Life isn't easy being an international firm of architects. Gone are the days of waltzing around in black polo-necks, talking Bauhaus and minimalism and wearing thick black specs to impress the ladies. These days, clients are demanding, deadlines are always imminent, and the boundaries of creativity always ready to be pushed.

It is these kinds of pressures that, with offices across the UK and in Prague, architects  Lewis & Hickey operate under. As you can see from their website, Lewis & Hickey are far from conventional in their approach to office space and working practices, and so Skype were delighted to work with them on the first Skype for Business showcase in the UK.

Featuring hardware from Skype partners as diverse as Plantronics, Logitech, Philips, Lenovo and Polycom, the idea of the demo was not just to cut Lewis & Hickey's phone bills (although already it's knocked 7.6% off, and the target is 50%), but also and perhaps more importantly to show how, in the words of their chief exec Paul Miele, Skype can make communicating a "more personable affair".

Flexibility has been at the core of the demo, with Lewis & Hickey's old-school, expensive "please book in advance" ISDN video conference kit replaced with the flexibility of videocalling via Skype at the touch of a button. The webcam of choice for L&H was the Logitech QuickCam Pro 5000, which offers VGA-quality pictures, and uses a special Rightsound technology to ensure no echo on calls.

Lenovo laptops ready-installed with Skype make it easy to call from the desk, and added flexibility for when on the road is given via Polycom's funky little Communicator mobile speakerphones, which can be easily chucked into a bag for use whilst on the road. Both of these products feature the kind of quality that businesses demand.

Additionally, anyone who works in an open-plan office will immediately see the attraction of the Plantronics .Audio 910, a headset certified for Skype use which can also be used to pickup calls from your Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone.

Benoit Mareschal, L&H's Director of Business Development commented:

Ultimately, Skype will be our main voice and video communications tool both in and out of the office. You can now conference call from your desk whenever you like and it feels the same as a normal conversation you have with someone in the office. It gets used much more than our specialist system ever did, plus it’s free.”

And what Skype feature is most used amongst L&H's staff? Well apparently text chat has been particularly embraced, alongside being able to quickly transfer files to users using Skype.

Skype's always keen to hear about any businesses who would be interesting in becoming showcases for Skype hardware. If you're interested, why not email skypegear@skype.com with details of how Skype could help your business succeed?