Meeting Invite Updates (Windows client) - Formatting Dial-In String & Link to Join
Based on feedback we’ve heard from our customers, we’ve made a few updates to the Meeting Invites that are generated by the Skype for Business desktop client. In this blog post, we’ll focus on two new additions – the formatting of the dial-in string, and a link to join using the web app. Let’s take a look!Skype for Business 2019 Standard Edition Server Back!
I'm shouting this from every rooftop, because it's a very important role to me. As you may have heard, at Ignite it was announced that the Standard Edition would NOT be included in Skype for Business 2019 \ vNext. Today I have been given permission and am allowed to confirm that it is BACK IN! Thank you to all who commented and voted on the issue on skypefeedback.com!Skype for Business Video Broadcast - September 23, 2016 @ PT- Behind the scenes and Ignite Update
Join our Broadcast - 1 st Anniversary Broadcast Join the Skype for Business team for our 29 th broadcast which marks a full year since the series began. We will be doing a brief preview of what to expect from the upcoming Ignite 2016 technology conference, and will be sharing some Skype for Business Meeting Broadcast best practices that we’ve gleaned over the course of our first year. Join the Skype Meeting Broadcast, Friday, September 23, 2016, at 9:00 a.m. PST. Speakers: Sean Wilson and Jamie Stark
Avoid 5 Skype for Business deployment pitfalls and successfully transform your business
Avoid 5 Skype for Business deployment pitfalls and successfully transform your business Tom Arbuthnot, Principal Solutions Architect at Modality Systems, is guest posting to the Skype for Business blog this month to discuss5 common Skype for Business deployment pitfalls. Skype for Business can positively impact your business and help enable both a digital transformation and a modern workplace, but in the real world how do you realize these benefits and what are the pitfalls to avoid? This week, I join Delanda Coleman live to discuss this and answer any of your questions on the bi-weekly http://aka.ms/sfbcast I've had lots of experience supporting customers from thousands to hundreds of thousands of users on their Office 365 and Skype for Business journeys. From hands on PSTN gateway deployments to now having a more strategic role in architecting solutions. No matter how big the deployment, I’ve seen quite a few scenarios where, with a little planning, things could have gone better. I’ve narrowed them down to 5 common pitfalls I typically see and I want to share my learnings in hopes it helps you plan for a great experience with Skype in your organization! #1 – Gain the business engagement and sponsorship first. This is key. Success with Skype for Business is much more than just avoiding technical challenges. I've worked on projects that have been IT lead and slowly adopted by the business users, and projects where it's a business decision from the start and users got on board instantaneously. Both can work, but having business leadership’s sponsorship and engagement from the start is a far easier path to a successful adoption. The business choosing to change the way the collaborate is very different than IT trying to drive a change on its own. #2 – Start with "easy wins". In deploying Skype for Business, we’re often keen to get everything implemented as soon as possible. Indeed, there is magic in having everything including IM to meetings to Phone calls all in one client with a consistent experience, but don't overlook the possibility of incremental wins. I've seen entire projects ROI just based on a replacing legacy conferencing solutions with Skype for Business. Now with PSTN Conferencing, toll dial-in numbers can be automatically provisioned and added to a meeting - this is easier than ever. Skype Meeting Broadcast can also be a great tool for the business to improve org communications and stream live content to the masses. Neither of these has the same level of complexity as replacing a phone system. Sometimes Skype for Business adoption is a multi-step journey. #3 – Don’t underestimate network requirement. The networks is a big topic. At Modality Systems, we have done many network assessments, the typical issues will surprise you. It's often not just about raw bandwidth - things link proxies, firewall port exhaustion, and everyone watching YouTube at lunch can really impact other users’ experience with Skype. #4 – Don’t forget about "client devices". In most cases, I’m talking about the PCs, USB devices and phones. Very often the team managing Skype for Business is different to the desktop team, and keeping the Skype clients patched is "someone else’s problem". This can be quite challenging. In one customer, there were complaints of Mac client issues, we found 14 different versions of the Mac client running globally. Unsurprisingly when we worked with the team to get them all patched to current a lot of the noise and issues went away. Also, we must not forget that IP Phones need some love and maintenance from time to time, who's job is that and how do you manage it? #5 – Plan for user adoption and review the reporting. This is critical in two ways. First, to understand how your environment is performing and how your users are using (or not using) Skype for Business, what their experience is and where you may have issues to fix. Secondly, make sure you're giving the good news back to the business. For example: “Do they know you are now doing X thousand minutes of VoIP conferencing on Skype saving Y on PSTN Calls?” or “Do they know that X thousand IM's are being sent every day allowing people to collaborate faster than ever before” It's important to promote wins from IT back into the business. This is just a sneak peek at some of the areas Delanda and I will discuss live. If you want to hear more or have any questions, don’t forget to join us August 4th 9 AM PST for with live Q&A at http://aka.ms/sfbcast. I'm excited to answer your questions and hear your thoughts, so please come and ask away! Hope to see you soon! Tom ################# About Tom Arbuthnot Tom Arbuthnot is Principal Solutions Architect from Modality Systems. Modality Systems were Global Microsoft Communications partner of the year 2016 and Global Microsoft Cloud Productivity Partner 2017. They have deployed Skype for Business Server and Skype for Business Online/Cloud PBX globally for many customers from a thousand to tens of thousands of seats. If you want to find out more about Tom, check out this https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcommunity.microsoft.com%2Ft5%2FSkype-for-Business-Blog%2FSkype-for-Business-MVP-Spotlight-Tom-Arbuthnot%2Fba-p%2F86595&data=04%7C01%7Cdelanda.coleman%40microsoft.com%7C0804105008ba4d511eb708d4d9230392%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C636372191795156744%7CUnknown%7CVW5rbm93bnx7IlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiT3RoZXIifQ%3D%3D%7C-1&sdata=1oUCLa%2Bh0O54i3AhlSDBPHj0lyeEMlc2jvNBVJ3YDt4%3D&reserved=0. You can check out his blog at https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftomtalks.uk&data=04%7C01%7Cdelanda.coleman%40microsoft.com%7C0804105008ba4d511eb708d4d9230392%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C636372191795156744%7CUnknown%7CVW5rbm93bnx7IlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiT3RoZXIifQ%3D%3D%7C-1&sdata=M6TAhAOxoHKt0NFHll1Av15b2iTc0PjpmvMhCvRaKVk%3D&reserved=0 and his regular "TomTalks" YouTube videos at https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Ftom.qa%2Ftomtalksvideos&data=04%7C01%7Cdelanda.coleman%40microsoft.com%7C0804105008ba4d511eb708d4d9230392%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C636372191795156744%7CUnknown%7CVW5rbm93bnx7IlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiT3RoZXIifQ%3D%3D%7C-1&sdata=VaWnpcEfTnlPB1Ioog2ZTc3uRg%2FYdNudo9nBwdSFKQ8%3D&reserved=0Skype for Business iOS CallKit integration now available!
We recently announced deeper integration of Skype for Business with iOS devices using Apple’s CallKit framework, which enables a better experience for Skype for Business calls on the iPhone. The CallKit API with iOS 10 enables Skype for Business calls to work the same way as the native calling experience on iOS, allowing you to seamlessly extend your personal device as a business phone.To try the new calling experience, update your iOS app today. Learn more at http://aka.ms/ioscallkitIntroduction and Skype for Business Quick Start Guides
Hi all - My name is Nick Suter; I am a Program Manager for the Customer Engagement and Adoption team, within Skype for Business. I have been at Microsoft for the past 10 years - all with the Skype for Business group. Well, we started as Office Communications Server, then Lync and now Skype for Business. My passion lies with connecting to our users, understanding their current needs and painpoints and then working to help solve or ease the pain. To that end, I wanted to share a set of important resources we have for our Skype for Business users: Quick Start Guides. You can download our Skype for Business Quick Start Guides here: https://docs.com/OfficeTraining/9869/skype-for-business-quick-start-guides A couple of points about this resource: Print these out - use these as a ready reference when you are using Skype for Business Top 3-5 things - these are not a cumulative training resource; they are not designed that way. We use these to outline the 3-5 things that you need to know to get up and running with the product as quickly as possible Small, snackable - these are small by design; we want to keep it short and give you immediate relief and skills with Skype for Business Ever growing - we have six (6) cards today, but are looking to grow the library we have I encourage you to download and start using these guides. Once you have tried them out, let me know what you think and what else we can create a quick start guide for. I am looking forward to hearing back! Thanks! Nick Suter Program Manager | Customer Engagement and AdoptionAll Skype for Business Ignite Videos YouTube Playlist
Hey all, Great to catch up with so many people at Ignite. For those who couldn't make it, or were busy networking ;-), Microsoft have posted all the session recordings on YouTube. There is so much great content there. I have created a quick Skype for Business session playlist for those particularly interested in SfB. There is also a way to pull all those videos from YouTube for offline viewing. Don't forget there is a thread on this tech community forum for each session. You can still ask questions and discuss the sessions here. http://tomtalks.uk/2016/10/skype-business-ignite-conference-videos-youtube-playlist-download/ If you watch my PSTN conferencing session I would love your questions and feedback. Cheers TomRecording and Questions: SfB Broadcast: Avoid 5 Skype for Business Deployment Pitfalls
Hi all, The recording of my Skype Broadcast with Delanda Coleman is now up on Youtube. I'd be interested in your thoughts and questions. Here are some questions we got during the show: Question: Can you remind us where we can get the S4B metrics again? Sure, there are quite a few places to get these. For SfB Server, the best place is SQL Reporting Services (SSRS) with you Monitoring Reports. In SfB Online they are spread across a few places on the tenant, I've done an overview blog post here: http://tomtalks.uk/2017/06/skype-business-online-reporting-need-know/ Question: Why should we use Skype for Business Online and Teams instead of Fuze and Slack? Interesting question. A lot of this will come down to your specific scenario and business requirements, but some thoughts on why Office 365/Teams/SfBO might be a good fit: Security model is consistent across Office 365 One Identity and licencing model Increasing integration/interop between SfBO and Teams Nice mobile client experiences Question: What does a network assessment typically look like Skype Operations Framework (SOF) has a great overview of what a network assessment should look like, check it out here: https://www.skypeoperationsframework.com/Offers?pageState=NetworkReadiness For Modality Systems Network Assessment approach, you can find out more here: https://info.modalitysystems.com/impact-assessment/readiness Question: How can I deal with configuration drift (diagnostics/reporting) This is a good question, the best thing is to keep an eye on the reporting to make sure your performance is not changing. If you are looking at third party product options, anything that continuously tests the network/ports or service is great. Modality Systems have a Diagnostics Service offering where we have test nodes continuously make Skype for Business calls and test the service site to site, end to end, internally and externally. For more details check out the blog post here: https://info.modalitysystems.com/blog/modality-systems-diagnostics Question: Will there by snacks on this flight? Strictly virtual snacks on Skype Broadcast :-) Got more questions or thoughts? Please reply to the thread and I'll do my best to answer them. Cheers Tom
Next Broadcast: 8/4/17 - Avoid 5 Skype for Business pitfalls, advice from the field
Title: Avoid 5 Skype for Business pitfalls, advice from the field Abstract: Join Delanda Coleman, Sr. Product Marketing manager for Skype for Business with guest Deleted, Principal Solutions Architect at Modality Systems. Tom will share his learnings from years of supporting Skype for Business deployments and five pitfalls he's experienced with customers. He'll also provide his advice on how avoid them in your deployment. Modality Systems, a global Microsoft partner specialising in Skype for Business and Office 365. Modality Systems have deployed Skype for Business Server and Skype for Business Online/Cloud PBX globally and have a wealth of hands on experience in the challenges of Skype for Business and how to be successful. Speakers: Delanda Coleman, Sr. Product Marketing Manager | Skype for Business Tom Arbuthnot, Principal Solutions Architect | Modality Systems Where: aka.ms/sfbcast When: Friday, August 4, 2017 @ 9am Pacific Time Check out Tom's blog post with more information! https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Skype-for-Business-Blog/Avoid-5-Skype-for-Business-deployment-pitfalls-and-successfully/ba-p/93006
