Skype for Business delivers a familiar experience and enterprise-grade security features to empower Thai businesses to succeed in the ASEAN Economic Community and Digital Economy era 
BANGKOK, 3 April 2015 – Microsoft (Thailand) Limited showcased the new Skype for Business experience, set to transform enterprise communications and collaboration and empower Thai businesses to succeed in the ASEAN Economic Community and Digital Economy era. Skype for Business (formerly Microsoft Lync) is a communications and collaboration platform with features including presence, IM, voice and video calls and online meetings. The technical preview of the Skype for Business client is available now, and gives current Lync customers a chance to trial Skype for Business and prepare to upgrade before the new client, server and online service become generally available from May onwards.
The Skype for Business experience is based on Skype, which more than 300 million people use Skype every month to connect with friends and family. This familiar experience is enhanced with enterprise-grade security, compliance and IT control, as well as the ability for people to search for and connect with anyone in the Skype network, inside or outside their organization. In addition, Skype for Business is built into Microsoft Office, making it easy to initiate chats, calls and meetings while working in Office.
“Enabling people to connect with one another is central to Microsoft’s mission to reinvent productivity and help people make the most of every moment,” said Giovanni Mezgec, General Manager of Product Marketing for Skype for Business, Microsoft Corp. “Office 365 has become the preferred cloud service for businesses of all sizes around the world, and Thailand is no exception. With the increasing adoption of Microsoft Office 365 by Thai businesses and organizations of all sizes in both public and private sectors, Thailand is a promising market for Microsoft as we roll out Skype for Business globally.”
The right cloud for communication and productivity
Microsoft is making continued investments over the next year to enhance its industry-leading cloud productivity solution Office 365 for real-time communications. Because it is part of Office 365, Skype for Business will deliver at massive worldwide scale, with datacenters in 37 countries; with the most comprehensive productivity experience; and with enterprise-grade reliability and controls on top of a secure and compliance-ready platform. Thai companies and organizations who have already adopted Office 365 include Nok Air, Thai Smile, Dusit International, Diethelm Travel, Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), Office of SME Promotion (OSMEP), and Thai Red Cross among others.
“We are excited to introduce Skype for Business, the next transformation of enterprise communications and collaboration to businesses of all sizes in Thailand. Thailand has embraced technology adoption very rapidly, with Internet use in Thailand rising at the highest rate in the world last year, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU),” said Panjaporn Vittayalerdpun, Office Business Group Lead, Microsoft (Thailand) Limited. “With the ASEAN Economic Community set to take place end of 2015 and in line with the government’s Digital Economy strategy, Skype for Business will enable businesses to collaborate more efficiently and productively across geographies, platforms and devices. Businesses will be empowered to do more and achieve more through collaborative tools such as Microsoft Office 365 and Skype for Business.”
Microsoft partners are ready to help organizations deploy Skype for Business
Microsoft’s partner ecosystem is ready to help organization plan for their deployment of Skype for Business. There has been a five-fold increase in Microsoft partners deploying Lync in the cloud over the past year, and over 80 percent of the channel have been trained on Skype for Business. In addition, most existing software and hardware solutions that are qualified for Lync 2013 will also be compatible with Skype for Business. As a result, current Lync customers can get quickly up and running with Skype for Business with the solutions they’re already using.
At ‘The Future of Skype’ event held today at The Conrad Hotel Bangkok, AudioCodes presented One Box 365, a unified solutions, products and services offering intended to simplify and accelerate voice-enablement of Microsoft Lync implementations. Also certified for Skype for Business, One Box 365 applies to the different Lync deployment architectures, including on-premises, cloud-based and hybrid. AudioCodes provides one of the broadest suite of voice solutions for Microsoft unified communications in the industry.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) also presented their Unified Communications solution offering and professional services in conjunction with Skype for Business that range from design, implementation and support. For example, the HP Network Solution for Lync includes support for continued communications even when the Wide Area Network (WAN) is unavailable, allowing Microsoft Lync (or Skype for Business) users to remain productive, make external phone calls, and sustain their internal peer-to-peer communications such as instant messaging.
Systems 2000, authorized distributor of world leading Plantronics communication headset and audio equipment, also presented its latest additions to Plantronics Unified Communications portfolio of audio devices that are optimized for Microsoft Lync, which are also certified for Skype for Business. Designed to deliver exceptional audio quality and enable effective communication and collaboration, regardless of workplace or location, these new offerings are the Voyager Edge UC and the Clarity 340.
Start the journey with Skype for Business today
Current Lync customers in Thailand can access the technical preview through April 30, 2015 (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/evalcenter/dn917485), and are encouraged to sign up for the latest updates on Skype for Business here (https://updates.skypeforbusiness.com/).
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For further information, (press) please contact:
Pornravee Suramool or Cheryl Yab
Hill+Knowlton Strategies Thailand
Tel: 0-2627-3501 ext. 110, 206 or 081-735-9213, 098-272-4077
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]