Microsoft Teams had a major hiccup on Friday, causing disruptions and various issues for users. The problem started around 11 a.m. EST and quickly escalated, affecting users’ ability to access the service, causing delays in messaging, and messing up graphics display, as reported on outage tracker DownDetector.
Microsoft confirmed the issue on its social platform, X (formerly Twitter), stating that a networking problem was impacting part of the Teams service. The company swiftly shifted to backup systems, completing the transition for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East by 1:30 p.m. EST, showing signs of improvement in tracking systems. However, backup switchovers for North and South America were still in progress. Despite a decrease in outage reports, indicating some resolution, users continued to face problems.
Teams, a widely used messaging and videoconferencing app with over 320 million monthly users as of September 2023, drew ongoing complaints from U.S.-based X users. Microsoft acknowledged that the backup switchover didn’t immediately solve issues in North and South America, and they were working diligently to minimize customer impact.
While Microsoft suggested checking an administrative dashboard for Microsoft 365 software for more details, a company spokesperson only referred to the information shared on X. The internal document obtained by The Associated Press painted a somewhat grim picture, listing various issues caused by the outage, including login troubles, delayed messages, and problems with media access.
An update at 4:26 p.m. EST highlighted backend system issues resulting from efforts to navigate around problems, causing data traffic throttling. By 5:02 p.m. EST, Microsoft acknowledged that many customers were still affected but reported a decrease in errors and an increase in service availability. The company was actively addressing specific Teams function failures alongside broader network efforts.
As of 7:45 p.m. EST, reported issues with Teams had decreased, nearing normal levels according to DownDetector. Microsoft continued its efforts to fully resolve the situation following the widespread outage.
