Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/497863
Events 29 maltatoday, Sunday, 19 april 2015 Microsoft has announced that its communications platform known as Lync has now joined the growing Skype family and will now be known as Skype for Business. Whilst retaining the same Skype consumer experience that people around the world know and love, the new Skype for Business will be the communications and collaboration platform that brings together an ex- perience inspired by Skype with en- terprise-grade security, compliance, control and ezxcellent collaborative capabilities. Consumers will still be able to use Skype the way they always have – with the same user account, con- tacts, user interface and functionali- ties that they have always used. But now, Skype for Business will be built right into Microsoft Office, so initiat- ing chats, calls and meetings is about to become an integrated experience within the Office 365 platform. Offering features including pres- ence, IM, voice and video calls, and online meetings, Skype for Business will bring a new client experience across mobile, tablets and desktops, a new server release and updates to the service in Office 365 under the Skype for Business name. "Skype is a household name and that's how it will always be. And now, when it comes to communication, Skype for Business will be delivering the same familiar experience and us- er love of Skype with the additional enterprise security, compliance, and control from Lync that business or- ganisations would want. "End users get a familiar Skype ex- perience that is as easy to use at work as it is at home. Organizations gain reach into a network of hundreds of millions of Skype users across the globe. And, IT remains confident they are providing secure, reliable, high-quality communications to their organizations," explained a spokesperson for Microsoft. The new Skype for Business Server will be available for download from VLSC on 1 May. Microsoft will start releasing the new Skype for Busi- ness service to Office 365 customers in late April, and will roll it out to all customers by the end of May. By then, the Lync Online service will be automatically updated to Skype for Business online. The Skype for Business client will work on Lync 2010, Lync Server 2013, Lync Online and Skype for Business Server. If the client preview is used with Lync Server 2010, only features supported by Lync Server 2010 will be supported. Skype consumer clients will main- tain the same communications call- ing capabilities that they have today, but will not have access to the full Lync feature set available in Skype for Business. In addition, Skype con- sumer clients do not provide admin- istrators with the security, compli- ance, and control features available to enterprises who use Skype for Business. Skype was launched in 2003 and was acquired by Microsoft in 2011 for $8.5billion. Over 300 million use Skype regularly and 4.9 million users use it on a daily basis counting over 1.4trillion minutes of Skype video and voice calls. Inherited genes are the most com- mon cause of hair loss, affecting mostly men. The male hormone tes- tosterone activates the genes caus- ing loss of hair follicles; however it can also be caused by various other factors which include: scalp bacteria, stress, poor nutrition and hormonal imbalance. Transforma now has the solution to hair thinning and hair loss - Hair transplantation by Follicle Unit Ex- traction (FUE). This involves the single extraction (one by one) of healthy hair follicles using a mini- mally invasive technique with spe- cially designed tools. The extracted follicles are then transplanted into the client's bald or thinning patch on the scalp. Follicle Unit Extraction has proven extremely successful in hair restora- tion. FUE is carried out under local anaesthetic, thus ensuring full client awareness throughout the proce- dure. Patients with substantially re- ceding hairlines and bald areas have received very good coverage with the help of the FUE method. The results achieved by our FUE technique have proven to be satisfac- tory and flattering to our patients. Hair regrowth is visible, tangible and is integrated with the rest of the hair, joining in normal hair growth. Scalp hair can be lengthened, shortened, styled and restyled according to in- dividual preferences and fashions. Although we normally associate hair loss with males, a small number of females suffer from conditions that result in small bald patches. Hair loss in women is generally con- sidered by the medical profession as neither serious, nor life threatening. However, it causes a great deal of distress to the sufferer. With FUE's refined follicle extract- ing and transplanting techniques, women are offered a natural and cosmetic solution that results in the implantation of healthy and resist- ant bulbs into affected areas. FUE's success does not only lie in the final results it produces but also in the advantages the intervention offers: the restoration of natural hair growth for both men and women; no scarring; no bleeding; no incisions and little to no discomfort. Contact Transforma on T: 21423838 or info@transforma.com. mt for more information or to book a consultation. Over the past years, Vassallo Group has recognized the importance to provide a confidential resource to help all its employees in dealing with their daily struggles and ob- stacles. In view of this, the Group in con- junction with Richmond Founda- tion has designed the Employee Assistance Programme which is in- tended to raise awareness amongst the employees regarding various situations or problems that could improve their personal and social life, as well as their work perform- ance through the help of profes- sional support. The benefit of such a programme is that it is strictly confidential whereby employees have direct contact with the professionals, without involving any of their re- spective superiors. The company has also extended such service to the employees' family members. The Group's Head of HR, Charlo Bonnici said that this initiative proved to be helpful to the employ- ees and hence, it led to fruitful re- sults. "The turnout for such a pro- gramme was indeed a positive one and this has confirmed our notion, to sustain our support towards our employees," commented Mr Bon- nici. The EAP programme is designed to assist the employees in various issues which can be cured if help is sought immediately. These in- clude depression, gambling, eat- ing disorders, anxiety, alcoholism, bereavement and grief etc. In situ- ations where financial support is requested mainly due to sickness, injuries or other circumstances, the company considers to help the employees financially through the Arkati Foundation. MSV Life recently participated at a local conference entitled "Knowl- edge is Everything". Stuart Fair- bairn, MSV Chief Officer Business Development, said, "At MSV Life, we couldn't agree more with this statement! In the fast-paced world we live in, it is easy to delay impor- tant decisions, particularly finan- cial ones, because something else always seems to take priority. This is why we firmly believe in trying to help people understand how deci- sions taken today can have a major impact on their long-term financial wellbeing." The company's presence at this event was aimed at creating aware- ness on the importance of taking personal financial responsibility and enhancing one's knowledge in order to have the tools to make the right choices today for a more se- cure future. Delegates were offered the chance to participate in a free prize draw, where they could win €1,000 to- wards their retirement savings with MSV. The winner, Alan Gauci, principal of Yoyo Kids at Skyparks, was recently presented with his prize. As a firm believer in think- ing for the future, Gauci looks for- ward to reap the benefits at retire- ment, at which time his MSV plan will make a pay-out which will be used to supplement his retirement income. There is great value in thinking about one's financial status and planning ahead for one's retire- ment, even (if not more so) at a younger age. At the end of last year, MSV launched a free online Retire- ment Planning Tool with the sole purpose of helping people with this task. The planner is easy to use and pro- vides valuable information about one's expected state pension, how much more is required to maintain one's standard of living at retire- ment, and how much one needs to save in order to be able to reach the desired retirement income. "Having this additional money to- wards my retirement is a real boost and I have added it to my existing re- tirement savings pot. Using MSV's online retirement tool is a real eye opener and I would encourage eve- ryone to use it in order to face the reality check of how much you need to save to ensure you have a com- fortable retirement," said Gauci. To find out more about MSV's re- tirement planning solutions, or to request a free copy of MSV's Simple Guide to Pensions, simply send an email to retirement@msvlife.com. MSV Life p.l.c. is authorised by the Malta Financial Services Au- thority to carry on Long Term Busi- ness under the Insurance Business Act, 1998. Microsoft brings Skype to the office with Skype for Business MSV Life presents free prize draw winner with €1,000 towards his retirement savings Hair Transplant by Follicle Unit Extraction – No stitches or scars! Vassallo Group supports its employees through the Employee Assistance Programme Offering features including presence, IM, voice and video calls, and online meetings, Skype for Business will bring a new client experience across mobile, tablets and desktops A session of the Employee Assistance Programme in progress