Skype for Business, which brings the best of Skype and Lync, due out in 2015

[Guest Suzanne Choney]

Skype has broken the distance barrier worldwide by bringing people together via video on computers, phones and tablets. Meanwhile, Lync simplifies and unifies the different tools people use to communicate for work. Drawing upon the strengths of both programs, the next version of Lync will become Skype for Business, it was announced Tuesday.

 

With Skype for Business, “We are bringing together the familiar experience and user love of Skype with the enterprise security, compliance and control from Lync to create the most loved and trusted communications platform for doing things together,” writes Gurdeep Pall, corporate vice president for Skype, in a blog post.

 

“We believe that Skype for Business will again transform the way people communicate by giving organizations reach to hundreds of millions of Skype users outside the walls of their business,” he says.

 

Skype for Business is due out in the first half of 2015. Current Lync Server customers will be able to update from Lync Server 2013 to the new Skype for Business Server in their datacenters, Pall writes. “No new hardware is required. For Office 365 customers, it’s even simpler. We’ll do the required update.”

 

To learn more, head over to the Skype Garage Blog and to the Office Blogs.

 

Suzanne Choney

Microsoft News Center Staff

 

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