Skype meetings – a quick guide for external colleagues

Organiser scheduling the Skype meeting from Outlook

The meeting organiser will use their Outlook calendar and click the 'New Skype Meeting' plug-in.

The organiser will enter the meeting details and add attendees.

External colleagues will be invited via their email address.

The email invitation will then be sent for acceptance.

External colleagues invited to a Skype meeting already in progress

If you're invited to a meeting that's already in progress you will receive a notification.

You will only receive this notification if you already have the Skype Web App.

External colleagues joining a meeting from an Outlook invitation

The meeting detail will appear in the body of the email. Select 'Join Skype Meeting' to join the meeting. If this doesn't work and you don't have Skype installed, select the 'Try Skype Web App' link. This will guide you through the process of downloading the Skype application.

If you've chosen to download Skype, the 'Skype for Business Web App Plug-in' pop-up box will appear before the download starts.

Your organisation may block the plug in, so you may need to check with your ICT department first.

You will appear as a guest in the meeting, but you also have the ability to add your name.

Your avatar, name and guest status will appear in the meeting window.

Functionality that can be used during a meeting

During your meeting the presenter can choose to perform multiple actions to help facilitate the meeting. These are actioned through the 'Share Content' button.

You can be made presenter by the meeting host and you will be able to share content.  

You will receive a notification if you have been given presenter rights.

Available features for a presenter

Skype presenters can:

• share and manage content
• share video and audio
• share a whiteboard
• share a poll 
• share a Q&A session
• enable instant messaging 
• invite additional participants  

Here's what this menu looks like on screen:

Additional guidance for NHS Digital staff only

To find out more details about Skype meetings and the Skype for Business App, please view our ICT training guidance on Skype.