Skype for Business Readiness Series (9/15)

Today I joined the ninth session of the Skype for Business Readiness WebCast 

Series and the topic for today were Hybrid Configuration Deep-dive.

The Webcast was recorded and is available online from the link above.

Kaushal Mehta were presenting and showing demos on how to move users up and down from the cloud.

Here is the QnA session, 18 questions and answers, enjoy!

New features

Do we have to do any tasks in our Lync 2013 on-prem (hybrid) environment after the online part is switched to S4B Online?

No, no change to a Lync Server 2013 Hybrid deployment is needed when Lync Online rebrands to Skype for Business Online.

Can Azure AD Sync be used instead of Dirsync?

Yes

Unchanged features

Why does the front-end servers need Internet access, and which ports?

It is needed for managing users between on-prem and online for Skype for business, https/443 is the only port the FE would need open to the internet.

Can we also move users back from S4B Online to on-prem?

Yes, if they originated in on-prem, this is the same as in Lync 2013, but it is still not possible to move a user first created in Lync Online to On-prem. Users should be created in on-premises first but if you deployed Lync Online before deploying on-prem you can reference Moving users from Lync Online to Lync on-premises in Lync Server 2013 on how to move users from online to on-premises.

If we already have Lync 2013 hybrid set up and we upgrade on-prem to S4B, is the hybrid configuration automatically detected or do we need to run through the setup again?

If Hybrid is already configured, no need to reconfigure.

Is there integration with Cisco call manager in Hybrid Skype for Business or it is still not there as in Lync Online?

No, no change compared to Lync 2013 (no cisco call manager support for Lync Online.)

What type of data loss can occur while moving users to S4B Online?

The limit for contacts for Online users is 250. Any contacts beyond that number will be removed from the users contact list when the account is moved to Online.

In a hybrid setup in Lync, the on-premises server resources were authoritative for all users (SRV & lyncdiscover records pointed to on-prem servers). If the on-prem infrastructure were to become inaccessible, all users, including online users, would experience disruption. Is this still the case?

Yes this is still the same.

Does the DNS requirement for Hybrid still require the External Lync Edge and Federation records to be resolvable inside the corporate LAN?

Yes it is still a requirement that the Edge server can resolve DNS records for Edge FQDNs and Federation records. If your Edge server is resolving DNS records from public DNS and can resolve SRV and Edge server FQDNs, then you do not need to add DNS to internal DNS zones.

Are the DNS pre-requisites the same between Lync hybrid / Skype for business hybrid?

Yes.

What are the DNS pre-requisites for hybrid Skype for business?

Federation SRV DNS record(s) for all supported SIP domains resolvable to on Premise Edge Servers. Federation SRV and Edge external interface A DNS records must be resolvable by Edge server.

Do the users need to have the Office 365 E4 plan to be able to use Hybrid?

Yes

Missing features

Is the S4B Control panel still using Silverlight or is it HTML5?

Control panel itself is Silverlight, PowerShell is being executed in the backend.

In a hybrid scenario, can we host only the dial-in Audio conferencing in the cloud and host everything else including Web Conferencing On Premise?

No, this scenario is not available.

Can Office 365 users use the Enterprise Voice of the on-prem Skype for business (aka. Hybrid Voice)?

No, that configuration is not available now. Users homed in Office 365 will only have peer to peer calling capability at this time.

When moving a user from on-premise to online, does it automatically move the dial plans as well?

Online and on-premises policies require separate configuration. We cannot set global policies that apply to both.

What happens to the users scheduled conferences once they have been moved from on-prem to Office 365?

Conferencing data, meeting content and scheduled meetings are not migrated with the user account. Users must reschedule meetings after their accounts are migrated to Lync Online.

Can the sign in to Office 365 be automatic?

No, in the Skype for Business Control Panel it is not possible to "save" credentials. They must be entered each time you want to manage online portal features.