At its Lync Conference in San Diego earlier this week, Microsoft demonstrated an integration of its enterprise communications service with its consumer counterpart Skype.

Both Lync and Skype offer instant messaging and video conferencing services, and with the recent merge of the Lync and Skype engineering teams, Microsoft is focusing its strategy on blurring the lines between work and home.

"Communication experiences are very personal human expressions and we know we can provide a platform that delivers from the living room to the board room," said Giovanni Mezgec, general manager of enterprise product marketing for Skype.

Communications through both services will be fully operational within a year, however, some services will arrive sooner, such as Lync users being able to dial Skype IDs and vice versa. Microsoft will also add enterprise voice capabilities and Web meetings to Lync Online, which is hosted in Microsoft data centers.

Microsoft also made the promise of Lync apps for mobile devices. Lync applications for Windows Phone and iOS are expected next month with an Android version to follow shortly thereafter. The applications will allow users to perform voice-over-IP and video-over-IP communications. Apple iPad users will have the ability to view shared desktop content in Lync meetings.

The company also released a new product called Lync Room System (LRS). The new initiative is designed to push the Lync server software into conference rooms that currently use outdated voice and video capabilities. LRS-enabled conference rooms will synch with Lync to allow for easier presentations.

Over five millions seats of enterprise voice service have been deployed, according to Microsoft. That number is up from three million just 14 months ago. Lynch is in use at 90 out of the Fortune 100 companies while its partner roster has reached one thousand, 600 of which have been added in the last three years.


Edited by Rachel Ramsey