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 StarkSkype 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/ioscallkit
All 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/93006Announcement: Move all your communications to Skype for Business Online
Today, at the Microsoft Ignite Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, Microsoft announced several new Skype for Business innovations that enhance the Office 365 collaboration experience across devices and empower IT professionals to deliver modern communications to their end users. The best user experience for workplace communication The next generation of Skype Room Systems The power of global availability and capability Deployment excellence with the Skype Operations Framework Move your communications to Skype for Business Online today Read more on Office Blogs.SFB Bandwidth Calculation Made Easy
We have always been asked "how much WAN bandwidth is required for SFB based on X numbers of users" ? If we didn't set required and expected bandwidth right for customers, I am very sure you will persistently hear "poor Audio/Video quality and performance" from them. It's critical that we have a base bandwidth requirement stipulated and aligned customer's expection from the very beginning to ensure that customer is fully aware of how much bandwidth SFB will potentially consume based on a number of combined scenarios and to determine if a customer's current network meets calculated SFB bandwidth requirement. I devised a very concrete and verifiable bandwidth requirement calculator for that. I don't mean this to be a laser-like-precision or military-grade-precision, but I did design this calculator to have a micro-torch-like-precision with continuous improvements along the way. Whenever we meet with customers, we would be able to calculate SFB bandwidth requirement confidently and comfortably using this excel-based calculator. Please stress to customers that this calculation is "only and strictly for SFB" - No other traffics are considered. I made this calculator extremely simple and easy to use while maintaining accuracy. All you need to do is just "select number of concurrent users in respective scenarios" and you are done - nothing could be simpler than that. SFB Bandwidth Calculator Download link: https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/SFB-Bandwidth-Calculation-32f7f6e3 PS: You should always recommend customer to implement QoS in their network for better A/V quality as well. I wrote a guide on "QoS in SFB Made Easy" here https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/QoS-in-SFB-Made-Easy-and-d7ffa783 Any feedbacks, please contact me at thetnaing@thetnaing.com.New Meeting Invite Updates for the Windows client on Formatting Dial-In Strings & Link to Join
We've heard from customers on some needed changes to Meeting Invites for the Skype for Business desktop client, and incorporated these requests in our latest update! Read more about formatting dial-in strings and link-to-join using the web app in our latest blog post.
