The following features are new for this release of Skype for Business.

Skype for Business uses a Quick Skype for Business menu with each contact listing to provide lots of functionality without any clutter. The Quick Skype for Business menu contains buttons that are revealed when you pause on a contact’s picture, in your Contacts list. You can start a chat, an audio or video call, or view a contact card with a single click. Pause on the three dots on the right side to see more options.

Tip:  Use the Add a contact icon to help you quickly build your Contacts list.

The Favorites group lets you build a list of people you contact most often. Just right-click a contact, and then click Add to Favorites in the drop-down list.

The selections on the Contacts view give you multiple display options.

Click Groups to see your contacts and chat rooms organized by the groups you’ve defined. Click Status to see your contacts organized by availability (online, away, unavailable, or unknown). Click Relationships to see them grouped according to the privacy relationships you’ve defined for them, or click New to see a list of people who’ve asked to be included on your Contacts list.

Customize the way you sort and display contacts by using the Contact List options (click the Options (gear) icon in the Skype for Business main window, and then click Contact List). You can select an expanded, two-line view that shows contacts’ pictures or a condensed one-line view. You can also sort contacts alphabetically or by availability.

With tabbed conversations, you can keep all your calls and instant messages in one conversation window. The tabs along the left side of the conversation window let you navigate easily among all active conversations. (Of course, if you prefer one window per conversation, you can select that option in Contact List options.)

Use the pop-out button to break out a single conversation into its own window, and then resize it as you want. Then use the pop-in button to add the window back to the main conversation window. You can also use this pop-out/pop-in feature in a meeting where video or content is being presented.

Skype for Business can remember your conversation state even when you sign out and sign back in.

The icons at the bottom of the conversation window let you quickly add others to an instant messaging (IM) conversation or upgrade it to an audio call, a video call, or a presentation with file-sharing and conferencing tools (whiteboard and attachments, for example). Pausing on an icon reveals its communication mode and the options available to you. Clicking the icon converts your IM to that mode.

With the Quick Skype for Business menu, you can start a video call with a contact with just one click.

Before you place or accept a video call, you can see a preview of your own video in the invitation.

Skype for Business provides high DPI support, enabling you to scale text and graphics for 125% and 150% dots per inch. High-contrast support means that Skype for Business looks good, even when used with the different high contrast themes of Windows.

Also, Skype for Business offers more than 100 keyboard shortcuts for important functions, giving you direct access without a mouse. For example, you can press Alt+C to accept a call, or Alt + I to ignore it, without even having to tab or set the focus. You can also use the keyboard to end a call with Alt+Q and open the Tools menu with Alt+T.

Extensive screen reader support in Skype for Business ensures that all notifications, incoming requests, and instant messages are read aloud so you’re always kept in the loop.