Skype for Business replaced the former Microsoft Office Communicator and Microsoft Lync. If you don’t want your friends or colleagues to find out how long you are Away for, here is a neat little trick to hide that data from Skype for Business. For example, as soon as you log out of Lync 2013, it will display a message beside your name something like “Away 5 Minutes” or “Offline 1 Hour”. With this trick, it will only display “Away” with no time whatsoever. This trick will also hide Offline time. Here is what you have to do:
Step 1: Click on the Relationship Tab from the main Skype for Business Window.
Step 2: Under Relationship Tab, you will see several groups. Friends and Family, Colleagues, External Contacts, Blocked Contacts, etc.
Step 3: Now, decide on which contacts you want to hide your Away and Offline times from. Drag and drop those contacts under the External Contacts area. Voila, they will no longer be able to see your Away status with all the details. You can optionally add all your contacts there if you wish.
Please note that External Contacts will also have limited access to many other information about you. For example, they may not be able to see your phone extension number, organization unit you belong to, etc.
Amazing guide you have shared for Skype users. Sometimes hiding time become useful for the users,
Was wondering how only “offline” showed. Thanks!
For our EU colleagues, it is against the worker’s union to display any of this information, as it is against privacy.
It should be a feature that can be toggled completely off for everyone, but keeping the phone number and hierarchy.
When I drop the contacts I want to hide my Away or Offline time from, into the External Contacts, will they be able to see this ‘move’, e.g. are they going to be notified that I have placed them in the External Contacts? Thank you in advance for your response, Khristina.
Hi, they won’t get a notification. However, you will also be unable to see their away and offline duration. Hope this helps.