About Skype for Business

Skype for Business is a UC platform that expedites communication for businesses. The product has been developed by Microsoft. Skype for Business was previously known as Microsoft Office Communicator and Microsoft Lync and was launched in 2015. Skype for Business replaced Windows Messenger on the Windows operating system. The application is available for Windows and Mac computers and iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices. Communication between users takes place on the instant Lync Server and delivers messages to a wide range of instant messaging networks. Skype Technologies, part of the Microsoft group, operates from offices in Redmond, Washington, and Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Qi Lu is Skype’s executive vice president; Gurdeep Singh Pall serves as the company’s corporate vice president. Skype was founded in 2003 and has around 500 employees.

Skype for Business offers users features like instant messaging, video conferencing and VoIP. It allows businesses to communicate with customers and clients around the world. Users can access contacts from Microsoft Outlook and can collaborate on projects via Microsoft Office. The software shows users when contacts are online, too. Other features include auto attendants, screen sharing and virtual meeting rooms for up to 250 people. Users can also view, share and edit Microsoft Whiteboard and Microsoft PowerPoint documents. With Skype for Business, companies can manage employee conversations with access controls and security features, and all conversations that take place on the platform are encrypted. In addition, users can integrate Skype for Business with other applications, including business analytics tools. These provide businesses with valuable intelligence about call data.

Skype has won a multitude of awards since its inception. In 2011, the company won a Webby Award for “Best Practices.” A year later, Skype scooped three further Webby Awards, including the People’s Voice Award for “Best Use of Device Camera” and the People’s Voice Award in the “Social (Tablets and All Other Devices)” category.

About Microsoft Dynamics 365

Dynamics 365 is a product line of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) applications announced by Microsoft in July 2016 and on general release November 1, 2016. Dynamics 365 is sold in two editions, the Business Edition for small and medium businesses (SMBs), and the Enterprise Edition for medium to large organizations. The Business Edition includes the Financials application, based on the project code-named ‘Madeira’. The Enterprise Edition comprises Dynamics CRM applications (field service, sales, project service automation, and customer service) plus Microsoft PowerApps, together with Microsoft’s premier ERP product, known as Dynamics 365 for Operations.