[azure-communication-callautomation] connect_call() should support teamsMeetingLink as a CallLocatorKind

[MDUYN]

Labels: feature-request, Azure.Communication.CallAutomation

Description

The ACS Call Automation SDK's connect_call() method does not support joining a Teams meeting via a Teams meeting link. The CallLocatorKind enum only accepts groupCallLocator, serverCallLocator, and roomCallLocator — but not teamsMeetingLink.

This forces developers building bots that need to join Teams meetings programmatically to bypass the ACS SDK entirely and use the Microsoft Graph Communications API (POST /communications/calls) instead, losing the benefits of ACS Call Automation (media streaming, call recording, DTMF, etc.).

Repro Steps

1. Install azure-communication-callautomation==1.6.0b1
2. Attempt to connect to a Teams meeting using a meeting link:

from azure.communication.callautomation import CallAutomationClient

client = CallAutomationClient.from_connection_string(conn_str)

# There is no way to pass a Teams meeting link to connect_call()
# The method signature only accepts: server_call_id, group_call_id, room_id
result = client.connect_call(
    callback_url="https://mybot.azurewebsites.net/api/calls/events",
    # No parameter for teams_meeting_link
)

3. If you try to call the REST API directly with "kind": "teamsMeetingLink" in the call locator, the service returns:

400 Bad Request
Error converting value "teamsMeetingLink" to type
'Microsoft.Skype.Platform.ExecutionAgent.Azure.Communication.Service.Common.CallLocator.Dto.v2.CallLocatorKind'

Expected Behavior

connect_call() (or a new method like connect_to_teams_meeting()) should accept a Teams meeting join URL and connect the ACS bot to that meeting. For example:

result = client.connect_call(
    teams_meeting_link="https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/...",
    callback_url="https://mybot.azurewebsites.net/api/calls/events",
)

Or alternatively, CallLocatorKind should be extended to include teamsMeetingLink, and the service-side connect endpoint should handle it the same way create_call handles TeamsMeetingLinkLocator.

Actual Behavior

• The Python SDK connect_call() only accepts server_call_id, group_call_id, or room_id
• The REST API connect endpoint rejects teamsMeetingLink as a CallLocatorKind
• There is no SDK-level path to join a Teams meeting via ACS Call Automation

Inconsistency with create_call()

Note that create_call() does support Teams meeting links via TeamsMeetingLinkLocator:

from azure.communication.callautomation import TeamsMeetingLinkLocator

locator = TeamsMeetingLinkLocator("https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/...")
client.create_call(target_participant=locator, callback_url=callback_url)

However, create_call() requires an ACS user identity to place the call as, which is not suitable for server-side bots that need to join meetings as application-level participants (without a user context).

The connect endpoint is the correct pattern for this use case, but it lacks Teams meeting link support.

Environment

• SDK: azure-communication-callautomation==1.6.0b1
• API version: 2025-08-15-preview
• Python: 3.12
• OS: Linux (Azure App Service) / macOS (local dev)

Swagger Reference

The CallLocatorKind enum in the swagger spec for the connect endpoint only defines:

"CallLocatorKind": {
  "type": "string",
  "enum": ["groupCallLocator", "serverCallLocator", "roomCallLocator"]
}

Impact

Without this capability, developers who need a server-side bot to join an existing Teams meeting must abandon the ACS SDK and implement the Microsoft Graph Communications API directly, which:

• Loses access to ACS Call Automation features (media streaming, call recording, real-time transcription, DTMF)
• Requires separate Graph API permission grants (Calls.JoinGroupCall.All)
• Adds significant complexity for a common bot scenario

Suggested Fix

1. Add teamsMeetingLink to the CallLocatorKind enum in the service
2. Accept teams_meeting_link as a parameter in the Python SDK's connect_call()
3. Alternatively, add a new connect_to_teams_meeting(meeting_link, callback_url, ...) convenience method

[mccoyp]

Hi @MDUYN, thank you for opening an issue. I'll tag the appropriate folks so we can take a look and get back to you as soon as possible. cc @turalf

[github-actions]

Thanks for the feedback! We are routing this to the appropriate team for follow-up. cc @fhaghbin-msft @juntuchen-msft @minwoolee-msft @v-dharmarajv.