Microsoft Teams and Headsets


A question I'm often asked by customers moving from Skype for Business to Teams is: will my existing headsets and other peripherals work with Teams?

The simple answer is Yes - any Skype for Business certified device will also work with Teams, but there is some potential for confusion around call controls (call answer/hang-up, and mute buttons).

This article lists some specific devices for which call controls don't work, but they're mostly fairly old devices, and in fact there are devices which have gradually disappeared from the list over the past few months as this article has been updated (so, if things don't seem to work, try a firmware update on your device):


However, what causes the most confusion is that if - as many people are - you're running Skype for Business and Teams side-by-side, with Teams in Islands mode, then the call controls will only work with Skype for Business. This means that as far as most people are concerned, the call controls don't work with Teams. You can 'fix' this by simply shutting Skype down, but that's probably not very practical if you still rely on Skype.

Microsoft have said that they'll 'fix' this, by getting Skype and Teams to talk to each other, something like this:

Teams: [RIIIIINNNNNNGGGG!!!]
Skype: Look, it's fine. if he presses the 'Answer' button on his headset right now, you have the call as it must be for you.
Teams: Sure, thanks Skype!
Teams [on a call]: he's pressed the Mute button!
Skype: no worries Teams, he must mean to mute on your call.

...and so on.

Obviously this would need an upgrade to the Skype for Business client, I was under the impression that this was due around the middle of 2019. The above article seems to imply that this is now available:


But the link takes you to a list of Office Pro Plus updates for 2018, and none of those listed (for 2018 or 2019) mention call control coexistence, so my guess would be that this is coming Real Soon Now.

If you're on the market for new devices, then this page is the go-to location where you can find all the most current certified devices.

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