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Skype for Business Blog
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Skype for Business Server TAP is now recruiting new customers

Rick Varvel's avatar
Rick Varvel
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
Jan 17, 2023

The Skype for Business Server team is looking for new members to join our Technology Adoption Program (TAP). TAP is an established program designed to validate updates to Skype for Business Server by asking customers to test them in their own lab or production environments.

 

Program participants have the opportunity to assess and validate upcoming features and enhancements before they are generally available, and provide feedback directly to the Skype for Business product development team.

 

New feature announcements will be communicated to participants through email and a Teams channel dedicated to Skype for Business 2015/2019 discussion.

 

Program Benefits

  • Get a head start in the next deployment cycle, taking advantage of new and enhanced features available in upcoming releases
  • Provide feedback on, and influence direction of, future updates to Skype for Business Server, directly to the product group
  • Build a close relationship with the Skype for Business Server product team
  • Participate the way that makes sense for your organization, with no obligations or commitments

 

Qualifications for Participation

  • Willing to dedicate resources (people, time, and hardware) to testing pre-release Skype for Business Server builds
  • Respond to requests for feedback, including surveys, attending conference calls and participating in email and Teams channel conversations
  • Provide constructive insights with context
  • Share feedback even when not requested, especially if a new feature is problematic for your organization

 

 

How to Join

If you feel your organization is what we are looking for, you can nominate yourself by sending an email with the information listed below.

Please put “SfB TAP Customer Nomination” in the subject line.

  • Company name
  • Number of Skype for Business users in your organization
  • Version(s) of Skype for Business Server you are currently running
  • Name and email address of contact person
  • Reason for your interest in the Technology Adoption Program

Register for the SfB TAP

 

Once you’ve emailed us, we’ll review your nomination and respond within two business days with next steps.

 

We look forward to hearing from you!

Updated Jan 20, 2023
Version 2.0
Skype for Business
  • Rick Varvel's avatar
    Rick Varvel
    Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
    Jan 20, 2023

    Hi Team, for anyone that had issues accessing the registration mailbox link, it should now be working. If not, please let me know!

    Thank you for your patience,
    Rick.

  • Petri-X's avatar
    Petri-X
    Bronze Contributor
    Jan 17, 2023

    Rick Varvel 

    Would you like to enlighten this a bit more? How did Microsoft made the decision like this? Is this the easiest solution for the privacy concerns what companies might have? Is this the vNext what has been mentioned now and then? Is this perhaps wider topic, meaning will Exchange and SharePoint gets the on-prem upgrades as well?

    When reading the lifecycle of SfB 2015/2019, will this be released before Oct 14 2025 (Extended End Date)?

  • Rick Varvel's avatar
    Rick Varvel
    Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
    Jan 20, 2023

    Hi Petri, thank you for your questions.

    We are continuing to make investments in Skype for Business and the Technical Adoption Program provides a way for early adopters to help us validate that we are on track. Many of our valued SfB customers have followed our recommendation and moved to Teams, but there is a subset remaining on Skype for Business, and this TAP is geared towards them. 

     

    Microsoft will continue to support Microsoft Lync Server 2013, Skype for Business Server 2015, and Skype for Business Server 2019 through Microsoft’s Fixed Lifecycle Policy that covers customers through Mainstream and Extended Support phases.

     

    For customers running Lync Server 2013, Skype for Business 2015 or Skype for Business 2019 and a down level CU, the recommendation is to upgrade to Skype for Business 2019 and the current CU/SU combination, so that any new functionality is available. 

  • JasminV's avatar
    JasminV
    Copper Contributor
    Apr 02, 2024

    I'll try to post question here, maybe I'll get an answer. What's happening right now with Skype for Business, when are we going to see new features? Will Microsoft change EOL for Skype for Business 2019 or will there be new release of new version of Skype? Could we get any answers at all?

    Thanks in advance!