Instant Messaging and Video Conferencing with Skype for Business Skype for Business (formerly known as Lync) is a free instant messaging/web conferencing application available to all AIC students and faculty as part of our Microsoft 365 package. Instructors can use Skype for Business to hold virtual office hours, explain difficult concepts, review for exams and more. This document provides and overview to installing and configuring Skype for Business, as well as using it to hold meetings. Accessing and Installing Skype for Business Most college-issued computers should already have Skype for Business installed. To determine whether your computer has Lync on it, click on the Start button (the Windows icon) on your computer and search for Skype for Business. Important Notes: 1. If you have Lync on your computer (but not Skype for Business), you may need to run updates on your computer. Contact the Help Desk (http://webhelpdesk.aic.edu) for assistance. If you used Lync before it was upgraded to Skype for Business, your videos will still be stored in a folder called Lync Recordings. 2. Skype for Business is a different product from the regular Skype. Skype for Business is internal to AIC and contains some different features from Skype. If you have Skype on your computer (a blue icon with a white S ) but not Skype for Business 2015 (a white icon with a blue S ), then you will need to follow the steps below to install Skype for Business on your computer. If you do not have Skype for Business installed on your computer, here are the steps to download it: 1. Go to http://my.aic.edu and log in using your full AIC email address and email password. 2. Under Quick Links, open up email. 5/26/2015 Teaching Technologies Documentation Series 1
3. In the Outlook Web App, click on the icon of the gear in the upper right corner and select Office 365 Settings. 4. Click on Software in the left-side menu. 5. Select Skype for Business from the menu (it may be selected already) and follow the steps to download it. 6. Once you have downloaded Skype for Business, log in with your email address and email password. This may be a two-step process: a. First, enter your AIC email address and click Sign In. b. Next, you may be prompted to enter your password. Enter your myaic password and click Sign In. Create a List of Contacts If you plan to use Skype for Business on a regular basis, you will want to build a contact list. Here are the steps for adding contacts to Skype for BUsiness: 1. In the search bar that says Find Someone, type in the name of the person you would like to add to your contact list. 5/26/2015 Teaching Technologies Documentation Series 2
2. When the results appear, right click on the name of the person you would like to add. You can also double click on the name of the person to start up a one-time chat without adding the person as a contact. 3. Select Add to Favorites to add the person to your contact list. Organizing Your Contacts into Groups If you plan on using Skype for Business with your students or colleagues, it may be helpful to create groups to locate specific contacts easily. To add a new group, right-click on the Favorites bar and select Create New Group. Type in a name for your group, then press Enter. Once you have created a new group, click on a contact in your Favorites list and drag it into the group. You can save a contact in multiple groups. When you add new contacts to your list, you can choose to add them directly to one of your existing groups. 5/26/2015 Teaching Technologies Documentation Series 3
Text-based Instant Messaging with Skype for Business The most basic feature of Skype for Business is text-based instant messaging. To begin messaging with a contact, double click on the contact s name. If the person is not yet a contact, you can search for them as above in the Create a List of Contacts section. When you click on the contact s name, a window will open up where you can type messages. Elevating a Text-based Lync Session to Content Sharing Beyond simple text-based chats, Skype for Business also provides the ability to share several different types of content your screen, a webcam, a file, etc. during a chat session. You have the following options, which can be seen in the image above: Phone icon Start audio chat. Video camera icon Start video chat. Television/Monitor icon Opens options for sharing your computer screen. Humanoid icon with plus sign (upper right corner) Add additional contacts to the conversation and manage their privileges, such as ability to use a microphone or a webcam. 5/26/2015 Teaching Technologies Documentation Series 4
Clicking on the television/monitor icon will open the sharing options: Present Desktop/Programs/PowerPoint: Choose an item desktop, PowerPoint, etc. to share with your contact. The PowerPoint will appear in the meeting window for you to present and annotate. Attachments: Upload a document to share, much like an attachment to email. These attachments will be made available for participants to download. Shared Notes/My Notes/Manage Notes: If you use OneNote, select a Note to share. More: Add a whiteboard, poll or Q&A to your session. Manage Presentable Contact: Toggle between previously shared items and adjust permissions. You can use any of these features during a regular instant messaging session with a Skype for Business contact, or you can right-click on a contact s name and select Call or Start Video Call to begin using these advanced features immediately. (Note: When you select Call using Skype for Business, it will call the participant s computer.) 5/26/2015 Teaching Technologies Documentation Series 5
Using Outlook to Schedule a Skype for Business Meeting You can set up meetings in Skype for Business the same way you set up meetings in Outlook. From your Outlook calendar, click on New Skype Meeting at the top of the screen. When the window opens, fill in the details as you normally would: participants, date, time and other details. When your participants receive the invitation, it will include a link to join the Skype meeting. He or she only needs to click on the link to enter the meeting. While you will need Skype for Business to run the meeting, the participants do not need to have it installed. Instead, the meeting will open in a browser (a small browser add-in will install the first time a participant joins a meeting). Note: the web browser add in may still refer to the tool as Lync. 5/26/2015 Teaching Technologies Documentation Series 6