Microsoft has announced acquiring, for an undisclosed amount, some Skype-related technology tools from Australian-based Event Zero.
Previously, Event Zero provided management and reporting software for Skype for Business Online, which is the cloud version of Skype for Business.
However, while announcing the asset acquisition, Zig Serafin, corporate vice president of engineering at Skype for Business, said in a blog post that Event Zero’s technology will help Microsoft improve its business voice and video conferencing software as it seeks to offer a “complete, enterprise-grade communications solution at global scale with Office 365.”
“Our goal is to make the Skype for Business management tools as powerful and easy-to-use for IT professionals as Skype is for end users,” he added.
Skype for Business is better suited for companies, versus the individual. It is much safer for businesses as the administrator can monitor other users’ activities. The service also allows for up to 250 people on a single meeting or conference call compared to 25 allowed by Skype for consumers. Office 365 and Outlook are also more integrated with Skype for Business. This, for instance, makes it easy to start a call or send an IM from within Excel or Word documents.
Microsoft seeks to use the acquired technology to provide a more streamlined experience to its Skype enterprise users so that they don’t have to hop from one app to another just to have productive remote conversations.
Lately, Microsoft has been showing more focus on Skype for Business, including launching Android and iOS apps for the service. The company has even incorporated voice and meeting capabilities within Office 365.
Announcing the acquisition in a press release, Event Zero’s CEO David Tucker said, “Microsoft was a logical partner for the technology. I see the purchase benefiting more Skype for Business customers than Event Zero could possibly reach.”
Event Zero’s asset acquisition is the latest in a series of improvements related to Skype for Business. Late last year, Microsoft acquired Ray Ozzie’s Talko and added more traditional telephone features to the service.
Image: Event Zero
Sounds like a smart move. If you’re serious about business users the offering has to be reliable and robust. This should definitely help.