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Deploy clients for Skype for Business Server

Summary: Overview of enterprise client installation methods for Skype for Business.

How you deploy Skype for Business to your users depends on whether you purchased Skype for Business as part of a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 plan or you purchased a volume licensed version of Skype for Business.

  • Microsoft 365 or Office 365 If you have a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 plan that includes Skype for Business, the installation technology that's used is called Click-to-Run. You can let your users install Skype for Business for themselves from the Microsoft 365 admin center. Or, you can deploy Skype for Business to your users by downloading the software to your local network and then using your existing software deployment tools, such as with Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager. For installation information about Skype for Business that comes with Microsoft 365 and Office 365, see Deploy the Skype for Business client in Microsoft 365 or Office 365.

  • Volume licensed If you have a volume licensed version of the Skype for Business 2015 or 2016 client, the installation technology that's used is Windows Installer (MSI). A Windows Installer-based installation package consists of multiple MSI files. A language-neutral core MSI package is combined with one or more language-specific packages to make a complete product. Setup assembles the individual packages and performs customization and maintenance tasks during and after installation of Office on users' computers. The Skype for Business 2019 client uses Click-to-Run installers.

The topics in this section describe how to use and customize the Windows Installer to deploy the Skype for Business client to your users through your normal procedures.

Note

The Skype Meeting Add-in for Microsoft Office, which supports meeting management from within the Outlook messaging and collaboration client, installs automatically with Skype for Business clients.

Note

The Microsoft 365 and Office 365 setup programs don't uninstall previous versions of Lync. The Skype for Business client installs side-by-side with other Lync clients.

Installing Windows clients

Installing device clients

See also

Deploy the Skype for Business client in Microsoft 365 or Office 365