Microsoft has a lot riding on Skype. With the Redmond giant staying focused on the office collaboration market, meeting solutions such as messaging, video/voice calling and conferencing play a critical role in the workplace, and Skype is Microsoft’s solution to address that need. Microsoft announced several updates to Skype for Business in Office 365.
These are the new Skype Updates Microsoft rolled out yesterday
- Auto Attendant and Call Queues, two new calling features in Skype for Business that will help users automate call routing.
- A new Skype for Business Call Analytics dashboard, which provides IT admins with greater visibility to identify and address call issues, such as network issues or headset problems.
- Enhanced security through multi-factor authentication
- Microsoft has also brought in third-party players into the mix to add more layers to their meeting room solutions. Polycom RealConnect for Office 365, will allow customers to connect existing video conferencing devices to Skype for Business Online meetings; and Crestron SR for Skype Room Systems offers a full native Skype for Business experience that can seamlessly integrate with the Crestron control and AV systems.
- Enghouse Interactive’s TouchPoint Attendant is the first attendant console for Skype for Business Online.
These updates come at a time when Google and Amazon have intensified their efforts to build enterprise-focused meeting/chat solutions. Amazon launched Amazon Chime for online meetings and conferencing this year. Google launched Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat for businesses.
Microsoft, Amazon and Google are competing with each other in the office productivity segment. In any workplace, messaging-meeting-conferencing and calling play a huge role. As such, the kind of meeting solutions you have, the features it offers and how it integrates with other parts of your productivity suite will play a huge role in user experience.
That’s why all three companies are working double-time to make their meeting solutions stand out. Amazon and Google made their move last month, announcing their product launches and updates, and now Microsoft has gone ahead and added more features to its product.
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Source: Microsoft Blog Post
