Join a Skype Meeting with Skype for Business Web App

As written on support.office.com

This article has been updated for 2020.

Skype for Business will be sunsetting on July 31, 2021. Have no fear though, as Microsoft Teams will replace it for all your communication needs and empower you to do even more.

What's Teams? Microsoft Teams is a unified communication and collaboration platform that combines instant messaging, calling, meetings, file sharing, app integration and everything you essentially need to collaborate with your team, no matter where you all are.

If you are a current Skype user, the below still applies and will until it's expired. However, new users that wish to sign up for Skype for Business will be redirected to Teams.

Whether you're new to Microsoft or have been a long time user of Skype, you should be very excited about the transition to Microsoft Teams. Skype is very limited in its capabilities - sure you can chat, make calls and have meetings, but the functionality ends there. Microsoft Teams does all of that and more. Here are some awesome features of Microsoft Teams:

• Chat: Instant message one to one or a group chat. Make it fun by sending gifs, emojis or stickers
• Meet: Easily go from a group chat to a video or audio conference in one click.  Record meetings, blur your background and share meeting notes. Just like Skype, Teams integrates with your calendar
• Call: Gone are the days of "who joined?" - you can view everyone who's on the call or make calls directly one to one
• Collaborate: Not sure where to find a file or what the latest version is? In Teams, you can access, share, and edit documents in real-time (and at the same time as another colleague)

On top of all these great features, you can organize and sort them by different "teams" - clever, right? For example, you can have a "Marketing" Team within Teams that the marketing and sales team to access collateral. You can also have an "All Staff" Team in which everyone in the company has access to. Additionally, you could have an "Executive" team where only the leadership team has access. With these different permissions, you can restrict and control which employees have access to what and keep communication and collaboration organized.

Want to learn more about the benefits of Teams? Read more about Microsoft Teams as the ultimate collaboration tool.

If you don’t have the desktop version of Skype for Business, or don’t have a Skype for Business account, you can use Skype for Business Web App to join a Skype Meeting from your browser.

IMPORTANT: You don't need to download or install any apps to join a Skype Meeting with Skype for Business Web App. Just select the link in the meeting request email and follow the instructions in the browser window to join.

If you're having difficulty joining, check out Trouble installing the Skype for Business Web App Plug-in?.

Join the meeting

Here are the basic steps to join a Skype Meeting from Skype for Business Web App:

1. 1. Open the meeting request in your email or calendar and select Join Skype Meeting.

   2. Enter your name on the sign-in screen and select Join the meeting.

      

   3. Follow your browser's instructions for installing the Skype for Business Web App Plug-in, which is required for audio, video, and screen sharing.

   4. Depending on the meeting options set by the organizer, you'll either join the meeting immediately, or be directed to the virtual lobby.

   5. If you're in the lobby, the meeting organizer and other presenters are immediately notified that you're waiting.

      

If you found this article interesting, you might want to check out some of our information on Microsoft Teams. Learn more about Microsoft Teams here.