Skype for Business softphone on Mac

To set up your devices in Skype for Business, Select Preferences from the Skype for Business menu bar and select the Audio/Video option.  On the resulting settings menu, you can choose which device(s) you want to use for your microphone, speakers and Camera.

Note that you can also set the ringer (Ringing) to go to a different device than you use for calls (e.g. computer speakers rather than headset)

Before making the first call of the day, it's a good practice to do a test call to make sure everything is working as expected. You can do this before any important call by calling the Audio Test Service account.

Select the Contacts option in Skype for Business and search for the "Audio Test Service" contact in the search area

Call the Audio Test Service by selecting the contact entry and selecting the "Call - Skype Call" option on the contact card displayed (see below)

To change your voicemail in Skype for Business, select Preferences from the application menu bar and then click on the Change Voicemail Greeting button (see below).

This will call your voicemail account and you can then navigate the menus using the call controls to change/record your greetings. To access the call controls (dialpad) while on a call, move your mouse into the call window and click on the Call Controls icon (telephone) at the top-right of the call window (see below).

There are multiple ways for you to get messages left on your voicemail:

1. An audio file will be sent (as an attachment) to your email account along with a transcription of the message where possible. NOTE: if you delete this email message, it will also delete the voicemail message.
2. The voicemail recording will appear in the list of voicemails under the "Calls" option in Skype for Business. To play the audio file on your computer, select the voicemail messages in the list and a small audio play control will appear below the number. Click the play icon (see below).

To call someone who works at the University of Waterloo, start typing their name in the search window of the contacts and a list of entries will be retrieved from the directory. 

To call the person, select their entry in the list of contacts and click on the phone icon in the contact card displayed to the right. Select the "Skype Call" option when prompted (see below).

 

If you know the extension, you can always use the dialpad on the "Calls" option to enter the 5 digit extension either by using the onscreen buttons or enter the extension number in the area above the dialpad using your keyboard (see example below dialing extension 40000).

  

Use the "Calls" option to dial external phone numbers just like on-campus extensions - using either the dialpad or enter the number in the area above the dialpad using your keyboard.

1. To call a local external number, enter the 10 digit number - the area code and 7-digit number. You do not need to preface the number with a 6 as with older on-campus phones. (AreaCode-Number)
2. For long distance or toll-free numbers, preface the 10 digit number with a 1 (1-AreaCode-Number)
3. For international long distance calls, enter 011 followed by the country code and the number (011-CountryCode-Phone Number).

Note that your phone line must be enabled for international long distance. Contact your unit telephone administrator for details.

Once you are in a call, it is possible to add or conference in other people to the call. While in the call, move your mouse over the call window and click on the "Invite More People" button in the upper-right corner of the call window (see below)

You can invite people by name (using the directory/contacts) or telephone number in the input area provide above the Attendees list (see above). Enter the name or number of the person that you want to add and double-click on the entry to add them to the call.

There is a default contact group called "Favorites" that you use have your frequently contacted people readily available. You can also create your own groups to organize your contacts. If you have a group of people that you call as a group frequently, you can create a contact group that group and then call them all with one click as opposed to adding them individually to an existing call. 

To add a contact to your favourites group, search for them in the directory or find them in your call history and Ctrl-click on their entry and choose "Groups" and then "Favorites" (see below)

To create a new contact group, select a Group in the contacts list (Favorites will do) and then select "New Group" from the Contacts option in the menu bar (see below).

A new group will be added to the bottom of your Contacts list and you can provide a name for the new group. To delete or rename the group, Ctrl-click on the group name. The groups are listed alphabetically (you cannot change the order but can name groups with an underscore "_" character to move them to the top of the list.

Adding members to a group is the same process to add a person to the Favorites group but you select the group name from the Groups option as opposed to choosing "Favorites".

To call a contact group (i.e. a conference call), select the group name in the contacts list and click on the call button (telephone icon) in the contact page that appears to the right (see below).