the UC Guys

Automatically Forwarding Unified Messaging (UM) Voicemail to other users

 

Occasionally users want to be able to automate the forwarding of voicemail from Outlook to another user.   Unfortunately, you cannot use the Outlook Rules Wizard to do this. However, you can setup a rule using the Outlook Web App which will handle this scenario.

Note: I have only tested this process with Exchange Online in Office 365 and believe it should also work with Exchange 2016 Server.

Open the Outlook Web App and look for the gear icon in the top right of the screen

Select “Mail” under Your App Settings and then Inbox and sweep rules:

Click on the + sign on the following screen:

Then configure a rule that looks as follows to forward all voicemails to another user.

Click OK and test your changes.

Skype for Business CU5 introduces Skype Meetings App Plugin

One of the great new features the Skype for Business Server 2015 Cumulative Update 5 (CU5) introduces is the Skype Meetings App Plugin.  Today users invited to Skype for Business (SfB) Server meetings must download and install the Skype Web App if they don’t already run Skype for Business or have the web app already installed.  The web app is downloaded from the organizer’s Skype Servers.  Depending on the version of SfB the company is running, the guest joining the meeting may be prompted to install a new version before the meeting is started.  If the user happens to join other meetings from other companies they will need to download the version that is current for that company so this can diminish the user experience especially if the version is not current.  Not every Skype for Business on premises deployment will have the latest and greatest Cumulative Update installed which will provide the latest Skype Web App.  Testing and internal I.T. change management process can slow this process down.  Enter the Skype Meetings App Plugin!

Using the Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Skype for Business Server CU5 references this new functionality within the Improvements and Fixes Section:

4015907 Update that enables simplified meeting join experience in Skype for Business Server 2015

This update enables the simplified meeting join experience and Skype Meetings App in Microsoft Skype for Business Server 2015.

For more information, refer to the following links:

End-user help topic: Skype Meetings App help (Skype for Business Web App)

Planning topic: Plan for Web downloadable clients

Deployment topic: Deploy Web downloadable clients in Skype for Business Server 2015

Once you have deployed CU5 within your Skype environment you will need to do the following things to enable the use of the Azure CDN to download the Skype Meeting App. When users join your meetings they will instead be redirected to download the latest Skype Meeting App from the Azure CDN instead of the Skype servers.

How to Change the Join Launcher to use the Azure CDN

1. After applying CU5, verify that new settings are available for Join Launcher CDN

Get-CsWebServiceConfiguration -Identity Global

2. Enable the new Join Launcher CDN by changing the MeetingUxUseCdn setting to True

Set-CsWebServiceConfiguration -Identity Global -MeetingUxUseCDN $True

3. Verify success by joining a new SfB meeting using your web browser (Append ?sl=1 to meeting join URL)

Figure 1: Skype for Business Web App (before CU5)	Figure 2: After CU5 (Skype Meetings App)

Joining a meeting

When a user that does not have the Skype client installed on their machine attempts to join a meeting they will see the Skype Meetings App.

Once the user installs the plugin they will see:

And finally, the meeting window:

Please note that once the app is installed subsequent meeting joins will go straight to the Welcome Screen where the user enters their name.

If you need to revert the change for any reason you can always do so by running the following cmdlet:

Set-CsWebServiceConfiguration -Identity Global -MeetingUxUseCDN $False

Getting support for Skype Meeting Broadcasts

In the event you need technical assistance for your Skype Meeting Broadcast Meeting, you might think you need to open a ticket via your Microsoft Office 365 Portal, however, the most direct way to open a support incident with this team is by visiting the following URL. 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/getsupport?oaspworkflow=start_1.0.0.0&wfname=capsub&productkey=skypemeetingbroadcast&locale=en-us&ccsid=636310596351979200

Fill in the details and support will get back to you.  Hopefully this will just be added directly to the tenant support tab in the future.