Microsoft Skype for Business connects users in new ways, regardless of their physical location. The latest release of the Unified Communications platform delivers a fresh, intuitive user experience that is directly accessible from Microsoft Office applications such as Microsoft Outlook®, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft SharePoint. Skype for Business brings together the different ways people communicate in a single interface, is deployed as a unified platform, and is administered through a single management infrastructure.
Skype for Business gives you:
- Presence: Presence establishes a user’s personal availability through the use of common states such as “Available” or “Busy.” With rich presence information, users can make more effective communication choices. A user’s presence is a collection of information that includes availability, willingness to communicate, additional notes (such as location and status), and how the user can be contacted. Presence is enhanced in Skype for Business with pictures, location information, and additional states such as “Off Work” to provide more granular information about availability and communication preferences.
- Instant Messaging (IM): Connect instantly with IM – users can start an IM session with a colleague for quick responses to questions. As more engagement is needed on a subject, invite multiple parties to join in on the same conversation. Also, get reconnected to the topic by rejoining existing conversations.
- Unified Conferencing: With Unified Conferencing in Skype for Business, users can collaborate, share information, and coordinate their efforts in real time. Audio, video, and sharing of documents, desktops, and applications are incorporated into the easy-to-use Skype for Business client, accessible on demand and in the context of a typical workflow. For example, without switching applications, users can escalate a simple IM discussion to a multi-party application sharing session with voice and even video. All parties can see and edit presentations, documents, and other content without a single e-mail exchange.
