Microsoft Office
Online will now allow Skype chats inside documents
Microsoft has
introduced a new feature to Office Online which allows users to initiate
conversations via Skype within their documents with multiple people.
Office Online will
integrate a new feature called ‘document chat’ which will allow users
to chat to one another and work collaboratively on documents. By
simply clicking on the chat button in the upper right corner, users can
chat with everyone working in the document, thus making it easy to
communicate with colleagues.
WinSuperSite reported
that as of now, document chat is only available in Word Online and PowerPoint
Online which will send notifications to users and alert them to respond as
needed. When you initiate or accept a chat request, a chat pane will
appear, and it looks similar to the one you can see now in Outlook.com and
OneDrive.com.
With Skype
available on smartphones and tablets, and with it being introduced to web
browsers recently, users can continue their conversations once
they are outside the document as well.
Microsoft
hasn’t provided details as to when exactly the feature will be available
or any information on how group chat would work.
Microsoft’s new
feature does seem familiar to Google Docs where users could chat to others
using Hangouts as a communication tool and could be helpful to
many Office Online users.