The other day, our Support team deployed a new Skype for Business Server for one of our mid-market customers. Initial setup went smoothly…they had an existing Office 365 account, which they wanted to integrate. We set them up on a
2018 Begins, OCS Ends
Welcome to 2018! We’ll have a full post up soon. Before that though, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge a milestone coming very soon. OCS 2007. Office Communications Server. The first iteration of what has now become the
The Skype Operations Framework Turned into FastTrack’s MyAdvisor!
I look away for one minute and Microsoft changes out the entire Skype Operations Framework. Now the SkypeOperationsFramework.com URL forwards to: https://fasttrack.microsoft.com/microsoft365/capabilities?view=voice Go ahead, click it. See for yourself. (But do come back—we have more to discuss!) In light of
Skype for Business News: Skype4B Becomes Teams (Maybe), Teams Gets Guest Access (Sort Of)
If Microsoft wanted to stir up controversy before the Ignite 2017 conference…they sure succeeded! Last week the Skype for Business community got two major announcements. One appears accidental. The other was not. But both have certainly drummed up a lot
Gartner Rankings for Cisco UC and Skype for Business – Which is Better?
What’s this? Cisco UCaaS rated HIGHER than Skype for Business? How?! Amazing as it might seem, that is how Gartner recently ranked them: Gartner’s Magic Quadrant 2017 for Unified Communications Their 2017 UC rankings have Cisco at #1 overall. Skype
A New Skype for Business Server Version IS Coming!
Permit me a little celebration. Mary Jo Foley over at ZDNet broke some wonderful news. There is still life in Skype for Business Server after all! Mary Jo’s article: What’s Next for Microsoft’s Skype for Business Unified Communications Products –
How to Sell Skype for Business (to People Who Hate Skype)
At a recent Meetup, someone commented on the irony of Microsoft pitching “Skype for Business” to IT admins…who’ve hated Skype for years. It’s true, too. Skype has a sordid history in the office. Many businesses outright block Skype, for some
Why You Need a Computer Without Lync 2013 Admin Tools to Run Skype for Business’ In-Place Upgrade
A few days ago, we cleared some time. Ready to test the new In-Place Upgrade by upgrading our in-house Lync Server 2013 to Skype for Business Server 2015. (Details, once again: System is a single Lync Server 2013 Standard Edition
Licensing for Skype for Business 2015: The Details
Back in November I asked the question, “Will Skype for Business have the same CAL structure Lync Server 2013 does?” Turns out that yes, it will! Now that Skype for Business Server 2015 is on its way out into the
2014 Reader Survey: What are Your 2015 Lync Plans?
It’s the last Lync Insider post of 2014! Hope everyone’s Christmas shopping is done and the workload is light. It’s been quite a year for the blog. Add-ons coming out. Big announcements. Lots of updates & fixes. Lync is out