The time has come for (online) collaboration in companies. A trend that has accelerated since the beginning of 2020 with the generalisation of remote working. Collaborative platforms have become essential for managing exchanges, both internally and externally. Among those that are particularly popular with professionals, there is (or was) Skype for Business. But little by little, this tool is being replaced by Microsoft Teams.
Skype for Business has been part of business usage for a long time now. However, Microsoft announced the replacement of Skype for Business by Teams in 2017 and warned that it would be discontinued permanently on 31 July 2021. If the migration between the two solutions is not yet complete in your company, we can help you make the transition easier.
On 31 July, Skype for Business will be gone for good. Since September 2019, new Office 365 customers have been integrated into Teams. It is no longer possible to choose Skype for Business. After migrating from one solution to the other, users can take advantage of additional functionalities such as the creation and management of work teams and discussion threads or the sharing of files with offline participants.
Before we look at how to migrate from one to the other, it's important to understand what makes Skype for Business different from Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft Teams Fact Sheet
Microsoft Teams is a comprehensive collaboration platform used daily by more than 115 million people worldwide. This tool allows you to stay connected with your ecosystem both in the office and at home. You can host video conferences with your colleagues, or participants from outside your organisation, collaborate on online files, share your screen, make phone calls, benefit from instant messaging, customise your background and more.
Teams of 10 or 10,000 people (for live events) can be brought together in one place, regardless of whether they are geographically dispersed across the globe. Collaboration is simple, rich and intuitive with Microsoft Teams.
Skype for Business Fact Sheet
Skype for Business is a unified communication service that allows you to communicate instantly via email with your employees or external parties (customers, suppliers, partners, etc.). This tool also allows you to add up to 250 people to online meetings.
Skype vs Teams: what are the differences?
Microsoft Teams is designed to make it easier for teams and departments within an organisation to collaborate. It is inspired by Skype Enterprise and offers similar features. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Microsoft Teams goes further, particularly in the area of collaborative features.
Here is a (non-exhaustive) list of the differences and similarities between the two solutions:
How do I move from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams?
As of July 31, 2021, Skype for Business will no longer be available or supported. Microsoft therefore encourages Skype for Business Online customers to start using Teams and to start planning their upgrades now so that it is completed before the retirement date.
To help customers migrate from Skype to Teams, Microsoft offers a series of online resources to help plan the deployment and upgrade of their teams:
Deployment
- Get started on your upgrade from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams: Technical recommendations for IT administrators.
- FastTrack for Microsoft 365: Teams deployment support is available for eligible offerings.
Training
- Microsoft Teams Training: free online courses to help you and your end users get organised with Microsoft Teams.
- Teams chalk talks: free webinars for IT professionals and business decision makers that share best practices for some of the most popular and interesting scenarios in Teams.
- Team Upgrade Planning Workshops: Interactive upgrade planning workshops that help you plan and implement your migration to Teams.
Microsoft Partners
- Microsoft Partners: Microsoft Solution Providers can help you get the most out of your teams.
New Teams
- Microsoft Teams Blog: Learn what's new in Teams, including new features, adoption and usage resources, team devices, and integration with other business productivity applications.
Migrate to Teams, gain flexibility
Switching to Microsoft Teams is also an opportunity to combine business telephony and collaborative tools within a single application. We're talking about Teams Telephony, of course.
Millions of professionals use Microsoft Teams for their daily communications. The question soon arose: when will phone calls be integrated into this unified communications service? Did you know that it is now possible to call any number via Teams?
Take advantage of a flexible solution perfectly adapted to the new uses of teleworking in particular. Everything is synchronised with the Office 365 suite and available on all your devices.
How does Teams Telephony work?
Do you want to adapt your business telephony to the digital transformation? Don't waste any more time and contact our experts to find out more!
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