The latest update to Microsoft Teams for Android fixes a bug that prevented phones from dialing 911 in case of an emergency. Both Google and Microsoft were working to fix the bug which was due to flaws in both how Android and Teams app worked.
After a Reddit user bought the bug to attention, Google started investigating the actual cause of the bug. Here"s the official response:
Based on our investigation we have been able to reproduce the issue under a limited set of circumstances. We believe the issue is only present on a small number of devices with the Microsoft Teams app installed when the user is not logged in, and we are currently only aware of one user report related to the occurrence of this bug. We determined that the issue was being caused by unintended interaction between the Microsoft Teams app and the underlying Android operating system. Because this issue impacts emergency calling, both Google and Microsoft are heavily prioritizing the issue, and we expect a Microsoft Teams app update to be rolled out soon – as always we suggest users keep an eye out for app updates to ensure they are running the latest version. We will also be providing an Android platform update to the Android ecosystem on January 4.
Google also suggested users update their phones on Android 10 or above. The company also suggested making sure users are signed into Teams if the app is installed on their phones.
The user who reported the bug initially was running Android 11 on a Pixel 3 on the Verizon network. Microsoft Teams was updated with version 1416/1.0.0.2021194504. Although the update only resolves the issue with Teams, other apps with similar bugs could prevent you from dialing 911 unless Google sends out the Android platform update.