Matt Landis Windows PBX & UC Report: November 2015

Setting Up Any Skype for Business User to Give Busy on Busy

By Matt Landis __on 11/27/2015 12:00:00 PM

First of all you will need to have the Share Line Appearance application setup. See Click Here.

Prepare the Skype for Business/Lync User

Make sure that Exchange UM voicemail is NOT setup for this user. (we want the caller to get Busy on Busy, NOT voicemail, right?)
I might suggest to remove all delegates and team call members from the user you are going to enabled Busy on Busy, just to ensure no unexpected experience when enabling set-CsSlaConfiguration.

Now in Powershell we will very simply enable Busy on Busy for this user:
\>set-CsSlaConfiguration –Identity <skype4buser> –MaxNumberOfCalls 1 –BusyOption BusyOnBusy

Now place the 1st call to this user you just enabled Busy on Busy. This call should go through and connected. Stay connected on this call. (Placing the call on hold is fine, it is still considered a call to this user) and call this user again.

You will get a notice that the user is in another call.

This was tested on the Skype for Business client but not any other endpoints.

Also, this seems to work but I haven’t notice this officially mentioned as a supported scenario so try it out at your own risk, test it and give feedback if you find any problems with it.

Magewell USB Capture HDMI Review

By Matt Landis __on 11/23/2015 01:50:00 PM

The Magewell USB Capture HDMI can present the desktop/video output from one PC (or other HDMI output) to another PC as a USB Web camera (H264 UVC). You provide HDMI output to the Magewell HDMI input and it will send it to a PC as a USB webcam.

The device is truly plug and play. There is no drivers to install since the device uses standard H264 UVC webcam drivers.

Some things you will need for a typical Scenario

If you want to provide a Surface Pro 3 desktop/video to another PC as a USB webcam:

Surface Video Out/Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter
HDMI cable

Surface video out/Mini DisplayPort to HDMI (F)

HDMI Cable (M)

Magewell HDMI IN

USB 3.0 to PC

Surface Pro 3 “Projecting” it’s desktop <-- MiniDisplayPort to HDMI –> <-- HDMI Cable --> Magewell USB Capture <—> USB Port on PC

Now in Skype for Business client select the Magewell device as the default video device. From here away the Magewell USB Capture HDMI can be used as any standard USB webcam. This includes presenting a PC Desktop to a Skype for Business Broadcast Meeting.

Some Skype for Business Meeting Video Quality Samples

1920x1200 On Project Device; Remote Skype for Business Meeting Participants view of Screen

2160x1440 On Project Device; Remote Skype for Business Meeting Participants view of Screen. (frankly I can’t see much difference in the quality from the lower resolution)

Skype for Business Meeting Screen Share Quality

IP Cam View Software Rendering: Quality

I tested directly displaying the USB input from the Magewell using IP Camera View software from DeskShare (click here) and this software rendered the “projecting” PC’s desktop very clear. One caveat with the IP Camera View software is that I needed to manually set the Video Properties | Output Size to match the projecting PC as closely as possible. So this proves the Magewell is doing a good job, apparently Skype for Business is compressing or resizing the video a bit.

Here is a Video Capture Demo

(sorry for 360 video, youtube resizes it. but I think you can still get some idea of clearness)

In my testing I saw up to 108 degrees F.

Several things I noticed:

Cons

The device gets quite warm to the touch when receiving input
The display was unreadably fuzzy for first few seconds the PC was plugged in, then it got sharper.
Even at the sharpest PC video image is a bit fuzzy/unclear (see screen shots above) at least as compared to Skype for Business screen sharing. (see samples below)
This is likely a Skype for Business issue, but the video (PC screen) is reversed on the PC that has the device plugged in as a USB webcam
Highest natively support resolution is 1920x1200@60 (Surface Pro 3’s 2160 x 1440 is higher than that but did display)
Devices that did not work at all with the Magewell device (but did work fine with our large screen) as HDMI inputs

Microsoft Miracast HDMI adapter
Logitech ConferenceCam miracast HDMI output
Thinkpad T440S w/Windows 8.1 minidisplay port did not work

Devices that partially worked

Surface Pro 3/Windows 10: no audio, slow, jerky video

Devices that entirely worked

Surface 3/Windows 10

Pros

The device is another way to get smooth video AND audio into a Skype for Business meeting

The devices is ~$300 street price.

http://www.magewell.com/usb-capture-hdmi/support

An alternative device option:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/search?N=11073122&InitialSearch=yes&sts=pit

Take a Look at the Totally New Skype for Business for Mac

By Matt Landis __on 11/20/2015 10:29:00 AM

Today in Microsoft’s Skype for Business Broadcast prototypes of totally new Mac client were shown which gives an idea what new client might look like.

Interestingly it was noted that “Mac for Skype for Business will the most forward, modern locking client...PC client will catch-up…”. (hows that for vindicating Mac users?)

Another thing that was emphasized was “full bleed” video and content, which means video and content will use as much of the screen as possible. Buttons will “float” on top of video and content to give them all the monitor realestate possible.

See below:

Multiple Windows View

Meeting Experiences

Immersive Video

Immersive Presentations

To demonstrate that this is actually a working product Shawn showed a screen clip of an actually working product that he uses to “join meetings with”

Goals

Futures

Skype for Business User QuickTip #40: Easily See Presence & Call Contacts in Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Columns

By Matt Landis __on 11/19/2015 12:41:00 PM

Ever get an Excel spreadsheet that has a column of contact phone numbers (or, even better yet, Skype for Business SIP URIs…) that you need to call? Calling though a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet list can be made a lot easier with a little work.

Skype for Business can handle URL beginning with SIP: or TEL:. We will leverage this by simply making 2 columns with the below formula’s. Replace the “A3” with the column/cell that has your SIP URI’s in it and likewise with the TEL:.

=HYPERLINK("sip:" & A3)

=HYPERLINK("tel:" & C3)

So first type in the formula and then drag the new formula down to the bottom of the column. Repeat for “tel:”

Now when you click on a SIP URI you will see the presence and have all Skype for Business modalities like IM, Call, Voicemail, Video, Collaborate available. With an additional click you can dial this Skype for Business contact. Or you can hover over the Contact name and see more information in the “Contact Card.” If your company has open federation enabled you will be surprised how many other contact have Skype for Business federation available!

For a ton more cool User Tips, get the Skype for Business User Tips & Tricks for Anyone Free eBook

See the other Skype for Business User QuickTips (formerly known as Lync)
http://windowspbx.blogspot.com/search/label/LyncUserTip

Setting Up Skype for Business Shared Line Appearance

By Matt Landis __on 11/17/2015 05:42:00 PM

How It Works (from slides 22-25)

Inbound Call presented to call endpoints simultaneously.

Place Call on Hold

When SLA Group is full you can define overflow forwarding options that include: Busy on Busy, Another Phone Number on Busy or Voicemail on Busy.

How to Setup to Shared Line Appearance

New-CsServerApplication -Identity ‘Service:Registrar:%FQDN%/SharedLineAppearance’ -Uri http://www.microsoft.com/LCS/SharedLineAppearance -Critical $false -Enabled $true -Priority (Get-CsServerApplication -Identity ‘Service:Registrar:%FQDN%/UserServices’).Priority

Where %FQDN% is replaced with fully qualified domain name.

Update-csAdminRole

Restart all Front End servers where SLA was installed. (required)

Create a Skype for Business enterprise voice user to use as a placeholder for the Shared Line Appearance.

Set-CsSlaConfiguration -Identity <IdentityOfGroup> -MaxNumberOfCalls <Number> -BusyOption <BusyOnBusy|Voicemail|Forward> [-Target <TargetUserOrPhoneNumber>]

Q&A on Shared Line Appearance

Q. Are there PowerShell commandlets to admin SLA?
A. Yes.

Q. What devices will SLA work with?
A. SLA will NOT work on Lync Phone Edition Devices. According to MS Ignite session BRK3140, It will 1st work on Polycom VVX devices

Q. Do SLA work with Skype for Business software client?
A. No.

Q. Does SLA require a user to Enterprise Voice enabled?
A. No, but if you want to call the user with a DID it will be required. (It is not technically a requirement, if, for example, you just want to enable Busy on Busy for a Skype for Business user it seems to work. click here)

Q. Can users start an outgoing call as a SLA “Line”?
A. No, this is not a feature of Skype for Business SLA. click here (This IS possible using a anonymous response group, but not SLA)

Q. If a user in a SLA group answers and then places the call on hold should the user presence be “In a Call”?
A. Traditional PBX SLA the local user/phone will not be in the status of “In a Call” but this is expected behavior of Skype for Business SLA. This is because Skype for Business SLA leverages existing Delegate functionality & that is how Delegates work.

Q. A SLA show solid Red indicating someone is on a SLA line. How do I see who is on the line?
A. On a VVX 400/500/600 press/tap and hold on a SLA for a few seconds and an information box will show the Caller Information.

Q. What do various colors mean?
A. Blinking Green = Incoming Call
Sold Green = Local Phone is Active on the Call
Blinking Red = Call Can be picked up
Sold Red = Someone else in the SLA Group is active on the Call