Setting up Skype in your business

A bit more about our experience with Skype as the key form of communication in our office. 
I previously outlined a few of the benefits, this post will get you to the deployment stage and then I will get to the day to day use on my next post.

Firstly I need to qualify that our business is only small so we have few staff members, consequently using Skype exclusively is not a problem for us, for larger businesses with more team members it may be more practical to use Skype in conjunction with your office system.

Here is the process we used to deploy Skype in our business

Skype Manager

Set up Skype Manager : The first thing you will need to do is sign up for Skype Manager for your business, Skype Manager allows you to set up and control user accounts, distribute subscriptions and many other functions.

Follow the instructions on the Skype Manager quick start guide to set up:

Register for Skype Manager : It is recommended that you create a new Skype account using your business name.

Add members to Skype Manager : it is possible to add users with personal accounts to your Skype Manager but these accounts will have restricted functionality so it is recommended that business accounts be created for team members.

Add Skype Credit : You will need to purchase Skype credit for your company, this credit can then be used to purchase products/subscriptions which in turn can be allocated to your team members.

Assign features to members : You can then allocate subscriptions, credit, numbers and other features to members

Numbers, subscriptions and credit

Request Skype numbers : You will need to request some Skype numbers, unfortunately it can be a bit of lucky draw and a pain staking process trying to secure some suitable numbers. We purchased a number for each user and an office number. You do have the choice of which area code you would like but the actual number is a matter of scrolling through the pickings and try to find some in sequence.  

Purchase some subscriptions : next you will need to purchase some Skype subscriptions, you will need to purchase these on a per user basis. There are some great unlimited subscription deals to be had, most of which give you unlimited calls to landlines worldwide for 12 months from less than $140.00.

Once you have purchased numbers, subscriptions and credit you will be able to allocate these to your members from within Skype Manager.

You should be all set and ready to go now, more about how to get the best out of Skype on a day to day basis will follow in my next blog…