Microsoft Teams will soon let you send and receive SMS messages from external users

Microsoft is working to add the ability to send and receive SMS messages via its popular Teams app, expanding from what’s-already-available third-party solutions.

The Redmond tech giant recently updated its roadmap site, which hints further at the feature’s development. Under Feature ID 470999, Microsoft says that you’ll soon be able to send and receive SMS directly from the app so you can connect with folks outside of your organizations who do not use Teams.

This feature, available to Microsoft Teams Calling Plan users in the United States and Canada, will roll out in February 2025. It’ll be supported on multiple platforms, including Mac, Android, iOS, and even on Teams for desktop.

From the announcement itself, it doesn’t seem like Microsoft will be paywall-ing this feature behind Teams Premium licenses. But, in a very Microsoft fashion, there may be changes or price increases somewhere down the line once this feature rolls out.

Teams has several Calling Plans to connect Teams Phone to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) for external calls. These include the Domestic, International, and Pay-As-You-Go plans, each with different features based on user location and needs.

Teams (Free), on the other hand, already allow users to chat with SMS participants in supported countries, including Brazil, Canada, the US, and others.

But, as Microsoft mentions in its support page, SMS participants can only receive up to 1,000 messages per group before they need to join Microsoft Teams to continue interacting. You can also import these SMS chats into Teams, but if you delete a chat, the SMS participant won’t receive messages unless re-invited.