Presence, Contacts and IM

Return to Skype for Business – Windows Resources.

Presence

Presence lets other people see at a glance whether you and your contacts are currently available.

• Skype for Business reads your availability from your Outlook calendar.
• If you want to manually change your presence, open Skype for Business and select a presence status.

• Note: To revert from a manual status change and have Skype for Business automatically update your status, click the presence status menu and click Reset Status.

Limit access to your presence information

There are two ways to control who can see your presence.

1. Change the access levels for your contacts.
   
   • Click Contacts, then right-click the person's profile image and select Change Privacy Relationship.
   • Select the level of access you want to give to this person.

   

2. Set Skype for Business to only show your presence only to people you have in your contacts list (everyone else will see you as "offline")
   • Click the Options icon , then click Status.
   • Select then click OK. 

Contacts

• The quickest way to find someone via Skype for Business is to search for the person’s name, phone number, or IM address in the search box on the main window. The results display automatically.

• If this is a frequent contact, right-click the desired name in the search results and select Add to Favorites.
• To add a contact to a group:
  • Right-click the desired name in the search results and select Add to Contact List
  • Select a group for the new contact
    (to create a group, return to the main contact list, right-click on any group header and select “Create New Group”)
• You can also click the person's name to start an IM, phone call, video call, or open their contact card.
• The contact card displays detailed information, such as phone numbers, office location and availability.

Send an Instant Message (IM)

• In your Skype for Business Contacts list, find the person to whom you want to send an IM…or search for them by typing their name in the Search box.
• To open an IM session, double-click the contact’s name, or click the person’s name once then click the IM icon .
• Type your message at the bottom of the conversation window and press Enter on your keyboard.
• To add an emoticon, click the smiley button then select the emoticon you want.

Transfer a file in an IM

• Drag-and-drop a file into the IM window.
• Alternatively, click the Present button, then click Add Attachments. Select a file and click Open. When you see the file in the IM window, press Enter to send that file.

• Your contact receives a notification and can open or save the file.

Add a phone call to an IM conversation

• Click the phone icon in the IM window and then choose a number from the options. For UMass Lowell faculty and staff, their work number should be listed.

Add video to an IM conversation

• Click the camera button and check the preview. Adjust your webcam if needed then click Start My Video. To end sharing your video, click the camera button again.

Tabbed Conversations

• Tabbed conversations keep track of all conversations at once and preview the message.

• Navigate through active conversations using the tabs on the top left side of the window.
• Right-click a tab and click Pop Out Conversation to see the conversation into its own window.
• If tabbed conversations is not enabled, click the Gear icon and select Tools-> Options and enable it under the IM tab.

Return to Skype for Business – Windows Resources.