mailboxes are set up correctly and that the voicemail settings are configured to accept messages.
4. Call Queue Exception Handling: Review the exception handling settings in your Call queues to ensure that they are set up to redirect calls appropriately when agents are unavailable or if there are other issues.
5. Testing with Different Scenarios: Try testing the call flow with different external numbers and scenarios to see if the issue persists across all configurations or if it is isolated to specific settings.

If the problem continues, you may want to reach out to Microsoft support for further assistance, as they can provide more detailed troubleshooting based on your specific setup.

References:

• Routing calls with Auto attendants and Call queues
• Plan for Teams Auto attendants and Call queues

Hi @Boothe, Lennox,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

When Auto Attendant and Call Queue redirects fail for external callers and play “Sorry, we cannot connect your call at the moment,” it usually indicates a configuration or policy issue with the redirect target (person, external number, or shared voicemail), the resource account licensing, or voice routing. Here are a few steps that often help:

Please note that you'll need admin privileges to follow these steps, if you don't, please ask your IT admin who has admin privileges to do this for you.

Step 1: Validate Resource Accounts and Licensing

• Go to Microsoft Teams admin center > Resource accounts.
• Confirm each resource account has the correct license (for example, Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account) and is enabled for Enterprise Voice.
• If you use Direct Routing, ensure an Online Voice Routing Policy is assigned to the resource account.

Reference: How to create and configure resource accounts for Teams Rooms and panels

Step 2: Check Teams Calling Policies for External Forwarding

• Navigate to Teams admin center > Voice > Calling policies.
• Ensure Allow call forwarding to external phone numbers and Allow PSTN reroute are set to On.
• Confirm the policy applied to the resource account and any user involved in redirects allows external transfers.

Reference: Calling policies in Teams

Step 3: Test Internal vs External Redirects

• In the Auto Attendant menu, temporarily set: Redirect to an internal user and test from internal and external callers. Redirect to an external number and test from external callers.
• If internal works but external fails, focus on PSTN permissions and voice routing.

Reference: Plan for Teams Auto attendants and Call queues

Step 4: Validate Shared Voicemail Configuration

• In Teams admin center, confirm the Microsoft 365 group selected for voicemail has an active Exchange Online mailbox.
• Check in Exchange admin center that the group mailbox is provisioned and not restricted.

Reference: Manage Shared Voicemail for Auto Attendants and Call Queues

Step 5: Verify Direct Routing and SBC Configuration

If using Direct Routing:

• Confirm the Session Border Controller (SBC) is healthy and TLS certificates are valid.
• Ensure outbound routing permits calls from resource accounts.
• Check dial plan normalization for E.164 format.

References:

• Configure call routing for Direct Routing
• Plan Direct Routing

Step 6: Refresh Auto Attendant and Call Queue Configuration

• Open the affected Auto Attendant or Call Queue in Teams admin center.
• Re-save the redirect options and publish changes.

References:

• Set up a Microsoft Teams Auto attendant
• Create a Call queue in Microsoft Teams

Step 7: If you want a quick workaround

• Temporarily redirect to a known-good internal user mailbox instead of a group voicemail or external number to confirm if the issue is specific to external routing or shared voicemail.

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, please tell me if you are using Calling Plan, Operator Connect, or Direct Routing, and confirm if internal callers succeed while external fail so we can work together to resolve this.   

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you.

I look forward to continuing the conversation.

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