Two services that are currently being supported by Microsoft will be deprecated soon. As a result, we want you to be aware of any impact these changes may have on you, as well as any actions that need to be taken.
- First, as previously communicated through the Pulse, Skype for Business will be retired in July. In lieu of this retirement, NEOMED will be fully transitioning from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams (Teams) effective Monday, July 19, 2021.
- Secondly, support for basic/legacy authentication will be deprecated effective Monday, July 12, 2021. These are older, less secure means of accessing Microsoft 365 services, including email. When this change takes effect, some email and calendaring clients will stop working when used with Microsoft 365 and your NEOMED account – the best way to ensure you have no interruptions to your email or calendar is to make sure you are using the Outlook application wherever you access email (i.e. mobile device, desktop.)
Please stay tuned to the Pulse in the coming weeks for additional guidance and support articles to assist in these transitions. These initiatives are in line with our continued commitment to safeguard University data and systems from unauthorized access or compromise. Please feel free to contact the NEOMED IT department with any questions or concerns that you may have regarding this. In the meantime, please see below for additional information regarding both initiatives.
SKYPE FOR BUSINESS RETIREMENT
Why is this happening?
Microsoft has announced the retirement of Skype for Business next month. The existing functionality within Skype for Business has been integrated and expanded within Teams, and as such, Microsoft is retiring support for Skype for Business and putting their focus on furthering Teams.
When will this be occurring?
NEOMED will be fully transitioning from Skype for Business to Teams effective Monday, July 19.
What is Microsoft Teams and how do I access it?
Teams is a university-wide collaboration system that lives within NEOMED’s Microsoft 365 environment. The capabilities of Microsoft Teams go beyond those of Skype for Business Online. By combining chat, video, calling, document collaboration and application integration into a single experience, Teams enables entirely new ways of working, communicating, and collaborating with one another.
For NEOMED students, faculty and staff, Teams is already part of your Microsoft 365 account. For more information on how you can access Teams, please refer to the our Accessing & Installing support article.
What is changing?
Once the transition occurs, meetings and chat functionality will no longer be possible in Skype for Business. Such activities will need to occur within Microsoft Teams. Please note that the use of Zoom will not be affected by the retirement of Skype for Business.
For a full listing of the changes and impacts, please refer to the Skype for Business Transition to Microsoft Teams article.
Where can I get training on Microsoft Teams?
Training on Microsoft Teams is now available in the NEOMED Success Center to take at your convenience. Multiple courses exist in various lengths, enabling you to dive as deep as you prefer:
- Microsoft Teams for Beginners (Duration: 3 hours, 42 minutes)
- Microsoft Teams Essentials – 2021 (Duration: 1 hour, 15 minutes)
- Microsoft Teams in 30 Minutes – 2021 (Duration: 34 minutes)
- Brain Bites - Microsoft Teams Meetings (Duration: 34 minutes)
Additionally, for those who do not have access to the NEOMED Success Center, Microsoft provides several on-demand training videos on Teams.
BASIC/LEGACY AUTHENTICATION DEPRECATION
Why is this happening?
With cyberattacks becoming not only more common but also more sophisticated, Microsoft has decided to phase out basic authentication. This makes it more difficult for malicious individuals to access a NEOMED account with a stolen/compromised password. Microsoft is requiring this change soon and we believe it is in our community’s best interest to make the change in July.
What is basic/legacy authentication?
Historically, Microsoft has supported many ways of accessing their email and calendaring systems. This includes preferred email systems like Outlook, Microsoft Outlook for mobile devices, and Outlook on the Web. Other systems have included the built-in mail and calendar apps that come with MacOS, iOS, and Android, as well as older desktop applications like Thunderbird.
Many of these older applications use basic or legacy authentication, a login method used with cloud-based services that does not support modern authentication. This means when you log in using legacy or basic authentication, the login process cannot be protected by newer security methods, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA).
When will this be occurring?
Basic/legacy authentication will be deprecated on Monday, July 12.
How may this affect me?
Depending on the mail clients/applications you use, you may not be able to use those applications as of July 12 and might need to take different steps for each device or application that you use. The ideal method to ensure you have no interruptions to your NEOMED email or calendaring services is to make sure you are using the Outlook application wherever you access email (i.e. mobile device, desktop.) If you do not have Outlook installed on your personal device (i.e. smartphone, tablet) you can install that application now, ahead of July 12.
You are strongly encouraged to review the Applications Impacted by Basic Authentication Deprecation article to assist you in what steps, if any, you will need to take prior to July 12. This will ensure you do not have any interruptions to your NEOMED email or calendaring services.
-Submitted by NEOMED Helpdesk