Information Technology

• Accessing Skype for Business
• Basic Skype for Business Help
• How to Schedule a Skype for Business Basic Meeting
• How to Schedule a Skype for Business Advisee Meeting or Office Hours
• A user in Skype for Business shows the status "No IM", what does that mean?

Accessing Skype for Business

• For On-Campus Windows desktops, Skype for Business should already be installed as part of the Microsoft Office Suite
• For On-Campus Macintoshes, Skype for Business should already be installed. If you are not sure, please contact Solution Center.
• For Personal Windows or Macintosh systems, download and install the Microsoft Office suite from https://portal.office.com . Skype for Business will be installed with the rest of the Office suite.
• For mobile devices, go to the appropriate application store and download the Skype for Business application

NOTE: Skype for Business is a separate application from just "Skype". Currently these two are not compatible or capable of communicating between each other.

	Click the Start button Select All Programs Select Microsoft Office then click on the Skype For Business icon If prompted to sign-in use your campus e-mail address e.g doej@wittenberg.edu and campus password
Skype for Business (Macintosh)
	Click Finder Select Applications Select Microsoft Skype for Business If prompted to sign-in use your campus e-mail address e.g doej@wittenberg.edu and campus password

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Basic Skype for Business Help

Microsoft provides some instructions on the basics of using Skype for Business at the following link: Skype for Business help

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How to Schedule a Skype for Business Basic Meeting

If you are familiar with GoTo Meeting or other online conferencing applications, Skype for Business provides the same if not more functionality.

Note: you have to use an Outlook Client to schedule a meeting, the web based version does not have the options to schedule such meetings.

This is called a basic meeting because anyone that is sent the link will join the meeting as soon as they click the link. You create a slightly more complex meeting, where attendees have to wait in a lobby before they can actually join the meeting. To do this see the next section "How to Schedule a Skype for Business Meeting with a Lobby using Outlook"

1. Open the Microsoft Outlook Client	Windows:	Macintosh:
2. From the New Items menu select Meeting NOTE: Windows Outlook users might see an option in the New Items menu called Skype Meeting. You can select that to skip the next step.	Windows:	Macintosh:
3. Click the "Skype Meeting" button to turn the meeting into a Skype for Business meeting	Windows:	Macintosh:
4. The meeting will change into a Skype for Business meeting. The Location will change and additional information will be added to the meeting notes, including the "Join Skype Meeting" / "Join Online meetin" links.	Windows:	Macintosh:
5. Finish scheduling the meeting as your normally would. Everyone in the To line will get a copy of the meeting invite including the Join links, so that they can join at the appropriate time.	Windows:	Macintosh:

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How to Schedule a Skype for Business Advisee Meetings or Office Hours

This option is similar to basic meeting with the exception that attendees will have to wait in a Lobby until you let them into the meeting. This is a good way to Schedule Office hours via Skype for Business, as you can send out an open invite to your advisees, and as they show up you can let only one in to the meeting at a time to talk to them.

1. Open the Microsoft Outlook Client	Windows:	Macintosh:
2. From the New Items menu select Meeting NOTE: Windows Outlook users might see an option in the New Items menu called Skype Meeting. You can select that to skip the next step.	Windows:	Macintosh:
3. Click the "Skype Meeting" button to turn the meeting into a Skype for Business meeting	Windows:	Macintosh:
4. The meeting will change into a Skype for Business meeting. The Location will change and additional information will be added to the meeting notes, including the "Join Skype Meeting" / "Join Online meeting" links.	Windows:	Macintosh:
5. For Windows systems: Sselect the Meeting Options button For Macintosh systems: Click the Skype menu and select "Set Access Permissions"	Windows:	Macintosh:
6. For Windows systems: Change the "These people don't have to wait in the lobby option to "Only me, the meeting organizer", and check the box "Announce when people enter or leave". Then click OK For Macintosh systems: Move the slide to the far left so it is under "Only me", then click OK	Windows:
	Macintosh:
7. Finish scheduling the meeting as your normally would. Everyone in the To line will get a copy of the meeting invite including the Join links, so that they can join at the appropriate time.	Windows:	Macintosh:

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A user in Skype for Business shows the status "No IM", what does that mean?

Occasionally you will see a user's status as "No IM". This tells you that the user's polycomm phone is active, but they do not have the Skype for Business Client currently running on their system. So you can call them, you just cannot send them Instant Messages (IMs).

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This document last reviewed March 17, 2020.