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Skype for Business Blog
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New Skype for Business 2016 on Windows Notifications look and feel!!

Richard T Schwendiman's avatar
Richard T Schwendiman
Iron Contributor
Jan 18, 2017

What is changing? Why is it changing?

As part of the January Office 365 ProPlus update, we’ve updated the look and feel of the Skype for Business notifications for incoming calls and conversations. The purpose of these changes is to introduce a more modern look and feel for Skype for Business notifications, communicate key information about the incoming request (especially when you receive calls on behalf of someone), and make it easy to take quick action on incoming calls and requests. Below are screens of the new experience versus the old experience.

 

In the following scenario, Alfred is configured as a delegate for Babek. The new notifications will make it much clearer, whom the caller Michell McNeil is trying to reach. The first set of screenshots shows how Alfred will get notified when Michell is calling him directly.

 

In the following images you can see the old notification style on the left and the new notification style on the right.

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now we can see what the notification looks like when Michell is calling Babek, and Alfred being Babeks delegate is getting the incoming call as well.”

 

                             

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When will this feature be available?

All dates are an estimate and subject to change. Depending on feedback we receive on new features, features might also change or not be released at all.

  • Office 365 ProPlus Channel
    • Insider Fast: Currently available
    • Current Channel or First Release Deferred Channel: February 2017
    • Deferred Channel: June 2017 

 

In order to see this notification change users must be running a minimum Office 365 ProPlus build of 16.0.7766.2000 and later

 

For more information on how the update channels for Office 365 ProPlus work, please see the following page: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt455210.aspx

 

I would encourage you to provide your feedback and submit questions in the Skype for Business Tech Community at the following address: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Skype-for-Business/ct-p/SkypeForBusiness

 

Customers using Skype for Business 2015 or Skype for Business 2016 (MSI) will not see any changes to their current notifications at this time.

Published Jan 18, 2017
Version 1.0

7 Comments

  • StanislavG's avatar
    StanislavG
    Brass Contributor

    Any update for SfB 2016 msi channel (volume licensing, enterprise customers)?

  • I have several users in our organization complaining / wondering why the heck MS removed the options button.

     

    Please bring it back!

  • Jens Thalies's avatar
    Jens Thalies
    Copper Contributor

    Sometimes a new look is a step backwards. It's also the case here.

    If you are an Enterprise Voice/PSTN user, the redirection button in notification window was a great benefit.

    If you miss this feature as well, you can vote for it here in the feature request list with 3 votes: https://www.skypefeedback.com/forums/299913-generally-available/suggestions/18894391-windows-client-redirect-pstn-incoming-calls

  • David Hale's avatar
    David Hale
    Copper Contributor

    While I like the look of the new modern notifications. If someone is calling and caller ID shows as unavailable, I don't see the phone number that is calling me like in the previous version of the notification. Please include the phone number on the notification when someone calls! Thanks!

  • Jerry Thomas's avatar
    Jerry Thomas
    Copper Contributor

    Agree - the new look for the 2016 Pro Plus client toast is cleaner. Too clean in my opinion. This is "toast with no jam!"  Would like to see name/title for the caller ...and a button to redirect to voicemail PLEASE!

  • Cari Dick's avatar
    Cari Dick
    Copper Contributor

    OK, but you have eliminated the ability to redirect to voicemail or my mobile, so you hae NOT made it easy to take quick action on incoming calls.  #youburnedmytoast  Bring back the redirect options in the toast please - a lot of us depend on this feature.

  • Jacob Fischer's avatar
    Jacob Fischer
    Copper Contributor

    The look of the new notifications is great, but what happened to the option to redirect calls? Redirect to Mobile was a much loved feature that seems to have been removed in the new UI. Delegates get a great redirect menu for their boss' calls so why not include that for all users?