Skype for Business – should you be using it?

Meetings are a necessary part of business in today’s world. Great teams need great communications. Imagine though, if you could meet with required employees in the same room with no travel needed? Well, that’s now a possibility thanks to Skype for Business. It allows participants in any location to see, hear and co-operate within your meetings as if they were actually present in the same room. Why is this so valuable? Well, the figures show that 3 out of 4 people communicate with colleagues that are in different locations on daily basis. Due to this, Skype for Business is fast becoming essential for communication in many businesses, large or small.

How does it work?

Using Skype for Business replaces old-fashioned and expensive telephone and conferencing arrangements. It also means you don’t waste time and money travelling to and from meetings in various locations. Instead, Skype for Business offers easy, secure and effective collaboration throughout organisations. It provides instant messaging, videoconferencing and includes content sharing. What’s great is that it’s available through one application which is easily integrated with your existing systems and works with Office 365.

What features can you expect?

Using Skype for Business, your employees have all the tools they need in order to collaborate, conference call, instant message and share files. They can do this with anyone, anywhere. Instead of using many different confusing conferencing systems, Skype for Business is available using one simple interface for all communications and with just one click of the mouse.

It also enables your business to call traditional telephone numbers and make international calls at local rates.

Other features include:

• Use any device
Now you can connect your team to anywhere using mobile apps whether Windows, Android or iOS. Use your tablet, PC or even smartphone for any business communications.

• Meet & call anyone
You can meet with up to 250 people, whether they use Skype for Business or not. All they need is an internet connection or a phone.

• Control and security
All conversations are protected by a strong authentication and encryption. You can also manage any employee accounts and features, making sure you always stay in control.

• Increased productivity
You can check your contacts statuses, are they online? Easily schedule meetings in Outlook and you can even start conversations from applications such as Word and PowerPoint too.

• Automatic archiving
Skype for Business will automatically archive all messages and content uploads. It also provides detailed reports that show how and when users were active, including who they were communicating with.

• Tailored to your business needs
It allows you to choose from flexible options that suit your particular business needs best, whatever your requirements are and whether your business is small or large.

How do I know if I should use Skype or Skype for Business?

Are you confused about the difference between regular Skype and Skype for Business? Well, these applications are very similar, however there are important differences.

Skype – this is great for home use. However it can also work very well for smaller businesses too. If you decide that you’d like to use it for work purposes then you can either choose to use your regular Skype that you use at home or get started with Skype for Business.

Skype for Business – this is best for mid to large businesses. It lets you add more people to your online meetings (up 250) includes high grade security, gives you control over employee access and accounts and also integrates with your Office applications.

So if you’re interested in simplifying your business communication infrastructure to one platform for conferencing, calling, video and content sharing, we can help. Using Skype for Business, Advance Computer Systems can get you connected to anyone, anywhere from the comfort of your office. Call us today to find out more on 01904 691 311 or fill out our contact form here.