Let’s Encrypt and Skype for Business

For my home lab I’m using the free certificates from Let’s Encrypt (Let’s Encrypt is a free, automated, and open Certificate Authority). The certificates from them have 1 big limitation, they are only valid for 3 months but you can renew them “almost” automatically. As explained In my blog last week about “Skype for Business environment running with just one public IP” I’m running my Reverse Proxy with IIS ARR (Application Request Routing). Continue reading

What’s fixed in Cloud Connector Edition 2.0.1

/ In Cloud Connector Edition 2.0.1, the following fixes were made: Restarting Virtual Machines sometimes caused the service to stop if the restart order determined by Hyper-V was incorrect. This has been fixed. Calls for download security checks in remote PowerShell sometimes caused calls to the New-CsOnlineSession cmdlet to fail. This issue has been fixed. During automatic updates, switching to a new version sometimes caused the running version to fail. This issue has been fixed Continue reading

Skype for Business environment running with just one Public IP

/ For quite some time I’m running a home lab, first on a big server (HP Proliant DL360) and since beginning of this year I have a Intel Nuc, saves a lot of energy costs 😂 Domain Controller and CA on Windows 2016 Core Edition Skype for Business Front-End Server on Windows Server 2012r2 standard SQL 2014 std for monitoring and persistent chat on Windows Server 2016 Exchange 2016 on Windows Server 2016 Skype for Business Edge on Windows Server 2016 IIS ARR (Reverse Proxy) on Windows 2016 PBX on Windows Server 2016 This lab was great for testing purposes but the problem was always, no connection to the outside world with Skype because of the requirement for at least 2 external IP’s with the use of Skype for Business. Continue reading

Powershell Enable / Disable / Set / Show Windows Web Proxy

Web Proxy I’m currently working for a company where I have to set up a web proxy to connect my laptop to the Internet. Because I’m a little bit lazy to enable/disable this every morning when i come in, or when i open my laptop at home, i use these two oneliners in powershell: EnableProxy: set-itemproperty 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings' -name ProxyEnable -value 1 DisableProxy: set-itemproperty 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings' -name ProxyEnable -value 0 Complete Script: I also created a simple menu script with all the options to Enable, Disable, Set and Show. Continue reading

How to install and deploy Polycom VVX 5.6.0 firmware in to Skype for Business

Polycom Polycom has released version 5.6.0 for their range of VVX handsets, which includes the following enhancements for Skype for Business: Support for Dial Plan Normalization, Multiple Emergency Number Dial Plan Skype for Business User interface enhancements Skype for Business Conference Enhancements Device Lock Enhancements Profile Picture on Device Lock Screen Secure Single Sign-On With Third-Party Supporting Solutions Safe Transfer for Boss-Admin Enhancements Busy Options for Incoming Calls. The release applies to the following phones and accessories: Continue reading

Skype for Business Cloud Connector Edition 2.0.0

Today the new Cloud Connector Edition 2.0.0 is released. You can download it right here. The Skype for Business Cloud Connector Edition is a set of packaged virtual machines for deployment on-premises which connect a customer’s existing Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) service provider circuits with Skype for Business Cloud PBX operating in Office 365. This allows for the user’s phone capability to be managed out of Office 365 while their phone calls continue to use their existing phone number, circuits and PSTN provider contract Continue reading

Why Microsoft Teams is so great!

What is Microsoft Teams? Microsoft Teams is a relative new tool in the Office 365 suite. Teams is combining Office 365 Apps in one tool to facilitate collaboration and communication for groups or you probably can guess, teams. There are several applications on the market like Slack, Azendoo and HipChat but in my opinion they are missing some great integration with all the Office 365 Apps. Below some reasons why i choose to use Microsoft Teams at Work. Continue reading