License Summary FAQ

License Relationship Summary

See the below FAQ about License Relationship in the VLSC. See the License Summary in Microsoft 365 admin center.

What is the Relationship Summary

The Relationship Summary displays all Volume Licensing Agreements and Open Licenses associated with your VLSC account. Summary details are listed by Licensing ID (licensing program) and may be expanded to display more information, including parent agreements and Microsoft Business and Services Agreement (MBSA).

There are two ways for volume licensing administrators to to access and view the Relationship Summary:

  • Sign into the VLSC, click Licenses and then click Relationship Summary. You will be brought to the Contracts page in the volume licensing section of Microsoft 365 admin center.
  • Sign into the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Billing > Your products > Volume licensing > Contracts > Create license Summary.

What is a Licensing ID

A Licensing ID identifies the program level at which orders can be placed by an organization. It can represent any of the following:

  • Enrollment (Enterprise or Select programs)
  • Agreement (Open Value program)
  • License (Open License program)
  • Public Customer Number (PCN) (Select Plus program)

Entitlements and site permissions in the VLSC are determined by the Licensing IDs available to your company or organization.

Licensing Programs

Where does the MPSA fit into all this

Microsoft Products and Services Agreement (MPSA) license information is managed in the Microsoft Business Center or Microsoft Store for Business. No MPSA information is displayed in the VLSC. Learn about the MPSA.

Some Licensing IDs for my organization are not displayed in the Relationship Summary. Why

A Licensing ID is displayed in the Relationship Summary only if the user who is signed in has been granted access to view the Licensing ID details. Permission to view a specific Licensing ID on behalf of your organization is granted in one of two ways:

  1. You are listed as a contact for the agreements in a legal Volume Licensing Program form. Contact types include Primary Contact, Notices Correspondent, Online Access Contact, Software Assurance Manager, Online Services Manager, or Subscriptions Manager.
  2. An Administrator with access to the agreements assigns you permission.

For more information about VLSC permission roles and their allowable actions, see the Permissions FAQ.

How do I update the contacts listed on Licensing Information reports

All changes to Volume Licensing Contacts must be made through your Microsoft partner. Please contact your partner to request a change in contact information.

Some reports or report sections appear shaded or dimmed and I am unable to view the report. Why

The hyperlinks used to access specific reports (or report sections) appear shaded or dimmed if your permission set does not allow you to access certain report content. For example, only the Select Plus Lead Affiliate has full access to licensing information for all Participating Affiliates, so other users in your organization would see links that are shaded or dimmed.

Note

Participating Affiliates in the Select Plus program are not able to access sensitive information specific to other Participating Affiliates.

How do I add a license to my profile

To request the addition of a Licensing ID to your permission set, complete and submit the form on the Request Permissions page. When the form is submitted, the Administrator of record for the Licensing IDs listed on the form are notified by email message of your request.

What types of reports can be generated from the Relationship Summary

The following types of Licensing Information reports can be generated from the Relationship Summary:

  • Licensing ID Details

    Displays key contacts, related licenses, orders, order details, and purchase history of your organization by specific Licensing ID.

  • Parent Program Details

    Displays the key contact and related Licensing IDs for your organization by licensing program.

  • MBSA Details

    Displays the key contacts and related Licensing IDs for your organization as associated with a Microsoft Business and Services Agreement (MBSA).

Note

Open Value, Open Value Subscription, and Open License programs do not have an MBSA in their hierarchy; therefore the MBSA Details report is not available for those programs.

What is the License Summary

The License Summary displays real-time Volume License entitlements per Microsoft product family and version for all active and inactive Licensing IDs in your permission set.

The License Summary displays purchase information related to traditional Microsoft Volume License programs beginning in 1994. These programs include (but are not limited to) Open, Open Value, Select, Select Plus, and Enterprise.

Licenses purchased under the MPSA program are not included in the VLSC Relationship Summary and should be viewed separately in the Microsoft Business Center.

How long does it take for new license orders to appear in the License Summary

Recently purchased licenses are typically displayed in the License Summary within 48 hours of Microsoft receiving your order from the Microsoft partner. Delays of a few days to a few weeks can occur if your partner delays forwarding the purchase order to Microsoft. Licenses display in the summary when the Coverage Start period for the order is met for all programs except Open License.

To access and view the License Summary

Sign in to Volume License Service Center > Licenses > License Summary.

To filter the Licensing IDs for display in the License Summary, complete the following steps:

  1. Click Filter Licensing IDs included in this summary.
  2. Use the check boxes to select Licensing IDs to be included.
  3. Click Create Summary. The License Summary refreshes to display only the selected Licensing IDs.

Why Licenses may be missing for your Licensing Summary

Note

Full licenses acquired with a specific Licensing ID appear in the License Summary only if the user can see that License ID in the Relationship Summary. (In other words, only if the user who is signed in to the VLSC has permission to view items related to this License ID.)

The single License ID view in the Relationship Summary will show only purchases on that specific agreement. (Quantities in the Unresolved Quantity column may be incorrect.)

Understanding the VLSC License Summary

See the following FAQ about VLSC License.

What is a License Entitlement

A License Entitlement represents your right to install and use software products as detailed in the license agreement.

What is the Effective Quantity

The Effective Quantity is the number of license entitlements per product and version with upgrades. It can be used to determine whether your organization has license shortfalls or surpluses by product and version.

What is the Active SA (Software Assurance) Quantity

The Active SA Quantity is displayed in the License Summary. It represents the number of licenses covered by Software Assurance (version upgrade protection) across all Microsoft Volume License programs. The Active SA Quantity includes all types of Software Assurance, including:

- License and Software Assurance (L&SA)
- Software Assurance (SA)
- SA Step-Up

What is an Unresolved Quantity

An Unresolved Quantity is displayed in the License Summary when the number of upgrade licenses is greater than the number of qualifying full licenses. This can occur for one of the following reasons:

  • Full licenses acquired through OEM or Retail purchases are not visible to Microsoft.

  • Unused coverage-type licenses (for example, Maintenance, Upgrade Advantage, or Software Assurance) will be represented as unresolved because no valid base licenses were found.

  • Incomplete list of Licensing IDs in Relationship Summary: Full licenses may have been acquired under Licensing IDs that are missing from your Relationship Summary (that is, you may not have permission to the license ID).

  • If the licenses were in a very recent order, that order may not yet have been processed by your Microsoft Partner.

How do I address an Unresolved Quantity

There is no action for you to complete in the VLSC itself with respect to the Unresolved Quantity notification. Instead, customers must track the Unresolved quantity as part of internal Asset Management.

To address an unresolved quantity in your License Statement, complete the following steps:

  1. In the Relationship Summary, verify that all relevant Licensing IDs are included.
  2. Identify all full licenses that were acquired through OEM or retail purchases.
  3. Validate your license purchases through your Microsoft Partner.
  4. For each base license for which you have Proof of License, a count from the Unresolved Quantity column can be considered Effective Quantity.

You do not need to forward this to VLSC Support, as the Unresolved Quantity cannot be changed by Support.

Does the License Summary include Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or retail license information

No. The License Summary displays only licenses acquired by your organization through Volume Licensing programs.

Does the License Summary display deployed software

No. It is not possible for Microsoft to provide a list of product deployment details in the License Summary. The License Summary shows you the software your organization is entitled to install and use, but not what is currently deployed.

What is a License Pool

A License Pool groups licenses by product type. Microsoft Volume Licensing organizes products into three pools:

  • Applications (for example, editions of Office)
  • Systems (for example, versions of the Windows operating system)
  • Servers (for example, Exchange Server, SQL Server, and Windows Server)

What is a License Grant

Occasionally, Microsoft Volume Licensing offers a promotion where purchase of a specific product entitles the customer to the use of another product. Promotions are typically conditional on active Software Assurance or Upgrade Advantage coverage on the purchased product. For example:

  • A customer purchases 1 license for Exchange Server 2016.
  • The transaction has active Software Assurance or Upgrade Advantage coverage during the offer
  • Microsoft offers a promotion for 1 license of Skype for Business Server with a purchase of Exchange Server 2016.

The License Grant is what entitles, or "grants", the customer to use the promotional product. In this case, the customer would be granted the use of Skype for Business Server.

For more information about License Grants, please refer to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Product Use Rights (PUR) opens in a new window and price list documents.

How can I see my License Grants

License Grants are reflected in the Relationship Summary, License Summary, and in the Product Downloads. On the Relationship Summary and License Summary, products resulting from License Grants are shown with an asterisk (*) to indicate that they were not directly purchased.

Who do I contact if I have questions about my License Summary

Contact your Microsoft Partner or your Microsoft Account Manager with questions regarding your License Summary.

Make a License Reservation > License Reservations can be managed in the Microsoft 365 admin center from October 16th as well as in the VLSC for a short period. > The VLSC License Reservation functionality will be retired in mid-Nov 2023. > See [License Reservations in Microsoft 365 admin center](/microsoft-365/commerce/licenses/manage-license-requests-faq)

A License Reservation allows a customer to place a License Reservation order to migrate on-premises assets to the Cloud without a Purchase Order.

  • Only Online Services are eligible for License Reservation orders
  • Reservation orders are a financial obligation that will be realized during the True-Up or Annual Order process. This is based on the Usage Date of the reservation and the quantity reserved.
  • You can place Reservation orders for the current date or a future usage that is no more than six months in the future.
  • You can cancel Reservation orders up to 72 hours from the start of the usage date (weekends and holidays included).
  • Reservations cannot be placed if the enrollment has expired or in the last month before the enrollment will expire. Consult your Microsoft Reseller about ordering options instead.

How do I Make a License Reservation order in VLSC

Go to Licenses and select Make Reservations from the drop-down menu.

Warning

If you leave the VLSC site or close your browser before confirming your reservation, your selections will not be saved.

  1. From your list of Enterprise Agreements for License Reservation, select the active agreement to proceed with the online reservation and then click Continue.

  2. Select the Usage Date for the online reservation and then click Continue. The Usage Date is the date that the online reservation can start to be used.

    Note

    After 72 hours, no changes are allowed to your reservation, and this will be reflected as part of your True-up or Annual Order based upon the usage date and quantity reserved.

  3. After the Usage Date is selected, you will see a list of eligible Online Services available for reserving online.

  4. Select the online service you want to submit a reservation for and then choose the action you want to perform for this service: Add License.

  5. To make the reservation, select New License.

  6. Click Continue. You will be taken to the Reservation Confirmation page.

  7. Preview the reservation on the Reservation Confirmation page. After confirming that the reservation is correct, click Submit Reservation. The Reservation Confirmation pop-up displays. After reading and agreeing to the terms of services, click Submit Reservation.

  8. Your online reservation is complete.

How do I cancel or change a reservation order in VLSC

Once you place a reservation, you cannot change it. You can cancel a submitted reservation up to 72 hours before the start of the usage date.

  1. Go to License and select Manage my Reservation.

  2. Select the way you want your reservation history to be viewed by: Service, Licensing ID, or Reservation.

    Note

    A message will appear if you do not have any previous reservations.

  3. From the Service view: Open the detailed view of the reservation you want to cancel. If the reservation can be canceled a Cancel button is displayed.

  4. From Reservation view: The results are displayed by descending order by Reservation Date. Reservation orders that can be canceled are displayed at the top of the page.

  5. Click Cancel to cancel the reservation.

If it has been more than 72 hours since your License Reservation was submitted please work with your Microsoft Licensing Reseller to make the necessary adjustments.

Why are some fields on the License Reservation page disabled

Only customers with Enterprise Agreements, Enterprise Agreement Subscriptions, and Enterprise Agreements for Government Partners can reserve services in the VLSC.

How can I view my Reservation History in VLSC

You can view your reservation history from the Reservation Confirmation page or the Manage my Reservation page.

  1. Go to License and select Manage Reservation.
  2. Select the way you want your reservation history to be viewed by: Service, Licensing ID, or Reservation.

Note

A message will display if you do not have any previous reservation orders.

At anniversary time, can I pay only for the licenses I have used

No, you must pay for all the licenses you committed to when you reserved them.

What services are available for Reservation orders

Availability of services is based on customer eligibility and whether Microsoft products are available through reservation orders. Services that are eligible for Reservation are listed in the Online Services screen.

Microsoft volume licensing has three categories of Online Services Reservations.

  • Standard Reservations: Products configured for this type of reservation are available to customers with a valid Enterprise Agreement and a VLSC login credentials.
  • License Reservation Only: Products configured for this type of reservation require that customers have either a prior purchase (Order history) or Price fixed (Special Pricing) in order to see the offer on VLSC for reservation. This category includes some of our more complex product configurations such as Add On services which require a base license. Microsoft uses this categorization in order to reduce the risk that customers unintentionally order incorrect services. Your Microsoft Licensing Solution Partner should be able to assist you in placing the necessary orders.
  • A third category of Services are not configured for online reservation, so your Microsoft Licensing Solution Partner needs to place always a manual order.

Note

For reservations to be available, you must have already signed the Updated Enterprise Agreement (uEA) Amendment or have an agreement from 2011 or later. The product must have been previously ordered or be price locked in the Customer Price Sheet (CPS).

Who is eligible to place Reservation orders

In the VLSC, only the Online Administrator and Online Service Manager with the Manage Reservation permission can create Reservation orders. (Note: Manage Reservation permissions must be specifically assigned to the OSM admin.)

A Microsoft Licensing Solution Partner can place a reservation on behalf of their customer if granted permission by the customer.

What if I don't have the authority to accept the Reservation Commitment required for submitting a Reservation order

A Reservation order is a financial commitment to purchase reserved items. If you don't have the authority to accept this commitment, please work with the person in your organization who is authorized to do so.

Who can I contact with additional questions regarding Reservation orders

Please contact your Partner or Microsoft Representative with any questions.

Contact Assisted Support

VLSC customers may also Contact Us by phone or by Web Form. Microsoft will respond to Web Form submissions within 24 hours.