A few hours ago I received an e-mail from Microsoft inviting me and some of my coworkers to the Skype for Business Mobile Preview program, with instructions on how to get the Android app installed. So far the app is very well made, with a less “beta” sense than many other products. I dare to say this preview app feels more reliable than the Lync 2013 app. Some screenshots that give you an idea of what it’s like: ...

Technet has a PowerShell one-liner but it’s missing .NET 3.5 and the Windows Identity Foundation, which you need anyway. Here’s the one-liner that includes them (and assumes your media is on D:) Install-WindowsFeature RSAT-ADDS, Web-Server, Web-Static-Content, Web-Default-Doc, Web-Http-Errors, Web-Asp-Net, Web-Net-Ext, Web-ISAPI-Ext, Web-ISAPI-Filter, Web-Http-Logging, Web-Log-Libraries, Web-Request-Monitor, Web-Http-Tracing, Web-Basic-Auth, Web-Windows-Auth, Web-Client-Auth, Web-Filtering, Web-Stat-Compression, Web-Dyn-Compression, NET-WCF-HTTP-Activation45, Web-Asp-Net45, Web-Mgmt-Tools, Web-Scripting-Tools, Web-Mgmt-Compat, Desktop-Experience, Telnet-Client, Net-Framework-Core, Net-HTTP-Activation, Windows-Identity-Foundation -Source D:\Sources\SxS

No time to install Management Tools? Or just want to test your scripts locally without having to copy/paste on the Front Ends or management nodes? This is what i do: param( [string]$pool = $(Read-Host "Lync/SfB Pool") ) $Credential = Get-Credential $PSSessionOption = New-PSSessionOption -SkipCACheck:$true -SkipCNCheck:$true -SkipRevocationCheck:$true $PSSession = New-PSSession -ConnectionUri https://$pool/ocspowershell -Credential $Credential -SessionOption $PSSessionOption Import-PSSession $PSSession

Skype for Business 2015 was released today, and I get to try an upgrade in my lab before trying a greenfield rollout on a fresh domain. Here is what I have running right now: Lync 2013 Enterprise Pool with 3 Front-End servers (DNS load balanced) Lync 2013 Enterprise Edge server in a single pool with two perimeter networks Mediation Server dual-homed in Server and Voice VLANs Sophos UTM for networking and Reverse Proxy First run of the setup.exe, we are asked to install a hotfix: ...

Today Microsoft released the next version of Lync Server 2013, called Skype for Business Server 2015. Over the next few days i will be going through the process of performing an in-place upgrade from Lync 2013, and a greenfield installation on a new domain with no Lync infrastructure. Here’s a sneak peek:

The Microsoft Ignite conference for 2015 is kicking off next week starting May 4th, and that can’t come soon enough. I’ll attend mostly Skype for Business and Exchange vNext sessions. If you’re going to the conference, see you there!

The million dollar question (at least in my team). When will Skype for Business be released? Well… Microsoft announced today that the bits for Skype for Business client, server and online services will be released in April. That’s next month! Also, the technical preview of the Skype for Business client is starting today. More: http://blogs.office.com/2015/03/16/get-ready-for-skype-for-business/

My switch kept complaining about the links to my FreeNAS SAN not supporting Flow Control. To enable it, edit the interface options in FreeNAS and ass mediaopt flowcontrol then save. Flow Control (and Jumbo Frames) is pretty important for iSCSI workloads to avoid dropped frames and uneven traffic.

After a few hours of headscratching and a support ticket with AudioCodes I’ve resolved an issue that VVX phones have with Music on Hold through an AudioCodes gateway. All VVX phones are running UC firmware 5.2.0.8330, and someone else out there is having the exact same issue, but turns out the suggested fix of using voIpProt.SIP.useSendonlyHold=“0” does not actually work in the 5.2 firmware. For a bit of background, what’s happening is the VVX sends a=sendonly in the SDP when a call gets put on hold, but Lync clients send a=inactive. The AudioCodes will play MOH when a=inactive is in the SDP, but not with sendonly, and there is only one behavior that can be configured. ...

Grab it here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36517 Biggest changes are Call/Conversation History, Media Resiliency (automatic reconnection) and OS X Yosemite support. Update enables users to view call history in Lync for Mac 2011 Update for Lync for Mac 2011 enables users to store conversation history on an Exchange server Location is not displayed in Lync for Mac 2011 when users join a wireless network Error “One or more selected contacts cannot receive your calls” when you forward calls in Lync for Mac 2011 Delegation relationship is broken after a delegate signs in to Lync for Mac 2011 Computer shutdown is not processed when Lync for Mac 2011 is running Update implements media resiliency mode in Lync for Mac 2011 Dial pad disappears when a user who is not enabled for EV joins a video conference or a video call in Lync for Mac 2011 Update enables users to interact with a contact from the call history in Lync for Mac 2011