Microsoft will add a new feature to its recently launched Skype for Business VoIP service that will allow customers to broadcast online meetings to as many as 10,000 people at once.

Microsoft revealed this new feature as part of the announcements it is making at the Ignite IT pro conference today in Chicago. It says:

"The service uses Azure Media Services for streaming audio, video and PowerPoint presentations and offers built-in interoperability with Bing Pulse for sentiment tracking and Yammer for audience conversations. Extensibility enables third parties to add audience polling, formal Q&A and other functionality."

So far, there's no word on when this new feature will be added to Skype for Business, nor is there any information on how much it will cost. Microsoft launched Skype for Business as the replacement for its older Lync service for Windows desktop PCs in March. It is currently in the middle of an internal company test for a Windows Phone version of the service.

Source: Microsoft{.nofollow}