Skype for Business with Teams Collaboration

Skype for Business with Teams collaboration mode lets users take advantage of the benefits of Teams collaboration and gives users access to teams and channels while using the Skype for Business client for the IM and presence features, to make calls, and to join meetings. In this mode, the Teams and Skype for Business clients work side by side to provide communication and collaboration capabilities. Users cannot schedule team meetings, but they can start channel meetings as needed.

This mode is suitable for larger companies that have strict IT control mechanisms or methodical change processes. On the technical side, a company might have a third-party video infrastructure or other Skype for Business-integrated applications that are not yet ready for Teams migration.

Skype for Business with Teams Collaboration and Meetings

The Skype for Business with Teams collaboration and meetings mode builds on the coexistence mode described above and adds meeting functionality to Teams. In this mode, a user no longer schedules, and in fact is prevented from scheduling, meetings in Skype for Business. Instead, the user receives an Outlook add-in for Teams. All meetings that were scheduled before the switch are automatically transferred to Teams by the meeting migration service.

Users in this mode can still participate in Skype for Business meetings set up by colleagues in the migration islands of systems running Skype for Business with Teams collaboration . Users can join these meetings using the Skype for Business client (if still installed) or through their browser with the Skype for Business web application. Users in this mode have their home directory either on a Skype for Business server or on-premises in Skype for Business Online.

This mode is suitable for companies that already conduct their meetings in Teams but do not yet want to implement their enterprise voice applications there. These companies typically have a problem with third-party video application interoperability. The meeting features in Teams offer new capabilities, such as changing the focus of video backgrounds, recording meetings in the cloud, and automated transcription services to convert voice to text for audio in meetings.

Teams Only

In Teams only mode, users assigned this policy will only use the Teams client. With this change, all users working on a Skype for Business server (on-premises) will need to move to Skype for Business Online. Even if the user is not using the Skype for Business client, the user object must exist in Skype for Business Online at that time. In other words, Teams only means that a user's Skype for Business object no longer exists on the Skype for Business server. If a user has already been set up in Skype for Business Online, then nothing more needs to be done in the Teams only mode.

At this point, users run their 1:1 chats and enterprise voice (if applicable) in the Teams client. For instant messaging and voice calls, interoperability between Teams only users and the following modes is guaranteed:

• Skype for Business only
• Skype for Business with Teams collaboration
• Skype for Business with Teams collaboration and meetings
• Teams only

This mode is suitable for users who want to use the full scope of a Teams client and removes any reliance on third-party interoperability for video. Additionally, all voice features – such as response groups, auto-attendant, toll-free numbers, contact centers, and other integrated software applications – have moved from Skype for Business to Teams.