Microsoft MTO

Members of the UT Health Science Center can search for UTSA users who have been added to MTO, and vice versa. 

Users should see "UTHSCSA" or "UTSA" after the appropriate user's name in Microsoft Teams.

Users should be able to send Teams messages to MTO users from the opposite tenant (UTSA to UT Health Science and vice versa). The receiving user should be able to see and reply to the Teams message without switching accounts.

Users should be able to see cross-tenant users profile picture (if they have a picture selected) in their Teams profile.

Users can send and receive emails from cross-tenant users. Email received from a cross-tenant user will not be marked with the institution's EXTERNAL banner.

Users should be able to open Outlook (web or desktop app), create a meeting invite, select a cross-tenant user as an attendee, and see that user's free/busy availability.

In the new Microsoft Outlook desktop app, open the calendar, create a new event, and click Scheduler.

In the Classic Outlook desktop app, open the calendar, create a new event, and click Scheduling Assistant.

Note: users will not be able to view free/busy availability by adding a cross-tenant user's calendar to their own Outlook app. 

UT Health users will see UTSA users displayed in Last Name, First Name format. 

UTSA users will see UT Health users displayed in First Name Last Name format.

If you have dual appointments across both the Academic Campus and the Health Campus (commonly referred to as POI / dual‑affiliate accounts), you may see multiple identities when using Microsoft Teams after MTO is enabled.

What you might see:

Users with dual appointments may see up to four accounts in Teams:

• Academic Campus account
• Health Campus account
• Guest account for the Academic Campus
• Guest account for the Health Campus

This behavior is expected and is a result of how Microsoft Teams represents users who belong to multiple tenants and have guest access enabled.

What should I do?

To reduce confusion and ensure a consistent experience:

• Choose one campus account (Academic or Health) as your primary account
• Use that selected campus account for day‑to‑day communication in Teams
• Avoid switching back and forth between accounts unless absolutely necessary

Using a single primary account helps prevent:

• Missed messages or meetings
• Confusion about presence and chat history
• Inconsistent notifications

Do I need to use the Guest accounts?

In most cases, no. Guest accounts are automatically created as part of cross‑tenant access, but they typically do not need to be used for normal collaboration once you’ve selected your preferred campus account.

Will this be fixed or reduced in the future?

At this time, this is expected behavior for users with dual appointments across multiple tenants. Guidance and communications will continue to focus on helping users understand which account to use and how to minimize disruption.

If additional changes or simplifications become available, they will be communicated separately.

Need help deciding which account to use?

If you’re unsure which campus account to select as your primary Teams account, choose the one that:

• You use most frequently for meetings and chat

• Aligns with where most of your daily collaborators reside

If you still need help, contact your IT support team.

Microsoft 365 Multitenant Organization (MTO) improves collaboration between UTSA and UT Health, however, Microsoft Teams, channels, and their associated files remain hosted in the tenant (Microsoft 365 environment) where they were created.

As a result, users must switch Microsoft Teams tenants to:

• Access a Team or channel created in another tenant
• View or edit files stored in a Teams channel that belongs to another tenant
• View channel conversations or meeting chats hosted in another tenant

This behavior is expected and aligns with Microsoft’s tenant‑level security and compliance requirements.

How do I switch tenants in Teams?

1. Open Microsoft Teams
2. Select your profile picture in the top‑right corner
3. Choose the tenant you want to switch to:
   • UT Health San Antonio
   • University of Texas at San Antonio
4. Teams will refresh and show the Teams, channels, and files for that tenant

When viewing a user’s profile in Microsoft Teams (Organization tab) across institutions using Multitenant Organization (MTO), the organizational hierarchy may appear incomplete or inconsistent. For example, you may see only part of someone’s reporting structure or a different number of levels than expected.

Microsoft has confirmed this is expected behavior and a current limitation of Multitenant Organizations in Teams.

The Teams Organization tab is not an authoritative or consistent view of cross‑tenant hierarchy in an MTO environment.

Why does the org chart look different to different people?
In an MTO setup, Teams may resolve organizational hierarchy differently depending on how and where the profile is accessed. As a result:

• Two users within UTSA may view the same UT Health user and see different org‑chart depths
• The same inconsistency can occur when viewing UTSA users from UT Health
• There is currently no configuration option that guarantees consistent org‑chart parity for all viewers

Users who join a Microsoft Teams meeting hosted by the opposite tenant (i.e. Academics campus if the Health Campus is hosting the Teams call, and vice versa) are currently unable to share files in the meeting chat. When attempting to upload or attach a file, they may see an error related to OneDrive being required or an error sending file. However, in a regular Teams group chat (not a meeting chat), users from both tenants can share files successfully. The issue is specific to Teams meeting chats.

This issue affects:

• Users who are part of the Microsoft Multitenant Organization (MTO), and
• Join a Teams meeting hosted by the other tenant (i.e Academics campus if the Health Campus is hosting the Teams call, and vice versa), and
• Attempt to share a file directly in the Teams meeting chat.

It does not affect users when collaborating within their own tenant.

This happens because when you join a Teams meeting hosted by the opposite tenant, Microsoft Teams automatically switches you to a cross‑tenant (B2B member) context for that meeting.

In this context:

• File sharing in a Teams meeting chat relies on OneDrive in the meeting host’s tenant
• The B2B member context does not include a OneDrive in that tenant
• As a result, Teams displays an error and blocks file uploads

This behavior has been confirmed during MTO testing and live meetings and is currently under investigation by Microsoft.

Until Microsoft resolves the issue, users should use one of the following options:

Option 1: Share file links  or share file before or after the meeting

• Share the file's OneDrive link in the meeting chat instead of sharing the file
• Share files in a regular Teams chat (not the meeting chat)
• Share files via email or OneDrive link prior to the meeting

Option 2: Screen share instead of uploading files

• Use Screen Share to present documents during the meeting
• This works across tenants and does not rely on OneDrive

Option 3: Share files from the meeting organizer’s tenant

• If possible, ask a participant from the meeting host’s tenant to upload the file to the meeting chat

Note: In a regular Teams group chat (not a meeting chat), users from both tenants can share files successfully. The issue is specific to Teams meeting chats. 

Academic Campus: 

Health Campus

• Research and Innovations
• Academic departments

• MarComm
• Office of Legal Affairs
• Office of the President
• Office of Government Relations
• Advancement & Alumni Engagement
• Athletics