Microsoft will stop using Skype for Business Online on July 31, 2021. After that, users can use Teams for their business calls. New Office 365 customers will be put on Teams from September 1st this year, and will no longer be able to select the old service as an option.
Microsoft has been saying since 2017 that its teams service should replace Skype for Business Online. At the time of the announcement, the company said that Teams should become the main communication service. Last year, several functions from Skype for Business Online were added to Teams.
Until now, however, there was no date on which the service would really disappear. This has now been announced, writes ZDNet. The service will no longer be accessible after 31 July 2021. Until then, Skype for Business Online can be used.
ZDNet has asked Microsoft whether it is possible to pay for a separate support agreement, should companies not be ready for the transition in 2021. A spokesman states that the company refuses to respond.
New features
Microsoft has further announced that the company is working on several features that Skype for Business Online has, but Teams have not yet. For example, Dynamic 911, where the current location of a caller is used to route a call to a Public Safety Answering Point call centre of the local government. This position will come to Teams in the US at the end of the year.
Another function that is being worked on is shorter retention periods for channel and chat. Users should be able to set these periods to less than one day. After data is deleted, it is also removed from all permanent storage locations in Teams. This function also appears at the end of the year.
Finally, there is Contact Center Integration and Compliance. Microsoft claims to be working with various certified partners to offer these possibilities. When they appear in Teams, is unknown.
Skype for Business
Microsoft finally stressed that the on-premise server version of Skype for Business will not disappear in 2021. Skype for Business Server 2019 has extended support until October 14, 2025. This service can therefore still be used after July 2021.
This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.
41 minutes ago
