Microsoft Teams Call Queues
Conference Mode & Compliance Recording
This update to Microsoft Teams Call Queues involving Conference Mode and compliance recording functionality introduces the ability to configure recording templates for call queues operating in Conference Mode, enhancing your ability to manage and retain call records for compliance and quality purposes.
What Is Microsoft Teams Conference Mode?
Microsoft Teams call queues route calls in one of two ways: Transfer Mode or Conference Mode. Transfer Mode is the traditional, two-step approach, where an incoming call is answered by the queue and then transferred to an available agent. Conference Mode works differently: the caller and the agent are brought together into a single conference call as soon as the call is picked up, which is faster and keeps all participants in one continuous call flow from the start.
Because Conference Mode assembles participants into a conference rather than handling a straightforward transfer, it has historically been harder for compliance recording tools to reliably identify who is on a call and what should be recorded — the participant metadata a recording bot depends on has not always been clearly available when it is invited into the conference. Transfer Mode call queues, by contrast, have long been supported for compliance recording because the call flow is simpler to track.
Implications for Call Queues and Compliance Recording
Microsoft’s update introduces native support for assigning a compliance recording template directly to a Conference Mode call queue, rather than requiring a recording policy on each individual agent. Once a template is assigned, calls handled through that queue are recorded automatically for every agent taking calls from it — while agents can still be assigned an individual recording policy separately for outbound or peer-to-peer calls that do not go through the queue.
At launch, only Conference Mode call queues support this recording capability; Transfer Mode call queues, on-behalf-of queue calling, and call queue callback are not yet supported. Recording also will not activate if a call leaves the queue before an agent picks it up — for example due to a timeout or overflow redirect — unless the call is redirected to another call queue that also has recording enabled.
Migration and Implementation Considerations
Because this capability rolls out by region, organizations should confirm it is generally available in their tenant’s region before configuring anything — do not pre-configure a Conference Mode recording template ahead of general availability. The step-by-step setup process, including the PowerShell commands for creating a template, assigning it to a call queue, and verifying the assignment, is covered below.
For a fuller walkthrough of the setup process, see Getting Ready for Conference Mode in Microsoft Teams Queues: Step-by-Step Guide.
Numonix Support for Conference Mode Recording
IXCloud, Numonix’s cloud-native compliance recording platform, integrates with Microsoft Teams to capture and retain call recordings from Conference Mode-enabled call queues alongside the rest of an organization’s Teams recording environment. For broader context on Numonix’s Teams recording capabilities, see the Teams Call Recording Hub.
What’s Changing?
Microsoft is enabling Compliance Recording for Call Queues using Conference Mode. With this update, organizations will be able to assign recording templates to specific call queues for better control and monitoring.
DO NOT configure your environment ahead of time. You must ensure this capability has been released to your region and is generally available.
Please Note:
Only Conference Mode call queues will support this feature initially. The following features are not supported at launch:
- On-behalf-of call queue calling (outgoing calls via the Queues app)
- Call queue callback
- Transfer-mode call queues
Additionally, recording will not activate if a call leaves the queue prior to agent pickup (e.g., due to timeout or overflow routing). If a call transfers to another call queue that also has recording enabled, recording will begin under the new queue.
To record other calls for your agents (outbound calls, internal calls, etc.), each agent will still need to have a recording policy as they did prior to this new change being implemented.
How to Configure Compliance Recording
for Call Queues
To prepare for this change, follow the steps below to implement the
new recording capability in your environment.
Feature Note
The following features will not initially be supported by compliance recording for call queues:
- On-Behalf-Of call queue calling (call queue agent makes an outgoing call on behalf of that agent’s queue via the Queues app)
- Call queue callback
- Transfer-mode call queues – only conference-mode call queues will support compliance recording for call queues.
Also note that Call Queue for Recording will not activate if a call leaves the queue. A call leaves the queue if prior to an agent joining the call, the queue redirects to another application (ex: call queue, voicemail) due to features such as queue timeout or overflow. At the time of the redirect, the call has left the queue. If the redirect target is another call queue configured for compliance recording for call queues, that recording flow will still take effect.
Additionally, there is an audible announcement automatically enabled by Microsoft for the Call Queue policy. If you’d like to disable this, please contact Numonix Support at support@numonix.io.
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