Microsoft Teams: Decline incoming mobile calls with a message

[What and why]

Microsoft Teams mobile users will be able to decline an incoming Teams call and send a message to the caller at the same time. This gives users a faster way to communicate their availability without answering the call or separately navigating to chat.

From the incoming call screen, users can select Message and choose a predefined response or select Custom to compose a personalized response in the relevant Teams chat.

[Rollout schedule]

• General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): We will begin rolling out in early December 2026 and expect to complete by mid-December 2026.

[Impact on your organization]

Who is affected

• Microsoft Teams mobile users who receive eligible Teams-to-Teams calls and have an associated Teams chat available for the response

Platforms and services

• Microsoft Teams mobile

What will happen

Once this feature is available:

• Users will see a new Message option on the incoming call screen.
• Users can choose a predefined response, such as “Can I call you later?”, “I’m on my way.”, or “Sorry, I can’t talk right now.”
• Selecting a predefined response will decline the call and immediately send the selected message to the caller in Teams chat.
• Users can select Custom to decline the call and open the relevant Teams chat to compose a personalized response.
• The response will appear in Teams chat so users can continue the conversation after the call is declined.
• This capability will not apply to PSTN, anonymous, or interoperability calls where there is no corresponding Teams chat to receive the message.
• Existing options to accept or decline an incoming call will not change.
• The feature will become available automatically as it rolls out to eligible users.

iOS experience

Screenshot 1 - IOS view 1: 

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Android experience

Screenshot 4 - Android view 1: 

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Screenshot 6 - Android view 3: 

[Action required and recommendations]

No admin action is required before rollout.

We recommend informing your help desk and users about the new Message option, particularly users who frequently handle Teams calls from their mobile devices.

[Compliance considerations]

This change provides a new way for users to communicate by allowing a user declining an eligible Teams call to send a predefined or custom message to the caller through Teams chat. Review this change as appropriate for your organization.