May
11
Written by:
Theo
5/11/2011 9:14 AM
When I heard the news yesterday about Microsoft buying Skype I was thrilled. As a frequent user of Skype I can tell you it is a great tool and I can’t wait for Microsoft to integrate Skype with its products. But obviously that will take some time and as Skype is absolutely free, I would say: don’t wait, download Skype now and start using it.
With the future of Microsoft Dynamics in the cloud I think there is also a great potential for Skype functionalities integrated in Dynamics. Imagine, just double click your contact-customer card and start video-calling that person, and share your screen to demonstrate your product. We all know that face to face contact is very important for effective communication and who does not want to save costs. Skype lowers the threshold for the effective communication, not only for commercial purposes but also within your company, for example when the company has multiple locations or employees work from home on a regular basis.
It offers free calling to everyone else who uses Skype, including instant messaging, video conferencing and screen sharing (although screen sharing still requires some tuning and adjusting for getting good quality, but I'm sure Microsoft will improve this). If you want to do conference calling or video conferencing with multiple people only one person needs to have a premium subscription for 8.99 per month or a business version.
All you need is a computer with a microphone and speakers (and a webcam if you want to do video) but all of this is built in in every laptop you buy nowadays. If not, just buy a $20 headset (and a $25 webcam for video) and you are ready to go. Go to the Skype website, click Get Skype and follow the instructions to start using this totally free tool, so you are prepared when Microsoft has integrated it into their products.
My Skype ID is kerstentheo, let me know yours so I no longer have to look up and dial your phone number