SOF: Provision Skype Room Systems Accounts at Scale
Published Feb 24 2017 12:22 PM 5,823 Views
Microsoft

With the launch of Skype Room Systems v2, we recently updated the Skype Operations Framework (SOF) with a new set of changes to provide guidance on Plan, Deliver and Operate this new rich collaboration solution. One of the most valuable assets of this release is about scripted provisioning of the user accounts for the Skype Room Systems v2 devices: https://www.skypeoperationsframework.com/Downloads?SelectedIDs=5_2_0_5

 

Skype Room System v2 devices are designed in a way that each device requires a unique user account. Each room account should be enabled for a Skype for Business meeting room, and associated Exchange room mailbox should be created and configured for each account for these fancy devices to function properly and deliver the best meeting experience.

 

Depending on the number of meeting rooms and devices, as well as the range of deployment options available with Active Directory, Exchange, and Skype for Business services, the account provisioning process may be complex and time consuming.

 

In addition to the existing script that we released to provision device accounts easily for Skype Room Systems solution, we are proud to announce an easier way of doing the same at scale, in an error-free fashion.

This new script, provided as part of the Skype Operations Framework brings many enhancements like:

  • Quickly enable 1s, 10s, 100s, or 1000s of meeting rooms
  • Error free & consistent account enablement and configuration
  • Online, On-Premises and Hybrid support
  • New account creation or support for converting existing accounts
  • License assignment for Online and Hybrid deployments
  • Configure voice features
  • Detailed reporting of the enablement and configuration activities

The Skype Room Systems Provisioning script will:

  • Create new user accounts or re-use existing on Active Directory
  • Assign Office 365 licenses for Online and Hybrid deployments
  • Create Exchange room mailbox
  • Configure Exchange calendar processing for automatically accepting meeting requests
  • Configure Exchange Mail Tips so that users can be informed proactively about the new experience when scheduling meetings
  • Configure Skype Meeting Room

All you have to do is to create an input file with the account details, and let the script configure all the accounts for you.

We strongly recommend you download the Skype Room Systems Account Provisioning asset and start enabling your rooms.

 

Resources

To learn more about the Skype Room Systems, please check the provided resources below.

If you have any comments, questions or feedback, please let us know via the SOF Community and our feedback site.

4 Comments
Iron Contributor

This sounds awesome, I'll share it out. Creating lots of common area phones one by one, or even scripting requires a lot of time.

Copper Contributor

Hi Turgay,
When we run the script in an Enterprice Environment we get the following error:

Error occured: Service identifier cannot be found for registrar pool "sfbweb1.domain.com".  Run Get-CsService -Registrar to enumerate the available registrars..

This makes sense since our front-end pool is called frontendpool1.domain.com and our internal web service fqdn is sfbweb1.domain.com.

Is ther a way to specify the pool fqdn to make this work in a Enterprice Environment?

 

Microsoft

Hi Martin,

I have identified the root cause of the issue, that the script assumes both the pool name, and the internal web service name are identical. As with your deployment these two might not be the same if you override the internal web service URL.

I’ll fix that as soon as possible, but it might take a couple of weeks as this script will be required to be signed.

Turgay

Copper Contributor

In the existing SkypeRoomProvisioningScript.ps1 there is a bug at line 334:

 

$strDisplayName = Read-Host -Prompt "Please enter the display name you would like to use for $strUpn"1

Removal of the trailing "1" resolves input of DisplayName.
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Last update:
‎Feb 27 2017 06:14 AM
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