Configure presence in Skype for Business Online
Important
Skype for Business Online operated by 21Vianet in China will be retired on October 1, 2023. If you haven't upgraded your Skype for Business Online users yet, they will be automatically scheduled for an assisted upgrade. If you want to upgrade your organization to Teams yourself, we strongly recommend that you begin planning your upgrade path today. Remember that a successful upgrade aligns technical and user readiness, so be sure to leverage our upgrade guidance as you navigate your journey to Teams.
Skype for Business Online, excluding the service operated by 21Vianet in China, was retired on July 31, 2021.
Important
The Microsoft Teams admin center has replaced the Skype for Business admin center (Legacy portal). All settings for managing Skype for Business are now in the Teams admin center. You must be assigned the Microsoft Entra admin role of Skype for Business admin to manage Skype for Business features in the Teams admin center. To learn more, see Manage Skype for Business settings in the Microsoft Teams admin center.
By default, anyone who can communicate with one of the people in your organization using Skype for Business can also see whether that person is online. Skype for Business shows whether a person is available online, in a meeting, offline, or another indicator.
As the admin for everyone in your business, you can choose who sees their online presence in Skype for Business.
Using the Skype for Business admin center
Go to the admin center > Admin centers > Skype for Business.
In the Skype for Business admin center, choose organization.
Under presence privacy mode, select one of the following settings, and then choose Save.
| Setting | Who can view a user's presence |
|---|---|
| Automatically display presence information |
Any Skype for Business user in your business who hasn't been added to a person's External or Blocked list is able to see that person's online presence. |
| Display presence information only to a user's contacts |
Anyone in a person's Contacts list who they haven't added to their External or Blocked list. Individuals can override your default settings in their Skype for Business app: Settings > Tools > Options. |
For information about what your users can change in Skype for Business, see these articles: