Office 365: Using Microsoft Teams

Skype for Business has been replaced with Microsoft Teams

In preparation for Microsoft’s planned retirement of Skype for Business in July 2021, it has now been replaced with MS Teams at the University.

Teams is available for all staff and students and is an innovative solution for collaboration and teamwork, bringing together chat (IM), meetings, audio/video calling, file management and a project workspace.
For an overview of the Teams platform, view the Welcome to Microsoft Teams video. More information is also available on our Microsoft Teams support pages (login required).

FAQs

Q. Will I be able to contact people who are still using Skype for Business outside the organisation?

A. Yes, you can use Microsoft Teams to message/call/video call people using Skype for Business.

Q. How will people who are still using Skype for Business be able to contact me?

A. You will receive the messages from people using Skype for Business in the chat function in Teams.

Q. How can I attend existing/recurrent Skype for Business meetings?

A. There will be no change to this. The Skype for Business client with meeting functionality will continue to be available.

Q. What will happen to my Skype chat history? Will it be lost?

A. You will not lose any data. Skype for Business chat history is stored in your 'conversation history' folder in Outlook, located in the left-hand folder pane.

Q. How can I find more information and support on using Microsoft Teams?

A. Access our Microsoft Teams support site to find out how to use Teams effectively for communication and collaboration.

For support and advice on using Zoom for online meetings, access the Digital Education support site.

Running online meetings in MS Teams

As well as chat between staff, students and external users, MS Teams has powerful meeting functionality that includes these great features increasing your collaboration within your online meetings:

share your desktop

share a program

presenting PowerPoint slides

using a whiteboard

conduct poll in a meeting

sharing and co-authoring documents.

Instructions guides, good practice tips, preparing for an online meeting checklist can be found in our help materials folder.

Recommended equipment

Microsoft Teams and Zoom are compatible with the camera and microphone built-in to your laptop/desktop. However, if you wish to purchase alternative equipment see the list below.

You can purchase these from a range of vendors including XMA. This equipment will require funding approval from your local departmental budget and can be ordered via your local accounting point.