Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?
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Hello All,
Am new to Skype for Business Server 2015 or Lync 2013.
Currently our company is using Openfire for instance messaging and Elastix for VOIP . We are planning to move to Skype for Business Server 2015.
I would like to know the feasibility of integrating the Skype for Business Server with current Elastix PBX. We have different locations and each location is having in house Elastix PBX and interconnected with IAX trunk.-
Currently we have Polycome Voip Phones connected to Elastix PBX .We need to call to local and other sites VIOP Phone from Skype for Business client application using Elastix PBX. Also need to call from Polycome Voip Phones to Skype for Business client.
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Is it possible to configure two Elastix PBX in Skype for Business Server, one for other site Voip calls and Other for PSDN calls.
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Does it provide all the features in Openfire.
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Is it worth to migrate to Skype for Business Server 2015 .
Please share me the configuration documents as well so that I can test the same in my lab setup.
Request your valid comments and suggestions on this plan.
Please share your thoughts and experience on the same.
Thanks in Advance.
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Why do you want to integrate them? Skype for Business is a PBX itself, why not just use it?
Are you looking at on prem or hosted Skype for Business?
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@StrongBad said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
rem or hosted Skyp
We are looking for a on prim.
If Skype for Business is a PBX itself then can i migrate all the elastix extensions to Skype for Business ?
Another questions is with the current setup am not having any latency on VOIP call and only impact to local site on PBX failure as we have PBX on each site.But if i have a centralize Skype for Business then the local site VOIP call will have latency and Server failure cause the entire site VOIP down.
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Can you migrate the extensions? Definitely. Is there a tool for that, no I don't think so. I think that you have to migrate those by hand. But if you are going to implement the high cost, high complexity Skype for Business unified messaging platform you don't want to be in the business of supporting both Elastix as well as Skype for Business as well as a complex integration between them. That's just a lot of work when Skype for Business will do everything that you want in a single package. Far less to maintain, less to break and less to have to figure out.
Skype for Business is rather different than Elastix, so moving everyone over manually is almost certainly needed. How many extensions do you have?
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@sreekumarpg said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
Another questions is with the current setup am not having any latency on VOIP call and only impact to local site on PBX failure as we have PBX on each site.But if i have a centralize Skype for Business then the local site VOIP call will have latency and Server failure cause the entire site VOIP down.
That's why central hosting rather than on prem is popular. Do you have latency problems between sites? What is your site to site latency look like?
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@StrongBad said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
hat's why central hosting rather than on prem is popular. Do you have latency problems between sites? What is your site to
We have around 9 sites and each sites is having min 50 extentions .
Sites are in US,UK,Southeast Asian,Middle East.etc
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@sreekumarpg said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@StrongBad said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
hat's why central hosting rather than on prem is popular. Do you have latency problems between sites? What is your site to
We have around 9 sites and each sites is having min 50 extentions .
Sites are in US,UK,Southeast Asian,Middle East.etc
So about 500 users total? You should be able to do multisite Skype for Business. If you are not using SfB for your PBX, why have it? Why use it instead of OpenFire or Mattermost or Rocket.chat? What makes it worthwhile if not for the integration?
What is the worst site to site latency that you see? Do sites in the Middle East, for example, make calls using a single UK phone number? Or do all sites call locally? Are calls mostly external (local latency advantage) or are they mostly extension to extension (no benefit to local PBX.)
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I'm with @StrongBad why are you looking at Skype for Business (SfB) in the first place? Is Elastix not providing something you want? Would upgrading to FreePBX give you those features?
@StrongBad, Does SfB support VOIP handsets? or non SfB softphones?
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@Dashrender said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@StrongBad, Does SfB support VOIP handsets? or non SfB softphones?
Yes, it has its own protocol for that.
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@StrongBad said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@Dashrender said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@StrongBad, Does SfB support VOIP handsets? or non SfB softphones?
Yes, it has its own protocol for that.
So is that a yes it supports VOIP handsets and non SfB softphones - or no it doesn, but they do have their own proprietary solution?
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@Dashrender said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@StrongBad said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@Dashrender said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@StrongBad, Does SfB support VOIP handsets? or non SfB softphones?
Yes, it has its own protocol for that.
So is that a yes it supports VOIP handsets and non SfB softphones - or no it doesn, but they do have their own proprietary solution?
Sorry, yes it supports VoIP handsets. I don't know if anyone is making alternative clients for it on the software side.
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@StrongBad said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@Dashrender said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@StrongBad said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@Dashrender said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@StrongBad, Does SfB support VOIP handsets? or non SfB softphones?
Yes, it has its own protocol for that.
So is that a yes it supports VOIP handsets and non SfB softphones - or no it doesn, but they do have their own proprietary solution?
Sorry, yes it supports VoIP handsets. I don't know if anyone is making alternative clients for it on the software side.
Well, if it supports any off the shelf VOIP phone, I can see no reason why it wouldn't work with any softphone - just plug in the connection details and logon credentials and go.
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@Dashrender said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@StrongBad said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@Dashrender said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@StrongBad said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@Dashrender said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@StrongBad, Does SfB support VOIP handsets? or non SfB softphones?
Yes, it has its own protocol for that.
So is that a yes it supports VOIP handsets and non SfB softphones - or no it doesn, but they do have their own proprietary solution?
Sorry, yes it supports VoIP handsets. I don't know if anyone is making alternative clients for it on the software side.
Well, if it supports any off the shelf VOIP phone, I can see no reason why it wouldn't work with any softphone - just plug in the connection details and logon credentials and go.
VoIP isn't a standard, nothing supports "any". SIP PBX need a SIP handset. Cisco protocol needs a Cisco handset. SfB PBX needs a SfB / Lync handset.
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@StrongBad said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@Dashrender said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@StrongBad said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@Dashrender said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@StrongBad said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@Dashrender said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
@StrongBad, Does SfB support VOIP handsets? or non SfB softphones?
Yes, it has its own protocol for that.
So is that a yes it supports VOIP handsets and non SfB softphones - or no it doesn, but they do have their own proprietary solution?
Sorry, yes it supports VoIP handsets. I don't know if anyone is making alternative clients for it on the software side.
Well, if it supports any off the shelf VOIP phone, I can see no reason why it wouldn't work with any softphone - just plug in the connection details and logon credentials and go.
VoIP isn't a standard, nothing supports "any". SIP PBX need a SIP handset. Cisco protocol needs a Cisco handset. SfB PBX needs a SfB / Lync handset.
Oh yeah - you're right - I did mean SIP phones.
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I don't think that they will support SIP phones. They do support integration with a SIP PBX, but that is rarely useful.
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Skype for Business does support a limited number of SIP phones. We are using Polycom VVX310's with our installation, utilizing Polycom's "Bring Together Over Ethernet" (BToE) solution to have the S4B software client and the phone "sync" for things like status changes. I was not directly involved in the implementation other than installing an FTP server on our Front End server to serve the provisioning files for the Polycom's
Here is a .PDF on installing BToE
http://support.polycom.com/global/documents/support/technical/products/voice/Using_Polycom__UC_Software_BToE.pdf.
I do believe you need to procure a license form Polycom for each Polycom phone used by Skype for Business, but do not quote me on that I am unsure if the Skype for Business CAL handles the license requirement or not. -
Also, check out Jeff Schertz's blog it is my go to resoruce for Polycom and Lync/S4B integration. Here is an entry on Polycom UCS for VVX phones:
http://blog.schertz.name/2015/09/polycom-ucs-5-4-for-vvx-phones/ -
How do they support "some" SIP phones and not others? If they are supporting SIP, wouldn't they all work?
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@scottalanmiller said in Skype for Business Server 2015 with Elastix PBX ?:
How do they support "some" SIP phones and not others? If they are supporting SIP, wouldn't they all work?
I simply assumed they actually meant supported and not compatible.
Here is the "Supported" list.
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/dn788944.aspxI never expect a proprietary vendor to "support" every phone model.
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You are correct. I should have stated "IP phones" and not "SIP Phones". The phones CAN run sip but I know that Polycom's use their own UC firmware for S4B. As for just your off-the-shelf SIP phone that I do not know, I've only had experience with the Polycom VVX ones.
