On December 10, 2015, Skype Translator started including Brazilian Portuguese as one of its seven spoken languages offered for speech-to-speech translation.
With Brazilian Portuguese as one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, today’s news is yet another step in Skype’s mission to help people connect through conversation simply and easily, regardless of where you are in the world, and what language you speak.
Just one year ago, Skype released Skype Translator with Spanish and English for people using Windows 8.1. Now, Skype Translator is available on Skype for Windows Desktop and in the following seven spoken languages: Chinese Mandarin, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and now Brazilian Portuguese. Skype Translator also offers over 50 IM languages in text-to-text translation.
In the past year, since Skype CVP, Gurdeep Pall, announced the public preview of Skype Translator, we’ve opened a new chapter in communication and enabled millions of people to connect globally. We continue to be tremendously grateful to our partners at Microsoft Research who have worked tirelessly to improve the technology’s accuracy and have played a key role in releasing new languages.
For those who have not yet taken advantage of Skype Translator, it is this dropdown in the latest version of the desktop app.
As you know, Skype exists to bring you closer to those who are dear to you, even when you’re far apart. And if you have young children you’ll know that the person dearest to them at this time of year is none other than jolly ol’ Saint Nick, even though the North Pole is a long way away.
For a truly special Skype call this holiday season, why not create a call to Santa for your youngsters? It takes a bit of effort, but it could be a memory they treasure for life, even after the magic wears off.
Step 1: Setting the scene
The first thing you’ll want to do is plan where the call is going to take place. Santa could use Skype on his tablet or mobile, but you’ll have a lot easier time setting the scene if you know in advance exactly what parts of the North Pole will be visible during your Skype call. So set up your laptop or webcam before you start decorating.
We could give you some tips on what Santa’s workshop should look like, but your inner-child probably already knows what’s needed – lots of “Ho, ho, ho” and even more snow, snow, snow!
Also, Santa needs a microphone to be heard, like everyone else, but a headset might spoil the effect a bit (not to mention the risk of beard accidents!). A USB speakerphone like the JABRA Speak 410 concealed in a pile of presents near Santa’s chair would be perfect.
Step 2: Get the mood right
A lot of the mood in a room comes from the way it’s lit. When it comes to dark winter nights and cozy hearthside gatherings nothing beats the warm glow of an open flame. But candles alone probably won’t provide enough light for a typical webcam.
You can supplement candles in the room with some artificial lights if you get the right bulbs, though. You’re looking for bulbs with a low “color temperature” – the closer you can get to 1800K (the color of candle light) the better. Your local hardware store should stock lightbulbs in a range of colors for you to choose from.
Step 3: Write a script
As we know, kids are nothing if not unpredictable, but having a rough idea of what you should and shouldn’t say to keep up appearances on the call is a good idea. Toddlers can ask surprisingly tough and unexpected questions, but you might be able to avoid some of them if you steer the conversation down more predictable paths.
Step 4: Make sure Santa is camera-ready
Once you know where Santa will be sitting, you’ll know what parts of his outfit he’ll need for the special occasion. With some careful angling of the camera, he might be able to keep his bunny slippers on rather than shell out for those expensive black boots, for example.
Step 5: Make magic!
Now all you need to do is put your youngster(s) in front of Skype, start the call from Santa and let the most wonderful Skype call of the year take place. If you need a little help getting the call going, feel free to check in with our friends at Skype Support.
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If you do set up a call with Santa this holiday season, make sure to record it for the sake of posterity. We’d also love to see the result on the Skype Community to get us all in the festive spirit.
Microsoft recently released Skype for Business for Android. The company has been testing the app on Android for a little while, and it’s finally available for the public. With the new Skype for Business app, Microsoft is offering a new dashboard design which offers a Skype for Windows-like experience on tablet devices. Microsoft states:
A new dashboard design brings the contact search bar, your upcoming meetings and most recent conversations to one place. Simply tap the Quick Join icon to the right of your appointment name to join your meetings with one touch, or tap the name of the meeting to see its details. Your recent conversations are at your fingertips, no matter which device you had the conversation on. Additionally, full-screen video as well as larger call-control buttons to mute and add participants to a meeting make it easy for you to collaborate on the go.
Additionally, Microsoft is also offering a better contact management experience with the new Skype for Business for Android app. In the new app, users can easily search for a contact within groups, etc. The app also brings a “modern” authentication experience for users, which is also pretty nice to see.
Ariela Suster’s company has one bold goal, to employ at-risk youth in El Salvador giving them an alternative to a culture of violence and gangs. She uses Skype on her Surface to stay connected with her team, designs new jewelry lines with Surface Pen, and manages her books using Microsoft Office and other full desktop software.
Read customer success stories to learn how Managed Solution helps businesses implement technology productivity solutions.
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Download the Skype for Business Bandwidth Calculator
A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that calculates WAN bandwidth requirements for a Skype for Business Server and Lync Server deployment based on administrator-specified user-profiles and network information, and a PDF document user guide that accompanies the spreadsheet.
Microsoft Skype announced the share button, which makes sharing to Skype even easier. When you find something to share on the web, click the Skype share button. A window will come up on the page and all you need to do is sign in, pick one or more Skype friends you would like to share with, and click Send. You’ll also have the option to add a message to be sent along with the link to start the conversation.
For our developer friends with blogs and websites, you can also easily add the Skype share button to your site. Simply head over to skype.com to learn more and generate a code snippet today. There are multiple button layouts available and the sharing experience works great for both desktop and mobile sites. So get started and add the button to your site today!
Skype team has partnered with MSN.com to kick off and launch the share button worldwide. In India, they have partnered with sify.com. You can try the new experience in these sites.
The workplace is changing. Learn new ways of working with Office 365 !
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Wednesdays with Will: Microsoft Dynamics CRM & Office 365 – Working In Perfect Harmony
By William Marchesano, Technology Advisor & Evangelist
Welcome back! Last week we talked about the recent expansion in Office 365 to include Dynamics CRM. This week we are going to discuss how you can enhance your experience in Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online with Microsoft Office 365. Separately, they work well as standalone solutions, solving different day-to-day challenges. Put them together, though, and you have managed to enhance both of these valuable business tools for the user as well as the administrator.
Over the past 3-4 years there has been prevailing sentiment for businesses to move to Microsoft Office 365. The most common, and logical, starting point for an organization would be their email (Exchange). Gone are the days where you have to buy new server hardware every few years, allocate the space in your office for said hardware, buy new software to upgrade, and pay for an anti-spam solution to keep you safe. Oh, and let’s not forget the maintenance that goes along with keeping it running in good order. All the above challenges have been either eliminated or reduced by Office 365 Exchange Online. There are also other parts to the solution such as file sharing (SharePoint/OneDrive), video conferencing (Skype For Business), crowdsourced collaboration (Yammer), and the tried and true Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) that can be consumed through Office 365 as well.
As you know, much like Office 365, Dynamics CRM Online is also a platform that was designed to improve efficiencies in accomplishing daily tasks as well as enhance collaboration between your employees. In addition to that, Dynamics CRM is a process driven user experience tool that gathers analytics for business intelligence. These qualities are important when you are looking to implement a sales automation, marketing automation, or services automation solution for your organization. Dynamics CRM was designed to be used for these functions out-of-the-box. Yes, customization is required to make it hum along to the rhythm of your particular business but all the major pieces to make it work are there. But how does it all tie into Microsoft Office 365?
Let’s start with the reasons why your users will love it. All the featured applications I mentioned above (Exchange, SharePoint/OneDrive, Skype For Business, Yammer, and Office Suite) are logically integrated and used throughout the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online experience. Through Dynamics CRM Online you are able to synchronize emails, tasks, contacts, and appointments with Exchange Online and your Outlook. Documents that you save in Dynamics CRM pertaining to an account or opportunity are also synchronized and saved to SharePoint. You have the ability to click on a phone number in Dynamics CRM Online to make a phone call by using Skype For Business. One of the best new features, Office 365 Groups, allows non-Dynamics CRM users a single location to share documents, conversations, meetings, and notes with Dynamics CRM users. This would be helpful in the scenario of sales opportunity where the input of non-CRM users could be instrumental in winning a deal.
From an administrative perspective, Dynamics CRM Online is a familiar experience if you are already using Office 365. This is because Dynamics CRM users can be created and managed through the Office 365 admin center portal. You have the ability to do many other things through here such as manage billing and licenses, manage passwords, view self-serve service health, track planned maintenance, or leverage the Message Center. The Message Center is a great resource because it can tell you how to fix or prevent issues, plan for service changes, or just to stay informed of new or updated features. You can even request service to resolve an issue through the Message Center.
In the coming weeks, we will continue to go deeper into how these tools will apply in different scenarios such as sales automation, marketing automation, and services automation. I hope you enjoyed and found this week’s article informative. If you’re interested in some how-to related CRM material, check out blogs by my colleague Ben Ward here. Till next time…
About the author:
Will has over 16 years of experience in business development, team management, and project management. Will has worked at Managed Solution for over four years and is currently advising businesses on best CRM practices and implementations. Will’s focus is on process improvement and analytics specializing in Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Will is a Microsoft Certified Professional, with certifications in Presales Technical Specialist – Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, Sales Specialist- Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Application, Sales Specialist- Office 365, Sales Specialist- SMB Infrastructure and Sales Specialist- Datacenter.
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