Recently we have been seeing Microsoft bring a couple of its products together, integrating one into the other, and today it continues with that strategy. Skype, the communications service owned by Microsoft, announced today that it has now been integrated into Office Online. To be precise, Skype will now be available for Office Online Word and Office Online PowerPoint.
Microsoft’s Office Online product already makes collaborating with other people on Office documents a breeze. The documents can be easily accessed and edited online no matter where in the world the users are, all that’s required is an internet connection and a competent device.
Skype integration within Office Online will make collaboration even more easy. Chats will be available right alongside the document thus allowing users to chat in real-time as they work in the document. Group chat support means working on documents with multiple users is quick and doesn’t require users to read through long email threads.
The chat experience alongside the document also displays which co-authors are online and any messages missed while the user was offline. All that’s required to get this up and running is a Microsoft account, it is recommended to link the Skype account to the Microsoft account. This can be done by using a tool that Microsoft has just for linking the two accounts together.