Just recently one of our customers requested the Skype (Business version) Application to be packaged for software distribution, so I wondered what the status is these days with regard to locking down Skype with Group Policy. Well the results are sobering. Despite the fact that Skype is part of Microsoft since a while, there has not been much progress in making Skype more Group Policy aware.
The settings that can be configured using Group Policy are documented within the Skype IT Administrators Guide but note that this document relates to Skype version 4.2 and there isn’t a newer version for Skype version 5.x. Also note that the number of settings is rather limited, in fact the only setting I consider as useful for Enterprise Administrators is to disable the Check for Updates setting that prevents Skype form automatically checking for new versions and updates.
The latest official version of the Skype ADM template can be downloaded from here. If you are looking for ADMX files for Skype check out the links below.
Sourceforge – CustomADMX project
http://sourceforge.net/projects/customadmx/
How to Control Skype in a Corporate Setting
http://www.commodore.ca/windows/skype/skype-business.htm
In case you have a requirement to further lock down Skype I suggest you look at PolicyPak.