Microsoft is phasing out Skype for Business on July 31, and College of Western Idaho's (CWI) IT team will be launching Microsoft Teams as a replacement.
The College will be using Teams, an all-in-one collaboration and communication solution, integrating chat (IM), online meetings, and calling – the IT team will be rolling out additional features for Teams in the future. Over the coming weeks, CWI will shift to Teams as our primary chatting solution. Until then, you will have access to both Teams and Skype for Business, enabling you to get comfortable with Teams while retaining the familiarity of Skype for Business.
How can I use Teams to chat with others?
- Send a chat to any contact in your Outlook contact list or Skype for Business, even when they are offline
- Initiate and participate in group conversations to quickly share ideas
- Make and receive calls anywhere, anytime and across devices
- Insert memes and giphys, making communication fun and interactive
- Capture and share an image with contacts quickly for simplified sharing of visuals
- Access persistent conversation history to easily pick up a conversation at any time
Expected timeline:
- June 28 – Teams will be available for download. You will need to either be on campus or using VPN in order to install. See FAQ 255 if you have never configured your VPN. Communication will come out on June 28 with more details.
- June 28 - July 31 – Get comfortable using Teams while still having the capability of using Skype. You will only be able to utilize Team chats with others who have also downloaded Teams.
- July 31 – Skype for Business functionality for all users will be shut off.
As with all communications at the College, messages sent on Microsoft Teams are subject to Idaho’s Public Records Law.
Learn more about chatting in Teams by reviewing the Microsoft Quick Start Guide or by attending a live training. An email was sent on Monday, June 28, with more information about downloading Microsoft Teams.
