Office 365 Cloud PBX Alert: Cloud PBX Update Changes How Delegate Caller ID Works

UPDATE: Fixed (at least for us) on 1/17/2017

NOTE: With the new Office 365 Cloud PBX “stream of updates” model we are trying to figure out how this blog can best provide value to the community as a Office Server & Services (Skype for Business) MVP. We think special bulletins affecting Cloud PBX changes may be one of them so we are starting a class of blog article called Office365 Alerts. These updates will be very time sensitive since the cloud is in constant change. This is the first such blog.

10/28/2016

- As of today Office 365 is rolling out an update to Cloud PBX (Skype for Business Online) that changes how Calling Out as a Delegate (Calling on Behalf of another user) works.

In the past when you call out as a delegate the Caller ID would be that of the the user you were calling out as. For example: If an admin is calling out as a boss, the remote party would see the caller ID of the Boss. The “new” way is that the caller ID is that of the admin.

Our consulting team got notified by some customers that it was no longer working as it had in the past. We tested it on our own tenant and it worked as we were used to it working. The next day it changed to the new way. We checked with Office 365 support and were told that an update is being rolled out as we speak, which is apparently changing the behavior.

This will especially impact:

• Attendant console operators acting as admins (boss/admin scenario)
• IP phone users acting in boss/admin scenario
• Those who might be using a work around to accommodate fact that Office 365 Cloud PBX doesn’t currently have the ability to have a single outgoing DID for a company or group

At the moment we are not sure if this was an intentional design change or accidental.

First Look at the New Skype Room System: Observations

I got the chance to sit down and put my hands on the new Skype Room System Smart Dock from Logitech with the Logitech team. You can get the official specs and other items from Microsoft and Logitech/Polycom, but in the blog I will go over some of my own observations

#1 My Opinion is That This Room System Will Hit The Spot.

The price is right. The implementation is right, its simple and anyone can do it. No complex servers to install to get it going means its a very BYOD-like experience to get going. Just plug it in, login with Skype for Business credentials and its up. There are a ton of rooms out there that are waiting for this device.

#2 The Cable

Microsoft specializes in software but a room system is a bunch of integrated hardware. How are all the pieces connected? By a cable supplied by the dock, at least in the case of Logitech. Logitech has a very clever cable that takes care of connecting the Smart Dock, Monitor, audio device and video camera.

As you can see above this cable includes:

• Power
• 2 HDMI out (1 used now, 1 for future support)
• 1 HDMI in (for video sharing)
• Ethernet
• 2 USB

The cable splits out nice to connect to the different devices from what I could see. (make sure the cable is included with the kit you get, they are not included with the basic Logitech dock kit for example)

#3 The Skype Room System Application

Many people are hopefully surmising they will be able to download the new Windows 10 Universal App and build their own Skype Room System. The answer that Microsoft gave is this is not possible. So can the enterprising hacker actually do it? The answer appears to be: No, because the software (available here) seems to only run if the Skype Room System dock is plugged into the PC. (source)

You will get a message to “Connect the Surface Pro to the dock” if you don’t have the SRS hardware dock.

 

#4 Some Comments About The User Interface

Microsoft seems to moving in a different direction with next gen user interface for Skype for Business devices. (New Mac client for example). As someone who analyzes the Skype for Business user interface very closely, the new SRS app is new code and not just “ported” as shown by the below contacts and presence icons.

The SRS app doesn’t have a lot of multi-level menus. There is one Options menu in the lower right with 3 options: Settings, Accessibility and Restart. Settings apparently unlocks the Surface Pro user interface (Logitech team didn’t have the credentials so we could get in there)

Accessibility changes the UI to high contrast as shown below. Searching a contact in high contract view.

Another view shows the main screen.

#5 USB Camera Device(s)

The new SRS only supports one video camera. There is no camera selection in the settings (there really are very few settings). Interesting with the Logitech Smart Dock we were playing with the external Logitech Camera got disconnected and the SRS automatically switched to the Surface Pro’s built in camera.  This inadvertently demonstrated an interesting feature that apparently SRS automatically detects which camera to use. The Logitech team noted that the embedded camera will likely be limited or removed in the released version of the new Skype Room System.

#6 The Unknown Microphone Port

As I was looking at the Smart Dock I noticed a port that seems to be labeled with a microphone. The Logitech team said they hadn’t noticed it…and didn’t know what it was for. I guess we’ll wait and see. (Update: the Logitech team did get back and noted this headset port is for accessibility requirements.)

#7 Wireless Projection / Ingest

Wirelessly projecting another PC to the SRS is coming in the future. I asked around a bit and it appears that this will be facilitated via an integrated version of the new Windows Connect App. I’m not surprised this is not integrated at this point since my experience with the stand alone Window Connect App (shown below) has been less than reliable. This will be a great option was it works solid and is integrated to SRS.

#8 Improvements Coming Shortly

A few things that Microsoft has noted are coming shortly:

• Multiple front of room displays and layouts
• Wireless Projections / Ingest
• UX Customization /Theming

Conclusion

My opinion is that the Logitech Smart Dock appears to be a nice solution.

Once again, I think Microsoft and its partners like Logitech have a winner on their hands. The day of the $30,000 room system has passed and the BYOD-like world is here. The new Skype Room System looks to be a device that will find its way into many many conference rooms around the world.

Skype Room System:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/skype-room-system/9nblggh5799l#

http://www.winbeta.org/news/unreleased-skype-room-systems-windows-10-app-discovered