To many people, the Skype brand is synonymous with video calling. It was, after all, the application which brought peer-to-peer video communication to the mainstream. Even though it has always been just as effective for IM and low cost VoIP calls, video is what really stands out in most people’s minds.
However, in Microsoft’s reinvention of the Skype name as a business UC platform, video is not necessarily one of the strong points. Yes, you can use Skype for Business to make video calls and hold video conferences. The quality is perfectly good. But you are restricted to only holding video calls or virtual meetings with other Skype for Business users.
There is, in other words, no native compatibility with different video platforms. If you don’t use Skype for Business, you cannot dial into a Skype for Business video conference.
To some, this places a limit on how useful Skype for Business is, especially as an external comms solution. As video grows in importance as a frontline comms channel, it is no longer being viewed as just an option for connecting colleagues within the same business. With advances in technology making high quality live video streaming more accessible and adaptable than ever, there is no reason not to keep communicating and working with business partners, clients and suppliers as well.
The drawback with Skype for Business is that it requires all of those external contacts to be using Skype for Business as well.
Cloud video conferencing host Videxio believes this holds back the role video can play in business comms - and limits the usefulness of Skype for Business, too. The company believes, in the modern spirit of open standards compatibility and easy connectivity for all, that the silos created by proprietary software should be a thing of the past.
In September 2017, Videxio launched a new Gateway-as-a-service solution specifically for Skype for Business. Using the Microsoft-certified Pexip Infinity Fusion Gateway, Videxio created a solution within the Microsoft Azure cloud for connecting to Skype for Business video calls from any device and any platform.
In this review, we’ll look at how the Videxio Skype for Business Gateway extends video operability for users, and also consider the benefits of running such a gateway as a hosted cloud service.
What can it do?
The Pexip Infinity Fusion is a software gateway which allows standards-based video conferencing platforms to connect to each other. In summer 2017, it was certified as compatible with Skype for Business Server 2015, allowing companies running Skype for Business on-premises to include non-Skype for Business users in video conferences and greatly extend the range of one-to-one video calling.
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Videxio runs the Pexip Infinity Fusion video conferencing gateway from a platform within the Azure cloud to make it fully accessible to all Skype for Business users.[/caption]
Videxio added to this by building a new calling platform within the Microsoft Azure cloud which incorporated the Pexip gateway. This greatly increases the number of use scenarios the gateway will work in. In practical terms, it means that anyone using a standards-based platform can connect to a Skype for Business conversation or conference via video - it doesn’t matter if the server or online versions are being used, and the cloud-based Videxio platform offers enhanced support for mobility.
