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Integrated Communications Platform

A group of people, a telephone, a chat bubble, and a contact book all connecting to the Microsoft Teams logo.

Project Background

UNT System is transitioning telephone service from multiple technologies to a single communications platform that integrates telephony with online chat, conferencing, and collaboration. This initiative reduces the amount of effort it takes to manage systems, in addition to projected annual savings of one million dollars.

The digital transformation to Microsoft Teams for voice calling allows our institutions to take steps that move UNT System components toward a state that supports the flexibility and compatibility now required in our new workforce.

Key Milestones

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November 2020

Skype for Business retired on November 12, 2020.
Existing Skype accounts converted to Microsoft Teams.

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Spring 2021

UNT System begins moving telephone service to Microsoft Teams.

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July 2021

Microsoft replaces all Skype for Business Online.

Migration Progress

Pre-migration progress

Infographic of pre-migration progress. All phases are complete.

Migration waves

All migration waves are complete. The final stage, post-migration, is in-progress.

Major Benefits

Illustration showing how documents, videos, and call happening in the cloud.

All-in-one platform

  • File sharing and collaboration built on Microsoft Sharepoint.
  • Meeting recording and online sharing with Microsoft Stream.
  • Third-party application integration increases productivity.
Illustration of a computer and mobile devices.

Accessible anywhere

  • Make and receive calls from any device after installing Microsoft Teams.
  • Available for Mac, PC, Linux, iOS, Web, and mobile devices.

What to Expect

Changes for Skype for Business users

General

  • Skype meetings convert to Microsoft Teams meetings.
  • Skype conversation history archived in Outlook, not migrated to Microsoft Teams.
  • Skype prompts an install of Microsoft Teams if not present.
  • Contact lists don’t migrate to Microsoft Teams.

VoIP

  • Your phone number moves to Microsoft Teams in the evening with a brief outage while your number is reconnected.
  • Calls to your business line ring in Microsoft Teams or the mobile app.
  • Recreate call settings (ex. call forwarding, simultaneous ring) in Microsoft Teams.

Changes for telephone users

  • Share your phone number with outside callers. Use Microsoft Teams to find colleagues instead of using extensions.
  • Calls ring to your work computer in Microsoft Teams. If you installed the Microsoft Teams app on your mobile device, calls ring there simultaneously.

How to Prepare

Start preparing for your transition to Microsoft Teams now.

  1. Install Microsoft Teams on your work computer. If you want, install Microsoft Teams on your mobile device.
  2. Familiarize yourself with Microsoft Teams and read the quick-start guide.
  3. Join the UNT System Teams group for community, tips, and online workshops.