Microsoft have finally added new telephony features to their Skype for Business offering that should reduce the trade-offs that companies may need to make when choosing cloud-based communication software over IP PBX systems on-premise.
At Enterprise Connect 2017, which UC Today attended, Microsoft announced the addition of auto-attendant and call queues to Skype for Business in the Cloud, while partners introduced updated meeting room products that leveraged Skype for Business telephony.
The auto-attendant system works to answer and route inbound calls, and callers can use the Skype for Business dial pad, or speech recognition to ask to be directed through to a specific person or department. Call queues additionally send incoming calls through to sales agents or customer support in the order they are received.
A Great Development for Microsoft
A lack of available features when it comes to managing incoming calls has been a roadblock for the adoption of Skype for Business on an enterprise level, up until now. Fortunately, Microsoft have been chipping away at their shortcomings, to make Skype for Business more of a complement to on-premise systems for IP PBX. Over recent months, for instance, the company has improved conferencing and calling over the PSTN into more countries.
Microsoft’s development in Skype for Business telephony assisted in driving significant adoption. For instance, during October of last year, InfoTrack reported that the number of small businesses and enterprises completing trials for Skype for Business had risen by 33% and 42% respectively since 2015.
Microsoft Skype for Business Developments
Other announcements made at Enterprise Connected included a brand-new preview of the Skype for Business analytics for online calls. The dashboard in the Office 365 administration console assists IT managers in identifying and addressing problems impacting callers.
Furthermore, Microsoft partners announced further support for Skype for Business. For instance, beginning in April, Polycom’s Real Connect for Office 365, connecting Skype for Business users to room-based video conferencing systems, will be available in the U.S. What’s more, Crestron Electronics introduced the new update to their Skype room system for collaboration. The latest upgrade integrates the Microsoft Surface Pro touchscreen with Crestron video and audio solutions.
UC Today Opinion
Do you use Skype for Business Online? What do you think? Does it have feature parity with a PBX yet?
