Chat in Skype for Business
Applies To
Skype for Business Skype for Business OnlineFind and add a contact
Connect with people in your organization, or with friends who have Skype accounts.
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On the Contacts tab, in the Find someone box, type a name or email address.
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In the search results, right-click the person you want to add, and select Add to Contacts List.
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Select the contact group you want to add the person to, if you have contact groups set up.
When you add a person to your contact list, they receive a notification. External contacts must accept your invitation before you can see their availability.
![Screenshot of the Skype for Business window while searching for a contact to add.](https://cxcs.microsoft.net/static/public/central/neutral/9442f700-018c-4073-83ff-4ac31efc667e/c3e26437ab449f1afe66a34b61e8821ba2b1b535.png)
Start an Instant Message (IM)
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On the Contacts tab, point to a contact's picture, and then select Send an IM
.To add others, select Invite More People
in the upper-right corner.Tip: To IM with multiple people, you can also press Ctrl and select each contact. Then right-click and select Send an IM.
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Type your message.
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Select Send
or press Enter.
![The Skype for Business quick menu with the IM icon active.](https://cxcs.microsoft.net/static/public/central/neutral/13c986b8-b23a-4f49-8a53-10df66a7d1aa/d04a44afb5f8abd9a26d3ca3492d6acce6e10104.png)
Start a voice or video call
Quickly place a call to any online contact.
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Point to a contact's picture and select Call
or Start a video call . -
To add voice or video to an existing conversation, select Call
or Video Call .
Note: If you don't have a camera, the video call options are not available.
![The Skype for Business quick menu with the Call icon active.](https://cxcs.microsoft.net/static/public/central/neutral/8378bb64-e97f-462a-8419-ebfc57ef0fe0/decd362527e0eb02948d4ef0f86260c1232b4bdc.png)
Receive a call
Select an option:
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Select Answer to accept the call.
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Select Ignore to dismiss the call and send it to voice mail, if available.
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Select Options and then select:
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Reply by IM to dismiss the call and start an instant message session with the caller.
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Set to Do Not Disturb to dismiss the call and change your status.
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Answer With Audio Only to answer a video call without sending or receiving video.
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End a call
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Select Hang Up
or press Ctrl + Enter.
Note: To end an instant message, close the conversation window.
![Screenshot of a call notification with the Options menu open.](https://cxcs.microsoft.net/static/public/central/neutral/22a17b97-beff-4b46-87ff-48295c660d5a/4d768c60b20bf3782771605abf25534ddcc8a596.png)