Howdy Folks,

Some interesting functionality has come out of the new Microsoft Office 365 CloudPBX with on-premises PSTN Connectivity in Skype for Business Server 2015. On 7th October 2015 Microsoft rolled out CloudPBX with on-premises PSTN Connectivity in preview with global release.

I have one big concern at this moment in time–Media Bypass.  If Media Bypass is not used in situations where utilising Office 365 with an ExpressRoute, this will result in a trombone effect in the network.  This occurs when the data uses the same path for the outward and return journeys.

Update Nov 11, 2015 – This has confirmed that only the signalling will be passed through Office 365, all media traffic will go via on-premises mediation direct to the gateway.

What is not clear is whether or not the traffic from users will go to their Office 365 tenant or the media traffic will go directly to the required on-premises Skype for Business Pool.

Handsets:

Microsoft’s phone hardware partners have already built some IP phones with support for the Cloud PBX with PSTN Calling feature. It’s currently supported in the following phones if they have updated firmware: Polycom CX600, CX3000 and VVX models, and HP 4120 phone. Microsoft has also promised that new phone support will be arriving “over the next several months.”

Prerequisites:

The On-Premises environment must be configured in as a Hybrid.  This means a functional Front End Pool either Enterprise or Standard,  Edge Server, and, what isn’t made clear on TechNet, a Revers Proxy configured per the standard Lync, Skype for Business configuration.

The post CloudPBX via on-premises PBX appeared first on Oh, Say Can UC... .

Howdy folks,

The iOS Skype for Business, formerly Lync 2013, app was released on 14th October 2015. In this new release we have seen an intuitive and familiar Skype UI, to include:

• Simplified dashboard and enhanced In-Call and In-Meeting experiences.
• Full-Screen Video, simultaneous viewing of the shard content and speaker’s video, larger buttons for meeting controls.

In addition it includes the Active Directory Authentication Library based on Multi-factor Authentication.

There are also features that have been removed between 19th October 2015, the date of posting of this, and the initial release date.  Removals from Skype for Business that were included in the Lync 2013 client are as follows:

Contacts screen

• Search your contacts from the Contacts screen. This feature is also available on the Dashboard screen (on which recent conversations and upcoming meetings are displayed).
• Search for Distribution Groups.
• Send an IM to all members of a Group.
• Use Group contact cards.

Chat screen

• Send the chat transcript as an email message.
• Access a participant’s Contact Card from the Participant List.

Meetings List screen

• Visually identify meetings that are currently in the Tentative acceptance state.
• Access the meeting organizer’s Contact Card from the Meeting detail view.

Voice Mail screen

• Delete a voice mail message.
• Use quick options to return a call and navigate to the Contact Card from a Voice Mail message.
• Use Accessibility features.
• Use Speed Controls for faster and slower Voice Mail playback.

In-call screens

• Use Call Transfer.
• View Microsoft PowerPoint presentations. However, app-sharing and screen-sharing (including for PowerPoint presentations) are still fully functional.

Settings

• Set Call Forwarding and Simultaneous Ring options.

The post Missing features in Skype for Business on iOS appeared first on Oh, Say Can UC... .

Howdy All,

I’m going to create a two-part blog on the integration of Microsoft Skype for Business and Elastix PBX utilising a SipGate Basic sip trunk. Much of what you read in this could not have been accomplished as fast without the help of Mark Vale @UnifiedVale, Mark has been a massive help in Elastix configuration

With CloudPBX via on-Premises PSTN availability on the horizon, I wanted to get an early start on getting a free PBX solution working as soon as possible so I can tie this into my hybrid Skype for Business environment.  Within these sections we will work through setting up the Elastix PBX on a VM Ware ESX 6 server. Configuration of the Elastix PBX to speak to SipGate Sip Trunk, Configuration of the Elastix to Lync SIP Trunk, and lastly the configuration of the Skype for Business server to allow the connectivity through.

For the purpose of this blog, I have assumed you have done the following:.

• Signed up for a basic SipGate and have obtained the correct SIP ID and password
• Have the resource available to create a Virtual machine using VM Ware ESX 6
• Skype for Business is working correctly and is running without errors in the event log.
• Enterprise Voice has been enabled on your relevant front end pool

First part of the series is the creation of the Virtual machine and installation of the Elastix PBX.

Creating ESX VM Elastix server:

Download ISO from http://www.elastix.org/index.php/en/downloads/main-distro.html

Add ISO ESX to your Datastore:

Create a new Virtual Machine using the typical configuration, for me it was just easier to create a Standard Windows 2008 R2 Server and modify the settings.

Provide it with an admin friendly name:

Provide the available data store. In my case I have the single Hard Drive installed in ESX

Use the normal Widows Microsoft Windows Server 2008R2 (64 bit) configuration

Use the attached Physical NIC on attached to the ESX Host

Provide the Elastix server with a set volume of disk space. I have used 15 GB which may be more than necessary

Ensure you edit settings before you start the virtual machine.

Configure the required amount of ram to 512mb. Anything beyond this is unnecessary for a lab environment.

Mount the ISO that was added to the data store previously. This will need to be connected on power on.

Upon booting to Elastix you will start the boot sequence, press enter to initiate the graphical mode installation.

Choose your default language. In my case it’s English

Choose your default keyboard configuration. I’m based out of England therefor my default keyboard is UK

Elastix install will identify the 15 GB partition that was identified earlier in the set-up. Press spacebar with Yes selected.

Ensure that the use free space has been selected and the asterisk has been placed on the use drive required to have the partition created. Tab to the Yes and press spacebar

On Review Partition Layout select No – we have just configured this so it’s not necessary to review again.

We would like to configure the network interface by selecting yes and press the spacebar.

IPV6 is not being used fully in my lab and to keep things simple I have deselected this and tab to OK.

I have configured the Elastix with a static IP, in my lab all the internal servers and services run on a 192.168.0.0 / 255.255.255.0 network. I have configured it with a static IP of 192.168.0.61

Configured the network gateway, Primary DNS and Secondary DNS as appropriate for your network

Configure the Hostname of the device – my lab has PBX assigned to the Elastix server

No UCT, as we observe Daylight savings time. In addition I live within the same time zone as London this has been selected, but chose your location accordingly

Input password which will be used for accessing the PBX – once inputted tab to OK and press spacebar.

Add the password for MySQL, this can be the same password used in the previous Root password

Confirm your password for MySQL

Create a password which will be used for the FreePBX portion of the Elastix server

Confirm the password for FreePBX

Once the PBX has finished its installation you will be prompted to the Default load screen. Verify that your root and password are working accordingly.

In the next post I will be covering off the configuration of the Elastix PBX, Creating the SIP trunk configuration, and Skype for business configuration.

The post Skype for Business via free Sip Trunk – Part 1 appeared first on Oh, Say Can UC... .

Hello All,

This is a follow on from Part 1 – found here.

In this post I am going to walk through the process of creating the Elastix server and the configuration of the Elastix PBX to speak to the SipGate Basic sip trunk and the configuration to speak to Skype for Business.

Access via your IP of the PBX using your preferred browser – accept the website’s security certificate.

Administrative access is gained using the admin username.

On the system bar of Elastix select the PBX button.

Select trunks, and then Add SIP Trunk.

First trunk we will configure is the Elastix to and from SIP connection to Skype for Business.

First up is the Lync Trunk:

Fill in with the appropriate trunk name and user context fields

For you to cut and paste – just amend with your required IP addresses.

Peer details:

host=192.168.0.52

transport=tcp,udp

port=5060

fromdomain=192.168.0.61

insecure=very

context=from-internal

type=friend

canreinvite=yes

qualify=yes

dtmfmode=rfc2833

User Context:

host=192.168.0.52

transport=tcp

port=5060

insecure=very

type=friend

context=from-internal

promiscredir=yes

qualify=yes

canreinvite=yes

host=192.168.0.52

transport=tcp

port=5060

insecure=very

type=friend

context=from-internal

promiscredir=yes

qualify=yes

canreinvite=yes

Next is the creation of the SipGate trunk. I have anonymised the number, but you will want the full DDI in non E164 format.

An important note around Skype for Business and SipGate SIP routing: If your username has a letter in it, for example mine originally had a random e towards the end, your username will be all characters before the letter. Skype for Business has difficulty trying to normalise any numbers with a letter in the dialled number.

When an inbound call occurs on the SipGate trunk and is passed to Skype for Business it will use the SipGate trunk to pass this call over. If the SipGate trunk name has a SIP ID with a letter within it will fail normalisation on the Skype for Business side.

again for your cut and pasting:

Peer Details:

type=friend

insecure=invite

nat=yes

username=23222

fromuser=23222

fromdomain=sipgate.co.uk

secret=SIPGatePassword

host=sipgate.co.uk

qualify=yes

canreinvite=no

dtmfmode=rfc2833

context=from-internal

disallow=all

allow=ulaw&alaw

User Details:

authuser=23222

context=from-trunk

nat=yes

dtmfmode=info

fromdomain=sipgate.co.uk

fromuser=23222

host=sipgate.co.uk

insecure=very

secret=SipGatePassword

type=peer

username=23222

disallow=all

allow=ulaw&alaw

Register String:

SIPID:Password:sipgate.co.uk/SIPID

Once this complete the next step is to configure two outbound routes.

One is going to be a route to the SipGate trunk and the other is going to be a route to the Skype for Business trunk

For SipGate we use a Match dial pattern of N. and this will pass to the SipGate trunk only.

All inbound calling from the PSTN is going to be at least 11 digits long. For most of my lab requirements, this will be more than enough as I don’t anticipate any long distance or shorter 6 digit UK dialing to occur as part of my testing. All calls that have 11 digits will be passed to the Lync Trunk.

Next stage is to configure the inbound routes, select Inbound Routes under Inbound Call Control,

Delete any existing inbound routes and create the following:

No DID number, no CallerID and have this go to a set destination of Trunks, and select your Lync Trunk.

We are going to do some fine tuning on the SIP Trunks now. From the PBX menu, select the downward arrow on the top bar. This will provide us the option to select Security.

While in Security Settings choose Advanced Settings.

From Advanced Settings toggle the Enable direct access (non-embedded) to FreePBX to On

Select the PBX button again from the menu on the top and select the bottom option, Unembedded FreePBX

Within this menu we are going to hard code some options onto the SIP trunks. Some of these may not be required by you however I found that I noticed one way media traffic and without some of the latter configuration of the Advanced General Settings it simply was only one way media.

To configure the Sip Trunks, from the menu click on Settings, then chose Asterisk SIP Settings.

Configure any netting configuration that may be required. Identify any Public IP and natting information that is relevant to your configuration.

Lower on the screen under Other SIP Settings, you must put:

Tcpenable=yes, Skype for Business will use TCP to the Elastix PBX.

Some networks work differently and will allow the traffic through. I found that I required the additional configuration items added.

To validate that everything is working as expected and to aid in any troubleshooting, use Putty to allow a direct connection to the Elastix PBX.

Download Putty

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

Once connected, use the username Root. Your password you entered upon installation of the PBX for the Root

To gain access to the PBX function of the Linux server type Asterisk –rvvvv

The most useful took I have found within this is the SIP show peers. This will provide the connection status of the SIP Connections to and from the Elastix PBX. As Qualify=yes in the Lync trunk configuration the server and PBX will continuously send packets to each other to validate the service is working.

From your Skype for Business front end open topology Builder, select the correct Shared Components, in this case it’s the PSTN Gateway, right click and add. Ensure that the PBX has its name correctly configured in DNS.

As we are not using TLS between the Elastix PBX and Skype for Business 5060 can be provisioned as a listening port and a mediation listening port.

Once this is complete publish the topology and ensure replication occurs to all the front ends within the pool.

If Enterprise Voice has not been configured before – this will require you to bootstrap your sever to ensure the additional roles are added.

Log onto the Skype for Business Control Panel. I have used https://www.lyncoptimizer.com/ to configure the default and basic routes required for my lab.   In addition, I have anonymised my SipGate normalisation rule slightly.

Create a new Dial Plan – this will take our potentially truncated SipGate SIP ID and then turn this into a User telephone number.

The one we are concerned about most is the SipGate rule for this user –

This translated rule will then be applied to the user with that number applied to him or her.

When watching the sip stack and ladder diagrams remember that the inbound connection will not be from the E.164 of the dialing number but it will be SIP ID from the SIP Gate trunk.

Good Luck!  Have fun! If you need any help or have any questions feel free to comment and share!

The post Skype for Business via free Sip Trunk – Part 2 appeared first on Oh, Say Can UC... .

Howdy folks,

This week Microsoft have announced that you will soon be able to use a hybrid deployment from Skype for Business to Microsoft Office 365 with no on-premises server deployment, well, almost.  You still require servers or virtual machines to be in place.

So first things first, everyone has signed up at Http://skypepreview.com and gained access to the features as part of their O365 tenant.   As part of this deployment customers can deploy a minimal Skype for Business 2015 topology in a Hyper-V virtualised informant, no confirmation around VM Ware yet.  These VMs are packaged to provide the customer to connect to their on-premises domain and then configure it for Hybrid to the Office 365 tenant.

What’s required on-premises?

Resources:

• No on-premises Skype For Business Deployment
• Qualified next-hop SIP Peer: IP-PBX, SIP Trunk, SBC or Gateway
• Two Host systems: one inside the Firewall, one in the DMZ
• 64 bit dual proc / quad core, 64 GB RAM, 2x RAID-1 10k RPM 72GB HDD, 2x 1Gbps network

Roles:

Edge Server – we still need to be able to communicate with the O365.  Within the Edge we require 5 functions to work:

• Access Edge service – this is going to provide the SOP routing from the on-prem to the Office 365 tenant.
• Media Relay service – this is going to be doing the routing of the media betweent he Mediation and the other media end points.
• Central management store – this is going to synchronise the configuration from the global CMS Database and the CMS Role Server on premises.
• Outbound Routing – we need a way to provide routing to the gateways based on policies, just like all voice configurations.  Only global policies which are based on their outbound PSTN numbers will be supported.
• Media Relay Authentication, or MRAS – is going to generate the tokens for access to the media relay.

Central Management Store (CMS) Role – Includes the configuration store of the topology components and the CMS File Transfer.

Mediation Server –  Creates a SIP and media gateway mapping protocol between  the PSTN gateway and the Skype for Business online. Of course the Mediation Server also includes a replica of the CMS and this will synchronise with the configuration from the global CMS database.

What else do you need?

• Need to be a admin on your hyper-v host servers, so you can add the configuration and VMs on.
• Need Skype for Business permissions, which means the AD Schema, Enterprise and Domain Admin roles need to be applied if they haven’t’ been done before.
• External DNS need to be updated – these will be included ina new file called HybridVoiceMinTopNew.ini – but in essence it needs creating two key External DNS entries.
  • AP.Domain.com
  • MR.Domain.com
• You’ll need a public cert, as per any normal edge server will require, it’d be a good idea to use the ones Microsoft approve. The approved list – https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929395
• Firewall configuration – make sure that the required ports, 443, 5061, and 3478 are configured.  The gateway needs to be able to be configured for Internet to the DMZ Internal/External, and the internal network.
• And lastly, obviously, you need a 365 tenant with all the normal DNS and SRV records creating to allow a Skype for Business online created.

Capacity:

• Stand-alone capacity estimated with 70% Internal Users, 30% External users
• Media transcoding performed by Mediation can handle up to 500 calls
• Multiple Packaged VM sets can be stacked for greater scale.

The post Skype for Business – Hybrid with little on-prem deployment appeared first on Oh, Say Can UC... .

Howdy folks,

Today I added a few domains to one of our Office 365 tenants that I use on a regular basis. Ashley Richardson @letscollabor8 advised me that the adding additional domain process has vastly improved.  He wasn’t kidding!  The addition of Domains from GoDaddy to Office 365 since the days of buying a new domain, configuring the TXT record that Microsoft approves, and then adding the correct DNS records are now long behind us.  It’s almost becoming too easy!

Adding Domain

First things first – purchase your new domain through GoDaddy. – keep your log on details handy, you’ll need them in a bit.

Log onto your Office 365 tenant as a global admin and browse to the Domain section under the admin tools.

Select + Add Domain

Press Let’s get started

Input the correct domain name which you purchased earlier into the domain which we want to use and press Next

Microsoft will query who the domain registrar of the newly purchased domain is and this will then load your GoDaddy authentication.

GoDaddy Process

Click the Sign into GoDaddy

Using the domain owner’s account information you then press Secure Login.  This must be the domain register and not a child or linked account.

Once signed in verify that the information you have is correct and that the domain we have inputted into the Which domain do you want to use? is present and correct and press Accept.

Microsoft will then validate that you own this domain. This domain will then be added to your managed domains list.

Managing Users

Office 365 will then kick off the ability to migrate users to this new domain. You can add any additional domain names to your users at this point in time.

In my case we were simply adding the domain and we will utilise ADFS to create the users later. If you scroll to the bottom of the screen you will find a Skip this step

During the process you can add new users to the new domain. Input any additional user details and Add these users or in my case, Skip this step.  Also, should it be easier you can use the CSV template to do a bulk addition.

Configuring DNS

With the GoDaddy and Office 365 working together we can have Office 365 provision our public GoDaddy DNS records.

Click Next

If Microsoft are the DNS nameserver provider you can select. As the domain names are still homed with GoDaddy at Domaincontrol.com we select No, I have an existing website or prefer to manage my own DNS records. Then click the Next button

Identify which services you are going to use on Office 365 for your newly managed domain. If you are going to use Exchange, Skype for Business and MDM, select all these items and click the Next button.

Microsoft will then work with GoDaddy and automatically configure all the DNS records required for the services you’ve selected. Click the Add records, or if you would like to see which DNS records they are going to create, simply click the down arrow to view what is going to be changed.

I was blown away by how simple this is. The years of setting up new Skype for Business Online and Office 365 tenants had reminded me of how difficult/laborious it was to configure the public DNS records and having long discussions with 3^rd Party providers who manage the DNS records for the company.  Now you have the ability to bypass all those headaches and have it provision for you.

This was certainly a 5 star setup for me.

Click Finish, and you’re good to go

Validate that your Manage domains list shows your newly found domain and it shows as Setup complete, no action required.

I quite like the CheckDns tool from Justin Wyllys – this can be found on http://jrwpcs.com/checkdns.zip  – This tool is useful for validating Office 365 public DNS records.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to pass them on! Thanks for reading.

The post GoDaddy and Office 365 appeared first on Oh, Say Can UC... .

Howdy Folks,

As Office 365 becomes increasingly powerful and the functionality becomes closer to what expect from an on premise configuration on Skype for Business, you need to be able to take advantage of the solutions you find online.

I have read the Lync Server Cookbook by Alessio Giombini, Antonio Vargas, Fabrizio Volpe, and Lasse Nordvik Wedo which has a section on this but it is a bit difficult to pull the text from the book to the PowerShell window.  Kudos to the team for the fantastic book.

After completion of the following procedure, you should be able to use Exchange Online, utilise OWA— OOTW as it’s known now—to be able to use and sign-in to the on premise Skype for Business server.

In addition, you will be able to use the Exchange Online Calendar application to provide a Skype for Business meeting with the on premise Skype for Business servers.

Prerequisites

You need a few things – an export of the OAuth certificate.

From a Front End server load Certificate Add In on the Microsoft Management Console.

Right Click and select All Tasks, then click Export.  The OAuth certificate should be the only certificate on the Server that appears with just the domain name in its Issued To field.

Press Next

The OAuth does not have a Private Key that needs to be exported, so click No and Next

The certificate needs to be in a Base-64 encoded, select and press Next

Export the .cer to a continent location and press Next

The certificate will be exported to the location, complete by pressing Finish

From Skype for Business Online Topology Builder, obtain the External Web services FQDN.

Enable OAuth on Tenant

From the Skype for Business Server launch the Skype for Business Management Shell.

Import-Module LyncOnlineConnector

$cred = Get-Credential

$sess = New-CsOnlineSession -Credential $cred

Import-PSSession $sess -AllowClobber

Verify the connection is correct by typing

Get-CSTenant

Validate that you get the expected tenant information returned.

The important information you are looking for is the Tenant ID.

Mark and paste the information in the following table between the “   ”

$tenantID = “a2345678-1238-43cd-a144-e45678c55dc6”

New-CsOAuthServer microsoft.sts -MetadataUrl https://accounts.accesscontrol.windows.net/$tenantID/metadata/json/1

This is the same for all tenants – paste the following:

New-CsPartnerApplication -Identity microsoft.exchange -ApplicationIdentifier 00000002-0000-0ff1-ce00-000000000000 -ApplicationTrustLevel Full –UseOAuthServer

Set-CsOAuthConfiguration -ServiceName 00000004-0000-0ff1-ce00-000000000000

Installation of O365 AD Module

Next step you need to install a few things.

First installation is First is the Microsoft Online Services Sign-in assistant setup wizard – this is straight forward, so it seems. Download can be obtained from: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=28177

Second is the Azure Active Directory Module setup wizard – this isn’t so straight forward.

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkid=236297  – this will kick off the download of the Windows Azure Active Directory Module  – you may need follow the post installation of the MOSS below.

Kick off the installation of Microsoft Online Services Sign-in Assistant Setup

Accept the EULA and press Install.

Press Finish upon completion

To install the Azure Active directory module I’ve made the following registry edit.  There seems to be a bug with the RTW version and the allowing the installation of the AADM.  You can modify the installed versioning by completing a regedit.

Regedit:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSOIdentityCRL]

“MSOIDCRLVersion”=”7.250.4551.0”

“MSOIDCRLVersion_Default”=”7.250.4303.0”

Installation of the Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell

Launch the installer, and press Next

Accept the EULA and press Next

Ensure the installation location is correct and press Next

If the information is correct press Confirm

Once the install is complete press Finish

If this doesn’t install properly, you might need to install the beta version:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=39267

Configuring Office 365

Now that you’ve installed the Azure module, you’re going to launch it.

Paste the following:

Import-Module MSOnlineExtended

Connect-MsolService

You are going to Import our exported Oauth certificate:

Paste the following – assuming you’ve exported the cert to the same location:

$certificate = New-Object System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate

$certificate.Import(“C:\cert.cer”)

$binaryValue = $certificate.GetRawCertData()

$credentialsValue = [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($binaryValue)

new-MsolServicePrincipalCredential -AppPrincipalId 00000004-0000-0ff1-ce00-000000000000 -Type Asymmetric -Usage Verify -Value $credentialsValue

Validate the cert has been installed properly.

Get-MsolServicePrincipalCredential -AppPrincipalId 00000004-0000-0ff1-ce00-000000000000

Under the Value portion you should see the key information of the certificate.

You are going to do the same thing again however rather than doing it to Skype Online- which is 00000004 you are going to do it to Exchange Online, which is 00000002

 Important note: I have had a few really strange issues on this. The first time I imported the certificate fine, but when I ran a Get-MsolServicePrincipalCredential I would get a blank value back for the certificate, so I would have to Remove-MsolServicePrincipalCredential – AppPrincipalId ***  -KeyID **

To resolve this I closed the Azure Active Directory Module and launched it again.

Paste this to import the OAuth to Exchange Online

$certificate = New-Object System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates.X509Certificate

$certificate.Import(“C:\cert.cer”)

$binaryValue = $certificate.GetRawCertData()

$credentialsValue = [System.Convert]::ToBase64String($binaryValue)

New-MsolServicePrincipalCredential -AppPrincipalId 00000002-0000-0ff1-ce00-000000000000 -Type Asymmetric -Usage Verify -Value $credentialsValue

Set-MSOLServicePrincipal -AppPrincipalID 00000002-0000-0ff1-ce00-000000000000 -AccountEnabled $true

Paring the hybrid

Once this is complete the certificate import on the Skype Online and Exchange Online we need to configure the trust to the external web services on premise.

Run the following – make sure you grab that external web service you obtained earlier

$lyncSP = Get-MSOLServicePrincipal -AppPrincipalID 00000004-0000-0ff1-ce00-000000000000

$lyncSP.ServicePrincipalNames.Add(“00000004-0000-0ff1-ce00-000000000000/extweb.domain.com”)

Set-MSOLServicePrincipal -AppPrincipalID 00000004-0000-0ff1-ce00-000000000000 -ServicePrincipalNames $lyncSP.ServicePrincipalNames

Troubleshooting

One thing I’ve noticed is that not all Skype for Business online configurations have all the expected trusted providers.

From the Skype for Business Management shell Run:

Get-CsHostingProvider 

Make sure you see both Lync Online or Skype for Business Online and Exchange Online

On several occasions I have had to add Exchange Online as a Hosting Provider at different hybrid environments

New-CsHostingProvider -Identity “Exchange Online” -Enabled $True –EnabledSharedAddressSpace $True -HostsOCSUsers $False -ProxyFQDN “exap.um.outlook.com” -IsLocal $False -VerificationLevel UseSourceVerification

The post Skype for Business hybrid with OOTW appeared first on Oh, Say Can UC... .

Howdy Folks,

Once upon a time installing Office Web Apps server was a breeze.  Anyone could roll up and use Pat Richard’s script to download the ISO and prep everything to be done on the server.

Now that Windows 2012 R2 has been released and Microsoft has amended the download locations, the script that Pat Richard created will no longer work to install Office Web Apps server on a Windows 2012 R2 server. It’s still a fantastic script:  http://www.ehloworld.com/1697  for most other roles within a Skype for Business topology, and Web Apps server can also still be installed – as this blog post will show you.

Allow me to walk you through the steps to get Office Web Apps installed and supported on Windows 2012 R2.

Prerequisites

There is a really good helpful guide on TechNet – although it isn’t entirely straightforward.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/jj219455.aspx

Install .net Framework 4.5.2 – http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=42643

Launch PowerShell as an Administrator and use the following:

Add-WindowsFeature Web-Server,Web-Mgmt-Tools,Web-Mgmt-Console,Web-WebServer,Web-Common-Http,Web-Default-Doc,Web-Static-Content,Web-Performance,Web-Stat-Compression,Web-Dyn-Compression,Web-Security,Web-Filtering,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-App-Dev,Web-Net-Ext45,Web-Asp-Net45,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-ISAPI-Filter,Web-Includes,InkandHandwritingServices,NET-Framework-Features,NET-Framework-Core,NET-HTTP-Activation,NET-Non-HTTP-Activ,NET-WCF-HTTP-Activation45

Obtaining the ISO

This task requires its own section as it’s so awkward to find.

https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/servicecenter/ – sign in and you want the Volume Licensing Service Center.

Once signed in using your Live ID, click Downloads and Keys.

Find the Office Professional Plus 2013 and select the Download tab.

Now the less intuitive portion.  Windows 2012 R2 only comes in 64 Bit, but the Office Web Apps ISO is located under the 32 Bit Section.

Setup

Once the ISO is downloaded you can mount the ISO natively in the Windows Explorer.

Now, you just kick off Setup and everything works… Easy?  Not exactly.  There are some significant gotchas to concern yourself with:

1. You must have at least 2 processors. I was running this in a lab and trying to squeeze as much as I could out of it with a single V Core and it wouldn’t install – and the error gave me nothing to assist with troubleshooting.
2. Don’t try to do any power management. Anything other than Balanced won’t do.

Likewise, any power management on the ESX or Hyper-V will stop the installation.

Now we’re able to launch Setup…

• open the .iso file directly and run Setup.exe

• On the Read the Microsoft Software License Terms page, select I accept the terms of this agreement and click Continue
• On the Choose a file location page, select the folder where you want the Office Web Apps Server files to be installed (for example, C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Web Apps) and select Install Now. If the folder you specified doesn’t exist, Setup creates it for you.
• When Setup finishes installing Office Web Apps Server, choose Close
• Download and install Office Web Apps Server SP1 which is required for Windows Server 2012 R2.

Installation of Language Packs

Language packs can be downloaded from:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35490

Launch the wacserverlaguangepack.exe

In the Office Web Apps Server Language Pack 2013 Wizard, on the Read the Microsoft Software License Terms page, select I accept the terms of this agreement and select Continue.

When Setup finishes installing Office Web Apps Server, choose Close

Important notes:

• If you want to add the language packs after you create a farm, think again. You have to remove it out of the farm and then add it back in.
• If you want a language pack to work, it needs to be on all of the servers in the farm.

Create the Office Web Apps Server farm.

This depends on what flavour of OWA you’re working on.  In my lab I only require one to function.  In production it is highly recommended you deploy a farm of no less than 2 Office Web App servers and, dependent on the load, you could require more.   In addition, anything more than a single server will require a Hardware Load Balancer to be in place to load balance the HTTP traffic.

From PowerShell:

For a single server in the farm you use the following configuration.

New-OfficeWebAppsFarm -InternalURL “http://servername” -AllowHttp –EditingEnabled

Validate that it’s responding as you would expect, with http://servername/hosting/discovery from the browser of your choice.

Expected results will be similar:

I have enabled HTTPS in mine which will add the step of creating a certificate request on the local machine, then utilising the Web Tool on the Certificate Authority and creating the relevant certificate.   Add this certificate to the trusted personal store.  If the OWA server will be used externally the certificate installed must be from a public certificate provider.

In addition, the PowerShell required to create the Farm is slightly different.

New-OfficeWebAppsFarm -InternalUrl “https://server.contoso.com” -ExternalUrl “https://wacweb01.contoso.com” -CertificateName “OfficeWebApps Certificate” –EditingEnabled

This can be validated by visiting the URL https://server.contoso.com/hosting/discovery

As always if you have any comments or questions feel free to ask!

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Howdy folks,

This week I have a review on the Jabra Evolve 80 headset.  I am in no way sponsored by Jabra and this is an independent opinion in a series of Lync product reviews I plan to publish.  Jabra is up first as the company was the first to send me the headset as part of this series.

Jabra description declares them to be a “more than headsets, a workplace evolution” but are they?

Stale Hanson has already provided some information on the headset which can be found as part of his LyncPro series here.

For any office worker who works in an open plan or open area this is an optimal headset.  I have three children whom I often have to work within earshot of and having the ability to use the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) to eliminate the outside interference gives me the chance to concentrate on the task at hand and finish that Pomodoro timer. The brilliant ANC isolates from distractions whether at home or inside the office working from cubical or open area to turn anywhere into a ‘Concentration Zone’.

Rating headsets falls into three separate categories; sound quality, microphone, and comfort.  Because people often wear a headset inside the office for several hours in a stretch it’s imperative that the headset is able to meet all of the features simultaneously.

Sound Quality:

I’ve noticed that the sound quality from the headset from the PC Powered USB is really good, one of the best headsets I’ve used, and activating the ANC seems to push the amplification up a gear—although this does come with some sound bleeding, as you would expect.  Although the headset is closed cup, in that they isolate the nose around you and in doing so prevent others from hearing your music.  Whereas an open headphone will possibly provide better sound but with little to no isolation from music and outside world.

The headset is easily unplugged from the USB control unit and a 3.5mm connection can be plugged into a mobile phone or other device. The quality to a phone is, again, good, perhaps not as good as plugged direct to the PC but the ANC and volume are more than adequate.

Microphone:

The boom is located on the right side. This isn’t necessarily a problem unless you have a preference of having the boom on the left.  When not in use, the boom is simply placed in an upward position and it’s out of the way. The quality from the microphone was clear and, even in an open-plan office, I was always able to hold conversations at a normal level. The microphone can be muted using the USB controller during a Skype for Business call and traditional volume and call functionality can be adjusted.

Comfort:

Having worn the headset for several hours per day for several weeks, I have found it very comfortable.  It is slightly on the heavier side at 11.7oz or 331 grams but, as with most professional grade headsets, to drive the sound you require a decent sized magnet. The ear cushions are made of leather and even with almost daily use, and several international flights, the headset has held up perfectly.  The leather ear cushions can be replaced at a cost of $20 from Jabra.

About the controller:

The controller has a foam underneath to prevent it from moving around on the desk.  The controller enables you to turn up and down the volume, mute the headset and pick up an incoming call.  But, in addition to that, you can press the central Jabra button and it illuminates the busy circle on both sides of the headset as a visual indicator to others that you’re busy.  This is what provides the Optimized for Lync functionality.   The controller is also the main source of charging the headset. The 3.5mm outer rim isn’t exactly round, it has flat points on two edges, and this must connect to charging points within the controller and when the device is plugged into the USB it charges the headset.

About the headset:

The headset seems to last over 24 hours with ANC enabled.  I try my best to remember to flick the ANC switch which illuminates when on, however I have returned to the office the next day having left the device on overnight and continued to use it with the noise cancelling turned on.   The sound is fantastic from USB, which I tend to use most days and the comfort is good.  The headset also has a listen/mute button—if you are in ANC mode and listening to something you can press the right ear cup and this will mute things so you do not have to take off your headset to speak or listen to things outside your ‘Concentration Zone’

The Software:

The Jabra direct software is pretty impressive.  On the landing page you can see which applications are configured to use the headset, and you can also launch the firmware updater which is native to this application without visiting a web page or launching another application like some other headset providers require.

One really cool feature that the software has is Intelligent Call Transfer.

Intelligent call transfer understands that while a Skype for Business call is in process, whether it is a conference or a point to point call, when the 3.5mm connection is removed it will call your designated number. In my case, it is my mobile phone.  The call is made through your Skype for Business server’s gateway. This is brilliant in bridging some of the capability that Cisco Call manager have had for some time.  Having the ability to take my call and seamlessly transfer it to my mobile phone by unplugging my headset from my PC, connecting it to my mobile, then answering it is pretty impressive.

What I liked:

USB Sound was a thriller, I genuinely love the sound that comes out of these when they are plugged into my PC.   The intelligent call transfer is a super-smart advancement in the way Lync and Skype work.  The first time it happened it caught me out as I wasn’t expecting it to work as well as it did.  I can look like a cool hipster with oversized headset, right up until they see my microphone and realise I’m just a dorky business guy.

What I disliked:

The headset is bulky. I understand the competition in that Bose, Beats, Sony, and even some of the higher end Sennheiser headsets I have used are comparably bulky, but the size makes it a bit difficult to transport them from site to site and, as a road warrior, I would prefer the ability to take advantage of the ANC yet travel with the headset in my bag.

Outcome:

I recommend the headset for a person who is stationary and wants to have top of the line sound quality.  For a person who works in an open office and would like to keep focused, these headsets are perfect.  The Optimised for Lync features work flawlessly, and the integrated software with Skype for Business is a really useful feature on top of a really well built headset.  For me, someone who spends just as much time at home and office as well on the road I tend to leave them for the home office and I use a Bluetooth headset which is smaller and lighter while out and about.

This is certainly a brilliant headset for someone who would like a sanctuary within the workplace.

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Howdy folks!

As we proceed through the inevitable that all forms of Skype for Business will be moving towards Office 365 / Skype for Business Online. This may come in the form of a Hybrid or a fully Skype Online tenant.  More and more interest has been brewing around how Cloud PBX and PSTN calling is going to work.

To ready yourself for the provisioning of users with PSTN Calling from Office 365 I’ve created a guide on how to provision a user with a Direct Inward Dial, DID, or as we often use in Europe, DDI.

In this example I am going to enable a user to use a PSTN Calling plan and DID from Frisco, Texas – my old stomping ground in the US.  I have the licenses already applied to my tenant.  To be able to provide a user with PSTN Calling the tenant will require either a E3 with PSTN Calling add on or a E5 Licenses.  In addition the tenant will require the Dialling Plan either International, National, or both.

Provisioning

First things first, sign into your tenant using your global administrator account, access your Admin center.

Scroll to the bottom of the menu and select Admin then Skype for Business

You should see the dashboard which is the native splash screen.

Visit the Voice tab. This will be visible if you have voice licenses applied to your tenant.  As you can see from the image below I currently have 6 numbers assigned to the account.  3 from Dallas which are in the 469 area code and 3 from Atlanta in the 678 area code.

Before I can assign any numbers to any users we must have an emergency location attributed to the account. As you can see the one in my tenant was originally the Microsoft Bellevue location.

Because we would like to have users located anywhere within the United States, and soon to be rolling outside the US, we need to add a new location. To add a new location, under the Emergency Locations tab, press the plus sign.

A new side bar will open and location details including site name and address will be inputted. In this process, you will need to validate the address and then press save.

What is address validation?

When you are setting up PSTN calling, you will need to assign a phone number and emergency address to each of your users.

Validating an emergency address involves making sure that it is legitimate and correctly formatted for emergency authorities. Only U.S. addresses can be validated. Although it’s possible to create and save an emergency address that isn’t validated, only validated addresses can’t be associated to a user. Once an emergency address is validated and saved, it can be assigned to a user. If you need to change a saved validated emergency address, you will need to create a new one.

It is possible that a partially correct emergency address may still pass validation and will be seen in the Skype for Business admin center. For example, if you mistype the name of a city, it may still pass validation, because the combination of the misspelled name along with the other correct parts of the address are enough information to route the call to the appropriate emergency dispatch center.

Review the correct address has been added and validated.

Identify the required area codes that are required. Currently all PSTN calling is only available from the United States, this will is road mapped to other geographies.

Currently select your State, and your nearest/preferred area code.

Once you select your State and City/Area Code, select how many DDI/DID numbers you require for that area. The number is limited by the amount of Calling CALs applied to the tenant.

Agree that you’re happy with the numbers, select the numbers you would like to be added to your tenant.

This would be followed by Aquire Numbers

Verify under your Voice tab that the numbers are now provisioned on your tenant.

Assign licenses: e5 and calling

From the Users, Active Users menu find your user which PSTN Calling is going to be deployed to.

Ensure that the users who require PSTN calling apply the appropriate licenses. In this scenario I have applied an E5 license and a PSTN Domestic and International Calling license.

From the Admin, Skype for Business menu

Ensure the correct User is selected, then click the Assign Number located on the right hand side.

A side bar will load

DDI/DID number range can be selected from the drop down menu.

The E 911 location will then be searched for, this is the City which the location is listed not the customer friendly name.

Once this is applied and confirmed, press the Save button

From the voice tab validate that the assigned number and the emergency location are as expected.

That’s it, the user has now been deployed with a new DID/DDI and has the correct licensing.

Some interesting findings. Although the DDI/DID originates from the United States it seems when I call an international, British, number the presented numbers can be from a large range of locations, sometimes Sweden, sometimes other EU countries.

Hope this helps! Good luck and let me know if you need more assistance.

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Howdy all,

As we continue on from where I left off earlier with PSTN Telephone number provisioning from Office 365, http://bit.ly/O365TelephoneNumbers  we now have PSTN Dial-in conferencing.  Dial-in conferencing has historically been a solution that has been hosted on premises or hosted with an existing third party provider such as PGI or BT.  This can now be included in your E3 licenses or E5 licenses for a fee of around $2 per user per month that require this functionality.

Provisioning

If you visit your portal and scroll to Admin, then to Skype for Business you’ll see the dial in conferencing numbers that are currently attributed to your tenant.  Should you require a location that isn’t yet on your list, you can create a helpdesk ticket and then allocate these numbers.  As you can see that my default number for my US tenant is a 312, Chicago number.  This is the number that will be given to all users who are use Office 365 and have the United States as their default location.

There are some key functionality that we can turn on and turn off as part of our Skype Online solution. First being we can enable the announcement feature.  This will provide dial up users the users an announcement when someone joins the meeting.  In addition you can enable the ability for dial in users to provide their location or name upon joining the dial in conference.   You can adjust the PIN from 5, the lowest setting is 4 and that should be low enough without causing too much disruption.

I have applied the Dial in Conferencing license to my Jason Wynn user. In addition you can see my conference ID and my default dial in number.

If I select the user I can then adjust the provider should I have a mix of 3^rd party or Microsoft natively hosting dial in conference providers.  I can also adjust my conference number.  From this I can use the drop down menu and select one of the provided numbers that have been provisioned to my tenant. Also, that bottom check box is quite important.  It allows users to use your dial in bridge with you being online.  If you want to provide the ability to have people use your dial in conferencing bridge without you attending then you need to check this box.

as you can see this scenario I’m going to change it to the other Chicago area code 872.

As you can see from the menu the new telephone number has been applied.

Some key points worth noting. This works fine in the US, the numbers seem to be in the correct E164 format.  This is not the case when using numbers from the UK for example.  When I create a meeting from outlook and visit the number being presented from Skype client to my Outlook client it doesn’t seem to be presented as I would expect.

This isn’t a huge problem, however it could effect your click to dial if you’re using this within Skype for Business and you don’t have normalisation configured. In addition, if you are using Cloud PBX or PSTN calling this could be an issue for you as well as the number isn’t configured correctly and the number will not be dialled.  The obvious answer is that people will be joining a Skype Online meeting from a Skype for Business client.

As always, if you have any questions, comments or issues feel free to comment and I’ll get back to you.

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Howdy folks,

Back into October 2014 Steve Goodman, Andrew Price and I put a challenge to ourselves to create a dedicated Microsoft Unified Communications event run by the community for the community. In doing so it was such a massive success with over 300 attendees from around Europe. 24 different sponsors were in attendance and fantastic content from all our speakers. Building upon the success of UC Day 2015 we have announced UC Day 2016 and plan to continue running event and make it even bigger by adding an additional track to the event. Going forward, UC Day is no longer just a Unified Communications Conference but now a UC and Cloud Conference focusing on all the components that can affect customers through to Microsoft Partners.

On the 24th of October we will be running sessions in the following tracks with the very best speakers from across the globe.

• Skype for Business
• Exchange
• Office 365
• Azure

If you are interested in attending this year event, head over to the UC Day website and join our mailing list.  http://www.ucday.co.uk/mailing-list/

Our currently Sponsors List is as follows;

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Interested in Sponsoring Unified Communications Day?

If you are a vendor and want to get involved with Unified Communications Day head over to the following page to obtain information about sponsoring us.

Click Here

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Howdy folks,

As part of my on-going series on getting users configured with Enterprise Voice from Office 365 a Skype Online I have created a guide on porting existing numbers over to your Microsoft Office 365 tenant.

Get new Numbers or bring your own

New numbers acquisition designed for maximum simplicity

• Search by state/area code for the numbers you want.
• Add them to your organization’s inventory.
• You can acquire more numbers than licenses to have some head room for changes.
• Telephone numbers will be available for area codes across the 50 states.

Number porting to move existing numbers into Skype for Business

• Inside the US – FCC rules require that current carrier allows and provides a centralized body (NPAC) to transact moves.
• Losing carriers set different requirements to approve a move – the process can be complex
• Expect something similar to this outside the US  – UK has been announced at Enterprise Connect for End of Q1 (Circa April)

Porting – Basics

Preparing to port

• Do not disconnect service with current carrier.
• Make sure there are no freezes on your account.
• Turn off any special carrier side features for the numbers  (e.g. Distinctive ring, Centrex service, ISDN/DSL lines).

Creating a port request

• All numbers must be from a single carrier (not part of any pending port requests & not residential).
• Company name and address, matching exactly losing carrier file.
• Billing Telephone Number (BTN), Account Number & PIN/Passcode (if required).
• Letter of Authorization (LOA) signed by authorized party.
• Choose Full Port (No numbers left behind) or Partial Port (Leaving some numbers with losing carrier).

Creating a port request

• All numbers must be from a single carrier (not part of any pending port requests & not residential).
• Company name and address, matching exactly losing carrier file.
• Billing Telephone Number (BTN), Account Number & PIN/Passcode (if required).
• Letter of Authorization (LOA) signed by authorized party.
• Choose Full Port (No numbers left behind) or Partial Port (Leaving some numbers with losing carrier).

Types of Porting

For large moves: Do a standard port (e.g. 1 number) early in migration project to validate you have right information to get approval from losing carrier.

Standard Porting Example

In your normal Skype for Business Admin tool click Skype for Business and then select Voice tab.

Because this is a Stand port we are doing less than 999 users – Click the “I’m ready to create port order”

You will be given the splash screen to let you know more before you start. Read the information and click “Let’s get started” to proceed

Fill in the account information as known by your losing provider. Once all information is correct press Next

Validate that the numbers you would like to port numbers are added to the “Numbers to be transferred (max.999)“ Once correct, select Check number portability

Once the numbers have been validated you can then schedule the move. The Move must be at least 48 hours in advanced when using the scheduling tool built into Office 365.

Pressing Next will schedule in the event and that’s it you have started the provisioning process and scheduled in the numbers to be brought into Office 365 / Skype for Business online

This will complete the schedule of the number into Office 365 – As highlighted above, always do this once as a test to validate that all your configuration is correct prior to doing any go live, mass migration of numbers.

As always if you have any questions or comments feel free to post them here and I’ll be happy to help.

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Configure busy on busy

With the release of Skype for Business CU3 – we now have the ability to enable “Busy on Busy”

So what is Busy on Busy? Busy options are a new voice policy attribute in Microsoft Skype for Business Server 2015 CU3. Busy on Busy makes it possible to reject and send a busy signal to new incoming calls or to send the call to voice mail if the person who is being called is already in a call or conference, or has a call on hold.

Busy Options allow the voice policy to be enabled for the organization, the following options can be set for all users within the organization:

• Busy on Busy: New incoming calls are rejected and sent a busy signal when the user is busy.
• Voicemail on Busy: New incoming calls are forwarded to voice mail when the user is busy.

To deploy ensure that Skype for Business CU3 has been deployed to your environment.   As part of your normal patching service you will want to Stop-CSWindows service and start them again as per normal.

Enable the service on the voice policy:

Find out which voice policies are in use by doing a:

Get-csvoicepolicy

Within this will outline what voice polices are inputted into Skype for Business. This doesn’t mean they are in use.

Configure the voice policies required to enable busy options, this can be completed by site, by tag, or globally.

In this scenario I have only updated the Lichfield Site

set-CsVoicePolicy -Identity site:Lichfield -enablebusyoptions $true

to do all at once:

Set-CsVoicePolicy -EnableBusyOptions $True

Configure the user actions:

The next step is to configure what actions are taken when a user voice policy is enabled.  You have the choice to send to voice mail or to send direct to a busy tone.

In this example I have enabled the user as a busy tone.

Set-CsBusyOptions -Identity gina.wynn@wynnware.com -ActionType BusyOnBusy

To enable all users::

To bulk enable all users run the following:

$enterprise = get-csuser -Filter {HostingProvider -ne “sipfed.online.lync.com”}

$enterprise | Set-CsBusyOptions –ActionType BusyOnBusy

Note: the users who are configured as Hybrid/ Office 365 will not have a registrar pool attached to them and will cause an error to occur.

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February 9 @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

6:00pm – Networking

6:30 – Al Eardley – Head of Solution Design @ CPS – Office365 Group vs Teams “What you should be aware of”

Microsoft have provided some great tools to enable us to collaborate in Office 365.  We can use calendars, files, distribution lists, Skype, files … the list keeps growing. With the release of Teams, we have a new way to work with these different tools. In this presentation I will compare and contrast the capabilities of Office 365 Groups and Teams, and even some of the capabilities found in more traditional SharePoint team sites. You will learn what the differences are, what the benefits are and even what some of the teething pains are, and be enabled to choose the most appropriate tool for your teams to use

7:00 – Steve Goodman (Office Servers and Services MVP) @ Content and Code – Conditional access to Office 365 – what options do you have

You can lock down user access to Office 365 and Azure AD by enforcing conditions for access – however there are a range of ways to do this. In this session, you’ll learn about the available options, and when you could use each

7:30 – Break/Pizza/Beers

8:00 – Matt Hurst – Technical Director @ Sonus – Simple Hybrid Voice deployments using CCE Appliance

How can you quickly enable a customer for Microsoft Cloud PBX and deliver PSTN services in any location?

Learn how to Hybrid model with Cloud Connector Edition (CCE) embedded directly within an SBC appliance can speed up and simplify cloud connectivity, and provide you with a comprehensive and simple to use platform that can integrare to any carrier, any PBX using either SIP or traditional TDM circuits.

Understand the various deployment architectures of CCE, and how good planning and use of an embedded CCE appliance can make your life easier when it comes to connecting to PSTN services into the cloud

9:00 – Finish
Wrap up and head to the pub for more networking.

Tickets are Here

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February 16th @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

6:00pm – Networking

6:30 – Ed Baker – Technical Evangelist @ Excalibur – EM&S The Easy Way in 15 minutes

Having recently left the protected environment of full time employment with Microsoft UK. Ed found himself in need of re-establishing his small business. This is the story of just how easy it was to obtain cost effective small business coverage for Office 365, Enterprise Mobility and Security.
Even better than that, how to deploy the basics in just 15 minutes.

This talk covers Office 365, Microsoft Intune and Azure Active Directory.

7:00 – Steve Goodman (Office Servers and Services MVP) @ Content and Code – Office 365 Groups and Teams “How it all fits together”

Office 365 Groups makes it easy to get the most out of your Office 365 subscription, and Microsoft Teams forms a core part of Office 365 Groups. In this session you will learn the core concepts, underlying technical architecture, and explore best practices

7:30 – Coffee Break

8:00 – Matt Hurst – Technical Director @ Sonus – Simple Hybrid Voice deployments using CCE Appliance

How can you quickly enable a customer for Microsoft Cloud PBX and deliver PSTN services in any location?

Learn how to Hybrid model with Cloud Connector Edition (CCE) embedded directly within an SBC appliance can speed up and simplify cloud connectivity, and provide you with a comprehensive and simple to use platform that can integrare to any carrier, any PBX using either SIP or traditional TDM circuits.

Understand the various deployment architectures of CCE, and how good planning and use of an embedded CCE appliance can make your life easier when it comes to connecting to PSTN services into the cloud

9:00 – Finish
Wrap up and head to the pub for more networking.

Tickets are here

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February 23rd @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

6:00pm – Networking

6:30 – Steven Harwood – Azure ARM’d and Ready

In this session we will cover Azure Resource Manager (ARM) and the new capabilities it brings to managing your resources in Azure. Discover some of the considerations when moving your resources from classic mode (ASM), the tooling options you have to assist with this and some of the pitfalls you may experience if you have an existing legacy in Azure.

7:00 – Alex Eggar – Founder/Cloud Architect @ yoko:10 – Behind the scenes with Sites, Groups and Teams; what you get and when to use them

In this session we’ll provide an in-depth look at “workspace” options available in Office 365. We’ll review the various features and services packaged within each and also the similarities which span all three. We’ll finish by looking at potential use cases, and discussing key considerations when deciding which to deploy.

7:30 – Break/Finger Food

8:00 – Graham Walsh | Director, Solutions Architecture @ Pexip – Video Interoperability with Skype for Business using Pexip Infinity

With more and more organizations enabling desktop video for enabling productivity and a remote work force etc., users need to be able to communicate with exiting video meeting room systems. Pexip Infinity makes this seamless to the end user to just call one another using existing SfB client or by bring VTCs into Skype meetings.

9:00 – Finish
Wrap up and head to the pub for more networking.

Tickets are here

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