Microsoft Teams Free (classic) retires in 2 months • The Register

Microsoft will formally kill its legacy free Groups app for enterprise, Groups Free (basic), on April 12, with all chats, recordsdata and different information misplaced until you turn to a paid model.

Information of the premium push on Microsoft’s productiveness app was covered by The Reg in January, however we’re informed some sysadmins on the free plan are solely now waking as much as the truth that they will both must persuade company to modify to a paid plan or manually migrate all of their firm’s Groups information.

Microsoft has presented two paid choices for transferring off Groups Free (basic). The primary is to shift to Microsoft Groups Necessities for $4 per consumer/month, the place customers will likely be handled to the terrifying prospect of group conferences that might final “as much as 30 hours.” (It does occur. A painful migration involving a number of worldwide staff throughout loads of time zones, or an ongoing outage/cyberattack the place staffers are firefighting throughout time zones and it’s a necessity to document progress/ do handovers.) Necessities customers additionally get 10GB of cloud storage per consumer, and may embody as much as 300 individuals per assembly.

The second paid possibility is to improve to Microsoft 365 Enterprise Primary for $6 per consumer/month, the place you get all the things Necessities customers get, plus 1TB of cloud storage per consumer, conferences recordings with transcripts, the flexibility to handle buyer appointments with Bookings, and entry to net and cell apps.

Microsoft has supplied an possibility for individuals who want to remain on a free tier. They will migrate from Microsoft Groups Free (basic) to Microsoft Groups (free). Complicated? Just a little. And there is a catch.

Microsoft notes: “You can view and save recordsdata in your present account by means of April 12, 2023, nonetheless, none of it would switch to your new account.”

It additionally notes that these on present Groups Free (basic) have to maneuver to the more moderen Groups Free by signing up once more.

Customers of the brand new free model will nonetheless have entry to limitless group conferences (as much as 60 minutes lengthy), can embody as much as 100 individuals per assembly, and can achieve 5GB of cloud storage per consumer – hopefully storage they will not lose entry to later.

Sysadmins on Reddit had questions, particularly in gentle of the KB5021751 update final month, which, amongst different issues, seems to be by means of Home windows PCs to search out out-of-date variations of Workplace software program.

One sysadmin queried: “How can one verify that the Groups put in on a consumer’s PC is licensed as a part of their 365 and never the free model? If one is discovered to be utilizing the free model however is already certified/licensed for 365, how can we power that improve in order that the consumer retains their historical past? … Would MS have already got detected and migrated them?”

One other requested: “Can we change to the paid plan, after which downgrade to the free plan to maintain our chat information? Switching from the present basic free plan to the brand new free plan removes all chat information… you must manually migrate all of it :(“

To test which model of Groups you might be utilizing:

• Open Microsoft Groups and choose your profile image within the high proper hand nook of the app.
• You will see Microsoft Groups Free (basic) or one other model title on the high of the menu.

The final time freebie followers have been this anxious was when Microsoft spammed directors of Groups Free organizations to recommend they need to improve to keep away from imminent deletion of information. The Home windows large later defined that this was a mistake, and {that a} bug within the works had despatched the mail. It stated the unique message was meant for admins of unused Groups Free accounts that had sat dormant for 90 days (plus a 30-day grace interval). On the time, customers involved about finish dates have been informed they’d get an automated extension “and will not have to fret about any information loss.”

A Microsoft spokesperson informed us: “Starting April 12, 2023, Microsoft Groups Free (basic) will not be out there. Prospects might use the newer free model of Groups, or improve to a different model of Groups, similar to Groups Necessities or Microsoft 365 Enterprise Plans, that are designed for small companies.” ®