Skype for Business for Android

Remote connectivity has become extremely important in this day and age. A number of companies now require people to connect to workplaces from different countries and different offices in order to meet, communicate and work together. The COVID-19 pandemic has only paced up the process with now people avoiding commuting and working from home. Excellent communication tools are now extremely important where video calling, conference calling and business planning can be made without any hitches and with complete privacy. Skype for Business for Android, previously referred to as Lync 2013, has emerged as a solid option with the developer, Microsoft, marketing it as a great solution for individuals working from home. We look under the hood of the app to see if it can be useful in these tough times or not.

Skype has been a popular app for video calling for a number of years. However, the regular Skype app is for casual purposes only and does not offer the security or the connectivity speeds needed for official meetings where a number of people are expected to be on every call and where data sensitivity is of paramount importance. Skype for Business for Android offers security through its Active Directory Authentication Library while the connectivity speeds are also fantastic with the app.

Skype for Business requires a working Office 365 account or a Skype for Business or Microsoft Lync account. If you have neither of those, you cannot sign-in with the app and can therefore, not use the services. If you have the license needed and have already created an account, you can start working. Once you have signed-in, you would get access to all the contacts who are on the same account domain as yours. Your phonebook numbers will also be synced so that you can contact anyone you want through the connectivity options offered by Skype for Business.
The app has a beautiful interface with a very simple homepage. You see your profile at the top left of the screen and the options to look at your calendar (work calendar being maintained on your account profile) and your contacts. You can also see the upcoming team meetings and scheduled events in the "Upcoming" section on the homepage while you can also look at your recent activities (calling and messaging) on the same page.

To call someone, you can easily search for the contact from the homepage. You can type the initials and then see if you want to look at people from within your organization or someone listed as a contact on your device. Once you find your contact, you can then decide whether you want to send a message, make a call or do a video call with them. The contacts in your phonebook would be called directly on their number rather than on their Skype profile. This option is normally not available in most countries with connectivity restrictions limiting calls from Skype profiles to assigned mobile numbers.
You can also launch a team meeting from the calendar and decide on whether you want to mute people or not and whether you want to keep them in the call or not. These administrative rules are important in gatherings with multiple people, as you need to ensure that people who are required to speak can do so without any interruptions. The call and video quality is usually great even with modest connection speeds and this is helpful in ensuring that people can connect without much technical glitches.

Features:

• Easy on the eye app design
• Automatic sync of business contacts and phone contacts
• Messaging, calling, video calling and conference calling all possible
• Automatic sync with work calendar

Conclusion:

Skype for Business for Android is a solid app for office teams to collaborate and consult from their remote workstations. With solid connectivity, easy access and solid administrative tools, this is a great app for companies to use in order to keep people working remotely in a positive manner.