Get Free Skype for Business Meetings with HD Video Conferencing

Skype Meetings is a slimmed-down version of Skype for Business, which includes rich meeting capabilities such as group HD video and audio calling and meetings for up to 250 people, the ability to record meetings, presence and instant messaging during and outside of meetings, and integration with Office 365 web and client apps such as Outlook and Delve.

Microsoft today released a new free tool called Skype Meetings that allows small businesses and others to have audio and video meetings, challenging Google Hangouts and other free videoconference services.

Skype Meetings will give users a professional space to coordinate their work with one another and present to people outside their business without having to pay for Office 365. For the first 60 days you can set up meetings for up to 10 people, after that, meetings are limited to 3 people on the free account. The ability to upload a PowerPoint presentation to a meeting and do things like wave over it with a virtual laser pointer and draw on it with digital ink ought to be of particular interest for people who do a lot of online presentations.

Anyone with a business email address and whose organization doesn’t already have Office 365 can sign up to use Skype Meetings – but it’s only available in the United States. The meeting organizer can also mute all other microphones to make sure they’re being heard. With the latest update, Skype for Business users will be able to see other users’ status, which is a very important feature.

You may recall that Microsoft acquired Skype back in 2011 to move into the VoIP communications space. It does not, however, include any of the business-oriented features that come with the new version of the existing Skype for Business.