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New Skype for Business To Replace Lync in Office 365

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Microsoft announced it would release a new program, Skype for Business, an enterprise-grade communications tool which would be available early next year.

Skype for Business will replace Lync, the audio, video and chat communication tool within Microsoft’s cloud productivity suite, Office 365. Skype for Business will include similar features such as enterprise security, compliance and control.

Skype for Business is both a rebrand and a new product, with Microsoft releasing a new client experience for mobile, tablets and desktops, new server release, and updates to the service in Office 365 under the Skype for Business name, a spokesman told Digital First.

“In the first half of 2015, the next version of Lync will become Skype for Business with a new client experience, new server release, and updates to the service in Office 365. We believe that Skype for Business will again transform the way people communicate by giving organizations reach to hundreds of millions of Skype users outside the walls of their business,” says Gurdeep Pall, Skype corporate vice president, in the company blog.

Skype for Business incorporates familiar and intuitive elements from both Skype and Lync, with recognisable Skype icons as well as the content sharing and telephony capabilities of Lync.

Skype for Business also adds video calling and the Skype user directory making it possible to call any Skype user on any device.

What Happens to Lync?

Skype for Business is the newest version of Lync, which will still exist in previous versions such as Lync 2013, etc., Microsoft says.

Lync users can gain access by updating from Lync Server 2013 to the new Skype for Business Server in their data centres, with no new hardware required. For Office 365 customers, the Skype update will occur automatically.

Microsoft will help Lync 2013 customers quickly adopt Skype for Business by enabling video connectivity between Lync 2013 users and the Skype network by the end of 2014. It will provide administrators with the option to use either the new Skype for Business UI or the existing Lync UI with the Lync 2013 client.

This allows them to take advantage of the familiar Skype interface immediately once Microsoft releases the new client.

Lync Server 2013 customers will be able to migrate easily to Skype for Business Server because Microsoft use the same hardware profiles and provides easy to follow steps for upgrading server software, Microsoft says. There are no changes for Lync 2010 customers.

More details such as call costs, integration of Skype credit and PBX functionality would be released at a later date, Microsoft told Digital First.

Skype Adds Free Video Conference Calls, Guts Premium Plan

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Skype, the default small business tool for long-distance and international calls, has added free video calls for up to 10 callers simultaneously.

Skype users in a group video conferencing call could also share their screens with participants for free. An accountant could Skype a client over a morning coffee to go over business reports and include the client’s business partner in a third location in the same video conversation.

While audio conferencing calls was always free, the ability to make multi-party video conference calls was previously a feature only available in premium paid plans. Users of the Skype premium plan had few extra features beside credit for calls to mobiles and landlines – only live chat customer support and removal of third-party ads.

Some who had recently paid for a 12 month subscription to a premium plan for group video conferencing were unhappy at finding out it was now available for free.

“I bought premium for the Group Video call ONLY. I might find other bells and whistles nice, but the truth is I paid the service for that. So, was I stupid that I paid?” wrote user Skaragiannis in Skype’s community forum.

Skype recently made video calling free across all platforms, including Windows desktop, Mac and Xbox One. Skype was expected to make group video calls available across more platforms at no cost.

The decision to add free video call conferencing brought the Microsoft-owned Skype in line with Google Hangouts, a video communications tool included in Google Apps for Business and Gmail.

Earlier this year, Skype users could also make video calls to business users of Office 365’s video and call conferencing platform Lync.

Microsoft Adds Skype-to-Lync Video Calls to Voice, Chat

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Skype users could make video calls to business users of Office 365’s video and call conferencing platform Lync in the latest step to integrate the two Microsoft-owned platforms, the company announced in a blog post.

Skype was the de facto tool for long-distance and international calls for many small and medium businesses.

Lync and Skype became connected last year for audio calling and instant messaging with more than 10,000 unique domain names on this service.

Other developments included the launch of the first Lync app for Android tablets. Lync Online uses could now make calls to Skype, Office 365 or PSTN (the standard phone network) callers. Skype users could also connect to gamers on the Microsoft console XBox One.

“Professionals will be able to connect in the same ways with co-workers, business partners and customers around the globe, from the applications they use to run their businesses,” said Gurdeep Singh Pall, corporate vice president for Lync and Skype engineering, Microsoft.

Other strategies to achieve Lync and Skype’s universal communication vision included making communications accessible in Xbox One, Microsoft Office, Outlook.com, search tool Bing, document management platform SharePoint and instant messaging program Yammer.

A business could run its phone system with Lync Server, which was available as a private cloud service from Microsoft partners.

Lync was launched in 2010 and has grown to a US$1 billion communications business.

 

Office 365 Upgraded with New Features for 2013

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  • New contact database called People
  • Newsfeed for RSS, blog posts and status updates
  • Centralised view of SharePoint sites
  • Two new plans, Small Business Premium and MidSize Business
  • Social features from Yammer

Microsoft has updated the business programs behind its cloud software platform, Office 365. New features in the release: a new contact database called People, a newsfeed combining RSS feeds, status updates and blog posts, and a centralised view of individual and team SharePoint sites.

Office 365 users on the road who wanted more power than the lightweight Office Web Apps could stream the full programs from their PCs to their iPads or Windows tablets (the feature was not available to Mac users).

Last week’s update gave Office 365’s communications platform, Lync Online, the ability to make multiparty videoconferencing in high definition.

Microsoft said that, by June, Lync users would be able to make calls, send instant messages and show presence status with users on Skype, another Microsoft acquisition.

Social sharing features from recent Microsoft acquisition Yammer had also been added to SharePoint Online.

A range of updates also made it easier for IT administrators to set up, secure and manage Office 365. Computerworld UK has a good summary of the benefits of the administrator changes to Office 365.

Microsoft added two more plans to the Office 365 portfolio, which comprised at least seven configurations already.

At the lowest end, the Small Business (P1) plan now has a big brother Premium plan which included the latest Office desktop software (Microsoft Office 2013) with each user’s subscription. The desktop software was part of the subscription licence and could not be used if a user stopped paying the monthly fee for Office 365. However, a user could install the desktop software on up to five devices (Windows 8 tablets, PCs, Macs and Windows 8 Phones).

The Small Business Premium plan was targeted at businesses up to 10 users and cost $13.50 per user per month from Telstra compared to $7.90 per user per month for the Small Business plan.

The Midsize Business (M) plan for 10 to 250 employees also included desktop Office 2013 and cost $16.50 per user per month. The Midsize Business plan has replaced the E2 plan and sat between the E1 and E3 enterprise plans ($12.70 and $33.30 per user per month, respectively).

However, the Midsize plan was more restricted than the enterprise plans, including the cheaper E1 plan. The Midsize plan was limited to 300 users (the enterprise plans were unlimited), could create up to 20 SharePoint intrasites (versus 3,000 on the enterprise plan), as well as restrictions to more technical features.

Image credit: Office 365

 

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Digital First covers news and opinions on accounting technology and is read by tech-savvy accountants who understand the importance of technology in establishing competitive advantage.
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