Workspace Blog

Celebrate Earth Day By Giving Your Business a Boost

Friday, April 22 is Earth Day. It is a time to think about the precious resources we have and what we can do to preserve and sustain the planet. What if there were ways you could not only help save the environment, but also get a boost to your business productivity and bottom-line profit? Would that be of interest to you?

A practice that is gaining more and more acceptance among businesses is remote working. When workers are allowed to operate in a more flexible environment they are able to derive a lot of benefits personally. Their employer is also able to get many benefits --- not the least of which is substantial cost savings!

Employees are looking for ways to save costs as we see gas prices rising. In the U.S., prices have already broken through the $4.00 a gallon threshold and many are predicting $5.00 or higher by summer. Saving gas by telecommuting not only saves money but also reduces carbon footprints and helps the environment.

In a recent survey done by Dice.com, a tech job site, 25% of 937 IT pros surveyed in Mid-March said they would accept up to a 10 percent pay cut to telecommute in light of soaring gas prices. One could only imagine how that percentage would increase as the price of gas increases.

In the past, many felt the answer to congestion and traffic was to pour more asphalt and concrete, building more lanes for more cars. Today, a growing number are questioning that line of thinking preferring instead to have more workers use tools like Skype that enable professionals to stay connected, collaborate and generally effectively get work done from home or wherever they are. Many believe that money should be invested in greater bandwidth rather than concrete and asphalt.

Still another benefit is that remote working often leads to happier employees. According to Skype's Living Workplace study, 67% of professionals agree that flexible remote working helps businesses to attract potential employees. In addition, the survey revealed that flexibility to work outside of the office is among the top three determinants of job satisfaction. Discover more about the Living Workplace here.

Earth Day is a time to recognize ways to save the environment and boost our environmental consciousness. Working remotely is an easy way to do your part and get started, in an efficient way that saves costs, saves gasoline, and boosts productivity.

An Exciting Keynote for Skype at Enterprise Connect and News with Citrix

I'm David Gurlé, vice president and general manager of Skype Enterprise. Today, I'm here at Enterprise Connect 2011 in Orlando, Florida, and I've just finished my keynote address about Skype's game-changing role in doing business, as well as the changing landscape of the enterprise communications ecosystem.

What it comes down to is this. Technology is changing the way we do business. Employees are bringing their own technology into the workplace, mobility is creating a lot more flexibility than ever to be wherever you want to be to get work done, and the advent of cloud-based computing is also breaking down barriers and enabling people to communicate, access information, and be more productive in new and powerful ways. This is the new way of doing things in business.

Skype is helping to lead this shift in the workplace as more and more people are using and adopting Skype for business purposes. Business is about 'doing' and 'doing' is about collaboration, and that is what Skype is all about. Skype creates connected ecosystems of colleagues, clients, vendors, and partners. We help you overcome the traditional barriers of communication and allow you to access your network of the important people you have real relationships with to get work done.

These are some of the important points I made today at Enterprise Connect, which is an exciting place to be. Skype Enterprise has made some big strides forward over the last year in expanding its enterprise offering. In May 2010, we rolled out Skype Manager, a Web-based management tool that helps businesses harness the power of Skype in an enterprise. At the end of August 2010, we rolled Skype Connect 1.0 out of beta to enable IP-PBX or UC-based systems to connect to Skype. We announced a strategic partnership with Avaya in September 2010. And, most recently, in January 2011, we launched a new Skype Business client for Windows with Group Video Calling.

Today at Enterprise Connect, we took another big step forward by announcing a strategic partnership with Citrix, a global leader in virtual computing and Web collaboration and the provider of one of the most popular, easy-to-use Web conferencing solutions on the market today. We think our business customers will be excited about this because it means toward the end of this year, we will be adding Citrix's GoToMeeting capabilities to the Skype Enterprise desktop experience. This will further enhance Skype's collaboration solutions with a variety of new Web conferencing and audio features.

Already, Skype users can experience high-quality and cost-effective instant messaging, voice and video calling, group video calling, file sharing and more. The addition of GoToMeeting capabilities will allow Skype's business users to quickly set up online meetings with an audio conferencing bridge that enables users to join via Skype or through public switched telephone network (PSTN) phone numbers.

Joining me to talk about this announcement today - Brett Caine, senior vice president and general manager of Citrix's Online Services Division. Check out this video of us sharing the news:

We know you couldn't agree more that adding these features to Skype for setting up and joining meetings will be a welcome addition. We are now working on bringing you the most advanced enterprise collaboration tool ever and we can't wait to share further details with you about the product and its commercial release in the next few months. So, stay tuned.

Skype's David Gurlé to Deliver Keynote at Enterprise Connect 2011

Mark your calendars. On Tuesday, March 1, 2011, David Gurlé, vice president & general manager of the Skype Enterprise business unit, is set to deliver a keynote speech about the growing importance of collaboration within the enterprise at the 2011 Enterprise Connect conference in Orlando, FL. David's speech will also contain a news announcement related to Skype's business collaboration solutions. David is set to take the stage on Tuesday at 1:30 PM EST / 10:30 AM PST.

For those of you who won't be attending the conference, but are curious to hear what David has to say about Skype's place in the world of collaboration, his keynote will be streamed live. Also, beginning February 27th, you will be able to visit the Skype-Live micro-site to access all of Skype's news announcements and presentations from the conference and to watch an archived video of David's keynote.

Enterprise Connect promises to be a busy show for Skype's Enterprise team. In addition to David's keynote, Skype's presence at Enterprise Connect will also include Andrew Sinclair, director of enterprise product and engineering management, participating in the following panel sessions:

• "Telepresence in the Home: How Will it Affect the Enterprise?" - Monday, February 28; 2-3 PM EST


• "Choreographing the Cloud: Finding the Right Mix of Cloud vs. On-Prem Functions" -Tuesday, March 1; 2:30-3:30 PM EST

Barry Castle, product marketing manager for Skype Connect, will participate in "The Post-PBX Platform: How Real, When and From Whom?" panel session (Monday, February 28; 2-3 PM EST), while Adam DaCosta, Director of National Business Development for Combat Networks, will be discussing his organization's use of Skype Connect during the "Case Studies: Implementing SIP Trunking" panel session (Wednesday, March 2; 3:45-4:30 PM EST).

For those attending the show, the Skype Enterprise team will be available daily throughout the conference at the following locations:

• Osceola 6 - Stop in to learn more about Skype's enterprise solutions and ask any questions about how Skype can be deployed across the enterprise.


• Avaya Booth #801 - Stop by every afternoon for a demonstration of Skype Manager and Skype Connect, as well as the Avaya-branded ROI tool in action.


• Conference Reception Area - See Skype's video solutions in action and do a Qik interview on Skype Live.

As always, we'll be live tweeting from each of the panel sessions, as well as David's keynote, so please follow @skype4business on Twitter during the show to keep track of what's happening. Or you can "like" us on Facebook. We'll also keep you up to date with the latest news from the show right here, so please check back throughout the show.

Skype at Enterprise Connect - Barry Castle Discusses Opportunities

Enterprise Connect is coming to Orlando 28 Feb - 3 March and you have a chance to get answers to your questions. Discover how you can optimize Skype with our partner Avaya, see some of the latest tools for connecting in your enterprise and get a chance to meet one-on-one with Skype personnel who can give you answers.

Watch this video interview with Barry Castle as he describes what is waiting for you at Enterprise Connect.

The Future of Work

A new survey reveals how businesses are using different forms of communication and the shift towards more flexible and remote work environments.

It used to be that the average worker would report to work and earn a salary based on performance and attendance; yet time spent at the office has become almost irrelevant as an indicator of a worker’s value or their output.

The workplace today is radically shifting as remote working becomes more widely accepted and tech-savvy workers are increasingly bringing their own personal technology choices into the workplace. A new generation of communication and collaboration tools are empowering businesses of all sizes to enable a more flexible and productive workforce.

To better understand the evolution of the changing workplace and how different forms of communication are being used in business, Skype commissioned a survey through Incites Research, which surveyed 1,000 technology-enabled professionals in the US, including 500 business end users and 500 technology decision makers across small, medium and large size businesses.

Today at the GigaOm Network Future of Work conference, these survey results will be revealed by workshop moderator, Michael Wolf, VP of Research at GigaOm, and will be discussed among a group of panelists from Skype and other companies.

Among the most interesting takeaways of the living workplace survey:

• Flexible and remote work environments have become commonly accepted and are important for hiring and productivity, with 62 percent of reporting firms employing remote workers.
• Remote workers are spending, on average, 40 percent of their time away from their office.
• Two-thirds (67 percent) of organizations allow their workers to bring in their own personal technology into the workplace.
• Respondents of the survey said they are harnessing many different modes of business communication. The two communications tools expected to have a decline in usage in the next year are e-mail and landline phones, while the communications tool that is expected to have the biggest gain in usage next year is video calling.
• And yet, the two most indispensible communications tools that have the highest usage in business are e-mail and mobile phones.

The survey presentation to be shared at today’s GigaOm conference is available here:

While all of these finding are quite interesting, I think it boils down to this – the transformation of the workplace is being enabled by communications tools of all kinds – from mobiles, VoIP, social media, to video calling.

These technologies are truly bridging the divide between dispersed workforces in different locations, across many geographies, which ultimately empowers businesses to grow faster, scale, and save on costs. It is making a big difference in the way information is shared, ideas are communicated, and how work is getting is done, and that, in itself, can give businesses an edge in a hyper –competitive global business environment.

Service partner transformation - Christopher S. Dean's VON/Channel Partners keynote

Skype’s CSO, Christopher S Dean, presented the keynote at this year’s VON and Channel Partners events – you can see the slides from his presentation above.

He outlined trends in the service partner landscape, discussing FMC, UC and changes in IT spending – and introduced Skype’s service partner strategy.

Skype for Business focus groups in London this week

We’re holding small focus group discussions with potential partners and businesses. If you’re intrigued as to how Skype could benefit your business, or interested in helping us refine our offerings for business customers, please get in touch through our marketing research partner Hawkeye.

Groups are this Thursday evening in London. There is limited seating, so please email Janese Evans with your contact information and, a few sentences about the size and focus of your business.

We’ll get back to you as soon as we can with a few questions and the details. If you qualify for a open position and participate in the discussions, you’ll be paid an honorarium to compensate you for your time.

Help us develop Skype for your business

Our user experience research team needs the help of UK businesses to shape the future of our business products and features.

In their continual drive to improve our products they’d like to visit your premises for half a day and conduct interviews with a selection of Skype users and decision makers, and observe how Skype is used in your business. Data collected will be strictly confidential and not shared or used for any purposes other than improving Skype for Business.

Your feedback has the potential to influence design changes, new features and product offerings. We’ll also offer compensation of €200 of Skype Credit (or equivalent in Pounds Sterling) for your time.

If you’re interested in participating please complete this form.

Stefan Öberg live at Interop Las Vegas

Watch Stefan Öberg live from Las Vegas at 09:30 Pacific time – and don’t forget to track #interop on Twitter for up-to-the-minute commentary.