Updated May 6, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.
Introduction
Live chat in Microsoft Teams enables small and medium businesses to connect with customers through a chat widget embedded on their websites. Website visitors can chat directly with business employees, who receive and manage these conversations in Teams. Transcripts from live chats are stored in a central team and channel, which organizations can use for ticket management and follow‑up.
To better align the feature name with how customers use it, Microsoft will rename Live chat to Customer Connect. This is a name change only; there are no functional or behavioral changes.
When this will happen
General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out this change in mid-May 2026 (previously late April) and expect to complete the rollout by the end of May 2026.
How this affects your organization
Who is affected
- Microsoft 365 tenants that use Live chat in Microsoft Teams
- Teams administrators who manage Live chat settings
- Users who support customers through Live chat conversations in Teams
What will happen
- Live chat will be renamed to Customer Connect across:
- Teams admin settings
- In‑product references
- Microsoft documentation
- There will be no changes to functionality, configuration, or data handling.
- If your organization already uses Live chat:
- Existing teams and channels created for Live chat will not be renamed.
- If your organization begins using this capability after the name change:
- The team and channel used to manage live chats will be named Customer Connect.
- The feature will remain enabled and managed the same way as before.
Learn more: Set up and manage live chat | Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn
What you can do to prepare
No action is required.
You may consider updating internal documentation or informing helpdesk and support staff of the new Customer Connect name to reduce potential confusion.
Compliance considerations
No compliance considerations identified. Review as appropriate for your organization.