Microsoft, Polycom partner to offer Skype for Business

Leading the effort to “rehumanize” how communication is done within enterprises in a new world of work, Microsoft Philippines has answered the need for unified communications through Skype for Business. 

“Today, enterprises…in the Philippines are in for a digital disruption,” said Christian Lim, office marketing business group head of Microsoft Philippines. “As the workforce and consumer markets become more digital, there is a need for flexible (and) rich communications, and a reinvented productivity solution that will usher in a new modern workplace.”

A whole new world of work

Presenting data that it had garnered through its “New World of Work” survey, Microsoft surmises that, as enterprises adapt to the changing business landscape, they must also adopt new ways to communicate with their employees that are grounded in available and inexpensive technologies.

With most of modern employees disparate and working away from the office, work mobility has become a primary concern for businesses. They have adopted multiple technologies to cope with the need to connect and interact with one another. But Microsoft stressed that an irregular workforce should not rely on multiple confusing devices in order to be flexible and work-competitive.

“We understand that there is an undeniable demand for communication that transcends time zones and geographies.” Lim said. “The evolution of communication through technology has greatly impacted the workplace, and we want to help equip businesses with products that will empower them to do more in a mobile-first, cloud-first world.”

Tools for teamwork

Microsoft embraces the new working culture that today’s employees are engaged in by introducing solutions they have devised in Skype for Business, helping them to unify communications in a heavily scattered workplace.

Available Skype for Business solutions are expanded through Microsoft’s partnership with Polycom to deliver the industry’s first cloud-based video interoperability service. Polycom will also develop new video collaboration and video-room solutions for Skype for Business, allowing their users to leverage the ease of use afforded to them by Microsoft, and Polycom’s proven and industry-leading technologies in their new deployments.

“Our 12-year partnership with Microsoft delivered industry-leading collaboration solutions to our end-users,” said Peter Leav, CEO of Polycom. “Together, we equip our customers of all sizes with cloud-ready solutions that will help them realize the powerful benefits of collaboration in the workplace of the future.”

Partnering with the international communication technology company, two readily available solutions built in Skype for Business were presented by Microsoft: Outlook Integration and Cloud Private Branch Exchange (PBX).

Businesses can now integrate their Outlook accounts into their Skype for Business app, making it easier for them to invite workmates into meetings and Skype calls that dissolve the need to bring their work into the boardroom.

Microsoft has also made this available to people who do not have the Skype for Business app through the free web app.

Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) Calling and PSTN Conferencing by integrating their already existing PABX solutions with Skype for Business will provide a seamless experience for end users—one tool for instant messaging, video conferencing, presenting content, and even telephony—enabling true audio conferencing to anyone and anywhere, and Cloud PBX implements central cloud private branch exchange without the bulky hardware that eventually drives down communication costs.

“Answering the urgent need for unified communications, we simplified Skype for Business’s design and created a common user experience that is both accessible to people and fitting to their devices,” said Eileen Ong, small and midmarket solutions and partners director of Microsoft Philippines.

“And with (today’s) threat to privacy, we employed measures to ensure reliability and security in our services, we assure our customers that they can (focus) their whole attention (on) the conversation, worry-free,” she added.

Facing the future head on with Skype for Business, Microsoft assures businesses the opportunity to modernize mobility, collaborations, and meetings within the workplace.

“We at Microsoft, underline our mission to empower people to do more by pushing further toward advancement, to which we believe there is only one way—forward,” Ong said.

Want to know more about today’s new world of work and how Skype for Business can help you and your business answer the need for communications? Visit www.skype.com/en/business/