what is skype for business online (plan 2)

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Skype for Business Online Plan 2 being retired – what you need to know?

Microsoft have recently announced that after July 1st 2019, organisations will no longer be able to purchase Skype for Business Online Plan 2 as a standalone license and customers actively using it will not be able to renew it once their renewal time occurs .  Customers who have access to Skype for Business Plan 2 on one of the Office 365 suites (Office 365 E3 for example) will not be affected by this change as its still included.

Oh Sh*t – what are my options?

As I said above, those who have access to Skype for Business Plan 2 on one of the Microsoft 365 or Office 365 suites will not be affected by this change.

Advice from Microsoft is that organisations that are currently using Skype for Business Online Plan 2 standalone should consider moving these users to Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription which will provide access to Skype for Business Online Plan 2, but also of course Microsoft Teams, their primary (and now preferred) client for messaging, meeting and calls in Office 365.

But I still need Skype for Business Online!

Any organisation that wants/needs to continue using Skype for Business Plan 2, (i.e., they are not using Teams) can do so by moving to one the following subscriptions:

• Office 365 Business Essentials, Office 365 Business Premium
• Office 365 Enterprise E1, E3 and E5
• Microsoft 365 Enterprise E1, E3, E5

Since Microsoft Teams is included in these subscriptions, organisations using Skype for Business Online standalone today will have the ability to also use Microsoft Teams with no additonal license. 

What about my Meeting Rooms?

Many organisation have been using Skype for Business Online Plan 2 (along with other standalone licenses such as Exchange Online) to licence their room systems (in order to add the Microsoft Phone System License) to which they can attach Conference and Calling Plans), rather than buying a the “more expensive” Office 365 E3 or E5 licence which includes features not needed by a room system.

Microsoft now have a specific Microsoft Meeting Room licence for room systems which is available for around £11.50 per room per month.

What about common area phones?

Yep – the Common Area Phone License will give you the Skype for Business/Teams capabilities and Phone System licenses, so this is for a basic phone like a Polycom VVX in a common area (like a conference room). This is available for around £6.00 per phone per month.

Worth nothing that with the Meeting Room license however you do you get more stuff: Teams, Skype for Business, Phone System, Audio Conferencing and Intune (so you can manage your rooms systems). You also get the ability to set-up a room mailbox without the need to buy an Exchange License where as you of course dont need this for just a common area phone. 

Longer Term

Longer term, we expect Microsoft to completely retire Skype for Business Online as it becomes and is replaced by Microsoft Teams.

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Skype for business online plan 1 vs plan 2

I can't find the differences between standard plan (plan 1) and plan 2 for Skype for business online.

Can you tell me what they are?

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Hi Ialeksandrov13,

The article below is Skype for Business Service Description and the table in it lists Skype for Business Online feature availability across standalone plans.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/skype-for-business-online-service-description.aspx

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Start using Skype for Business for IM and online meetings

Microsoft 365 includes Skype for Business, which lets you have instant messaging (IM), audio and video conversations, and Skype meetings. To download Skype for Business, sign in to Microsoft 365, then at the top of the page, click Settings > Microsoft 365 settings > Software > Skype for Business .

With Skype for Business you can:

See when people are available, away from their desk, or in a meeting

Send an instant message

Set up a Skype meeting

Share your desktop or a program in a Skype meeting

Make and receive audio and video calls

Basic tasks in Skype for Business

Add a contact in Skype for Business

Send an IM in Skype for Business

Set up a Skype for Business meeting in Outlook

Make and receive calls using Skype for Business

Make and receive a Skype for Business video call

Video: Introducing Skype for Business

Video: Add a contact in Skype for Business

Video: Set up audio and video in Skype for Business

Video: Make a call in Skype for Business

Video: Schedule a Skype for Business Meeting

Video: Join a Skype for Business Meeting

Video: Meet and share using Skype for Business

Video: Presence and IM in Skype for Business

Set up and test Skype for Business audio

Set up and troubleshoot Skype for Business video

Start a Skype for Business conference call

What's Skype for Business?

Skype for Business video training

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Skype for Business Licensing – On Premise vs Cloud, OpEx vs CapEx, Common Area Phones, and Piecemeal Approaches

Microsoft Teams has now completely replaced Skype for Business as the communication and collaboration app for Office 365. Please see our guide on Teams licensing for the most up-to-date information about Microsoft Phone System solutions and licensing.

Last year I wrote this compilation of all the different ways Skype for Business could be licensed from the great deal of research I needed to perform constantly based on different client scenarios. This blog had a great deal of interest, and in classic Microsoft fashion, there have been a great deal of changes since it was posted, so I decided it’s time to update the content.

There are a number of ways to license Skype for Business/Teams for  on-premises, hybrid , and cloud-based deployments . I’ve spent a great deal of time working with Microsoft to come up with the different options available for Skype for Business Licensing, so I’ll explain my findings and the best ways to leverage them.

Skype for Business Licensing for On-Premises Deployments

I’ll start out with a simple breakdown of all of the Client Access Licenses (CAL) for On-Premises deployments of Skype for Business (using list prices as of 2/15/2018):

• Standard CAL: enables users for Presence, IM, peer-to-peer VoIP, and HD Video
• Enterprise CAL: gives users the ability to schedule meetings for audio/video conferences with desktop and application sharing and dial-in conferencing
• Plus CAL: enables PSTN in/out, emergency calling, and other enterprise-grade phone features
• Skype for Business Client: allows users to download the local client onto PCs for leveraging the toolset. This comes with Office Pro Plus and other versions provided through Office 365 plans

Office 365 Skype for Business Licensing

Now we’ll look at the various plans available on a monthly subscription version through Office 365 . Keep in mind, not all of these plans apply to both the On-premises and Online only solutions, which we’ll get into later:

• Skype for Business Online (Plan 1): Basic standalone plan for Skype for Business Online. This plan does not include the local client download, and users would need to use the web application version to access the features. In addition, it does not allow users to create and schedule Online meetings. This provides rights to the Standard CAL for on-premises deployments, and is included within the Office 365 Business Essentials, Business Premium, and Enterprise E1 plans.
• Skype for Business Online (Plan 2): All the functionality of the Skype for Business Online Plan 1, but also gives users the ability to create and initiate Skype for Business Online and on-premises meetings. Keep in mind, this doesn’t provide PSTN conferencing online, as that would require the PSTN conferencing add-on. It does however provide the licensing needed to schedule the PSTN conferencing if the organization has a 3 rd party Dial-in Audio Conferencing solution (example: IntelePeer providing a SIP conferencing service). This subscription also does provide the local client so the users can use the full Skype for Business client.
• Microsoft Phone System (Previously Cloud PBX):  provides the ability for a user to receive and transfer calls. They would be able to call any colleagues or peers also using Skype for Business, but would need an additional add-on to be able to make outbound calls using Microsoft as the PSTN calling provider. Phone System is available as an add-on SKU, or is included within the Office 365 E5 plan. In order to use the Phone System plan, the user needs an Enterprise Office 365 subscription (E1, E3, E5)
• Microsoft Calling Plan (Previously PSTN Calling):  provides users the ability to make outbound calls using Microsoft as the voice provider. Calling Plan is available for purchase as unlimited domestic per user, unlimited domestic AND international per user, or consumption based if certain groups of users will be making fewer outbound callers
• Microsoft Audio Conferencing (Previously PSTN Conferencing):  Provides the ability to create a Skype for Business Online meeting that contains a PSTN dial-in number for users to call into. This can be added to nearly all Office 365 subscriptions (including Business Premium or Skype for Business Online Plan 2 Standalone), but is also included with the Enterprise E5 plan
• Skype for Business Plus Add-on : This provides the same functionality as the Skype for Business Plus CAL for on-premises deployments of Lync/Skype for Business, but is provided in an OpEx approach similar to Office 365. This would be added to users with an E3 subscription in order to get the exact functionality that was provided by the Office 365 E4 plan.

There are a few other applicable add-ons, but this list is a relatively simple compilation of the most relevant features and plans available for Skype for Business Licensing. One thing that helps is to come up with different use cases that would help determine the best route to license users.

Example #1: Company has Skype for Business On Premises with Enterprise Voice and is using Exchange Online for Email.

In this case, the organization would need to have some sort of Office 365 subscription for the email functionality, but they have options for how to license Skype for Business. For a company with a preference for pure Operational Expenditures, this way would be the best route for their Skype for Business Licensing:

Office 365 E3 @ $23/user/month (which covers the Skype for Business Standard and Enterprise CALs) + the Skype for Business Plus CAL @$2/user/month. The Skype for Business Front End servers would still need to be licensed, but I’m just going to focus on end users.

If this organization preferred the Capital Expenditure model, then they would need to purchase Exchange Online Plan 2 (or another plan that leverages this subscription as the Exchange Online portion), as well as the Skype for Business Standard, Enterprise, and Plus CALs. This would be a mixture of the OpEx and CapEx models, but would still be more heavily CapEx, at least the Skype for Business side.

Example #2: Company has Skype for Business Online for Enterprise Voice and using Exchange Online for Email

In this case, the organization is relying entirely on Microsoft’s subscription-based services, which would be entirely OpEx. I will preface this with the caveat that I do NOT recommend this first approach, but if I’m breaking it down as granularly as possible, this is how it can be accomplished. With this in mind, here’s the piecemeal method of the various components needed to yield a pleasant user experience:

• Office 365 E1 – Base license that’s needed for other add-ons.
• Exchange Online (Plan 2) – Allows for email online and Plan 2 provides voicemail capabilities in Exchange Online
• Skype for Business Online Plan 2 – Provides the Skype for Business client
• Phone System Add On
• Calling Plan (Domestic, International, or Consumption)
• Audio Conferencing (if user will be scheduling conferences)

Starting from the itemized list can help determine the best way to package users. Let’s start from the high technology user approach, and license in the simplest model:

• Skype for Business Online (Plan 2)
• Exchange Online (Plan 2)
• Phone System
• Audio Conferencing
• Domestic Unlimited @ $12/user/month
• Domestic & International Unlimited @ $24/user/month
• Consumption – Calculated based on country of origin, country of termination, etc.

If the organization only wants to call domestically, this puts the OpEx cost at $50/user/month. Keep in mind, that the Office 365 E5 subscription comes with a great deal of additional value on top of Exchange Online and Skype for Business Online. There’s a plethora of security and collaboration benefits that should be looked at before dismissing this as a viable option (Power BI, Advanced Threat Analytics, etc.).

For the same situation, c ertain organizations simply want their users to have the ability to send/receive emails, send/receive calls, and have local downloads of Office. These organizations may not need their users creating conference calls, and may not see value in the additional security components that come with E5. For these organizations, the below may be a better approach:

• Phone System Add-on @ $8/user/month

Keeping consistent with going Domestic only for calling, this puts the organization at $43/user/month. This saves a bit on the E5 route, but for organizations that keep their email security and business intelligence needs outside of Microsoft, this may be the best route.

Non-Recommended (Though Possible) Methods of Skype for Business Licensing

I will preface that these remaining options are “technically” supported ways to license users, but I will say that we have never gone with any of these routes, as this adds massive amounts of complexity trying to understand how users are licensed and managed by the administrative team. I simply want to provide these options as they are possible, but they may not yield a desirable end user experience.

Calling and Email Functionality Plus Office Online Apps

If an organization has a user base that is very limited in its technology needs, there are a couple of options that would be a bit cheaper than the previous two routes. Again, I wouldn’t advise going this route, but in theory they are doable.

• Office 365 Enterprise E1 Plan @ $10/user/month
• Exchange Online Plan 2 @ $8/user/month (allows voicemail to be stored in Exchange Online)

This is not an ideal approach to Skype for Business licensing, as you would be paying for both Exchange Online Plan 1 and 2, and your users would still be unable to have local downloads of office (unless those have been previously purchased in something like Open Business or OEM). This option comes out to $38/user/month, and I would advise against going with this route. These users would still be able to use the online versions of the Office suite in case the organization needs them for editing/viewing documents and spreadsheets.

Cheapest Possible Licensing Combination to get Voice Solution

Getting someone at Microsoft to put this in writing was nearly impossible, but I have confirmed that it is possible to get the add-on SKU’s put onto just the Skype for Business Online Plan 2 standalone plan without the need of an Enterprise Plan. Here’s the breakdown of what that licensing looks like, should the client ONLY want Skype for Business for voice (without Audio Conferencing):

• Skype for Business Online – Plan 2 @ $5.50/user/month
• Phone System Add-on – $8/user/month
• Consumption plan option, using Communications Credits in a non-unlimited fashion

Keeping with Domestic calling, this puts the price at $25.50/user/month to have the ability to use Skype for Business Online to make and receive calls. This will provide users with the full local client of Skype for Business, as well as the ability to use a supported desk phone. One key piece that this DOES NOT include is the ability to use Voicemail, as that comes with Unified Messaging and requires Exchange Online Plan 2 in some form. If that is required (which it is in most cases), users will need that plan @$8/user/month, bringing the total to $33.50/user/month. When I look at the additional value that the E3 approach above provides for the additional $9.50/user/month, it becomes a no brainer to go with the E3 route.

Common Area Phones

For a common area phone that’s not a true Skype Room System, there are ways to provide functionality that does not require assigning a license. AudioCodes has provided information in their support forums stating “Common Area Phone (CAP) online support phones can now be defined as CAPs when using a cloud PBX. Defined per physical phone rather than per user, a CAP requires a special sign-in method called ‘CAP Provisioning’ exclusive to Cloud PBX. Before signing in, users must enable the phone as a CAP and then sign in using this special ‘CAP Provisioning’ method. CAPs in server mode are unchanged. The change applies only to Cloud PBX.”

Jeff Schertz has written a fantastic blog about how to assign the licenses and get them setup in your environment, found here . 

As of March, 2018, Microsoft has finally released a dedicated SKU for Common Area Phones, coming in at $8/user/month, and is available within the Office 365 Admin portal under the “Other Plans” section. This should greatly simplify things, and allow the devices to show in the reporting and management toolsets.  This license however still requires a calling plan if it needs to dial out, so if it will be used outside of simply joining Skype for Business Conference bridges, it will require a calling plan ($12/phone/month), making each phone $20/phone/month with the two licenses.   

Skype for Business Voice and Microsoft 365

With the Microsoft 365 bundles available today, the complexity does not increase greatly. For the scenarios above, below are the impacts for organizations needing to leverage the full voice capabilities of Skype for Business Online:

• Microsoft 365 Business – Need to upgrade to the Enterprise options in order to provide the add-ons as of today
• Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 – Need to purchase the Phone System, Calling Plan, and Audio Conferencing Add-ons for additional functionality
• Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 – Need to purchase the Calling Plan for additional functionality
• Microsoft Teams

With the onset and future of Teams, a great deal of focus is around planning the transition to Teams from Skype for Business Online, which many organizations are concerned about. Currently, Teams is available for Office 365 subscriptions, with enterprise voice capabilities available as well. There is a great deal available from a feature standpoint, with a great deal more scheduled to roll out in Q2 CY2018. The licensing is planned to be consistent with Skype for Business, so the above scenarios should hold true, but I will update accordingly. To see the roadmap, as well as all resources I’ve used to build this blog, please follow the links below or feel free to comment!

If you would like to discuss the licensing options further, I would be happy to discuss what I know. Just shoot an email to [email protected] , and I’ll reach out to you directly.

Martin Feehan , Director of Client Relations, PEI

This blog was updated to reflect license price changes that Microsoft implemented on March 1, 2022.

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Add more people to your Skype for Business Online Plan

If you purchased a Skype for Business Online Plan , you may want to add more people to your plan.

When you purchased a Skype for Business Online Plan , you created a Microsoft 365 user ID at the same time, even though you didn't purchase Microsoft 365.

Using your Microsoft 365 user ID, sign in to Microsoft 365 at https://portal.office.com/ .

Then follow the instructions to add users to Microsoft 365 , only in your case, you'll be adding them to your Skype for Business Online subscription and not a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Install Skype for Business on a PC

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Assign Skype for Business licenses

• 16 contributors
• Applies to: Skype for Business

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.

This article gives you tips about assigning licenses to your users for features like Audio Conferencing, Phone System, and Calling Plans. It also provides scripts for assigning licenses in bulk.

See Skype for Business add-on licensing for information about what licenses you need to buy and how to buy them - depending on your Microsoft 365 or Office 365 plan - so users get Audio Conferencing, toll-free numbers, and the ability to call phone numbers outside your business.

Phone System and Calling Plans: Tips and scripts for assigning licenses

What you need to know before assigning Audio Conferencing, Phone System and Calling Plan licenses

Using on-premises PSTN connectivity for hybrid users? If so, you only need to assign a Phone System license. You should NOT assign a Calling Plan.

Latency after assigning licenses : Because of the latency between Microsoft 365 or Office 365 and Skype for Business Online, it can possibly take up to 24 hours for a user to be assigned a Calling Plan after you assign a license. If after 24 hours the user isn't assigned a Calling Plan, please Contact support for business products - Admin Help .

Error messages : You will get an error message if you haven't purchased the correct number of licenses. If you need to buy more Calling Plan licenses, choose Buy more .

Next steps : After you assign Calling Plan licenses to your users, you will need to get your phone numbers for your organization, and then assign those numbers to the people in your organization. For step-by-step instructions, see Set up Calling Plans .

How to assign a Phone System and Calling Plan license to one user

The steps are the same as assigning a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 license. See Assign or remove licenses for Microsoft 365 for business .

How to assign Phone System and Calling Plan licenses in bulk

Install the Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant for IT Professionals RTW . Don't have the module installed? See Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant for IT Professionals RTW to download it.

Install the Windows Azure Active Directory module. Don't have the module installed? See Manage Microsoft Entra ID using Windows PowerShell for download instructions and cmdlet syntax.

Once you get the modules installed, use the Windows PowerShell command prompt and the following syntax to assign the licenses to your users:

This example assigns an Enterprise E3 license along with a Phone System and a Domestic Calling Plan license.

The name of the licenses or product names in the script are listed in italics text (see Phone System and Calling Plan product names or SKUs used for scripting , after the example).

Phone System and Calling Plans product names or SKUs used for scripting

Audio conferencing: tips and scripts for assigning licenses, what you need to know before assigning audio conferencing licenses.

Third-party audio conferencing provider : If someone is already set up to use a third-party audio conferencing provider, when you assign them an Audio Conferencing license, they will be changed to use Microsoft as the audio conferencing provider. You can change them back to the third-party provider.

Next steps: After you assign Audio Conferencing licenses, you need to assign an audio conferencing provider. See [Assign Microsoft as the audio conferencing provider].

How to assign an Audio Conferencing license to one user

How to assign audio conferencing licenses in bulk.

Download and install Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant for IT Professionals RTW .

Download and install the Windows Azure Active Directory module. See Manage Microsoft Entra ID using Windows PowerShell for download instructions and cmdlet syntax.

The name of the licenses or product names in the script are listed in italics text. See Audio Conferencing product names or SKUs used for scripting for all of the product names.

This example assigns an Enterprise E3 license along with an Audio Conferencing license.

Audio Conferencing product names or SKUs used for scripting

Communications credits, what you need to know before assigning communications credits licenses.

Enterprise E5 customers : Even if your users are assigned Enterprise E5 licenses, we still recommend that you assign them Communications Credits licenses.

Next steps : After you assign these licenses, you will need to get your phone numbers for your organization, and then assign those numbers to the people in your organization. For step-by-step instructions, see Set up Calling Plans .

How to assign a Communications Credits license to one user

How to assign communications credits licenses in bulk.

Take a look at the sample script for assigning Audio Conferencing licenses. Update it with the info for assigning Communications Credits licenses.

Related topics

Set up Calling Plans

Add funds and manage Communications Credits

Additional resources