Microsoft announced the integration of Skype in Office Online
late last year. So you could collaborate and co-edit documents using
the video call and chat service. Starting today you can do the same in
OneDrive. The conversations will stay linked to the document-in-progress
so you can have all the context and history slapped on for future
reference. While Skype is being integrated firmly into online tools to
boost interaction, Microsoft has decided to discontinue the Skype for TV
app.
According to the company's blog,
"users have changed the way they use Skype, with the majority accessing
it from a mobile device – including when in the living room." With that
switch in user behavior, most TV makers are expected to remove the
application from "some or all of their TV models" starting in June this
year.
Microsoft today released new Skype for Business voice and meetings capabilities in Office 365. The new features include Skype Meeting Broadcast,PSTN Conferencing, and Cloud PBX with PSTN Calling.
Microsoft launched Skype for Business in April, and began upgrading customers using the Lync 2013 client and the Lync Online service. A month earlier, however, the company promised to launch new enterprise features in preview “this summer.” In July, the company delivered and committed to having all three features out of preview by the “end of calendar year.” That time has now arrived: Enterprises can get all three starting on December 1.
Skype Meeting Broadcast lets you broadcast a Skype for Business meeting on the Internet for up to 10,000 people. Attendees can join via their desktop browser or mobile device, and participate in real-time polling via Bing Pulse and chat viaYammer. Microsoft expects the feature to be used for virtual town hall style meetings as well as public webinars.
PSTN Conferencing lets you join a Skype for Business meeting in Office 365 by dialing in and add someone by dialing out to their landline or mobile phone. It is meant as an offline alternative; online meetings can include people in places with no Internet access.
Cloud PBX with PSTN Calling lets you make and receive traditional phone calls in Skype for Business. The Skype for Business client can manage calls with features like hold, resume, forward, and transfer thanks to the enterprise voice technology available in Lync Server and Skype for Business Server. The feature includes an option to use existing on-premises phone lines for inbound and outbound calling. Office 365 customers can also subscribe to Microsoft calling plans and phone numbers, starting in the U.S. with more markets coming later.
Office 365 users can thus leverage Skype for all their written, audio, and video conversations. “The Office 365 Skype for Business voice and video services are based on an intelligent real-time network, spanning Microsoft’s global data centers, to deliver secure, high-quality voice and video traffic at the speed of light across the globe,” Microsoft said in March.
What the company didn’t share until today is pricing. These features are part of a new suite called Office 365 E5, which compares as follows:
In addition to Skype for Business, E5 also includes new security and data analytics capabilities in Office 365:
Delve Analytics, which uses rich dashboards to provide insights on time and relationships.
Power BI, a business analytics service that enables information workers to analyze data via live data dashboards, interactive reports, and visualizations.
Customer Lockbox, which gives customers new approval rights, transparency, and control over their data in the cloud.
Advanced eDiscovery, which integrates Equivio machine learning, predictive coding, and text analytics capabilities.
Advanced Threat Protection, which protects against unknown malware and viruses by applying behavioral analysis.
All of these new capabilities are available now for enterprise customers. Microsoft is hoping that by bringing the communication stack right into Office, enterprises will be able to replace their separate meeting systems and PBX systems with a single solution (the company estimates over half of its business customers are currently paying for multiple conferencing solutions).
Microsoft has hardware partners building audio conferencing solutions. The Polycom RealPresence Trio for groups and Polycom VVX desktop phones, for example, are the first phones qualified for the new Skype for Business services in Office 365.
Application partners are also building solutions like contact center applications that work with Skype for Business and Office 365. Microsoft wouldn’t give an exact number, but did says “hundreds” of partners across many different industries are on board.
With Skype for Business, Office 365 is supposed to offer a complete platform for meetings, calling, video and sharing. And if the company can charge more on a per user, per month basis, why not?
The Skype app for Android has just been updated with a handy option for users who would like to save and keep video messages of importance. The new version, available now, lets users save received video messages by tapping the thumbnail in the conversation view, and simply choosing the "Save to Gallery" option. Think of it as a way to hang on to video voicemails from loved ones or those with important details needed later.
The update for Android also includes several other refinements, such as a quick way to clean up conversations on the app's Recents tab. A long-press on a conversation now brings up a toolbar with buttons to delete the conversation, mark all its messages as read, or just mute its notifications.
New group sharing features include the ability to share images directly from the photo gallery to a Skype group conversation. Also, when viewing a group chat, tapping on images or files will give options to instantly forward them to another contact or group conversation. The same also goes for Mojis, Skype's custom emojis that play a GIF-like animation.
The updated Skype app is available to download from the Google Play store, and follows the previous update which introduced filters for video messages. No word from Microsoft on when the video message sharing option will come to the iOS app.
The Skype team doesn't have it easy these days -- it not only has to compete with legions of live chat apps, but also the back-and-forth video messaging of Snapchat. What's it going to do? Fight on Snapchat's home turf, apparently. Microsoft hasreleased Skype updates for Android and iOS that let you add "fun" filters to your video messages, such as a creepy inverted color scheme or goofy face stretching. Yes, it comes across as trying to stay hip with what the kids are doing, but it could be helpful if your birthday greeting just isn't festive enough. And don't worry if you like plain vanilla videos, since there's something new for you as well. Skype now supports 3D Touch on theiPhone 6s and 6s Plus, so you can quickly start a call or peek at a conversation. Source : Engadget
Skype Translator will move out of beta preview and start rolling out to everyone using the Skype for Windows desktop app.
The tool, which translates conversations in near real time, will be available free for users of the Skype desktop client. Six voice languages will be compatible at launch - English, French, German, Italian, Mandarin Spanish - as well as 50 others just for text-based messaging.
Once you've got the update, a new globe icon will appear in the top right of the window. Clicking it will turn Translator on, meaning your conversation will then become translated as you talk. Not only will they be translated in audio but you'll have subtitles too.
Techradar had a conversation with somebody using Translator, ourselves speaking English and them speaking Italian. It was clear that there are still improvements to be made in accuracy when detecting words, particularly my own name, but much of it was spot on.
And it will get better. As more people use it, Skype Translator will improve in accuracy through machine learning. It also recognises names in your address book, so if you're talking about someone and it doesn't pick up on the name, Skype recommends adding that person to your contact book.
"We're still in the early learning days," Lee Ott, Director of Product Management, told techradar. "We're much better now at dealing with accents, we're much better at dealing with an expanded vocabulary"
"Now it's ready for a much broader audience, so we're going to take it out to the world, and that in turn will increase its accuracy very quickly."
Right now Translator is only on Desktop, but given Skype's roadmap until now, it wouldn't surprise us if it the mobile and web versions follow in the not-too-distant future. There's also no word on when it will come to Skype for Mac.
The update will begin rolling out for the desktop client today. Don't panic if it doesn't hit you immediately - it's on its way.
Microsoft's Skype voice and messaging app experienced a major service disruption Monday morning that crippled the app's core features for some users. The company has acknowledged that it's currently working to resolve "an issue that is affecting Skype in a number of ways" — but the problems have now stretched on for several hours. They're also being felt worldwide, so the issue isn't limited to any particular geographic area.
The glitch is showing all contacts as offline, even for users who are actually logged in, making it impossible to place voice calls. Microsoft says the messaging side of Skype is still mostly working properly, though the company notes "a small number of messages to group chats are not being delivered."
If you're not currently signed into Skype, you might have a tough time getting online while the problems persist. Users can also expect delays before changes to their Skype account (profile, calling balance, etc.) are reflected across the service. "We're doing everything we can to fix this issue and hope to have another update for you soon."
If you use Skype enough on your Android phonethat you can't always make heads or tails of who's calling, today's your day. An updated version of Skype for Android brings the same kind of contact-specific ringtones that you might be used to with conventional calls, so you'll know if it's a BFF or someone who can afford to wait. The same update will be handy if you can't help but share pictures, for that matter -- you can now forward the images you receive in chat, guaranteeing that those baby photos will reach the rest of your Skype-using family. Swing by Google Play if either of these new features happens to reel you in. Source : Engadget
