Last October I reviewed the Skype for Business iOS client. Three readers commented about a bug they experienced while using it.
“Whenever I miss a conversation (why is it missed?) I can see the first few words of the message I missed but when I click on it, I can’t see the rest. I can never see the full message. Where does it go?”
“Nearly every day, I will see that I had a message come in, and I will only see the first few words. “Hey, Liza! It’s really important that we—†and then when I tap into the conversation, it’s gone. Unrecoverable.”
“I have the same frustrating problem — I will miss a message, but when I go to open it I can only see the first few words followed by “…â€, then I click on it and it brings me to a new message screen. I can never see my missed messages, which is the whole point of having this app in the first place.”
I promised to investigate, and so I did. Unfortunately, I don’t have many answers.
Prior to the release of Skype for Business Server, conversation histories were stored exclusively in the Conversation History folder, written by the Skype for Business rich client. Unfortunately, that proved to be a problem for mobile device users, because the Conversation History folder is typically not replicated to mobile devices. With Skype for Business Server, however, conversation. Skype will now notify you about missed calls, messages via email. Mar 13, 2019 at 12:00 GMT. Microsoft is rolling out a new update Skype that will notify users about the missed calls and messages via email. This feature is probably useful for those who don’t open Skype regularly but want to stay updated. Microsoft has actually turned on settings by default so if you don’t want emails then you should disable them.
![Missed Missed](/uploads/1/3/7/4/137446461/660279719.jpg)
Skype For Business Missed Messages
Open the “ Options ” configuration menu on your Skype for Business client. Select the “ Personal ” option. Deselect the options below, and then select the “ OK ” button to save your changes. Any future conversations will not be kept. In the box that appears, type your new email address and select the green Save button at the bottom of the page. The email address is added to your profile. No one can see your email addresses - they are only visible to you when you sign into your account. You can add up to three more email addresses - just follow the steps above.
You can create an email message directly from the Skype window. Hover over a person's picture (or the generic human icon) for a contact or in search results. Click More Options (the three dots), then select Send an Email Message. An Outlook email message window will open with the To field populated.
Three Parts Investigate, Only One Part Success
I took three paths to investigate the missing-message issue.
- Examine app reviews for other user impressions,
- Do some more support research, and
- Try to duplicate this in our office.
Missed Conversations In Skype
First up, review. How widespread is the issue? How many people does this affect? I checked reviews on the App Store and Microsoft-related forums, like this one: iOS Client for Skype for Business 2015 – SkypeFeedback.com
“Missed messages vanishing” is mentioned in both places. As are other sync issues such as voicemail. In fact the limitations are clearly wearing on iOS users. Makes me wonder how the new Mac client will turn out after the preview releases.
Research: From the bug description, it sounds like a failure of Server-Side Conversation History. Which informed my search. Is your Conversation History fully enabled? If you’re not sure, here’s how to check: Enable Server Side Conversation History – Martin Boam’s Microsoft UC Blog
I did find this note on an Office Support page:
“Note: Conversations that were accepted on other Skype for Business (Lync) clients but were missed on your mobile device don’t appear in the Chats tab.”
Might explain some instances of this happening. I’m sure it doesn’t explain all, though. It didn’t explain mine!
Duplication: I was logged into Skype4B on my iPhone, but answered a new message on my laptop. Sure enough, I saw a “Missed” conversation on my phone’s Chats tab. And it contained the message contents when I checked it 15 minutes later. Hmmm.
In fact I could not duplicate the “missed message” issue no matter what. We tried two other iPhones, one 5 and two 6s in total. I even removed the Skype for Business client and reinstalled fresh.
We definitely have a bug here. But it’s not consistent.
Is the Bug Already Updated?
Skype for Business on iOS received updates recently – the latest of which came on May 2 (described as “general bug fixes”). My client automatically updated before I tested for the missing-message bug. So did the other iPhones I tried. This might be the reason why I didn’t have any trouble.
(By the way, I mentioned in the review that you couldn’t see a contact’s Contact Card in the iOS client. You can now–just tap a contact and tap their name. You’ll see a “See Contact Card” option drop down.)
I know losing a message for any reason is frustrating. Right now, the best I can do is advise a safer practice:
- Use the iOS client for calls and meeting reminders. Unfortunately, this bug means it’s a bit unreliable when it comes to Instant Messaging. Still works, yes, but if you want to share important information with colleagues, use the Call button.
- Update your iOS client to the latest version, and keep it updated. Even general bug fixes can have a big help.
If you’ve updated your Skype for Business iOS client to the latest version, do you still see the “missing messages” bug? Please comment or email me your experience. If Microsoft fixed this bug, then we’re all a bit better off! If not, the bug needs reporting.