Presence in Microsoft Teams

Overview

This article provides an explanation of presence in Microsoft Teams. Presence indicates a user's availability and status in real time, helping users manage communication effectively.

Intended Audience

This article is designed for all Microsoft Teams users, including UO faculty, staff, and student employees.

Prerequisites

To use presence in Microsoft Teams, users should:

• Have a Microsoft Teams account.
• Be signed in to Teams on a supported device.
• Have an active Internet connection.

Presence in Microsoft Teams

Presence is part of a user's profile in Microsoft Teams (and throughout Microsoft 365). By default, anyone in your organization using Teams can see (in nearly real time) if you are available online.

Presence States in Teams

Presence states in Teams are either user-configured or app-configured:

The order of statuses, from most available to least available, and user-configured and app-configured states is:

1. Available
   1. User-configured: Green circle with a check mark.
   2. App-configured: Green circle with a check mark.
   3. Available with Out of Office: Green circle with a check mark and an additional note explaining that 'Out of Office' is set when automatic replies are configured.
2. Busy
   1. User-configured: Red circle.
   2. App-configured: Red circle.
   3. Additional sub-statuses under 'Busy': 'In a call' (Red circle) 'In a meeting' (Red circle) 'In a call, out of office' (Pink circle)
   4. In a meeting
   5. In a call
3. Do not disturb
   1. User-configured: Red circle with a minus sign.
   2. App-configured: Red circle with a minus sign.
   3. Additional sub-statuses: 'Presenting' (Red circle) 'Focusing' (Red circle, explained as scheduled focus time in MyAnalytics/Insights).
4. Be right back/Away
   1. User-configured: Yellow circle.
   2. App-configured: Yellow circle.
   3. Additional sub-status: 'Away Last Seen time' (Yellow circle). Be Right Back: User-configured: Yellow circle.
5. (Appear) Offline
   1. User-configured: White circle.
   2. App-configured: White circle.
   3. Additional sub-status: 'Status Unknown' (White circle).
   4. Out of Office: App-configured: Purple circle. Out of Office is automatically set when an automatic reply is configured or when a calendar event is set to 'Out of Office'.

Automatic Status Settings

Normally, a user's status is based on user activity (whether they're Available or Away); on the state of the Teams app (for example, whether they're In a call or Presenting); and on their Outlook calendar (for example, whether they're In a meeting):

• If a user is inactive for a few minutes on a computer, their status changes to Away. If their computer is locked or in sleep mode, they appear Offline.
• If a user is on a mobile device, their status becomes Away when the app is in the background and Offline after 24 hours of inactivity.
• If logged into multiple devices, presence is determined by the most recently active device.
• Presence can be used in call queues for routing calls.

If a user is logged in to Teams on two or more devices (for example, on both a desktop computer and on a phone), then the device where they were active most recently determines their presence. Imagine a user is on both a computer and a mobile device, and they're currently working on the computer. Their presence comes from the computer. When they disconnect on the computer, their presence then comes from the status of the mobile device.

Manual Status Settings by Users

Users can manually select a status, but they cannot choose a status that is more available than their automatically calculated status.

• Users in a call or in a meeting can select any status, and it lasts during the call or the meeting.
• If a user manually sets Appear offline, it stays that way indefinitely.
• If a user selects Busy or Do not disturb, it lasts for one day.
• Any other manual status remains active for seven days unless changed.

Notifications and Do Not Disturb

• Users receive all chat messages, regardless of presence. Messages sent while offline appear when the user comes online.
• Calls are received in all presence states except Do not disturb, where calls go directly to voicemail.
• Users can allow specific people to bypass Do not disturb by adding them to the priority access list under Settings > Privacy in Teams.

FAQ

How do I manually change my status in Teams?

You can change your status by clicking on your profile picture in Teams, selecting Status, and choosing the desired presence state.

Why does my presence show as Away when I'm active?

Presence automatically updates based on your activity. If you are idle for a few minutes or your Teams app is in the background on mobile, it will change to Away.

Can I customize my presence duration?

Yes! When setting a manual status, you can specify a duration by selecting Duration and choosing how long it should remain active.

Will people still receive my messages when I'm offline?

Yes, all messages sent while you are offline will appear in Teams the next time you come online.

How can I allow certain people to contact me when I’m in Do Not Disturb mode?

Go to Settings > Privacy, select Manage priority access, then search for and select a person to allow their messages and calls to come through.