Up until recently it was not possible to set a number assigned to an Auto Attendant recourse account in a Call Queue for outbound calls (Assigning Calling ID) via the GUI, but it looks like Microsoft changed it without a notice (Yeah)!

Before Microsoft changed it, it was only possible to do this via PowerShell or to use some tricks (for example, assigning a service number and translate it on the SBC). The reason it was not possible to use an Auto Attendant resource account in a Call Queue was because Microsoft made a split in resource account types. One for Auto Attendants, and the other for Call Queues. Mixing them was not an option.

This caused issues for group numbers that needed opening hours and/or an IVR, but also give the agents the option to dial out using the department number. Using Opening hours and/or an IVR forced them to use the Auto Attendant and configuring the number on the Auto Attendant resource account means that it cannot be used in Call Queues. As agents are added in the Call Queue, it resulted that dialing out for them was not possible cause of the split in resource accounts.

Example on using an Auto Attendant resource account in a Call Queue:

Below you see screenshots of my demo environment where I assigned an Auto Attendant resource account (with the name “AutoAttendant” that has the main number assigned) to my Call Queue (with the name “CallQueue” that has not a number assigned) to be able to dial out using the main number.

On the next image you see that the resource account is being used in an Auto Attendant with the name “Test,” and the display name of the resource account is “AutoAttendant”.

Now over to the Call Queue “CallQueue,” in the below image you can see that I did not add a resource account yet under “Assign calling ID,” and that the resource account of “CallQueue” does not have a number assigned. Here you can click on “Add” under the section “Assign calling ID”.

Below you can see, on the left image, that I can now click on “Add” behind the resource account of the “AutoAttendant” followed by another “Add” on the right image.

Below the result in the end, a Microsoft Teams Call Queue that is using an Auto Attendant resource account that has the main number assigned.

Thanks for reading!

Kind regards and Stay Healthy,
Mitchell Bakker