Retirement and breaking changes guide for Azure Communication Services
AI summary
Azure Communication Services phased out, requiring Teams compatibility.
Azure Communication Services wird eingestellt und erfordert Teams-kompatibilität.
Rollout dates
- Standard release (GA):
Extracted from the announcement text; the Microsoft text is authoritative.
Impact
ChangeCockpit assessment (admin, user and compliance impact).
Microsoft announcement
Azure Communication Services · Lifecycle announcement
Retirement and breaking changes
Microsoft is retiring Azure Communication Services as a standalone offering. Plan your transition before September 30, 2028: some services will be removed, while others will remain available only in supported Teams-aligned scenarios.
Key dates and immediate implications
- September 23, 2026: Microsoft announced the retirement and breaking changes.
- October 23, 2026: Restrictions begin on onboarding to retiring services. Customers without an ACS resource created before this date will not be able to acquire phone numbers for retiring telephony workloads, including PSTN calling and SMS.
- September 30, 2028: Transition deadline. Retired services will no longer be available after this date. Services with breaking changes will require a supported Teams-aligned configuration.
Further restrictions on expansion of retiring services may be introduced after October 23, 2026. These restrictions do not apply to services subject only to breaking changes. Existing customers can continue using existing resources for current workloads during the transition period, subject to the published guidance.
Services unavailable after September 30, 2028
Retirement means the service or SDK is permanently removed. Using a retiring component alongside a supported service does not exempt it from retirement.
- ACS Email
- ACS SMS
- ACS Advanced Messaging with WhatsApp
- ACS Chat, including Chat for Teams Meeting Interoperability
- ACS Rooms
- ACS Number Management — Direct Offer
- ACS Direct Routing
- ACS Job Router
- ACS Web UI Library SDK
- ACS Mobile UI Library SDK
ACS Direct Routing is retiring; Teams Direct Routing is listed as a migration option. Similarly, Teams meeting interoperability remains a supported scenario, but its ACS Chat component is retiring.
Services continuing with new support requirements
The following capabilities remain available after the deadline, but only when used with a supported Teams-aligned service and the required updated SDKs:
- ACS Voice and Video Calling SDK
- ACS Call Diagnostics
- ACS Call Automation
- ACS Audio Streaming
- ACS Call Recording
- ACS Closed Captions
Supported Teams-aligned services
- Microsoft Teams Phone Extensibility
- Microsoft Teams Meeting Interoperability
- Microsoft Teams Click-2-Call for Teams Voice Apps
An SDK upgrade alone is not sufficient. Applications must also use a supported Teams-aligned scenario. Standalone ACS human-to-human and application-to-human communications will no longer be supported after September 30, 2028. Review scenario-specific requirements before redesigning.
Evaluate replacement options
The following options summarize Microsoft's migration guidance. They are not necessarily drop-in replacements; validate functionality, licensing, identity requirements, geography, and operational limits.
| Current workload | Potential destination | Important consideration |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 High Volume Email, Exchange Online, or a third-party email provider | High Volume Email supports internal delivery. Exchange Online is designed for business mailbox email, not bulk delivery, and applies sending limits. | |
| SMS | Third-party messaging providers | Plan number porting, sender verification, regulatory requirements, and possible downtime. |
| Chat, including Teams interoperability chat | Microsoft Graph Teams chat APIs or an alternative communications provider | Graph is not a drop-in ACS Chat replacement. Teams identity, licensing, permissions, and tenant policies apply. |
| Dynamics 365 Contact Center or a third-party provider | Review Dynamics-specific migration guidance or confirm number migration with the destination Business Solution Provider. | |
| PSTN Direct Offer and ACS Direct Routing | Teams Phone Extensibility with suitable Teams PSTN connectivity, or a third-party provider | Validate Teams and Teams Phone licensing, number migration, Calling Plan or Operator Connect availability, and any Teams Direct Routing design. |
| ACS Rooms | Teams Meeting Interoperability and Microsoft Graph APIs | Assess meeting workflows and Teams licensing. |
| Job Router | Dynamics 365 Contact Center or partner solutions such as Luware and Talkdesk | Reassess routing workflows and integration requirements. |
| Web and mobile UI libraries | Evaluate a replacement UI implementation | The guide does not list a direct replacement for these SDKs. |
| Voice, video, and Call Automation | Supported Teams-aligned scenarios | Update to the required major-version SDK and validate applicable Teams integration, licensing, and configuration requirements. |
Prepare your transition
- Inventory usage: Use Azure Advisor recommendations, the Advisor Service Retirement workbook, and Cost Management to identify affected resources and workloads.
- Classify dependencies: Separate retiring components from capabilities subject to breaking changes, including dependencies inside otherwise supported Teams solutions.
- Validate the target architecture: Confirm feature coverage, licensing, identity models, PSTN connectivity, compliance, and provider availability.
- Plan data preservation: Export required chat messages, recordings, and operational telemetry before retirement. Supporting data and telemetry for retired and standalone services will be decommissioned after the retirement date.
- Test and complete migration: Validate application changes, SDK upgrades, number porting, and operational procedures before September 30, 2028.
Remove ACS phone numbers before deleting an ACS resource. Otherwise, charges can continue on orphaned numbers and a support ticket is required to resolve the issue.
Support during the retirement period
Existing SDK versions remain supported during the transition period under the applicable support terms. Microsoft will continue support, security updates, and bug fixes, with engineering focused on existing functionality, security, and stability rather than new feature development.
Services with breaking changes require migration to the updated major-version SDKs by the deadline. Supported target services may introduce additional licensing or usage costs.
For technical assistance, use Azure Communication Services retirement support .
Source
Public Microsoft post (not observed by a tenant):
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/acs-retirement-and-breaking-changes-guide
Change history
- 2026-10-17 · Created · All