However, they can still search for them and send the initial message to get started. It is worth noting that if Microsoft Teams users try to search for a specific Skype contact with a phone number as their account, they may not be able to find them. Enter the Skype consumer user's email into the search bar (shown below), click search externally, and you can now chat with the Skype user. Once enabled, Microsoft Teams users can now search for and start a one-on-one text-only conversation or an audio/video call with Skype users and vice versa. (Note: we found that the first toggle needs to be enabled in order for the Skype users toggle to work, although it wasn't mentioned in the docs). To enable this feature, head over to the Microsoft Teams admin center, go to Org-wide settings > External access, and turn on the Users can communicate with Skype users setting. Office 365 admins can follow these steps to let Teams users in their organization chat and call with Skype users. This feature has been designed to help businesses that have already moved to Microsoft Teams, and users can now contact each other across the two platforms by using their email addresses. Microsoft explains that this feature is disabled by default in Teams, and Office 365 admins need to follow a couple of steps to enable it manually. Microsoft has recently updated the Microsoft 365 Roadmap entry to indicate that the Microsoft Teams and Skype federation is now generally available for everyone worldwide. Otherwise your changes to the Name box won't be saved.Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it would soon roll out the Teams/Skype Consumer chat and calling interoperability.
IMPORTANT: If you get the Check Full Name box, choose OK. If you entered a placeholder email address, type the person's real name in the Name box. Now you can enter additional information for the person. Right-click the contact you just added, and choose See Contact Card. (If you don't know it, or they don't have one, you can enter a placeholder email address, such as that you'll change to their real name later.) Then choose Add a contact not in my organization > Other. In Skype for Business, choose the contacts icons as shown below. In these instances, that often establishes the connection.Īdd an external contact (someone not in your organization or using Skype) If you sent your Skype contact a request and they never receive it, ask them to send you a request to chat. They are supposed to sign in to Skype and accept your request. IMPORTANT: After you add the person to your contacts list, their status is Pending. If you don't see this option, then your admin hasn't enabled Skype Directory search for your organization. In the search box, type the person's name, email address, IM address, or Skype phone number.Īs you type, the view changes to My Contacts. If you don't see a Skype Directory tab like the one shown in the following steps, it hasn't been enabled. Right-click the person's picture > Add to Contacts List > choose the contact group.īefore you can add contacts who have Skype accounts, your administrator has to enable Skype Directory search for your organization. In the search box, type the person's name, IM address, or phone number.Īs you type, the view automatically changes to My Contacts, which lets you search your organization's address book. Add a contact who is in your organization