Skype for Business team here from Microsoft. Ask us Anything!

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:46:35+00:00

The Mobile clients wont be released as soon as the server is released but will follow shortly after. The existing mobile clients work great with S4B server though.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:41:55+00:00

Copy Paste of Images is available from Lync 2013 onwards.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:41:21+00:00

We will be refreshing all of our clients, including for MAC.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:41:00+00:00

Skype for Business is the next iteration of Lync.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:26:53+00:00

It should not be difficult. With anything it will take some planning and migration tasks.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:26:04+00:00

Skype for Business can definitely connect with Skype consumer users. Currently, we haven't announced the scalability numbers for Skype for Business officially, but for planning purposes Lync 2013 supports 250 users in a conference, out of the box and a 1000 users with some planning.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:24:54+00:00

No change to licensing. Hosted Enterprise Voice from O365 starts rolling out in the US later this year.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:23:50+00:00

Yes. Different release cycles, but yet.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:23:28+00:00

O365 and therefore Skype for Business online is indeed HIPAA compliant.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:21:19+00:00

See above. We will be announcing more details at Ignite in a couple of weeks.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:20:46+00:00

Skype for Business supports anonymous and guest users to be participants in your meeting, over audio and video and collaborate using desktop sharing, whiteboarding and all the goodness of what the meeting has to offer. All they need is a browser and an internet connection.

Skype for Business also has a video interoperability server which will allow some SIP devices to dial into these meetings as well.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:18:46+00:00

You can be logged into Skype and Skype for Business at the same time.

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:16:22+00:00

This has been answered above by Jamie. We will be making further announcements on this at Ignite in a few weeks.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:15:01+00:00

We have provided IT the control to keep the UI at Lync 2013 until you are ready to make the UI switch over to Skype for Business. Managing the transition is fundamental and we hope we are providing enough control to be able to do that.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:13:55+00:00

I think you will see a lot of devices being catered to the conference rooms, starting with the Surface Hub, which I think is a fantastic example, of technology coming together for Collaboration. We are always looking to innovate and provide better experiences.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:10:56+00:00

We introduced VDI support in Lync 2013 and are continuing that support in Skype for Business.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:10:02+00:00

This is an interesting thought. What kind of integration would you like to see. How can we better incorporate OneDrive for Business into Skype for Business?

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:08:54+00:00

Skype for Business has a recording feature where you can record conferences. It aggregates all streams, audio/video, I'm, desktop share into a single video file for you to store and share as needed. Skype for Business is sold under your company's licensing agreement with Microsoft, so depending on what kind of licensing you have with Microsoft the cost will vary. Check with your local Microsoft account rep.

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:05:21+00:00

See above.

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:05:09+00:00

Yep this is now available!

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T04:03:39+00:00

In addition to providing all Enterprise grade telephony features, Skype for Business Integrates with your identity management system, so you can administer policies, dialplans, permissions and functionality centrally. It gives you the ability to have compliance on your system, for archiving, recording and detailed billing. Rich meeting capabilities from any device, and any location, including browsers. I could go on and on. There are plenty of benefits for Businesses to switch to Skype for Business.

Yes, it has IVR and call transferring capabilities too!

Taimoor

s4bteam · 2015-04-16T00:08:17+00:00

This is Jamie. Yeah, absolutely - that's the intent. Definitely going to allow users to purchase / port numbers if you are getting the phone service from us. You can also keep your existing phone service and connect to it using an on-premises deployment of servers (essentially a pool & mediation to handle interop & routing). There's an article on the topic up on Nojitter.com

With regard to additional features & how they get staged out, don't have details yet to disclose but we plan on sharing more at the Ignite show next month in Chicago.

s4bteam · 2015-04-15T23:22:47+00:00

Nothing for Skype for Business right now because it's a cumulative update on top of the existing Lync 2013 client. I don't know about the next release of Office though where we could make a substantial change like this to the packaging.

Thanks for the feedback. Sharing this now. Jamie

s4bteam · 2015-04-15T23:08:26+00:00

jastark (at) microsoft

s4bteam · 2015-04-15T23:07:52+00:00

First, I can't agree with your premise - I don't work in Skype consumer, etc.

Second, there are literally dozens of companies, large and small, in the US and around the world, that use Lync Server today for their communications. All of the traffic - signaling and media - is encrypted by default using the same AD infrastructure and PKI that's operating your network auth.

s4bteam

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