Audio Conferencing entitlement and what Microsoft 365 E5 includes for Teams

What it does

Audio Conferencing is the per-organiser licence that puts dial-in numbers on a Teams meeting and lets the meeting dial out to phones. Microsoft 365/Office 365 E5 includes it along with Phone System; E1, E3 and Business plans need it added.

Key facts

Only people who schedule or lead dial-in meetings need Audio Conferencing. Attendees who dial in need nothing.
Audio Conferencing isn't Teams Phone and doesn't need a Teams Phone licence.
E5 includes Audio Conferencing. Learn lists it as an add-on for Microsoft 365 Business Standard, E1 and E3.
The Standard Audio Conferencing licence includes toll dial-in numbers and toll minutes for all supported countries/regions, Operator Connect Conferencing, and 60 dial-out minutes per user per month to non-premium numbers in Zone A countries/regions.
Those 60 minutes are pooled at tenant level. Learn sizes the pool on licences assigned to users × 60 — its example is 100 USA/Canada dial-out licences bought, 20 assigned, giving 1,200 minutes.
Learn also lists a Free Audio Conferencing licence (sometimes shown as Audio Conferencing with dial-out to USA/CAN). It's the same as the Standard licence except dial-out is to the US and Canada only. Eligibility for it is set commercially — Learn doesn't define it, so check the tenant's Licenses page and the Product Terms.
When the pool runs out, or for destinations outside Zone A, dial-out needs Communications Credits (assigned to the organiser) or a pay-as-you-go option; pay-per-minute Audio Conferencing is only for Volume Licensing customers. Without that, dial-out fails.
Toll-free conference numbers also need Communications Credits.
Pool usage is in the Teams admin center under Analytics & reports > Usage reports > PSTN minute pools; admins get emails at 80% and 100%.
E5 (legacy bundled, or E5 no-Teams plus Teams Enterprise) includes the Microsoft 365 Phone System plan, so no Teams Phone Standard is needed. You still need a PSTN route — a Calling Plan, Operator Connect or Direct Routing.
An E5 variant without Audio Conferencing exists (SKU part ENTERPRISEPREMIUM_NOPSTNCONF); the standard E5 is ENTERPRISEPREMIUM. The standalone Audio Conferencing SKU is MCOMEETADV.
E5-tier compliance licensing is also the prerequisite for Teams Premium's sensitivity labels for meetings.

When to use / skip

Give Audio Conferencing to anyone who runs meetings with external or mobile participants who might dial in — sales, account management, senior leadership, project managers. Most internal-only users can live without it, though in practice many organisations license broadly to avoid support calls about missing dial-in numbers.

E5 changes the arithmetic. If a client is already on E5 for security and compliance, Phone System and Audio Conferencing come with it, and the only Microsoft add-on left for voice is the PSTN route. Don't let anyone sell an E5 customer Teams Phone Standard or the Teams Phone with Calling Plan bundle; that's buying Phone System twice.

Configuration decisions

Which organisers get Audio Conferencing on E1/E3/Business suites, and whether to license broadly or by role.
Standard versus the US/Canada dial-out licence, based on where people dial out to and what the tenant is eligible for.
Communications Credits: enable for toll-free numbers and dial-out beyond the pool, and set the alert recipients.
Toll-free numbers on invites — useful for customers, but every minute is charged to credits.
For E5 customers: which PSTN route sits under the included Phone System.
Confirm which E5 SKU the tenant holds, as one variant has no Audio Conferencing.

Gotchas

The dial-out pool is per tenant and resets monthly. One heavy user can drain it for everyone.
Bought-but-unassigned licences don't add to the pool. Licence hygiene affects dial-out.
Charging is by the number dialled, not where the organiser sits. A UK organiser dialling Zimbabwe uses credits from the first minute.
E5 doesn't mean "phones done". Without a PSTN route, E5 users have a phone system that can't reach the PSTN.
Licence swaps involving Phone System (E3 + Teams Phone to E5) must be done in one operation or the user loses their number.
Audio Conferencing availability depends on the country/region. Check the availability page for every country you're deploying.

Consultant notes

Separate "meetings PSTN" (Audio Conferencing) from "user PSTN" (Teams Phone plus a route) in every design. Clients mix them up constantly.
Ask early which E5 SKU part number the tenant has. It changes the Audio Conferencing line on the bill of materials.
Set up Communications Credits as part of the build, even with modest funding, so dial-out and toll-free numbers don't fail on day one.
Learn defers to the Product Terms and the client's agreement for exactly what E5 entitles. Point the licensing partner at those rather than restating entitlement as fact.

Recheck the dial-out pool rules and the US/Canada licence description if Microsoft revises Audio Conferencing packaging again