Updated: July 27, 2020 (November 10, 2019)

Understanding Teams and Skype for Business Coexistence

Jim leads the Directions on Microsoft editorial team and has been writing about technology since the early 1990s. Most recently... more

For most organizations, migrating from Skype for Business to Teams will require some period of coexistence.
There are multiple coexistence modes available, and how the services interoperate depends on which is selected.
Interoperation between Teams and Skype for Business is not seamless and has significant limitations.
Organizations should focus on a rapid migration rather than lengthy coexistence when possible.

Microsoft Teams is the successor to Skype for Business Online. Skype for Business Online will be retired on July 31, 2021. Organizations migrating to Teams from Skype for Business Online or from on-premises Skype for Business Server will need both services to be active for some period. Multiple coexistence modes are available, enabling administrators to set how communication is routed organization-wide or for specific users or groups of users during the migration. Most coexistence modes allow limited interoperation between Teams and Skype for Business, and understanding how each mode works can help in migration planning.

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