Aura Connect for Microsoft Teams GCC High

Aura Connect enables organisations using Microsoft 365 GCC High to extend Microsoft Teams with secure PSTN calling and audio-conferencing capabilities using Microsoft Direct Routing.

This document provides an overview of GCC High, the differences between commercial Microsoft 365 environments and GCC High, and how Aura Connect supports the delivery of Microsoft Teams voice services within a GCC High environment.

What is Microsoft GCC High?

Microsoft GCC High is a specialised Microsoft 365 cloud environment designed for organisations that need to meet stringent U.S. Government and Department of Defense security, compliance and data-sovereignty requirements.

Microsoft provides several different cloud environments.

Microsoft 365 Commercial

Microsoft 365 Commercial is the standard Microsoft cloud environment used by businesses, enterprises, academic organisations and consumers.

It provides extensive functionality and global availability and supports a broad range of security and compliance capabilities through Microsoft services such as:

• Microsoft Intune
• Microsoft Purview and Compliance capabilities
• Microsoft Defender
• Microsoft Entra
• Azure Information Protection
• Microsoft security and identity services

While Microsoft 365 Commercial supports numerous industry compliance frameworks, it is not specifically designed for organisations that require the additional controls associated with U.S. Government and Department of Defense environments.

Microsoft Government Community Cloud - GCC

Microsoft GCC provides a Microsoft 365 environment specifically designed for U.S. Government organisations and qualifying organisations working with government agencies.

The service operates within the United States and supports additional government compliance requirements.

Depending on the organisation and workload, supported compliance frameworks can include:

• DFARS 252.204-7012
• DoD security requirements
• FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS)
• FedRAMP requirements

Organisations handling information subject to more stringent requirements, including certain Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), export-controlled information or defense-related information, may require GCC High rather than GCC.

Microsoft GCC High

Microsoft GCC High is designed for organisations operating within the U.S. Department of Defense ecosystem and organisations that need to meet additional security and data-sovereignty requirements.

It provides a sovereign Microsoft cloud environment designed to support frameworks and requirements including:

• NIST 800-171
• FedRAMP High
• ITAR
• Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)
• Controlled Defense Information (CDI)

GCC High therefore provides an appropriate Microsoft 365 platform for organisations that need to operate within these more restrictive security and compliance environments.

What is Microsoft 365 GCC High?

Microsoft 365 GCC High provides Microsoft productivity and collaboration services within Microsoft's GCC High cloud environment.

Security and Compliance

GCC High is designed to support high levels of security and compliance, including requirements associated with:

• FedRAMP High
• DoD Impact Level requirements
• NIST 800-171
• ITAR
• DFARS 252.204-7012

Data Sovereignty

GCC High services are hosted within the United States.

This supports organisations that need to maintain U.S. data residency and sovereignty requirements for sensitive information.

User Access

Access to GCC High is limited to eligible organisations and authorised users, including U.S. Government organisations, defense contractors and other qualifying entities.

User identities are maintained within the GCC High environment.

Licensing

Microsoft GCC High uses separate licensing from standard Microsoft 365 Commercial services.

Because of the specialised infrastructure, security requirements and compliance controls involved, licensing and service availability can differ from Microsoft's commercial cloud.

Microsoft Teams Features within GCC High

There are some important differences between Microsoft Teams functionality in GCC High and Microsoft's commercial environment.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is available within GCC High, although deployment, administration and feature availability can differ from the commercial Microsoft 365 service. Microsoft periodically updates GCC High capabilities and customers should therefore refer to Microsoft's current GCC High service documentation when confirming individual features.

Microsoft Calling Plans

Microsoft Calling Plans are not available within GCC High. Organisations therefore need to use an alternative PSTN connectivity model for Microsoft Teams calling. For GCC High, this is delivered using Microsoft Teams Direct Routing.

Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing

Native Microsoft Audio Conferencing services are also subject to different availability within GCC High. Where required, organisations can enable dial-in conferencing using Audio Conferencing with Direct Routing and an appropriately configured Direct Routing solution.

Feature and licensing availability may change over time. Customers should always refer to Microsoft's latest GCC High service comparison and licensing documentation when validating current Microsoft capabilities.

Microsoft Teams Calling with GCC High

How is Teams Calling provided?

PSTN calling for Microsoft Teams GCC High is provided using Microsoft Teams Direct Routing. Aura Connect provides the Direct Routing infrastructure required to securely connect Microsoft Teams GCC High with Aura's PSTN voice services.

The high-level service architecture is:

Microsoft Teams GCC High > Microsoft Direct Routing > Aura Connect > PSTN

Users requiring Microsoft Teams telephony will also need the appropriate Microsoft Teams Phone licensing for Direct Routing. Aura can work with the customer and their Microsoft licensing partner to confirm the required technical prerequisites.

Microsoft Teams Audio Conferencing with GCC High

Aura Connect can also support dial-in audio conferencing for eligible Microsoft Teams GCC High users using Direct Routing.

Users requiring this capability need the appropriate Microsoft Audio Conferencing with Direct Routing licensing.

The Direct Routing dial-in telephone numbers must be configured before users can be fully enabled for the service.

Aura will coordinate the voice infrastructure and number configuration required to support this capability.

How Aura Connect Supports GCC High Requirements

1. Security and Compliance

Aura Connect uses a dedicated deployment approach for Microsoft Teams GCC High.

For GCC High deployments, Aura Connect services interacting with the Microsoft tenant are configured to operate within the United States.

Access to the customer environment is controlled through a customer-authorised Microsoft application and appropriate Microsoft permissions.

Aura Connect is used primarily to provide and manage PSTN connectivity and the associated Microsoft Teams voice configuration.

The service is designed so that Aura Connect does not need to process customer Controlled Unclassified Information as part of the PSTN voice service.

Appropriate security controls are applied to the infrastructure and communication between Aura Connect and Microsoft services.

2. Data Sovereignty

For GCC High deployments, the relevant Aura Connect infrastructure is located within the United States.

Communications between Aura Connect and Microsoft GCC High services are designed to remain within the United States.

Aura applies appropriate security controls including encryption for data in transit and at rest, together with access controls designed to restrict unauthorised access.

This architecture supports customers that need their Microsoft Teams voice infrastructure to align with the data residency and sovereignty requirements associated with GCC High.

3. Licensing

Aura Connect provides broadly consistent voice-management capabilities across supported Microsoft Teams environments.

However, customers remain responsible for maintaining the appropriate Microsoft GCC High licences and Microsoft Teams Phone components required for the service.

The customer's Microsoft licensing requirements will therefore depend on the Microsoft 365 subscription, Teams configuration and voice capabilities being deployed.

Aura can help identify the Microsoft prerequisites required as part of the solution design.

What Does an Aura GCC High Deployment Look Like?

Aura uses a dedicated Microsoft Teams Direct Routing architecture for GCC High environments.

The architecture is designed specifically around the security and connectivity requirements associated with Microsoft's GCC High cloud. Aura configures the components required to deliver Direct Routing, including:

• Session Border Controllers
• Microsoft Teams Direct Routing connectivity
• Network connectivity
• Security controls
• Microsoft 365 integration
• Aura Connect automation and management services

All relevant GCC High voice infrastructure, including the Session Border Controllers and associated automation services, is hosted within the United States. Voice communications are protected using industry-standard encryption technologies.

Signalling is encrypted using TLS, while supported media communications use Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP).

The infrastructure used for GCC High is segregated from Aura's standard commercial Microsoft Teams voice infrastructure.

GCC High Specific Architecture

Although the overall architecture is similar to a standard Aura Connect Direct Routing deployment, GCC High requires several important differences.

These include:

• Connectivity to Microsoft's dedicated GCC High endpoints
• U.S.-based Aura Connect infrastructure
• FIPS-certified Session Border Controllers where required
• Encrypted connectivity between Aura Connect and Microsoft's GCC High environment
• Dedicated GCC High configuration and tenant onboarding

These additional controls allow Aura to provide Microsoft Teams voice services while supporting the requirements of the GCC High environment.

High Availability and Resilience

Aura Connect is designed using a high-availability architecture.

For GCC High, the architecture includes redundancy across multiple elements of the service, including:

• Session Border Controllers
• Network connectivity
• Voice infrastructure
• Hosting infrastructure
• Microsoft Teams connectivity

For GCC High customers, Aura deploys load-balanced Session Border Controllers across geographically separate locations within the United States.

This approach provides resilience if an individual infrastructure component or location becomes unavailable.

Network redundancy is also maintained across multiple connections and data-centre locations.

Automated failover, monitoring and alerting are used to help identify service issues and maintain continuity of voice services.

Microsoft Teams GCC High Tenant Integration

Because GCC High operates differently from Microsoft's standard commercial cloud, the initial Microsoft Teams Direct Routing configuration requires a dedicated onboarding process.

Aura works with the customer's Microsoft 365 administrators to establish the required secure connection between the customer's GCC High tenant and the Aura Connect platform.

This includes configuring the appropriate Microsoft application authentication and permissions.

Customer Onboarding

During onboarding, an authorised customer Microsoft 365 administrator will work with Aura to complete the required tenant configuration.

The high-level process includes:

1. Authenticate to the customer's Microsoft Azure environment using an appropriately authorised administrator account.
2. Create and configure the required Microsoft application registration.
3. Configure secure application authentication.
4. Provide the required application information securely to Aura.
5. Configure the necessary Microsoft Graph permissions.
6. Complete the required Microsoft tenant, DNS and service configuration.

Aura will provide guidance throughout this process.

Aura Connect Synchronisation

Once Microsoft Teams Direct Routing services are added to Aura Connect, the platform's Synchronisation Service can be enabled.

The Synchronisation Service allows Aura Connect to securely interact with the Microsoft Teams tenant and simplify the management of users, telephone numbers and voice configuration.

Enabling synchronisation requires an appropriately authorised Microsoft 365 administrator to approve the permissions required by Aura Connect.

The administrator can review the requested Microsoft permissions as part of the approval process.

Secure Service Account

As part of the configuration process, a dedicated Microsoft Teams administration account may be created within the customer's Microsoft 365 tenant.

For example:

aura.teams@customer.onmicrosoft.com

The account is used by the Aura Connect platform to perform authorised Microsoft Teams voice-management activities.

Access is restricted to the platform and authentication credentials are securely protected.

The service account is not intended for normal interactive user access.

Number Assignment and Service Management

Once the GCC High tenant has been successfully integrated with Aura Connect, telephone numbers can be loaded into the platform and assigned to Microsoft Teams users.

From this point, the operational experience is similar to a standard Aura Connect Direct Routing deployment.

Depending on the agreed service, Aura Connect can provide capabilities including:

• Telephone number management
• Microsoft Teams user voice enablement
• Number assignment
• Direct Routing configuration
• PSTN connectivity
• Voice-service administration
• Reporting
• Service monitoring
• Support and ongoing management
  
  

Aura's Role

Aura provides a single service layer for implementing and managing Microsoft Teams voice within a GCC High environment.

Aura's responsibilities can include:

• Microsoft Teams Voice Design Designing the Direct Routing architecture and Microsoft Teams voice configuration.

• Aura Connect Platform Providing the management and automation platform supporting Microsoft Teams voice.

• Session Border Controllers Providing and managing the dedicated SBC infrastructure required for GCC High Direct Routing.

• PSTN Connectivity Providing telephone numbers, inbound and outbound calling and associated voice services.

• Tenant Integration Supporting the secure integration between Aura Connect and the customer's GCC High Microsoft tenant.

• Implementation Configuring, testing and enabling the Microsoft Teams voice service.

• Support and Management Providing ongoing operational support for the Aura Connect service.

   

Summary

Microsoft GCC High provides a specialised Microsoft 365 environment for organisations that need to satisfy stringent U.S. Government and Department of Defense security, compliance and data-sovereignty requirements.

Microsoft Teams calling within this environment requires a different architecture from standard Microsoft 365 deployments.

Aura Connect provides the Microsoft Teams Direct Routing infrastructure, PSTN connectivity, management platform and specialist implementation services required to enable Microsoft Teams voice within GCC High.

The solution is designed around:

• U.S.-based infrastructure
• Microsoft GCC High connectivity
• Secure encrypted signalling and media
• FIPS-capable SBC infrastructure where required
• High availability and geographic resilience
• Secure Microsoft tenant integration
• Centralised number and voice management through Aura Connect
• Ongoing Aura support and managed services

This enables customers to use Microsoft Teams as their enterprise communications platform while retaining the specialised architecture required for a GCC High environment.