How to Use Skype Business Groups to Manage Costs

By Loren Abdulezer, Susan Abdulezer, and Howard Dammond from Skype For Dummies

To manage costs, Skype Business Groups allows you to purchase Skype credit in bulk. You can use Skype Business Groups to allocate the credit to members of your business or even selected customers. You get started with Skype Business Groups at https://secure.skype.com/groups.

Sign in using your Skype Name and password.
You are first asked to type in your business name and your first and last name and to agree to the Skype Business License Agreement and Terms.Then click Sign up. It is a free service.

A Welcome to the Business Control Panel appears. This page allows you to add members, purchase and allocate Skype credit for those members, allocate subscriptions for unlimited calling, and assign online numbers.
Click the Add Members link.

On the page that appears you can create a business account. You can then Add Members either by using email addresses or Skype names.
You can enter new members either by e-mail address or by Skype Name:

Enter their e-mail addresses and follow the instructions that appear on the screen. If they are not yet Skypers, they will be given instructions on downloading Skype and accepting your invitation.

Enter their e-mail addresses, and click Invite these co-workers to join. Or choose your co-workers' names from your list of contacts which appear right on that page, and then click Invite selected co-workers to join.

The Skype User Adding Results page appears and you’ll receive a notice such as the following: “You successfully invited Skype Name to your Skype Groups. Skype Name will shortly receive an e-mail containing the invitation details. They will need to accept the invitation by logging into Account (link provided in e-mail) and accept or reject the invitation there.”

Of course, the Skype Name that appears in the message corresponds to the one you enter. The invitees receive an e-mail message inviting them to join a Skype Group. To join, they follow the link on the indicated Web page in the e-mail, supplying their Skype Name and password to log in.
Purchase Skype credit for the group.

You have the option to add Skype credit manually for a group or use what Skype calls the Auto-Recharge feature, which prevents Skype credit for the members of your group from dipping below a dollar balance that you set.

The principal advantage of Skype Groups is that you can centralize and more easily manage the purchase and use of Skype credits on an organization-wide basis.

Besides the usual Skype services like online calling numbers, other services are also available to your Skype Group. For example, Skype offers a translation service on call 24 hours a day so that you can conduct your business with your overseas business partners, and you need Skype credit to use this service.

If you have a team of people negotiating a contract or supporting business operations, it’s more cost efficient make the translation service available to everyone on your team than to buy it separately for each individual.