Integrate PRTG and Microsoft Teams – The Easy Way

It is now really easy to send PRTG alerts to Microsoft Teams. Add an Incoming Webhook to a channel in Teams by clicking on More options, Connectors, Incoming Webhook: Copy the URL. In PRTG go to Setup, Account Settings, Notification Templates and Add Notification Template: Enable Send Microsoft Teams Message, and paste the copied Webhook… Read More »

Speaking at ExpertsLive 2018

I am very happy to be speaking once again at ExpertsLive, this time about network considerations for Office 365 based telephony. In this session we will focus on the importance of your network for Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business Online. We will look at requirements, tools and guidance provided by Microsoft (Practical Guidance for… Read More »

Still going strong: Skype for Business Server On Premises

Even though Microsoft is putting a lot of engineering and marketing effort in Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business on premises is still heavily used and is not going away any time soon. So even though Microsoft has not publicly talked about Skype for Business 2019 since Ignite 2017, it may be good to know that… Read More »

Flash from the past: Lync 2010 Resource Kit

Did you know there was a Lync 2010 resource kit? A lot of the content is still very useful for Lync 2013 and Skype for Business. I was was one of the dozens of people that worked on it for about a year, amazing project. Get it at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=22644

Skype for Business Server Feature Update

Cumulative updates for Skype for Business contain fixes, but also introduce new features. Here are some highlights: Video Based Screen Sharing for conferencing (VBSS) (Jun 2016) Offline Messaging (Jun 2016) Busy On Busy / Voicemail on Busy (Jun 2016) Allow PSTN callers to join a Skype for Business meeting without a PIN (March 2016) Group Call Pickup… Read More »

Tip: Update databases when installing updates for Skype for Business Server

One step that often is overlooked after installing the cumulative updates for Lync or Skype for Business Server, is updating the databases. For a Standard Edition server you need to run “Install-CsDatabase -Update –LocalDatabases”, also update your Monitoring Database with “Install-CsDatabase -ConfiguredDatabases -SqlServerFqdn <FEBE.FQDN>”. For an Enterprise Edition server you need to run “Install-CsDatabase -Update… Read More »

Speaking at ExpertsLive 2016

ExpertsLive has become the main event for ITPro’s in The Netherlands. It is community driven, inexpensive to attend, and has a great line-up of international speakers. I am very happy to be speaking there again, this time with: “Don’t panic, I know how to troubleshoot Skype for Business network issues!”

Skype for Business Network performance requirements

Microsoft has excellent resources for Skype for Business Network Network performance requirements. Although primarily targeted towards Office 365, it is also very helpful for On Premises deployments. Media Quality and Network Connectivity Performance in Skype for Business Online

Lync 2013 exams not retired this year.

Microsoft Learning anounced that the Lync 2013 examens (335/336/337/338) wil not retire this year. I think this is good news for students, trainers and training centers. The full post: “A while back we announced that Skype for Business exams are coming soon and that the Lync 2013 exams would retire in November. We’ve decided to… Read More »

Skype for Business end user training available for download in multiple languages.

A lot of the Lync end user documentation was only available in English but Microsoft has now released Skype for Business end user training in multiple languages: Office 365 Training: Run more effective meetings (Skype for Business) (40 Languages) Other relevant documentation: Skype for Business client awareness and readiness resources (English) Rollout and Adoption Success… Read More »