Texas Tech phone service moving from Skype to Teams starting March 28, 2025

Posted March 20, 2025

Texas Tech University phone service is moving to Microsoft Teams as previously announced, and Skype for Business (SfB) will be permanently disabled starting Friday, March 28, 2025, at 6:30 PM CDT, and continuing throughout the weekend until completion.

We encourage you to immediately begin using Microsoft Teams via desktop, mobile, or web for instant messaging, online meetings, screen and file sharing, and computer-based voice and video calls. However, SfB remains the platform for phone calls until migration has been completed.

Dialing 911

If you need to call 911, it is recommended that you use your mobile phone. However, if you need to call 911 via SfB using a USB or Bluetooth device and a computer, you must be signed in to both your unlocked computer and SfB to make a 911 call. If your phone is connected directly to a network port and you have signed in to the phone itself, you will just dial 911.

Once the migration is complete and we are fully on Teams, 911 services will be provided through Teams instead of SfB. If you use a USB or Bluetooth device and a computer, you must be signed in to both your unlocked computer and Teams to make a 911 call. If your phone is connected directly to a network port and you have signed in to the phone itself, you will just dial 911. Remember that mobile phones are the preferred method for calling 911.

What should I do before the migration?

We highly recommend that you document your current Skype for Business call forwarding, call delegate, and team ring settings before the migration starts, as these settings will be permanently lost during migration and must be manually reconfigured after migration to Teams.

Any contact groups that you have created in SfB will also need to be recreated in Teams. We recommend doing this now, while you have access to both SfB and Teams. Helpful information is available on Microsoft's website.

If you have a network-attached phone, please review important information regarding the upgrade experience at https://askit.ttu.edu/UCsetup. Note that unsupported phones will be signed out of SfB when your account is moved and will no longer function after the migration. If you are replacing an unsupported phone or installing a new phone, you may wish to install it before leaving on Friday, March 28, so it is ready for sign-in when you return.

How will phone service be impacted during the migration?

TTU personal phone numbers will be redirected into Teams earlier within the maintenance window. At that time, any inbound calls will ring into Teams desktop and mobile apps where you are signed in. Later, as your account is disabled in SfB, you will not be able to place or receive any phone calls or emergency calls in SfB or Teams for up to one hour. For any emergencies, please use your mobile phone. When your account migration is complete, all your inbound and outbound calls will be in Teams. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide an exact time that your number will be migrated.

Departmental phone numbers will also experience intermittent interruptions during the migration window. Additional information will be sent shortly to those with access to answer calls to these numbers.

What should I do after the migration?

When your account has been migrated to Teams, a phone dial pad will appear in the Calls app in Teams. If you are connected to TTUnet, the address that is presented to emergency personnel during a 911 call will also be displayed below the dial pad. During an emergency, please verbally confirm your location to 911. If you notice your location is incorrect at any time, please follow the instructions at the top of the Teams screen.

Next, configure your desired call settings using the instructions linked below:

• Call forwarding
• Call group (previously "team ring")
• Call delegates

Lastly, consider installing the Teams app on your mobile device if you want to place and receive business calls with your TTU personal phone number without exposing your mobile number.

Training and support

If you haven't already, please install Microsoft Teams on all your devices and begin familiarizing yourself with its features. Installation instructions, training, and support information are available at https://askit.ttu.edu/teams.

For any questions or concerns, please contact IT Help Central at https://askit.ttu.edu. You may also reach us by phone at 806-742-HELP (4357) or ithelpcentral@ttu.edu.