Skype for Business is now available in its Technical Preview version

Day of important launches within the Microsoft world Along with having released the first public preview of Office 2016, today those in Redmond have also released the Tech Preview of Skype for Business, the application that will replace Microsoft Lync as a communication tool for businesses.

Among the new features that Skype for Business offers regarding Lync is a renewed interface, which, as expected, is very similar to that of Skype for consumers, sharing the same visual theme, same emoticons, button style, etc.In this way, the aim is to achieve consistency between both experiences, and that those who are already used to using Skype at home do not find it difficult to use Skype for business, and vice versa.

And there are more samples of integration: from Skype for Business you can access the directory of users of Skype for consumers. It also offers a miniature call view, identical to that of traditional Skype, from which you can control calls in progress even when the main window is minimized .

Another useful enhancement is the ability to make calls to company phone lines from within the application. However, this function does not work in reverse, ie it is not possible to call into a Skype Business account from a business phone.

The integration with Office is also not absent, since by using Skype for Business we will be able to manage our availability, and start audio calls and video from other office suite applications.

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Finally, the call rate function will allow system administrators to collect information about the quality of service delivered to them to employees, almost identically to how the feedback feature in Skype for Consumers works (except here the feedback goes to the company using the service, rather than to Microsoft)."

Skype for Business Tech Preview is part of the trial version of Office 2016, but can also be downloaded and installed separately from this place. Of course, to be able to test it we will have to have access to a Microsoft Lync account.

In addition, only the Skype for Business client is allowed to be tested at this stage, so those who want to take a look at the server application or web services will need to wait until next April, in which Microsoft expects to release the final versions of all these tools.

Via | Thurrott.com Link | Skype for Business Client Preview