The Skype for Business service will be phased out by 30 June 2022. Skype for Business is reaching the end of its support by Microsoft and the current service at CERN relies on old hardware and an obsolete version of Windows.

For telephony services, Skype for Business is replaced by CERNphone, a softphone client available for desktops and laptops running Windows, MacOS or Linux and for Android and Apple mobile phones. A CERN mobile subscription is not necessary to use CERNphone on a mobile phone: CERNphone can be used with private subscriptions – calls are free when connected to Wi-Fi, which is available in all offices at CERN, as well as many other areas.

Skype for Business users will be contacted individually concerning the migration to CERNphone, but if you would like to switch today then please follow the migration and installation guide.

The chat functionality of Skype for Business is replaced by the Mattermost service, which (like CERNphone) is available for mobile phones as well as desktops and laptops. The video functionality of Skype for Business is replaced by the Zoom service, which is also available on mobile phones, tablets, desktops and laptops.

Work to replace the different functions of Skype for Business has been carried out in the context of the recent MALT project. Read more about this here.

CERN Telecom Services