On Friday, some Microsoft Teams users experienced an outage that caused “multiple issues”, according to the outage tracker DownDetector. The problem started around 11 a.m. EST and quickly expanded. Users reported difficulties accessing the service, delays in message delivery, and problems with displaying graphics.Microsoft addressed the issue on X (formerly known as Twitter) by identifying a networking problem affecting part of the Teams service and implementing backup systems. By 1:30 p.m. EST, the backup transition was completed for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, with improvements evident in the tracking systems. The backup switchovers for North and South America were still in progress. Although outage reports decreased by 3 p.m. EST, they remained at a consistent level, indicating ongoing issues.Teams, a messaging and videoconferencing app, has over 320 million monthly active users as of September 2023.X users in the U.S. continued to voice their frustrations about ongoing Teams service problems, some sarcastically expressing gratitude to Microsoft for addressing the issue in regions where the workday had already concluded. In a subsequent tweet, Microsoft acknowledged that the backup switchover did not immediately resolve all issues in North and South America but assured users of other mitigation efforts aimed at minimizing customer impact.
While Microsoft made detailed information available in a document posted in an administrative dashboard for Microsoft 365 software, a Microsoft spokesperson from public relations firm WE Communications declined to provide further information beyond the public tweets. However, a document obtained by The Associated Press painted a more concerning picture, detailing about a dozen different issues caused by the outage, including login difficulties, missing or delayed messages, and trouble accessing or viewing images, videos, audio recordings, and other media. At 4:26 p.m. EST, Microsoft reported that its efforts to work around the problems had led to backend system issues that effectively “throttled” data traffic.At 5:02 p.m. EST, Microsoft acknowledged that “many customers remain impacted by this issue” but noted a decrease in errors and an increase in service availability. The company also stated that it was actively addressing specific failures of Teams functions in addition to broader network efforts.According to DownDetector, reported issues with Teams decreased and were approaching normal levels by 7:45 p.m. EST.
