Goodbye Kressmark UC - Hello CloudPro!

After five years of successful business endeavors I am closing down the IT operations of our little company. I have helped 20+ organizations with their Unified Communications and Lync needs during this time, and counting my customer's customers, it is well over 50 organizations. Some 200 students have attended my classes in Stockholm, Go:teborg, Malmoe, Arboga, Utrecht, Amsterdam and over the Internet, my farthest student were actually located in Singapore. It was also great the time we could turn a face-to-face class into a "remote learning experience" on the fly due to bad weather; this using the very software we were training on. I had a great time working face to face with my customers around Stockholm and in Sweden and I also enjoyed rebooting servers after hours in more than 10 different European countries. So, this is definitely the end of a chapter, and now a new one begins!

I have started at CloudPro as CTO. At CloudPro I will continue helping organizations around the globe with Lync and the new Skype for business software. I will also become part of a larger team at CloudPro. Now I will have teammates who knows networking, hosting, licensing, hardware, Office 365, MDM, web development and even Macintosh computers (!?!) We will start out small, but expansion is definitely a part of our business plan. The shop is open - please contact us for any Unified Communications needs!

Next up for me is of course Microsoft Ignite in Chicago whok,ere I will work in the Hands-On-Labs area as usual. It will be great to meet with all my fellow MCT friends and all other computer geeks in Chicago. I am especially looking forward to the full release of Skype for business Server 2015 in May. I will become more "cloud-oriented" from here on, but my heart still remains on-prem or at least hybrid a bit longer. For my Swedish friends I hope to see you at Techdays in October if not before on Skype. My blog will remain here for now and I will try to keep posting interesting stuff from time to time as usual.

Thank you for this time all my customers, partners and friends - hope I will meet you again in future projects!

Skype for Business Readiness Series (13/15)

So I joined the thirteenth session of the Skype for BusinessReadiness WebCast Series and the topic for today were Lessons Learned from Preview. The Webcast was recorded and is available online from the link above.

Rick Varvel presented a lot of details around the TAP Program and how Skype for business have been tested by customers before the coming release.

Some 50 companies have participated in the program and they have homed around 130,000 users on S4B pools already. More than 1800 bugs have been found and weeded out during the program, and a lot of training has been delivered as well. Some coming features are still being tested in the program such as Broadcast Meetings and Skype Box (what is that?)

It was stated again that Hybrid solutions is a big focus going forward, and lots of time in the TAP program has gone to helping customers to get ready with ADFS Office 365 federation and other techniques needed for hybrid. Rick also explained the timelines in the project and the difficulty to predict release dates; but May still looks promising :-) It seems as recruitment for the next TAP program is already ongoing and it is nice to know that the product we like is constantly being improved upon.

Unfortunately no questions were answered, so no QnA this time.

Skype for Business Readiness Series (12/15)

Today I joined the twelfth session of the Skype for Business Readiness WebCast Series and the topic for today were Lync/Skype Federation (Phase 2). The Webcast was recorded and is available online from the link above.

Kiran Kodali presented the topic and answered questions. Skype for Business is using the SILK codec; SILK is a better codec than RTA and / or G.722 at any network condition. In phase 2 of the Skype-Skype (that is for business with consumer) federation, media can be sent peer-to-peer from consumer Skype clients straight to S4B clients. If this is not possible due to firewalls STUN / TURN servers on both ends will be used. Phase 2 of this federation is already running in the Skype cloud and can be used as soon as on-prem servers and clients have been upgraded to Skype for business. Phase 2 also adds a Skype directory search which requires a S4B Edge server. The S4B Edge connects to a "Skype graph service", which is a service running in Azure delivering search results from the global Skype directory. Searches in the Skype directory can be done on name, location, email, phone and SkypeID, also Skype thumbnail pictures will be visible for S4B users. When we do a search from within the S4B client and have Skype Directory Search enabled, we will have a choice of where to search, in "My Contacts" or in "Skype Directory", with the default being "My Contacts" which is the internal address book. Conferencing or screen sharing capabilities is not a part of phase 2.

Here comes todays QnA session, 17 questions and 13 answers, enjoy!

New features

Will the new Skype for business server allow federation with Skype accounts or will federation only work with MS Skype accounts?

S4B Server/client will allow Search/Federation with both Skype IDs and MS accounts (live accounts)

Do Skype clients gain network efficiencies like SILK during a P2P session when running again an on-prem Lync 2013 server?

Yes, SILK will be used in P2P for both Skype and Lync clients for users homed on Lync 2013 Server on premise.

When will the Skype Directory search be available in the client?

It is already available in the S4B client, but it requires the user to be homed on a S4B server using a S4B Edge.

When Skype search is set to true can you still block this at Site Level?

Yes, Skype-Skype Federation search module works the same as Federation module, so you can disable it for a Site.

In S4B Online, will we be able to control who (by name and/or group) can and cannot (1) search for "public" Skype users and (2) connect with "public" Skype users?

For Online users, you can grant the ability for Skype Public IM at a user level and you can script this via PowerShell to bulk assign to users using the 

Grant-CsExternalAccessPolicy. If a user has Skype Public IM capability then they also have the ability to search the Skype Directory.

How are enterprises approved/enabled for SkypeID search?

No requirement to be approved. We just need to have S4B Client/Pool/Edge, and of course we need to enable Federation with Skype consumer (aka PIC federation.)

Is TCP port 4443 required inbound, outbound, or both?

Client to the Pool (TCP 443 – same as ABWQ) The Pool to the Edge (TCP 4443 – same as CMS replication) Edge to Skype Directory Search in Azure (TCP 443 - Access Edge Interface, and AV Edge Interface for media.)

Are any new external SRV records required or will the federation use the ones we use today?

No new SRV records required, the only infrastructure change will be outbound TCP 443 on the Access Edge server to enable the Skype Directory search feature.

Unchanged features

Do we still need to register every SIP domains Edge server at pic.lync.com?

Yes, for On-Premise deployments, you still need to register your SIP domains and an Edge server to enable Federation between your deployment and Skype consumer, for Online, you just need to enable Skype Federation in the tenant.

If we have currently configured Lync 2013 Server-Skype connectivity and we will not upgrade to S4B server, will the federation still function (without the Skype Provider update)?

Yes, but the Directory search is not available with Lync 2013.

Will the Phase 2 enhancement also be available for Lync 2013?

No, V2 Directory Search requires Skype for Business Edge/Pool/Client.

Features "missing"

Can a Skype consumer client join a Skype4B conference?

No, Skype cannot connect to conferences hosted in Skype for Business over the federation route. However, using the PSTN calling capability in Skype, a Skype user can dial into a Skype for Business CAA and join this way.

If two S4B users are on a P2P call, can they add Skype Federated user in the same call?

No, in this scenario, we would require a conference escalation. They would need to "meet now" then provide the Skype client a CAA to dial in to (assuming the Skype client is setup to use PSTN calling.)

Will there be a new Skype for Mac client to bring it to the S4B level and include the SILK codec?

Not answered.

Will the SILK codec be added to a future firmware update for existing Lync Phone Edition devices?

Not answered.

Will the Federation be extended to more platforms such as Skype Smart TVs and Xbox One?

Not answered.

Will Skype clients use SILK in case of media-bypass with Audiocodes Mediant 1000?

In order for this to happen, Audiocodes would have to update their devices to support the SILK codec. This would be dependent upon Audiocodes and your Audiocodes rep would be able to answer. (Maybe we can get a comment on the plans for this from Audiocodes - I will try…)

Skype for Business Dual UI Client Logic

Today I joined the webcast on the Skype for Business Dual UI Client Logic. It was a separate presentation in the same style as the readiness series to prepare Lync admins for the coming switch to Skype for Business and Skype for Business Online. The information focused on the coming client and its ability to swap between a Lync 2013 GUI or a Skype for business GUI with simple settings. A recording will available within a week from today.

Kaushal Mehta presented in a clear pedagogical order. The most confusing thing is if this information is public or not. At first it was said that it is for "internal use only", but then it was said it is not confidential and can be shared with customers, but subject to change at anytime before the official Skype for business release. So, if anyone from Microsoft have objections to this blog post - please let me know.

On April 14 (aka patch Tuesday) the Office 2103 patch will upgrade existing Lync 2013 clients as part of Office 2013 to Skype for business. This means that administrators must choose how to handle the GUI of the new Skype for business client. There is a new parameter (EnableSkypeUI) in the CsClient policy and a 2 new custom policies in Office 365 to control this behavior. The following two tables explain the parameters for Skype for business server (on-prem) and Office 365.

The Skype for business server (on-prem) parameter in client policy

The two new custom policies in Office 365

On April 14 an update to an existing Lync 2013 client will become available, there will not be a new client available for download at this time. To get Skype for business on a new computer Office 2013 or Lync 2013 must be installed first, and then updated with the patch coming on April 14th. Skype for business 2015 server (the on-prem version) will be available on May 1, and in Office 365 we can already find the two new policies; so all that is changing on April 14 is really the client part.

Some QnA from today’s session:

Has documentation been published that provides all of these details and scenarios?

Yes.

Lync 2013: Configure the client experience with Skype forBusiness

Lync 2010: Configure the client experience with Skype forBusiness

and documentation for Skype for business Online will be released shortly.

When will there be training videos from Microsoft to cover the new SkypeUI?

Here is a download link for the Skype for Business client awareness and readiness resources.

Skype for Business client awareness and readiness resources 

Can the S4B client run with a Lync 2010 Server?

Yes, the policy applies to Lync 2010 server as well.

The "Latest Lync 2013 Server patch" - does this mean March 2015 CU for Lync 2013?

It means December 2014 CU (5.0.8308.857) for Lync 2013 and February 2015 CU (4.0.7577.710) for Lync 2010. (so maybe "latest" is not the best wording - but it covers us for future releases.)

Will the -EnableSkypeUI be available on Lync 2013 servers only?

No, the Policy will be available on latest Lync 2013 Servers and coming Skype for business servers.

Does the client policy have to be set per user or can it be set globally across the org as a default setting?

It is a "CsClientPolicy" setting which can be set globally, and/or by site, and/or by user.

Is the update a part of a bigger office update or is it a targeted Lync client update?

This change is coming as part of a larger Office 2013 update.

Will the flag also control the meeting icon in Outlook, Skype or Lync meeting?

No, the flags covered in this presentation only control the Lync/Skype for Business client interface. All other connection points in Office will refer to Skype for Business.

Skype for Business Readiness Series (11/15)

Today I joined the eleventh session of the Skype for Business Readiness WebCast Series and the topic for today were Video Interop Server Deep-dive. The Webcast was recorded and is available online from the link above.

Lynn Roe presented and showed a nice demo with a VTC unit joining a S4B meeting and also calling in to a S4B client using the Video Interop Server (VIS) server role. We also got to see the new CLSlogger and some logging details of the VIS calls. The new CLSlogger will be released with the debugging / Resource Kit tools shortly after RTM. The video interoperability server role allows S4B customers to continue using already deployed (and expensive) Cisco VTC solutions. A Cisco CUCM is required for VIS interoperability and DTMF from a VTC to S4B is supported. Only inbound calls from a Cisco VTC to S4B are supported.

I am also pleasantly surprised to see that Guillermo Sanchez (aka ITSanchez) from Argentina have translated my first QnA posting in this series into Spanish. So for all Spanish speaking amigos y amigas out there, do not miss the post:
Skype for Business, Preguntas y Respuestas (Parte 1)

Here comes todays QnA session, 13 questions and answers, enjoy!

New features

What is the scalability number of users/conferences per VIS server?

Capacity planning information will be released post RTM, including bandwidth consumption, etc.

Can two or more VTCs join the same S4B meeting?

Yes

Does VIS support Tandberg devices as well?

Yes, Tandberg devices are supported.

How would we load balance a multiple server VIS pool?

With DNS load balancing.

Which CUCM version is required for VIS?

Currently VIS have been tested and validated with CUCM version 10.5.

What are the firewall opening requirements between VIS and the edge server?

Port information and requirements will be released on TechNet soon.

How do we configure CUCM to interwork with VIS?

The necessary CUCM settings that are required for interoperation with VIS will be released on TechNet soon.

Unchanged features

Does the S4B server still use RDP for content sharing?

Yes.

Does the Edge server used with VIS have to be a S4B edge?

No, the Edge server does not have to be S4B, VIS can leverage an existing Lync 2013 Edge server.

Features "missing"

Is VIS compatible with Cisco / Tandberg only (how about Huawei VC / TP solutions)?

Right now VIS is only targeting Cisco VTCs.

Is Content sharing with H.239 supported?

No, no support for H.239 at this time.

Will VIS allow content (desktop or app share / IMs, etc) to be shared across Cisco and Lync, or just video?

There is no content sharing on VIS supported at the moment.

Will a VIS client be able to join a meeting hosted in the cloud?

No, the meeting must be on-premise only.

Skype for Business Readiness Series (10/15)

Yesterday I joined the tenth session of the Skype for Business Readiness WebCast 

Series and the topic for today were New Meeting and Web Investments Overview.

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

A fast content filled presentation by Ali Rohani (@pleazd)!

Meetings, invites, room systems, room PC view, Surface hub, Round Table 100, Office 365 groups and meet now for Office 365 groups were discussed. Also the EnableHighPerformanceP2PAppSharing parameter of the Set-CSClientPolicy cmdlet came up.

Here is the QnA session, 22 questions and answers, enjoy!

New features

In Lync meetings it is very difficult to find a dial pad, any improvement in the new GUI?

Yes, we can find the dial pad by clicking on the call control icon at the bottom of the window.

Will UCWA API allow audio/video features to be accessible from custom in-house Web sites for instance?

There are ongoing plans for that, no exact ETA available now.

Can we have more control in large meetings, such as suppressing the list of attendees only to presenters or leader?

In Large meetings, specifically for 75 attendees and above, the roster will only be visible for Presenters.

Will existing Lync Mobile clients be upgraded from app stores when the Skype for Business mobile client is available?

Correct, there will not be separate apps, the Lync 2010 mobile app will be still there.

Will Skype for Business require Office Web Apps 2016 or could it work with Office Web Apps 2013?

S4B works with Office Web Apps 2013 as well as 2016.

Can we have VIS in hybrid configurations, on premise and Office 365?

VIS cannot join a meeting hosted outside of the on-prem deployment. However, Office 365 and federated clients can join an on-prem meeting with a VTC.

Unchanged features

Can a user join a voice \ video meeting if no Microphone is installed?

The user would only be able to join the IM modality, as long as he/she selects to join the meeting without audio/video.

Using the OneNote roster, will the roster be updated if some attendees are late?

Yes, this is true even with Lync 2013, the OneNote attendee list keeps updating till the meeting is finished.

Do large meetings still require a dedicated pool?

Yes.

Can we still force to use the web app with appending ?sl=1 to the meet URL?

Yes, append ?sl=1 to the meeting URL to see the web app.

Is there a file size limit on the embedded videos in PPTs?

Office Web App server is limited to 50MB for embedded media in PowerPoint. We can edit a Office Web App server setting to increase this limit.

Is the web app still a conference client, not a stand-alone web-based client, as the OCS Web client was?

Correct. The Web App is still a conferencing client only.

Features "missing"

Can we customize meeting invitations (like forcing or suggesting the use of Web App instead of heavy client to ease the attendees experience when joining the meeting)?

No, nothing is new in this area.

What is the plan on using native browsers without add-ons for web participants?

A plug-in is still required across different browsers to provide audio/video.

Is there an easier way in S4B to present video content then to embed it into a PowerPoint and upload the file?

No, no improvements here, desktop sharing as a workaround is the only way right now.

Will Skype users be able to join S4B meetings through the Skype client?

No.

Will the Web App be compatible with browsers on tablets (iOS, Android) or do attendees still have to download the dedicated app?

Yes, they need to use the dedicated apps.

Can we install VIS alongside Lync 2010 servers?

No, VIS must accompany a Skype for Business pool.

Will the S4B Mobile Android client be able to consume the content sharing in a meeting?

No, not available today but coming soon (no ETA.)

Is it possible to do screen sharing with Tandberg endpoints with VIS using BFCP for example?

No, at this time only audio and video are supported with VTCs joining via VIS.

Will the VIS be available in S4B Online?

No, VIS is a On-Premise role only.

If we join a S4B meeting from an iPhone and someone calls, the phone will put your Lync meeting on hold as the call comes through. So, we have to remember to put the iPhone in "Do Not Disturb" mode prior to the meeting manually then remember to turn it off after the meeting. Is there a way for the S4B mobile app to invoke DnD on the iPhone when in a meeting?

No, not as of now, but a great feature request!

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.