SMS campaign was approved but can't enable SMS on phone number

Microsoft Support directed me to use Microsoft PTN support. Microsoft PTN support let me know that this what our of their scope that all they do is help with Brands and Campaigns, but it is a known issue and SMS can be enabled via Powershell commands. I ran Connect-MicrosoftTeams

Set-CsPhoneNumberSmsActivation -PhoneNumber "+1XXXXXXXXXX" it returned an order ID. My client was able to text someone. However, her text to me has not gone through yet.

Hi @Anne Matthews, 

Thank you for your patience. Based on your description, I understand that your tenant is currently managed by a reseller, and they asked you to purchase the Communication Credits in directly in your tenant admin center. However, the license cannot be found in your admin center.

Because Pax8 is the managing partner for your tenant, you typically cannot open a Microsoft support request directly from the Microsoft 365 admin center yourself. To resolve the issue, the correct next step is to contact Pax8 support and ask them to open a support ticket on your behalf for your Microsoft 365 tenant.  

You can reach Pax8 support using their Contact Us options here: Contact Us | Pax8 APAC

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Hi @Anne Matthews, 

Thank you for the screenshot and the extra details. I understand how confusing this is, especially after your Brand and Campaign were approved. 

According to your concern, Microsoft’s requirement for SMS is that the tenant has a billing mechanism in place for SMS usage and any overages. Communication Credits are one supported way to fund this, but they are not required for every tenant. 

If Calling Plan or Audio Conferencing is purchased through a Cloud Solution Provider, you can’t acquire Communication Credits directly in the Microsoft 365 admin center. In that scenario, your CSP needs to fund Communication Credits on your behalf. This would also explain why the Marketplace option may not be visible in your admin center. 

The next step in this situation is to contact Pax8 and ask them to add or fund Communication Credits for your tenant, since your subscriptions are provided through them. After credits are funded, return to Teams admin center, go to Voice, Phone numbers, Numbers, select the number, and choose Enable SMS. Then verify the SMS status changes to In Progress or Activated.

Once billing is in place and SMS is enabled, the phone number’s SMS status should move from Not Activated to In Progress and then Activated in the Teams admin center.

I hope you found the answer helpful, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could mark it as accepted. This helps highlight the solution for others who may be searching for similar information in the community. Your contribution not only supports fellow users in finding the right guidance more quickly, but also helps build a more resourceful and collaborative space for everyone. 

Thank you for your kindness and contributions to the forum.   

Hi @Anne Matthews, 

Thank you for reaching out. I understand how important it is to get SMS working quickly, especially after your Brand and Campaign were approved.  

To activate SMS on each eligible number, please follow these steps: 

1. Open the Teams admin center. 
2. Go to Voice, then Phone numbers, then Numbers.  
3. Select the phone number you want to enable.  
4. In the menu above the list of numbers, select Enable SMS.  
5. Check the SMS status for that number: Not Activated, In Progress, or Activated. If it shows In Progress, activation can take up to two hours.  

For more information, please refer to this document: Enable and manage SMS in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn 

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow the steps above and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can continue working together to resolve the issue.  

Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or need additional assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out so I can continue to support you. If you found the response useful, please consider marking it as accepted, as this may help other community members who are looking for similar guidance.  

I look forward to continuing the conversation.  

If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". 

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To activate SMS on Teams phone numbers after the campaign is approved, the following conditions and steps must be met and verified in the Teams admin center:

1. Confirm prerequisites for the user/number
   • The phone number must be a Microsoft Teams Calling Plan number in the United States or Canada.
   • The user assigned to that number must have all required licenses:
     • Teams
     • Teams Phone
     • Microsoft Teams Calling Plan
   • A tenant billing mechanism must be in place for SMS usage (Communication Credits or Microsoft Customer Agreement billing).
2. Confirm Brand and Campaign approval
   • Brand and Campaign must both be approved before any number can be enabled for SMS.
   • In the campaign workflow, the status must be Approved, not Draft, Submitted, Pending Customer Update, Microsoft Support Engaged, Denied, or Cancelled. Only Approved campaigns allow activation of SMS on numbers.
3. Check the SMS status of the phone number
   • In Teams admin center, go to Voice > Phone numbers > Numbers.
   • Locate the user’s Calling Plan number and check the SMS status column:
     • Not available: SMS cannot be enabled on this number (for example, it is a resource account number or a number type that does not support SMS). In this case, SMS activation will not proceed and the dialog may only allow Cancel.
     • Not Activated: SMS is available but not yet turned on.
     • In Progress: Activation is still being processed (can take up to two hours).
     • Activated: SMS is already enabled.
4. Enable SMS for a user’s phone number
   • In Teams admin center, go to Voice > Phone numbers > Numbers.
   • Select the phone number assigned to the user.
   • In the toolbar above the list, select Enable SMS.
   • If the number is eligible (Calling Plan, US/CA, Brand and Campaign approved, correct licensing, and SMS status = Not Activated), the activation will start and the status will move to In Progress, then Activated.

If the Enable SMS dialog only shows Cancel and does not proceed, typical causes based on the documented behavior are:

• The number’s SMS status is Not available (for example, it is a resource account number or a number type that does not support SMS).
• Brand and Campaign are not actually in Approved state (for example, still Submitted or Pending Customer Update), so numbers cannot yet be enabled.
• The number is not a US/Canada Teams Calling Plan number, or the user is missing one of the required licenses.

In that situation, verify:

• The campaign status is Approved in the SMS campaign setup.
• The specific phone number shows Not Activated (not Not available) in the SMS status column.
• The number is assigned to a user (not a resource account) and is a US/CA Calling Plan number with the correct licenses.

Once all conditions are met, the Enable SMS action will complete and the number’s SMS status will move from Not Activated → In Progress → Activated, allowing SMS texting in Teams.

References:

• Enable and manage SMS in Microsoft Teams
• Plan for SMS in Teams with Microsoft Calling Plan numbers
• Create a Campaign for SMS in Microsoft Teams
• Send and receive SMS in Microsoft Teams