Experiences with SRS/Logitech SmartDock
David Phillips asked me to share out experience with the Logitech SmartDock and SRSv2 in another thread, I thought I would start a new post to collect other people's experience. We are refurbishing our head office buildings, the first floor of the first building went live 3 weeks ago, so our experience is limited at this point. This floor has about 250 desks, and now a new collection of collaboration booths, high tables, etc. For the meeting rooms we installed :- 3 x 5 person Rooms with 46" screen, SmartDock, Logitech C930E and Senheisser ML20 Speaker 1 x 9 person Room with 65" screen SmartDock and Logitech Group 2 x 14 person room with 75" screen SmartDock, Logitech Group with extension mic, extron amp and ceiling speakers 3 x 55" Surfacehubs in a variety of different settings We bought the SmartDocks separate to the Surface Pros inside them, didn't find any issue in following the instructions to create the build, and to configure the accounts in Skype Online. We manage them in Intune, but not in OMS (too expensive!). We've configured them with E1, CloudPBX, PSTN Conferencing and a UK Domestic DialPlan. They have wired connections to our direct internet connection, not through the corporate lan, they arent domain joined. Out staffs response has been great, it's a big step up from the ugly collection of speakerphones and TVs we had before. Sound clarity is great, Video and screen sharing are very good. At the moment I would say about 40% of our meetings are using skype, and perhaps an equal number dialing into a legacy audioconferencing provider, the balance is shifting as people discover how much clearer the audio is in Skype. Having a quality solution in every bookable space makes a huge difference, we no longer need to think much about which site a user is at when booking a meeting, just find a point where people and a room are available and let them figure out where they want to be. The Logitech Dock seems pretty good, lots of screws but we don't want something that users will take to bits. Solid feeling, very good swivel function. It would perhaps have been easier with a line out option inside the cable section. There lots of cables going in/out of the dock but our installers have done a good job of making it neat and unmovable. We understand that we've bought into a very new product but its been remarkably stable. We are aware of 3 devices that reached a point where they needed a reboot as they became unresponsive (we schedule a reboot each night), this typically seems to be related to connecting local devices to the hdmi in. We've had quite a lot of difficulty getting hdmi switch boxes working reliably on the hdmi input, we wanted to provide autoswtching between hdmi and mini-dp inputs. Forcing the switch to set an appropriate Edid seems to be helping, but I'm not convinced we've totally figured it right yet. Users have raised 2 areas in the software that could be improved. 1. when dialing out to an external conference provider they cant then connect a laptop into the screen locally. 2. They would like to be able to cancel meetings that don't show up from the device, ideally we would like them to timeout like on a meeting room system. We're now just over 3 weeks away from our second floor going live, 15 SRS and 4 Shubs. I'll update back here with any new expereinces. Looking forward to seeing what happens as the SRSv2 app updates. DM me if you want any recomendations for installers in th UK.Did you miss Ignite? Join Jamie Stark and Sean Wilson recap Ignite live at 5pm.
Live From Microsoft Ignite Jamie Stark and Sean Wilson will walk through Ignite talking about the latest updates we have announced in Skype for Business and good news from the Show Floor as well as a quick recaps of what the show has been like. Join us at 5PM Eastern Time Todyay Thursday September 29th at http://aka.ms/sfbcast.
Surface Hub acoustics and satellite microphone options
We are finding that we will likely need satellite microphones in our conference spaces. While the built-in microphone pickup is good in a relatively small space, we are getting complaints about audio pickup in anything bigger than a 6-8 person conference room, or in rooms with not-so-great accoustics. Has anyone tested any USB satellite microphones, or tried using a USB a/v bridge to connect Surface Hub to existing room audio systems? I've been looking at some Vaddio and Polycom options, but would prefer not to purchase until more data is available. Echo cancellation and ease of use will be key factors.New Skype for Business Community Champ
Hi there, This is Richard and I’m one of the new Skype for Business community champ. I’m a senior software engineer in partner engineering team. Over the last 2 years in Skype for Busisness division, I've been working on Lync Room System and Skype for Salesforce integration. I’m thrilled to be part of this community, having the opportunity to learn and experience various problems and pains you encountered in using our product, listening to your feedback to make our product better for your needs. Please let me know how can I help and what you have in mind, I look forward to working with you! Thanks, RichardJoin our Broadcast - POLYCOM AND SKYPE FOR BUSINESS TEAM: VIDEO INTEROP IN THE CLOUD
Join Polycom and the Skype for Business team to hear and see a demo of the new Polycom cloud-based video interoperability service for Office 365 users. Built directly into the Skype for Business workflow, users can easily use this service to create an online meeting that Office 365 and other video endpoint users can join. Join the Skype Meeting Broadcast, Friday, September 9, 2016, at 9:00 a.m. PST. Speakers: Angela Donohue, Albert Kooiman, Adam Jacobs
Continous Conversation / IM Roaming across devices
Why hasn't SfB provided the ability to continue conversations across multiple devices with chat/content history displayed. This seems like a no brainer and its apperently something that people have been asking for for years. https://www.skypefeedback.com/forums/299913-generally-available/suggestions/9769296-the-conversations-should-load-with-the-history-autNew Skype for Business Room Systems “Project Rigel”
One of the great things that came from #MSIgnite was the announcement of the next Lync Room Systems (aka Project Rigel). As a Skype4B admin who has done integration with current generation Lync Room Systems and Polycom infrastructures, I have to say that Microsoft has made huge steps forward. Check out more details https://nextgennerdblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/04/new-skype-for-business-room-systems-project-rigel/.
