Skype and Lync - there is a contact

Microsoft accomplished what Lync corporate customers were looking forward to - building a bridge between Lync unified communications and Skype services. From today, users of the Skype and Lync platforms around the world have had the opportunity to communicate with each other.

Companies that use Lync in their infrastructure can now appreciate the benefits of federation with Skype, for example, connecting and collaborating with suppliers, customers and partners. The initial set of federation functions includes:
- Adding Skype contacts to Lync and vice versa
- Determining the presence of a contact
- Voice and instant messaging

Administrators: To enable federation capabilities in Lync Server, you need to activate a Lync-Skype connection. More information can be found in the following Provisioning Guide for Lync-Skype Connectivity.
The ability to connect Lync Online with Skype is activated in the Office 365 administration portal, but if you have already activated the federation with Windows Live Messenger, then no additional settings are required.

Lync Users : You can use the Lync 2010 or Lync 2013 client, including the Lync 2013 mobile version, to add contacts from Skype.

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Skype users: you should upgrade your Skype client to the latest version on the Windows and Mac platform.
Additionally, the user must enter the Skype client using the Microsoft account (previously known as Windows Live ID)


In the near future, Microsoft is going to realize the possibility of video calls.

In my opinion, at the moment, the federation does not satisfy all the needs of corporate clients and individual users, and is also not convenient for them. For example, from obvious minuses it is possible to select the following:
- no video link
- Skype user needs to log in using Microsoft account
- do not display custom photos (avatars)
- no conference

Most likely, these obvious things will soon add / change and the UC corporate market will get a very serious competitor, which will be difficult to fight. Cisco still struggling with Microsoft in a European court over Skype acquisition and future monopolization of the Unified communications market

News on blogs.skype.com
Skype and Lync: Connecting the Living Room to the Board Room
Lync 2013 implementation
Yours, Servilon Team