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dialing a phone number includes enter-

ing the phone number in the search

bar above the keypad using the com-

puter keyboard.

If voicemail is integrated into Skype

for Business, messages are retrieved

from this pane as well. Thanks to a

feature known as “unified messaging,”

which is offered with the Office 365 E3,

E4 and new E5 licenses, another op-

tion for retrieving voicemails includes

opening messages in your email inbox.

Unified messaging allows voicemails to

be accessed from an email and played

audibly by dialing into your voicemail.

Business telephony needs are of-

ten more complex than residential or

consumer needs. Features that may be

required include the following:

Automated Attendant

– This fea-

ture may also be referred to as auto

attendant, virtual receptionist or digital

receptionist. It allows an incoming call

to be routed to a specific phone exten-

sion or department without the assis-

tance of a receptionist.

This is a productivity option that has

become a necessity for the enterprise,

as cost containment and efficiency drive

most operational decisions.

Hunt Groups

– Line hunting is the

process of distributing calls from a single

telephone number to a group of several

phone lines. Think of this as a “queue,”

which functions as a pool into which a

caller may be placed to be answered by

the first available person servicing the

queue. When you call a business and

hear “press 1 for customer service,” you

are line hunting for the next available

representative to take your call.

International Calling

– With most

companies operating globally today,

most calling plans include the option

to make international calls. This is

often offered as a per-minute service,

and is incremental to a domestic call-

ing package.

Handsets

– Enterprise voice calls

are placed via the Skype for Business

software running on your computer sys-

tem. This frees you from the binding tie

of a desk phone. All you need is access

to the Skype for Business client, which

may be accessed from your computer or

a mobile device, or any Internet connec-

tion for that matter.

When a company chooses to move

from a traditional telephone system to

an enterprise voice platform, they face

a dilemma: phone or no phone? While a

telephone has historically been a familiar

fixture on every office desk, this require-

ment no longer exists. However, you are

still provided with several hardware (tele-

phone) options which integrate seamless-

ly into the Skype for Business interface.

It is most important to use devices that

are optimized for Skype for Business to

ensure a quality experience.

In our next installment, we will cover

various complementary services that

can be integrated with Skype for Busi-

ness, taking your enterprise voice de-

ployment to the next level.

o

Greg Plum is the VP of U.S. chan-

nels for OBT Anywhere, a cloud solu-

tions company with a focus on helping

partners provide enterprise voice servic-

es for their customers, leveraging Skype

for

Business.This

content is based on

an excerpt from “Getting Started with

Skype for Business

Online,” a guide for Mi-

crosoft partners and end

users, written and pub-

lished by Greg Plum and

Robert Crane.

Core Communications

Channel

Vision

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May - June, 2017

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