That’s where Microsoft Teams can fill the void.īut what challenges might companies that use Skype face in the months ahead?īeyond the transition itself, not too many. With many colleagues still absent from their cubicles, communicating across counties and continents, the value of an integrated solution is evident. An on-premises version, Skype for Business Server, will offer mainstream support through 2024. Microsoft announced the forthcoming retirement of its Software-as-a-Service edition, Skype for Business Online, in 2019 - well before the COVID-19 pandemic - to nudge Skype users toward the cloud-based unified communications platform known as Microsoft Teams. The shift was well-timed: It predated a global health crisis that would forever change remote work. Skype capabilities grew over time, but so did the efforts of Microsoft developers to design a more comprehensive option better suited to the evolving needs of employee collaboration. Want to learn how Office 365 and Skype for Business can bring increased efficiencies and functionality to your call center operations?Need some assistance in how it can work best for you? Register for one of our webinars to learn more.A 2015 rebrand of Microsoft’s Lync enterprise instant messaging software first released almost a decade earlier marked the birth of Skype for Business.īack then, workplace users might have relied on Skype (the consumer version was acquired by Microsoft in 2011) to send messages and to make audio and video calls. Still, as Skype for Business continues to improve, I can certainly see it being a solid second reason after Exchange (and ahead of SharePoint Online, which continues to trail behind SharePoint Server in terms of functionality) to adopt an Office 365 enterprise plan. Still, Skype for Business is not compelling enough to to drive enterprises to adopt Office 365 - the value of Exchange Online is the key driver for Office 365 at most businesses. The new Skype server also has Control Panel improvements to better support hybrid configurations, especially for moving users between on-premises Skype and Skype for Business Online, to ease coexistence between the two. This makes for an easier and more cost-effective deployment. It recently released the Skype for Business Server 2015 (the upgrade to Lync Server 2013) with a variety of improvements.įor example, you can perform an in-place upgrade of your Lync Server to the new Skype Server, something we haven’t seen in the Exchange world for quite some time. Sadly, we’re not seeing the same efforts to improve Skype on Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform (the new name for Windows Phone).ĭespite its cloud and mobile focus, Microsoft hasn’t completely given up on the on-premises telephony game. Microsoft has also updated Outlook for iOS and Android to improve scheduling and group chat calls with the personal version of Skype an update for Skype for Business is promised soon. They want to see even more in Skype for Business… The recent E5 plan announcements introduced an Office 365 plan that includes Skype for Business features such as PSTN Conferencing, PSTN Calling, Skype Meeting Broadcast, and Cloud PBX, all of which help Skype for Business work more like - or with - an enterprise digital phone system.Īlthough welcome, these new features aren't enough for some users. The online version? Not so much.īut that is steadily changing with time. The on-premises version of Skype for Business (previously called Lync Server) is a fully functional enterprise-grade telephony replacement and VoIP product. The added features of Skype for Business online have certainly added to the appeal for a move to O365, but are they enough to be a leading reason to make the move? This article, Skype for Business is starting to get good, by J.-Peter-Bruzzese on InfoWorld, sheds some light on the topic: Looking for a good reason to adopt an Office 365 enterprise plan? It is no surprise the main driver for companies moving to Office 365 is moving away from exchange server environments.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |