M365 Changelog: (Updated) Call control with bluetooth headsets and speakerphones

MC387038 – Updated June 23, 2022: Microsoft has 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.  

Note: This feature supports both Windows 10 and Windows 11. Mac support will be upcoming later this year to early 2023.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 84309.

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 July (previously late June) and be complete in mid-August (previously late July) with support for both Windows 10 and Windows 11.

GCC-H: will begin rolling out in late July and be complete in late August with support for both Windows 10 and 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.

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 Microsoft does 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.