Managing Teams Channel Permissions and Migrating from Skype for Business

Managing Teams Channel Permissions and Migration from Skype for Business

Microsoft Teams admins often face two key challenges:

1. Controlling who can post in team channels and limiting mentions.
2. Migrating users from Skype for Business to Teams while meeting coexistence requirements.

This article breaks down both scenarios with step-by-step solutions.

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Scenario 1: Restricting Posts in a General Channel

Problem

You create an org-wide team in Microsoft Teams called Team1.

• Owners: User1 and User2.
• Requirements:
  1. Only User1 and User2 should be able to create new posts in the General channel.
  2. Mentions such as @team or @[team name] should be disabled to reduce noise.

Solution

Two settings must be configured from the Teams client:

1. Restrict posting to owners only
   • Navigate to Team1 > Manage team > Settings > General channel settings.
   • Set moderation preference to Only owners can post messages.
2. Disable team mentions
   • From Team1 > Settings, turn @team or @[team name] mentions off.

This ensures only designated owners can post in the General channel, and large notification blasts are avoided.

Correct Actions:

• C: Set channel moderation preference to Only owners can post messages.
• E: Disable @team or @[team name] mentions.

Reference:
Create an org-wide team in Microsoft Teams

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Scenario 2: Migrating a User from Skype for Business to Teams

Problem

Your organization is upgrading to Microsoft Teams from Skype for Business Online. The global coexistence mode is set to Teams Only.

A user (User1) requires the following:

• Must still be able to chat and create meetings using Skype for Business.
• Must also be able to read and post messages in Teams channels.

Solution

You need to override the org-wide Teams Only mode for User1 with a per-user coexistence policy.

Use the following PowerShell command:

Grant-CsClientPolicy -PolicyName Tag:DisableCalling  
Grant-CsTeamsUpgradePolicy -PolicyName SfBWithTeamsCollabAndMeetings -Identity User1

• Grant-CsTeamsUpgradePolicy allows assigning a mode per user.
• For this scenario, the correct coexistence mode is:
  • SfBWithTeamsCollabAndMeetings (User1 stays in Skype for Business for chat/meetings but can use Teams for collaboration like channel messages).

Correct Policy:

• SfBWithTeamsCollabAndMeetings

Reference:
Migration and coexistence with Skype for Business

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Key Takeaways

• For org-wide teams:
  • Use channel moderation to restrict posting.
  • Disable @team mentions to prevent unnecessary notifications.
• For Skype to Teams migrations:
  • Apply per-user coexistence policies with PowerShell.
  • Choose SfBWithTeamsCollabAndMeetings when users need Skype for Business for chat/meetings but Teams for channel collaboration.

Both scenarios highlight common tasks Microsoft Teams admins face and are likely to appear in exams like MS-700 (Managing Microsoft Teams).

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