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Prioritize your #meetings! Use Windows + Escape to decline a #Skype4B invitation you can't accept.
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On September 18, 2015, the Skype for Business team shared an important step in their efforts to bring seamless real-time communication experiences on the web to everyone—the Object Real-Time Communications Community (ORTC) API preview for Microsoft Edge browser is now available in the latest Windows Insider Preview release!
The ORTC API preview for Microsoft Edge is the latest result of a close, ongoing collaboration between the Windows and Skype teams. Together we’re able to apply decades of experience building great web platforms to deliver some of the largest and most reliable real-time communications services for businesses and consumers. What does this mean for you? For developers, we’re providing new ways to build innovative real-time communications into your web-based experiences. For people using Skype and Skype for Business at work or at home, calls and meetings on the web will soon get even easier and more seamless.
ORTC API capabilities
The ORTC APIs enable the development of real-time audio and video communications applications directly on top of the Microsoft Edge browser without the need to install any plug-ins. Using components provided directly by the browser, the ORTC APIs provide granular control over audio and video streams on the client machine as well as the transport layer that carries those streams over the network. ORTC APIs also support the development of more advanced real-time communications scenarios—such as group video calls with a diverse set of endpoints—using features like Simulcast and Scalable Video Coding (SVC), while preserving the ability to easily interop with existing telephony networks.
ORTC and Skype investment in standards
Building on the momentum of our updated Skype for Outlook.com and Skype for Web experiences announced earlier this summer, enabling ORTC API support in Microsoft Edge is part of our ongoing effort to bring seamless, real-time communication experiences on the web to everyone. We want Skype to help users reach anyone, anywhere, without interoperability concerns getting in your way. We also want to ensure web-based Skype experiences connect smoothly with the hundreds of millions of other Skype and Skype for Business clients running on desktops and various mobile platforms around the world. As a result, we’re making significant investments in standards-based, protocol-level support for ORTC and WebRTC interoperability across our platforms.
Specifically:
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We are updating our Skype media stack on all platforms (Windows, Mac OS, iOS, Android) with Standard transport protocols support, including STUN (RFC 5389), TURN (RFC 5766), ICE (RFC 5245), DTLS-SRTP (RFC 5764). The Skype media stack is used by all Skype and Skype for Business clients, cloud services and servers.
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For audio, on top of SILK, G.711, G.722, we have added support of the Opus codec in ORTC. We will continue to add native Opus support in our Skype media stack for all platforms.
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For video, Skype and ORTC in the Edge browser currently support 264UC. We are working on adding support for H.264. This will enable video interop between Skype and the Firefox browser, which currently supports H.264, and the Chrome browser when H.264 support is added to its WebRTC implementation.
Here’s a high-level view of how a group video call will connect between Skype clients and the plug-in-less Skype for Web clients using ORTC/WebRTC from various browsers:
Enabling seamless web experiences with Skype
Starting later this year, we will start to enable seamless communication and collaboration experiences for Skype for Web, starting with voice and video, without the need for plug-ins on Microsoft Edge. We are also working on bringing the same seamless experience to Skype for Business. For Chrome and Firefox, we will leverage existing WebRTC APIs to offer similar plug-in-less experiences where possible for most scenarios. For those browsers without support for ORTC or WebRTC, we will continue to provide an integrated experience using a small browser plug-in.
Lastly, for developers who take advantage of Skype Developer Platform capabilities such as Skype URI support and the Skype Web SDK Preview, we want you to be able to focus on building great web experiences that will work on the broadest range of browsers. We are working to integrate support for the ORTC and WebRTC APIs into our developer offerings while abstracting out the low-level details and differences in media handling between browsers with integrated real-time communications support and other browsers that still require a plug-in. Look for more details on these developer updates later in the year.
We’re excited about the upcoming updates to enable even more seamless communications experiences on the web and look forward to sharing more details in the near future. In the meantime, we’re always looking to improve your experience on Skype, and we care about your feedback. We’d love to hear from you via Skype Community, Skype for Business feedback, Facebook and Twitter.
—Hao Yan, Jonathan Watson, Daniel Jonathan Valik and Senthil Velayutham on behalf of the Skype for Business team
Source: https://blogs.office.com
9 Myths About Moving to the Cloud
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Office 365 is just Office tools in the cloud, and I can only use it online.
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If our data moves to the cloud, our business will no longer have control over our technology.
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Keeping data on-premises is safer than in the cloud.
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I have to move everything to the cloud; it is an all-or-nothing scenario.
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Cloud migration is too much for my business to handle.
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Corporate spies, cyberthieves, and governments will have access to my data if it is in the cloud.
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Skype and Skype for Business are one and the same.
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Email isn’t any simpler in the cloud.
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Continuously updating Office 365 will break my critical business applications.
Skype for Business iOS app now available
It’s never been more important to be able to get work done and collaborate with others from anywhere—be it participating in an important meeting while traveling or sending a quick message during a coffee run. We’ve been working hard to ensure Skype for Business can make you productive on any device. Since we announced the Skype for Business for iOS preview, we’ve received great response, and today we are excited to announce that the new Skype for Business app for iOS devices is now publicly available.
Along with the following features, the new app also resolves the sign-in issues that some of you experienced with Lync 2013 on iOS 9.
Join a meeting in one touch
An updated dashboard brings the contact search bar, your upcoming meetings and most-recent conversations to one place. The contact search bar allows you to search your Global Address List by first name, last name, email alias or phone number. Your recent conversations are at your fingertips, no matter which device you had the conversation on. You can also easily glance at your upcoming appointments—simply tap on the left for the meeting details or on the icon on the right to join immediately.
Enhanced in-meeting experience
Full-screen video makes for a more immersive meeting experience. Larger buttons to mute and the ability to add participants and manage your call make it a lot easier to meet while you are on the move. Simultaneous viewing of the content being shared and speaker’s video means that you never miss a moment.
Watch for the ability to view PowerPoint slides in a meeting in a future update. In the meantime, you can view a PowerPoint presentation via desktop sharing.
Additional authentication and security options
Office 365 customers can now take advantage of Active Directory Authentication Library (ADAL)-based authentication. This enables your IT admin to configure multi-factor authentication for the Skype for Business iOS app, increasing the security beyond just a user name and password. With multi-factor authentication, users are required to acknowledge a phone call, text message or an app notification on their device after correctly entering their user name and password. Other Office applications also support ADAL-based authentication, which allows for consistent authentication across your organization. Learn more about setting up multi-factor authentication using ADAL.
How you can upgrade to the new app
The new Skype for Business iOS app is now available as a Universal app in the iTunes Store. iPhone users with Lync 2013 will automatically get updated to the Skype for Business app. iPad users with Lync 2013 need to download the new Universal app from the iTunes Store. If you are an IT admin, use the Skype for Business iOS productivity guide to learn more and prepare your users.
What’s next?
We are iterating rapidly to enrich the feature set on iOS and bring them to you as quickly as we can. Later this year, we will also make Skype for Business app for Android publicly available. Join the Skype for Business IT Pro Yammer community to subscribe to the upcoming product updates, interactive Skype broadcast sessions with the product team, and learn from the community. We look forward to hearing what’s on the top of your mind.
—Praveen Maloo, product marketing manager for the Skype for Business team.
Source: https://blogs.office.com
The new Office is smarter than ever. Use Smart Lookup to research words without leaving your doc. Try Office 365 to get the new Office 2016 apps!
The Managed Solution team is getting the latest Customer Immersion Experience (CIE) training. The Customer Immersion Experience provides a facilitated hands-on environment where you can test drive Microsoft technologies including Office 365, Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Skype for Business, Project, Visio, Windows, Windows Phone, Dynamics CRM and System Center.
The immersion aims to provide a conducive environment to deliver a best-in-class and hands-on demo experience for you, such as the Business & Technology Decision Makers. Sessions are led by a trained facilitator and are designed to be interactive, experiential, and fun. Learn More >>
Sign up to either attend a scheduled CIE demo or contact us to request a complimentary demo exclusively for your organization (limited time offer)
Microsoft is still working on the new Universal Skype experiences for Windows 10
Earlier this year, Microsoft revealed that the company is working on a new, universal Skype experience for Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile. Microsoft announced that the company will be delivering the new Universal Skype experiences for Windows 10 “later this summer” as a preview. So, summer has just ended – where’s the new Universal Skype experiences? Well, it seems like the folks over at Redmond are still working on the new experiences.
We’ve reached out to Microsoft asking for an update on the Universal Skype experience, and a Microsoft spokesperson told us:
“We want to make sure Skype built into Windows 10 is the best experience possible, so we’re taking some more time to make sure it’s ready for users. In the meantime, you can continue to use Skype for Windows desktop, Skype for Windows Phone and Skype for Web on Edge.”
For now, there isn’t any specific release date for the Universal Skype Experience for Windows 10. It’s worth noting that the Universal Skype experiences for Windows 10 Mobile was leaked — and we suspect Microsoft will be delivering the new Universal Skype experiences with Threshold 2 in November.
Source: http://microsoft-news.com/microsoft-is-still-working-on-the-new-universal-skype-experiences-for-windows-10/
View and present content in a Skype for Business Meeting
When connected to a Skype for Business (Lync) Meeting from Skype for Business (Lync), you can’t upload content or start sharing your screen. But you can view sharing sessions and PowerPoint presentations and even take control of the content, if you are a presenter.
Change your view
When viewing the shared content, you can control how it’s displayed in your meeting window. Tap or click the stage to see the Actual Size and Fit to View options in the lower-right corner of the stage area.
Actual Size displays the content in the same size as that on the PC of the person sharing it.
Fit to View resizes it to fit the size of your screen.
For example, if the person sharing the content has a monitor that’s larger than yours, with Actual Size, you’ll see just the content that fits on your screen and you’ll have to scroll to see the other parts of the shared content.
With Fit to View, the shared content shrinks to fit your smaller screen. You can switch between the two display options and choose what works best for you.
You can also use the entire screen area to display the shared content. Double-tap or double-click the stage area to change the display to Full Screen view and back.
View and Present PowerPoint
If someone else has uploaded and started sharing a PowerPoint presentation, you can move ahead or back to view the slides privately, or take control of the presentation. Please note that you must be designated as a presenter to do this.
View slides privately
Tap or click the slide, then use the arrows at the bottom of the meeting to move through the slides.
This won’t interrupt the meeting, and you’ll be able to return to the slide that the presenter is currently showing at any time. Just select Return to Presenter’s View.
Take Over as Presenter
You can advance the slides in the meeting if the current presenter gives you permission.
1.Tap or click the slide, then select the icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
2.Select Take Over as Presenter.
A notification is sent to the presenter to give you access.
You also receive a notification when permission is given. Start advancing the slides by selecting the arrows at the bottom of the presentations.
Take control of desktop or program sharing
Although you can’t start desktop or program sharing from a Skype for Business (Lync) Meeting, you can request control of a sharing session that was started by another presenter.
When someone else is sharing a program or desktop:
1.Tap or click the sharing area, then select the icon in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
2. Take Over as Presenter icon
3.Select the Request Control button.
• The presenter receives a notification and can give you control, or deny access.
• When the presenter accepts the request, you receive a notification and can control the sharing session on their computer.
• When you are done presenting, select the dots at the bottom of the screen to release control.
Source: https://support.office.com/en-my/article/view-and-present-content-in-a-skype-for-business-lync-meeting-a61fb5ca-e18d-40d7-9e9a-cd76b6eea514?ui=en-us&rs=en-my&ad=my&wt.mc_id=soc_fb_o365_skype-for-business_null_null_null&Ocid=Lync-Outgoing_Social_FBPAGE_Skype%20for%20Business%20-%20SkypeBusiness_20150924_241166158#codeword
