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Upgrade from Skype for Business on-premises to Teams

  • Article
  • Applies to:
    Microsoft Teams

Upgrade journey diagram, emphasizing Deployment and Implementation.

This article is part of Deployment and Implementation stage of your upgrade journey. Before proceeding, confirm that you've completed the following activities:

If you've deployed Skype for Business Server or Microsoft Lync Server on-premises and your organization wants to upgrade to Teams, follow the guidance in this article. You must set up hybrid connectivity with your Microsoft 365 organization as described in Plan hybrid connectivity between Skype for Business Server and Teams.

Before you begin, you should also review Important considerations for organizations with Skype for Business Server on-premises later in this article.

Important

Skype for Business Online was retired on July 31, 2021. To maximize benefit realization and ensure your organization has proper time to implement your upgrade, we encourage you to begin your journey to Microsoft Teams today. Remember that a successful upgrade aligns technical and user readiness, so be sure to leverage this guidance as you navigate your journey to Microsoft Teams.

Step 1: Configure hybrid connectivity

The key prerequisite for upgrading your on-premises users to Teams is to configure hybrid connectivity for your Skype for Business Server on-premises deployment.

Start by reading Plan hybrid connectivity, and then follow the tasks outlined in Configure hybrid connectivity.

Step 2: Set transitional coexistence mode (optional)

Coexistence and interoperability between Skype for Business and Teams clients and users are defined by coexistence modes. Hybrid organizations are by default in Islands mode. Islands mode allows users to use both Teams and Skype for Business clients side by side. Organizations can optionally use other coexistence modes to provide a predictable experience for end users as organizations transition from Skype for Business to Teams. Whatever mode an organization uses for its on-premises users, when those users are moved from on-premises to the cloud, they become TeamsOnly (and can't have any other mode). As long as users are still using Skype for Business Server, they can be assigned any mode other than TeamsOnly. If needed, TeamsOnly users can be moved back to on-premises, which would result in them receiving the tenant's global policy of TeamsUpgradePolicy.

When a user is in any of the Skype for Business modes, all incoming chats and calls are routed to the user's Skype for Business client. To avoid end-user confusion and ensure proper routing, calling and chat functionality in the Teams client is disabled for a user who is assigned any of the Skype for Business modes. Meeting scheduling in Teams is disabled when users are in the SfBOnly or SfBWithTeamsCollab modes, and enabled when a user is in the SfBWithTeamsCollabAndMeetings mode.

Depending on your requirements, you can assign the appropriate coexistence mode based on the upgrade path that your organization has chosen. For more information, see Migration and interoperability guidance for organizations using Teams together with Skype for Business and Setting your coexistence and upgrade settings.

Step 3: Move users from Skype for Business on-premises to Teams Only

Microsoft has recently simplified the process to move users to TeamsOnly. This process is now a single step, regardless of which version of Skype for Business Server or Lync Server 2013 you're using. For more information, see Move users between on-premises and the cloud and Move users from on-premises to Teams.

Step 4: Complete your migration to the cloud by disabling hybrid and decommissioning on-premises Skype for Business

After you've moved all users from on-premises to the cloud, you can decommission the on-premises Skype for Business deployment. For more information, see Decommission your on-premises Skype for Business environment.

Phone System and PSTN connectivity options

Phone System with Teams is supported after the user is in TeamsOnly mode. (If the user is in Islands mode, Phone System is only supported with Skype for Business.)

PSTN connectivity options

When considering Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) connectivity options, there are two possible scenarios when moving from Skype for Business on premises to TeamsOnly mode:

  • A user in Skype for Business on-premises with Enterprise Voice, who will be moving to online and using a Microsoft Calling plan. Migrating this user to Teams requires moving the user's on-premises Skype for Business account to the cloud, and coordinating that move with either A) the port of that user's phone number to a Microsoft Calling Plan or B) assigning a new subscriber number from available regions. For more information, see From Skype for Business Server on-premises, with Enterprise Voice, to Microsoft Calling Plan.

  • A user in Skype for Business on-premises with Enterprise Voice, who will be moving to online and keeping on-premises PSTN connectivity. Migrating this user to Teams requires moving the user's on-premises Skype for Business account to the cloud, and coordinating that move with migration of the user to Direct Routing. For more information, see From Skype for Business Server on-premises, with Enterprise Voice, to Direct Routing.

Important considerations for organizations with Skype for Business Server on-premises

  • Setting up Skype for Business hybrid is a prerequisite to migrate to TeamsOnly mode. It's possible for on-premises Skype for Business Server users to use Teams in Islands mode without hybrid. However, the transition to TeamsOnly mode can't be made without moving the user to the cloud using Move-CsUser, for which hybrid connectivity is required. For more information, see Configure hybrid connectivity. The upcoming retirement of Skype for Business Online won't change this requirement. For organizations to move from Skype for Business Server to Teams, they must still set up and configure hybrid using the same toolset, exactly as before the retirement.

  • To move an on-premises user to the cloud, use Move-CsUser in the on-premises administration tools. You no longer need to specify the -MoveToTeams switch to move users directly from on-premises to TeamsOnly. Users are automatically assigned TeamsOnly mode and their on-premises meetings are automatically converted to Teams meetings--regardless of whether the -MoveToTeams switch is specified.

  • If your organization has Skype for Business Server and you've not configured hybrid connectivity but you still want to use Teams, to administer Teams functionality you must use an administrative account that has an .onmicrosoft.com domain. Without hybrid connectivity, the administrative tools won't recognize your on-premises domains.

  • Teams users who have a Skype for Business account on-premises (that is, they have not yet been moved to the cloud by using Move-CsUser) can't interoperate with any Skype for Business users, nor can they federate with external users. This functionality is only available once the users are moved to the cloud and are TeamsOnly users.

  • If you have any users with Skype for Business accounts on-premises or if you still have a lyncdiscover DNS record for an on-premises deployment, you can't assign TeamsOnly mode at the tenant level. You must first move all users with on-premises Skype for Business accounts to the cloud using Move-CsUser. Then follow the steps described in Disable hybrid to complete migration to the cloud, which includes removal of DNS entries. Grant-CsTeamsUpgradePolicy -PolicyName UpgradeToTeams won't work at the tenant level if a lyncdiscover DNS record is detected that points to a location other than Office 365.

  • You must ensure your users are properly synchronized into Microsoft Entra ID with the correct Skype for Business attributes. These attributes are all prefixes with "msRTCSIP-". If users are not synchronized properly to Microsoft Entra ID, the management tools in Teams won't be able to manage these users. (For example, you won't be able to assign Teams policies to on-premises users unless you're properly syncing these attributes.) For more information, see Configure Microsoft Entra Connect for Teams and Skype for Business.

  • To create a new TeamsOnly in a hybrid organization, you must first enable the user in Skype for Business Server on-premises, and then move the user from on-premises to the cloud using Move-CsUser. Creating the user in on-premises first ensures that any other remaining on-premises Skype for Business users will be able route to the newly created user. Once all users have been moved online, it is no longer necessary to first enable users in on-premises.

  • If you would like display notifications in the Skype for Business client for on-premises users, you must use TeamsUpgradePolicy in the on-premises toolset. Only the NotifySfbUsers parameter is relevant for on-premises users. On-premises users receive their mode from the online instances of TeamsUpgradePolicy. See the notes in Grant-CsTeamsUpgradePolicy.

Note

Any new tenants created after Sept 3, 2019 are created as TeamsOnly tenants unless the organization already has an on-premises deployment of Skype for Business Server. Microsoft uses DNS records to identify on-premises Skype for Business Server organizations. For more information, see DNS implications for on premises organizations that become hybrid.

Migration and interoperability guidance for organizations using Teams together with Skype for Business

Configure hybrid connectivity between Skype for Business Server and Microsoft 365 or Office 365

Move users between on-premises and cloud

Setting your coexistence and upgrade settings

Grant-CsTeamsUpgradePolicy

Using the Meeting Migration Service (MMS)