"This feature requires a Teams Premium license"

When “Text Me My Appointment” Finally Works

One of our law firm clients recently reached out about SMS reminders in Microsoft Bookings:

“When someone books through Microsoft Bookings, they can select to get a text reminder — but the texts never actually send.”

The feature she was referring to — SMS notifications for Microsoft Bookings — had just rolled out as part of Microsoft Teams Premium, which promises richer meeting experiences, extra analytics, and, in this case, appointment texts.

But like many things in Microsoft 365, it’s never as simple as checking a box.

The Problem: A Tease from Microsoft Bookings

By default, Microsoft Bookings lets clients opt in for text reminders when scheduling appointments — but the option is purely decorative unless your tenant has Teams Premium.

Our client had regular Teams licenses, so the checkbox for “Send me text message notifications” appeared on the booking page, but it didn’t actually do anything. Understandably, that caused confusion for clients and staff alike.

The Experiment: Let’s Try It (for Real)

We confirmed the firm already had standard Teams licensing, so we spun up a 30-day Teams Premium trial for two users — Cassandra and Marissa — who handle most of the firm’s client scheduling.

Once the licenses were active, we followed Microsoft’s official setup process:

• In Bookings (web app) → “Define your service offerings” → enable “Send them text messages.”
• In Teams Bookings app → “Settings > Appointment type > Add appointment type” → enable text notifications.

And right away, we hit a snag.

The Mystery Message That Lies

When Cassandra and Marissa tried to enable the SMS option, they were greeted with this gem of a warning:

“This feature requires a Teams Premium license. Contact your administrator.”

Which would make sense… except they already had Teams Premium.

We confirmed licensing was active and even tested it live together — booking fake appointments, checking the box, clicking Save repeatedly until it finally worked (yes, it sometimes takes a few tries). Eventually, the messages started sending — but not immediately.

The Waiting Game

After some testing (and a little back-and-forth with Microsoft Support), we learned something interesting:

Enabling SMS notifications doesn’t take effect instantly.

It can take a few days — sometimes even up to two weeks — before the Bookings backend fully catches up to new Teams Premium licensing.

Microsoft later confirmed the warning message itself is a UI bug — it stays visible even for users who do have the correct license. Their official response:

“Please disregard the message and select the checkbox for ‘Enable text message notifications for your customer.’ Allow some time for the update to take effect.”

Translation: it’ll work, eventually.

The Outcome: Success (and Patience)

By mid-March, texts were going through as expected. Clients booking appointments through Bookings received SMS confirmations, and our client could finally deliver the modern communication experience they’d wanted — without any third-party add-ons or Zapier automations.

The takeaway: Teams Premium’s SMS integration works, but it’s a slow starter.

If you’re planning to enable it:

1. Assign the Teams Premium license(s).
2. Enable SMS in Bookings (ignore the scary yellow banner).
3. Wait a few days for it to actually start working.