John Paul M. Joaquin Tech 02.08.2023 01:Feb AM EST

Microsoft Urges Classic Teams Business Users To Upgrade to Essentials

Users of Microsoft Teams' free classic version may want to switch to the paid version soon.

The California-based tech giant recently announced it is retiring the classic (and free) version of Microsoft Teams, requiring people to upgrade their subscription to the paid Microsft Teams Essentials version.

Microsoft previously released its Teams chat-based workspace in Office 365 on Mar. 14, 2017. Since then, it has accumulated around 270 million users, making it one of the most popular chat-based workspaces worldwide, per Statista.

Microsoft Teams Classic Retirement Details

Microsoft mentioned in its announcement it is retiring its Microsoft Teams Free, the classic version of its chat-based workspace, following the official release of Microsoft Teams Essentials.

For those unaware, Microsoft Teams Essentials is the premium version of its predecessor, which the company released on Dec. 1, 2021. Microsoft advertised this application as the first-ever standalone Microsoft Teams offering specifically designed for small- and medium-sized businesses.

Because of Teams Essentials' features, which gives small and medium businesses "a professional and affordable meetings solution to support collaboration, connection, and productivity in a hybrid work environment," Microsoft urges those still using Teams Classic to switch to Teams Essentials before April 12.

Those that don't make the switch before then will lose access to their chats, files, and meetings. Although Microsoft does offer a newer, free option of Microsoft Teams, people will need to sign up for a new account to use the application.

As a result, people who wish to retain access to their chats, files, and meetings must switch to Teams Essentials.

According to Engadget, Microsoft Teams Classic's retirement won't affect personal use, but it could be a headache for small firms that previously relied on it to coordinate. With its impending retirement, these businesses will either have to pay to keep everything or slog through the process of recreating their channel setups using the newer Microsoft Teams (free) from scratch.

Alternatively, business owners can opt to subscribe to a Microsoft Teams alternative such as Slack, particularly if they're not as heavily invested in Microsoft's app ecosystems as other companies.

What's The Difference Between The Two Teams?

Microsoft Teams Essential, which costs $4 monthly per user, comes with unlimited group meetings that can host up to 300 participants for up to 30 hours long and 10 GB of cloud storage per user.

Meanwhile, Microsoft Teams (free) only allows subscribers to have unlimited group meetings that can only host up to 100 participants can only last for up to an hour, and 5GB of cloud storage per user.

However, small and medium business owners can subscribe to Microsoft 365 Business Basic which not only offers everything in Teams Essentials, but also lets them maintain access to their chats, files, teams, and meetings for a monthly fee of $6 per user.

It also comes with the ability to create transcripts of team meetings, web and mobile versions of Microsft 365 apps, manage customer appointments with Bookings, and 1TB of cloud storage per user.