Turn on or off Offline Messages for admins
You can send Skype for Business IMs to your contacts even if they aren't signed in. This feature lets your contacts know that you have been trying to reach them. You don't have to wait until someone is online before sending them a message.
For Offline messages, it's important to know:
Offline messages won't be archived in the user's mailbox.
Offline messages will be sent to the user's mailbox, and the user will be notified when they log in to Skype for Business.
If the message recipient's status is set to Do Not Disturb or Presenting, they will receive a missed message that is sent from the recipient's Skype for Business client.
For more information, see Use offline messaging in Skype for Business.
To get you started
Check that you are running Windows PowerShell version 3.0 or higher
To verify that you are running version 3.0 or higher: Start Menu > Windows PowerShell.
Check the version by typing Get-Host in the Windows PowerShell window.
If you don't have version 3.0 or higher, you need to download and install updates to Windows PowerShell. See Windows Management Framework 4.0 to download and update Windows PowerShell to version 4.0. Restart your computer when you are prompted.
You will also need to install the Windows PowerShell module for Teams that enables you to create a remote Windows PowerShell session that connects to Skype for Business Online.
If you need to know more, see Connect to all Office 365 services in a single Windows PowerShell window.
Start a Windows PowerShell session
From the Start Menu > Windows PowerShell.
In the Windows PowerShell window, connect to your Microsoft 365 or Office 365 by running:
Note
Skype for Business Online Connector is currently part of the latest Teams PowerShell module.
If you're using the latest Teams PowerShell public release, you don't need to install the Skype for Business Online Connector.
Import-Module -Name MicrosoftTeams
$credential = Get-Credential
$session = New-CsOnlineSession -Credential $credential
Import-PSSession $session
If you want more information about starting Windows PowerShell, see Connect to all Office 365 services in a single Windows PowerShell window or Set up your computer for Windows PowerShell.
Turning on or off Offline IM
Note
Offline Messages are only available in the latest version of the Click-to-Run Skype for Business client and aren't available when an older Click-to-Run Skype for Business is used or an *.msi file was used to install the Skype for Business client.
To enable or disable Offline Messages send Offline Messages for users in your organization, set EnableIMAutoArchiving to True or False. By default, this is set to True.
To turn it off, use the Set-CsClientPolicy cmdlet and run:
Set-CsClientPolicy -Identity Global -EnableIMAutoArchiving $False
To enable or disable Offline Messages send Offline Messages for a user, set EnableIMAutoArchiving to True or False. By default, this is set to True. You can use an existing policy or create one like the example below.
New-CsClientPolicy -Identity OfflineIM
Set-CsClientPolicy -Identity OfflineIM -EnableIMAutoArchiving $False
Grant -CsClientPolicy -Identity "Tony Smith" - PolicyName OfflineIM
Want to know more about Windows PowerShell?
Windows PowerShell is all about managing users and what users are allowed or not allowed to do. With Windows PowerShell, you can manage Microsoft 365 or Office 365 and Skype for Business Online using a single point of administration that can simplify your daily work, when you have multiple tasks to do. To get started with Windows PowerShell, see these topics:
Windows PowerShell has many advantages in speed, simplicity, and productivity over only using the Microsoft 365 admin center such as when you are making setting changes for many users at one time. Learn about these advantages in the following topics: