Adding external contacts to chat in Microsoft Teams

[Miroslav Novák]

Hi,

is it possible to add external contacts to chat part? I know that it is possible to add external people to the team. My case is different, I just need add people to chat. We are rolling out Teams to company but this is a limitation for end users. Most of them have a lot of external contacts (people outside of organization) in Skype for Business and also Skype contacts. Is there a way how to add external contacts (Skype and Skype for Business) just for chatting?

Thank you,

Mirek

[#2]

Hi!
Please read this full thread! ( latest comments )

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Teams/Communicate-with-an-external-Skype-for-Busine...

[#3]

Hi Adam,

thank you for your response. I know about this thread, thanks. I just hope that I will get more details about it. We have already set a settings that we can chat with Skype for business. But it is a little bit tricky. When I will write someone outside of organization on Skype for business it will open "session" when we can chat together but when the guy on the other side will close the window and open new window with my name and send me a message I will receive it on Skype for business. This is a little bit confusing for end users because they do not understand this behavior. I tried to chat with Skype consumer contact and it is not possible. Also I tried to chat with someone who has Teams, I put the e-mail address to the chat, send it and he received the message on Skype for Business... What to do with it? :)

Best regards,

Mirek

[#4]

It can be a bit messy :)
Consumer Skype is not supported and where messages End up depends on What kind of mode you are in regarding teams etc...The link believe explosions this in detail:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/teams-and-skypeforbusiness-coexistence-and-interoper...

Adam

[#5]

Yes, it is not first article which I have already read about this topic and I would like to use it because Microsoft spoke about it for a long time (same like about private channels) but unfortunately we are not able to use it right now. And I am not sure if this feature will solve my issue. I will find out when this feature is available and we will be able to verify how it works.

Mirek

[#6]

The fact that Microsoft says Teams and Skype for Business are at feature parity blows my mind. One of the most important features of Skype for Business is chatting with external users, and that is completely missing from Teams, and such a huge deal breaker for us to move ourselves and our clients to Teams. No way is this feature parity.

[#7]

Hi Derek,

what is currently missing in Teams is the ability to add a new external contact to your contact list. I heard this will be fixed soon.
You can always start a new chat and enter an external SfB contact. This is also possible if you enter the sip address to the search bar and select "search external"
Skype contacts (Skype for consumer) are currently not supported.

Regards,

Paul

[#8]

@Paul Lange
Hi Paul,

do you know if Microsoft is planning to add the feature to add external "normal" Skype contacts?
We've used skype for communication with external partners and applicants in the past and today I saw in my SfB, that it said "Chatmessages and Calls are now sent to Microsoft Teams directly". However it is not possible for me to contact external "normal" skype users in Teams, neither is it possible now for me to use SfB anymore for that.

Somehow it's like being "cut off" from Skype.

Any help or information about future features is appreciated, thanks.

Regards

Korbinian

[#9]

@KBartholdy 

Hi Korbinian,

there is a uservoice for this where you check the status. I would recommend voting for it. This gives you also updates when something changes there.

https://microsoftteams.uservoice.com/forums/555103-public/suggestions/16958347-skype-integration-con...

The current status is "under review" from 02/2019.

I know in the past this status showed "declined". So we moved away from "cut off"  :)

Regards,

Paul

[#10]

Hello,

do you know if there is a way to add external contacts in Teams => Chat by getting them from Outlook Contacts (without typing their address entirely) ?

Thank you,

Luca

[#11]

@lucafabbri365 

There is a workaround 

Schedule an appoinment from teams with the external contact.

Then you are able to use the webcam, voice and you are able to chat.

[#12]

@Paul Lange  I thought I would add my 2c on your comment.

Due to Corona (Mar 2020) we have many clients asking about online meeting solutions.

The status on the interaction feature between Teams and the consumer version of Skype is currently "in development", with a Release status of March 2020.

Hopefully this integration will be available soon, especially now during the outbreak.

[#13]

@Deric Slabberts 

Online meetings with Skype Consumers will no be available with this interop.

Limitations

• Conversations are text-only. This means that there's no rich formatting, @mentions, emojis, or other any of the other chat features that are available in a native Teams chat experience.
• Conversations are one-on-one only. Group chats aren't supported.
• Teams users and Skype users can't see each other's presence.
• Searching for Skype users by using their Skype ID or phone number isn't supported.

[#14]

Hi @Ronald Meer 

I have seen the pic you have pasted before on conversations around the topic.

From what I can gather it will be for peer to peer voice calls and chat.

I am not sure about video calls, but I am rather hopeful that this is also being worked on.  

[#15]

So, you can't video chat with everyone? Please say thats not true

[#16]

Describe your question because this is a long thread! You surely can video chat with externals if that’s the question

[#17]

@adam deltinger  Is it now possible to communicate with consumer Skype from Teams? Also search for usernames etc? 
Its been one crazy year so far, just wondering if there is any update.

[#18 · Accepted solution]

Yes, that has just rolled out!

https://microsoft365pro.co.uk/2020/06/07/teams-real-simple-with-pictures-teams-and-skype-consumer-in...

Adam