Office 365 for Web Gets Skype for Business Integration and More

Microsoft, besides announcing the Skype Translator rollout by the end of summer, has also announced new features and Skype for Business integration for its Office 365 for Web suite

The highlight of the Office 365 for Web update is the integration of Skype for Business conversations. Users can now start an instant chat or voice/ video conversation with their colleagues directly and without leaving from the Inbox, OneDrive for Business or Calendar application. "Conversations will provide you with real time, direct access to the information you need directly from your colleagues and persist across applications," said Nick Robinson, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Office 365 team on the company blog post.

The update also includes quick access to notifications pane via the new persistent bell icon, which will also display the number of notifications. The new notifications pane will also show real-time system alerts and personal reminders including new mails and group likes.

As a part of the update, Office 365 for Web will also feature a new Help pane, which as the name suggests will give quick access to help content via a search box. It will also let users view the "what's new" feature based on the application they are working in. The section also includes links to extra information, quick actions and more. The Help pane icon, which is a question mark symbol (?), will show a snowflake-like alert for new features.

For administrators, the Help pane will come with organisation support card, which will feature support contact for the organisation. The contact would include email, phone numbers, and website. The support card is placed at the bottom on the Help pane for users in the organisation.

Lastly, a new Settings pane has also been introduced in the latest version of Office 365 for Web that now gives direct access to setting on the application the user is currently working in, without leaving the main interface of the application. "In this way, you can personalize and customise your work environment without having to leave what you're working on," Robinson added.

Microsoft says the new features will start rolling out to users in the First Release program in next few weeks. All Office 365 business customers would receive the features in upcoming months.