Microsoft on Wednesday announced that it has completed the first phase of its Lync-Skype integration, allowing more than five million Lync enterprise users to connect to Skype’s base of 300 million accounts.
For now, users are confined to instant messages and audio calls. Additional features, such as video chat, are scheduled to come online later, but even in its incomplete form, Microsoft’s growing unified communications platform already has the attention of at least one major competitor — Cisco, which argued before a European Union court Wednesday that Microsoft’s purchase of Skype constitutes a monopoly.
The integration supports both Lync 2010 and Lync 2013. Skype users, meanwhile, will need the latest version of the client, and must sign in with a Microsoft account. Users of either service will be able to add contacts from the other. Lync admins who did not previously enable Lync-Windows Live Messenger federation will need to turn on Skype connectivity.
Microsoft officials announced in February at the first Lync Conference that Skype integration would occur before June 30, meaning the company delivered a full month ahead of schedule. That said, the Skype-Lync union has been expected for far longer.