Skype offers a free Skype for Business Control Panel to centrally manage Skype Credit for your employees.

• Web-based tool – quick and easy to sign up
• Centrally manage your Skype accounts
• Allocate credit to employees
• Automatically recharge accounts
• Print consolidated invoices

Be sure to check out the Skype for Business Control Panel to see what it has to offer for your business.

Does your business require Skype hardware? Check out our Skype hardware store to kit out your business with the best Skype webcams, headsets and other gadgets.

A Skylook License (with 12 months of Technical Support and Updates included) is USD $134.95 and includes:

• A Skylook license to use for as long as you like
• All major and minor updates for twelve months
• Technical support for twelve months (via email, with guaranteed response within 24 hours)
• Installation on a single computer
• Purchase Skylook

A Skylook Elite License is $USD 499.95 and includes:

• A Skylook license to use for as long as you like
• All future major and minor updates
• Technical support for three years (via email, with guaranteed response within 24 hours)
• Installation on up to three computers
• Purchase Skylook Elite

(You can pay via most major Credit Cards, and via PayPal.)

To purchase a Skylook license, use the “Help > Purchase / Activate Skylook” button from the Skylook toolbar.

Volume discounts are available – contact us with your specific requirements.

Some features of Skylook are free and do not require a purchase. See the Skylook Feature Matrix to see what the free features are.

Also available:

Make cheap calls to landlines and mobiles – Buy SkypeOut credit here

SkypeIn Phone Number (to allow people to call your PC from normal phones)

Skype Voicemail (NOTE: You don’t need this in order to use the Skylook Answering Machine).

For Skype phones, webcams, and other goodies visit our Skype Hardware Store.

Here is how you can send Skype Text Chat messages to your Outlook contacts, directly from the Outlook application. (The following instructions assume that you already have MS Office Outlook installed).

1. Download Skype if you don’t already have it. If you only plan to send text chat messages, the installation is very straightforward. (It’s a little more involved if you intend to do voice calls. Follow these instructions to set up Skype if you plan to use it for more than text chat messages).

2. If you don’t already have Skylook, download and install it from here.

3. Start Outlook. If you are running Skylook for the first time, you will see the Skylook licensing wizard and the Skylook Welcome wizard. Follow the prompts to ensure you have Skylook set up the way you want.

4. You will notice that Outlook contains an additional toolbar:

This toolbar allows you to do a number of different things, including sending Skype Text Chat to your Outlook contacts.

5. Go to your contacts folder and select the contact you wish to send a text chat message to.

6. Click the “Chat” button in the Skylook toolbar.

7. If the Outlook contact has a Skype Name configured, Skylook will display that name and ask you to confirm it (you also have the option to change it if it is incorrect). If there is no Skype Name configured, Skylook will prompt you to enter one (if you don’t know it, you can click the “Find Skype Contact” link). Click OK after confirming or entering the name.

8. The Skype Text Chat window will be displayed, to allow you to enter your message. Type your message then press the ENTER key.

If you have any problems or questions, we can help.

2.0.3.119 Changes

Fix to problem with Skype 5.1 crashing on startup

2.0.3.118 Changes

Compatibility with Skype 5.1

Fixed display issues on systems set to “Large Fonts”

2.0.3.117 Changes

Prevent items from getting stuck in the Outbox (affected Office 2010 only)

2.0.3.116 Changes

Fixes for compatibility with Office 2010

2.0.3.115 Changes

Fix to “garbling” of this side audio recording on some Windows 7 and Vista PCs

Skype 5 compatibility

Alert search text now works for recipients

2.0.3.112 Changes

Fixed issue where warning would appear repetitively, and flicker, when no audio detected.

2.0.3.110 Changes

Fixed issue where “Close Skylook” button would close Outlook.

Fixed issue with toolbar contacts and other buttons not being refreshed correctly after “Close Skylook” and “Start Skylook” are clicked.

2.0.3.109 Changes

Added Skype 4.2 support.

2.0.3.108 Changes

Added Windows 7 support.

Fixed problem where phone call item was sometimes attached to the wrong contact if more than one contact had the same phone number.

Fixed problem with audio playback via the answering machine on some Vista PCs.

Fixed problem recording other side of a call when a surround speaker system (5.1 or 7.1) is used.

Better reporting of errors if internal recording problems occur.

2.0.3.105 Changes

Fixed problem recording conversations using Skype 4.1 on Vista.

2.0.3.103 Changes

Recording improvements – now more reliable on lower end or overloaded computers.

2.0.3.102 Changes

Fixed bug that can cause recordings to be corrupted if neither side of the call is using 48KHz internal audio.

2.0.3.101 Changes

Fixed bug that can cause Outlook to hang when making a call, if using Skype Version 4.

2.0.3.100 Changes

Fixed bug that creates extraneous “partlist” chat messages in the inbox.

2.0.3.99 Changes

Fixed bug that crashes the latest Skype (4.0.0.206) whenever a call starts.

Fixed bug that caused the hand-holding connection wizard to keep appearing whenever Skylook is started even after connection has been established.

2.0.3.98 Changes

Recording compatibility for latest 3.8 and 4.0 Skype versions on more Vista PCs (those supporting the latest Vista audio APIs [WASAPI] in native mode – e.g. Dell Inspiron 1525).

2.0.3.95 Changes

Skype 4.0 compatibility.

2.0.3.91 Changes

Fixed bug causing duplicate voice mails in inbox for calls from undisclosed numbers.

Fixed bug causing keyboard interruptions on Outlook 2007 when Skype is not running.

2.0.3.90 Changes

Fixed bug causing popping and clicking in raw audio recording on some PCs.

Fixed bug causing problems when incoming calls received, on PCs running Outlook connected to MS Exchange.

2.0.3.89 Changes

Compliance with latest Skype Certification requirements.

Now defaults to recording both sides of all calls on installation.

2.0.3.85 Changes

Fixed problem with answering machine sound playback when using some USB phone devices on Skype 3.8 or later.

2.0.3.84 Changes

Fixed problem with warbly, choppy recording when using some USB phone devices on Skype 3.8 or later.

2.0.3.83 Changes

Recording now works correctly when using the Skype 3.8 release.

Improved name and email address resolution for “To” field (recipients) on conversation items.

2.0.3.78 Changes

Recording now works correctly when using the Skype 3.6 Beta release.

Fixed User Interface glitches when running with large fonts.

Fixed problem with icons not appearing in lists and trees.

Can now dial contacts that use custom Outlook forms.

2.0.3.73 Changes

Added ability to stop Skylook without closing Outlook.

Added option to prevent Skylook starting automatically when Outlook starts.

Now compatible with latest BCM release.

Added option to play periodic beep to other party when recording is taking place.

Fixed bug preventing use of “Business 2″ phone number.

2.0.3.66 Changes

New connection wizard to minimize problems connecting to Skype first time (i.e. when Skype prompts for permission.)

Improvements to reliability of VoiceMail playback from the inbox.

Remove comments within square brackets from phone numbers before dialing .

Don’t start Skype when Outlook starts (except when necessary to check subscription validity).

Bug Fix: Outlook 2007 problem with entry of text in emails when using a multi-byte character set (e.g. Russian) (NOTE: problem still exists for users with Skype DRM-based subscriptions.

Improved/clarified Stop button behavior.

2.0.3.50 Changes

New Feature: Optional automatic creation of Outlook journal entries for calls, voice mail, text chat messages and SMS.

New Feature: Improved control over which items are stored in Outlook and which are not (see the “Folders” tab in the options window).

Contacts which have no Full Name and no “File As” name are now shown using their Company Name if the Company Name is set.

Recognizes phone extensions in Outlook phone numbers and does not try to dial the extension.

Bug Fix: Alerts and Forwarding: Sometimes forwarded voice mails were truncated

2.0.3.40 Changes

Options Window: Screen Reader compatibility.

2.0.3.38 Changes

Audio file names for recordings now include the name of the caller/callee.

Additional German translations.

Links to web site now go to language-specific pages (German only at this stage) instead of always going to English pages.

Now uses MP3 by default on Vista (instead of WMA).

Fixed: Skylook toolbar would sometimes not appear after closing Outlook and restarting.

2.0.3.31 Changes

Skylook now offers a transcription option for recorded calls – links have been added to the product to provide easy access to the transcription web page

Fixed: Skylook would occasionally hang on first startup (i.e. before the Skype security dialog appeared)

2.0.3.27 (Hot Fix Release) Changes

A “Warbling” effect has been noticed in call recording since the release of 2.0.3.21 (dependent on recording device used). Changes have been made to prevent this.

Fixed: Notes were not being saved on recorded calls (unless notes were updated after the call).

Fixed: No synchronisation of toolbar to messages/contacts in non-default Outlook PST files.

In rare cases, Skylook caused crashes in Outlook 2007. Changes have been made to prevent this.

2.0.3.21 Changes

Skylook now has German Language support. Other languages will be added over the coming months.

Full Vista Support.

Support for recording calls and voice mails to WMA (Windows Media Audio) format.

Anti-drift on call recording. (Keeps both sides of the call in sync, even if microphone and speaker hardware devices run at slightly different rates).

Improved recording reliability.

Better performance when navigating through emails and contacts in Outlook, particularly when connected to an Exchange Server.

Support for all Outlook phone numbers (previously only supported Business, Home and Mobile).

Fixed: Alerts via SMS failed if the SMS text contained non-ASCII Unicode characters.

Fixed: When making calls to BCM contacts, error messages would be shown on call completion or when closing the contact window.

Fixed: Incorrect warning window appeared when starting conversion of voice mail recording.

2.0.2.1 Changes

Fixed: On rare occasions, incorrect phone numbers were displayed in the Skylook toolbar in the Contact window

Fixed: Under rare circumstances, Outlook security messages were shown after a call was recorded

Fixed: Unable to record calls on Windows Vista

Fixed: Incorrect Version No was shown in Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs.

Fixed: Skylook interfered with entry of multi-byte character set text in Outlook 2007.

2.0.1.64 Changes

First release as part of Skype Extras Manager

2.0.1.61 Changes

Support for Skype 3.0

A new version of Skylook – 2.0.3.21 – was released today – the first version to provide support for the German language. The German language is available in all captions and text in menus, windows, message boxes etc.

If your system is configured to use the German language, just install Skylook 2.0.3.21 or later – Skylook will automatically default to the German language (there is no separate “German” version to install).

If your system is not configured to use the German language, but you want Skylook to use German, go to Tools > Options from the Skylook toolbar, and select “German” in the language selection box. You will need to restart Outlook for the changes to take effect in all menus.

Here are comments from some of our Skylook users:

“Thanks for the update, if only more companies were like you!” – Carey Rudd, Online Knowledge on 14th August, 2010.

“Skylook – great product, EXCELLENT Support. Response is swift and effective. Good work, Skylook team!” – Veronika Makk, Melbourne, Australia on 25th June, 2010.

“Thanks for your prompt reply and action. Still really enjoying the product.” – Roger Cressey – QUBIX

“W….O….W!!! If ever there was a software upgrade you ‘must’ get if you even dream you might want to use Skype… THIS IS IT!” – Lee Hopkins – leehopkins.net

“I congratulate you on your program! This implementation rocks!” – Karsten Gerhardt – www.3si2.com

“Superb product. It makes my audio recording so easy it is unreal!” – David Chriscole

“A dream for podcasting with supreme audio quality and variable output options” – James Woodcock – www.jameswoodcock.co.uk

“There’s no way I can do without Skylook” – Ruud Hein – www.ruudhein.com

“Your software is fantastic” – David Brown – www.dbrownmanagement.com

“It skypefies Outlook and it’s awesome.” – Michael Arrington – www.techcrunch.com

“Skylook is a wonderful productivity enhancement. I’ve been using a competitor’s Skype recorder for my phone consultations, but the quality, beautiful design, and intuitive features of yours won me over. Skylook even enhances Outlook in ways that have nothing to do with Skype. For instance, I like that whenever you’re reading an e-mail message, the Skylook toolbar displays the name of the contact, with a drop-down menu of various options, such as creating a new appointment with that contact.” – Michael Ray Brown – Story Sense

“You guys definitely have the best technical support in the business” – Michael Ray Brown – Story Sense

“I’ve been using Skylook since version 1.x, and I’m thoroughly impressed with it – the product is excellent and the support is as good, if not better (in the rare event that you need it). I would highly recommend this to all Skype users who use Outlook.” – Rob Iles, UK

“A fantastic product!” – Rick Blaisdell – www.mailmethods.com

“Many, many, many thanks for your stellar customer support.” – Kaelin Kelly – Online Skype Classes

“If you use Skype… Skylook is a must have extension.” – David Anderson – www.grupo-utopia.com

“Skylook, which records Skype conversations in the MP3 format, has become a mainstay for me.” – Howard Wolinsky – Chicago Sun-Times

“I was really impressed with the support and overall good attitude this company has with me as first a beta user and now a paying customer, and I thought it was very refreshing that they listen to their customers requirements and suggestions…the American software vendors that I am use to dealing with could learn a thing or too from the good software folks down under at Skylook” – Kyle Jones – St.Petersburg, Florida USA

“I love your product.” – Ryan Bradshaw – www.buildstar.com

“…an indispensable utility for Skype” – Mike Strock – www.myhomeoffice.org

“I wish all software products had the support that you provide!” – Federico Chan

“Fantastic product by the way. It has really improved the way I work and communicate with people throughout the day.” – Managing Director, Maylane Polska – www.maylane.com

“Great work on Skylook and the latest update.” – Chris Saad – www.faradaymedia.com

“Wow — this works like a charm… Really nice interface, too” – Regina Nuzzo – Freelance Science Journalist

“Top Skype add on … can’t think of anything I’ve come across for Skype that is better.” – Adam Davies – www.justhom.com

“Skylook used to be a tool to use Skype from Outlook. Now it is more than that. It is a tool that lets Outlook leverage Skype. … Brilliant.” – Mark Cohen – beingmarkcohen.com

“The Skylook software is just amazing!” – Oliver Staudenmann – www.team14.info

Skype Voicemail answers phone calls or PC-to-PC calls for you when you are away from your PC, when you are offline, or when you simply don’t want to take a call.

The caller can leave you a message, and you can listen to the message on your PC within the Skype application. You can also have the message sent to your Outlook inbox, in which case you can listen to it from within Outlook.

An additional use of Skype Voicemail is that you are able to send someone a voice message without actually calling them. You right-click your contact in Skype, choose the “Send Voicemail” option, then Skype records your message and sends it to the contact. This is useful if you don’t want to disturb the other person or if you don’t wish to start a conversation with the person at this time.

Skype Voicemail Prerequisites

To use Skype Voicemail:

• You need a PC with broadband internet access.
• You need Skype installed on the PC (this is a free download and you can see how to install it on our Skype page).
• Either you or the other person need a Skype Voicemail subscription or a SkypeIn number. If you want to take messages from normal phones, get a SkypeIn number – Voicemail comes free with that. To see pricing for a SkypeIn number, and to buy if you wish, click here. To see pricing for a Skype Voicemail subscription, and to buy if you wish (not needed if you buy a SkypeIn number) click here.

Setting up Skype Voicemail

Once you have everything as described in the list above, follow these steps to start sending and receiving voicemail messages on your PC:

• In Skype, go to Tools > Voicemail… on the main Skype menu.
• Make sure the box Send unanswered calls to Skype Voicemail is checked.
• Click the Advanced settings link to the right of the “Send unanswered calls to Skype Voicemail” checkbox to tell Skype when you want Voicemail answering to take calls for you.
• Click OK in the Advanced Settings window and in the main Options window.
• If you wish to have Skype Voicemail sent to your Outlook inbox, click here for further instructions.

Skype Voicemail features

After you have followed the steps above, this is what Skype will now allow you to do:

• If you don’t answer a call within the number of seconds specified in the Advanced Settings dialog above, the caller will hear a recorded message and will be able to leave a message for you.
• If a call comes in and you click the Hang Up button, the caller will hear a recorded message (same message as above) and will be able to leave a message for you
• If your PC is switched off, or if you are not logged into Skype when a caller tries to call you, the caller will hear a recorded message (same message as above) and will be able to leave a message for you
• If you make a call to someone else and they are unavailable, you will be able to leave a message for them (even if they haven’t purchased a Skype Voicemail subscription themselves).
• If you want to leave someone a message, even if they are available (i.e. you don’t want to talk to them right now but you do want to send them a voice message), you can right-click their contact details in Skype and choose the Send Voicemail option.
• If you want to record your own message (rather than use the standard Skype recorded message), you can do so via Tools > Voicemail…. (Click the Record button near the bottom of the window).

Integration with Outlook

Skylook offers you these additional features if you use Outlook. To find out more, click on the links:

• Voicemail messages in your Outlook inbox.
• Automatically forward Voicemails to any email address.
• Convert Voicemails to MP3 for manual forwarding and permanent storage.
• Manage follow-up for Voicemails.

Alternatives

Skylook offers an alternative that has some advantages and disadvantages in comparison to Skype Voicemail.

This alternative is an answering machine built into Outlook. Depending on what you want to achieve, you may find that the Skylook Answering Machine is a better fit for you, or you may find that you can make use of both Skype Voicemail and the Skylook Answering Machine. To help you decide, here are the advantages and disadvantages of the Skylook Answering Machine as compared to Skype Voicemail:

Advantages of Skylook Answering Machine compared to Skype Voicemail

• You are able to listen to the incoming caller leaving their message.
• You are able to pick up the call while the incoming caller is leaving their message.
• You are able to take notes about the call while the incoming caller is leaving their message.
• Once you have purchased Skylook, there are no ongoing fees associated with the Skylook Answering Machine.

Disadvantages of Skylook Answering Machine compared to Skype Voicemail

• You need to leave Outlook running in order to receive messages.
• Skylook Answering Machine will not take messages for you while you are on another call.

To ensure the best possible recording quality when using Skylook, follow this checklist:

• Do not run other CPU-intensive applications during recording. (It’s fine to have other applications open, but if any application is doing anything particularly heavy over a period of more than a few seconds this can affect recording quality, as well as the actual Skype call quality.)
• You can configure Skylook to record at a higher quality. (Note: This will typically result in a larger file size). To see how to do this, click here .

Welcome to the November edition of the Skylook newsletter.

Skylook Tips.

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