Microsoft Lync Turns Into Skype for Business in 2015 With New Features

Microsoft, in an attempt to help its VoIP user base grow, has announced that it will transform its Lync service into a new and upgraded service named Skype for Business. Lync is an enterprise-centred service for communication that was acquired by Microsoft back in May 2011.

"To that end, and for our business customers, 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," explained Skype's Gurdeep Pall in a company blog post.

Microsoft's next version of Lync, due to be released in the first half of 2015, will be branded Skype for Business. It will feature a new client, server release, and other updates to the service in Office 365, says Pall.

Familiar Skype icons for calling, ending a call, adding video and more will arrive alongside a new call monitor (seen above). The call monitor will let users view an active call as a small window on the screen if in case the user is working on some other application simultaneously. The Skype for Business update would also make it easier for users to access functions with few number of clicks than on Skype. For instance, transferring a call will now be just one click away instead of three.

While Lync already offers messaging and voice calling to Skype users, the new update will add the video calling ability and the Skype user directory to the enterprise-focused service. It is worth noting that Microsoft demoed the same video calling feature between Lync and Skype users back in February this year.

To take advantage of the aforementioned functions, current Lync server users would have to switch to Skype for Business servers in their data centres. Office 365 users would however receive an automatic update.