PATRIOT CONSULTING
Calling Plan vs. Pay-As-You-Go Analysis
Overview
Microsoft Teams Calling Plans provide pooled PSTN minutes per user, but many organizations significantly overpay because actual call volumes are far below the included pool. Using the Teams Admin Center PSTN Usage Report, Patriot Consulting can quickly quantify actual minutes consumed versus minutes purchased and model the cost impact of switching to a Pay-As-You-Go Calling Plan — where you pay only for outbound minutes used at ~$0.013/min (US domestic) with zero per-user license cost.
Case Study — National EV Charging Network
Patriot Consulting analyzed 27 days of Teams PSTN usage data for a national EV infrastructure company operating 43 licensed calling plan users (42 Domestic + 1 International). The export revealed a dramatic mismatch between licensed capacity and actual consumption:
- $528/mo Current Calling Plan cost
- 0.9% Pool utilization (1,147 of 126,000 min)
- $6,272/yr Annual savings after switch
Key findings: Only 5 of 43 users exceeded 60 minutes in the entire period. 25 users consumed fewer than 10 minutes. Nearly half of all outbound dialing went to toll-free numbers (free under any plan). The single international user called Korea for ~20 minutes/month — costing $1.00 at Pay-As-You-Go rates versus the $24/month International Calling Plan license.
Recommendation executed:
Replace all Domestic Calling Plan (MCOPSTN1) and International Calling Plan (MCOPSTN2) licenses with Pay-As-You-Go Calling Plan licenses funded via Communication Credits. Phone numbers, inbound calling, and the existing auto-attendant configuration were fully preserved with no end-user disruption.
How to Analyze Your Own PSTN Spend
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open the Teams Admin Center ＞ Analytics & reports ＞ Usage reports. Select “PSTN and SMS (preview) usage” and set your date range (up to 90 days). |
| 2 | Click “Export to Excel”. The CSV includes every PSTN call record with user, direction, duration, destination, and the Capability field that identifies the license type (MCOPSTN1=Domestic, MCOPSTN2=International, MCOPSTNPP=Pay-Per-Minute). |
| 3 | Filter to Capability=MCOPSTN1/MCOPSTN2 and sum DurationSeconds by user. Compare total consumed minutes against the pooled allocation (3,000 min/user for US Domestic). Pool utilization below 30% is a strong signal to switch to Pay-As-You-Go. |
| 4 | Estimate PAYG cost: sum only Outbound minutes to non-toll-free destinations and multiply by $0.013/min (US domestic). Inbound and toll-free outbound are free. Compare this to current per-user Calling Plan spend. |
Ready to optimize your Microsoft 365 voice spend?
Patriot Consulting offers Teams Voice and licensing assessments that identify overspend, right-size your calling plans, and surface security gaps — typically delivering measurable savings within 30 days.
| Criteria | Keep Calling Plans | Switch to Pay-As-You-Go |
|---|---|---|
| Pool utilization | Above 50% consistently | Below 30% — most minutes are wasted |
| User call patterns | Most users make heavy outbound calls | Most users are low-volume or inbound-only |
| Cost predictability | Fixed budget is preferred | Variable is acceptable when savings are large |
| International needs | Heavy international volume (>200 min/mo) | Light international (<50 min/mo per user) |