Erwin Bierens

Knowledge is Power

Setting up Federation in Skype for Business

2016-10-11 2 min read Skype for Business Erwin Bierens

Skype for Business External Connectivity

Skype for Business external connectivity (federation) enables a Skype for Business user to connect with users in other organizations that use Skype for Business as well as those that host their own Skype for Business Server on-premises.

Federated contacts can see presence, communicate by using IM, and make Skype-to-Skype audio and video calls.

There are a couple of federations important to have:

  • Skype for Business Online (Office365)
  • Exchange Online (Office365)
  • Skype for Consumer (Skype.com)

Following are the federation relationships that are supported by Skype for Business and the available modalities:

  • Skype for Business Server 2015   IM, Presence, Audio, Video, Conferencing
  • Skype for Business Online  IM, Presence, Audio, Video, Conferencing
  • Lync Server 2010   IM, Presence, Audio, Video, Conferencing
  • Lync Server 2013   IM, Presence, Audio, Video, Conferencing
  • Office Communications Server 2007 R2   IM, Presence, Audio, Video, Conferencing
  • Skype for Consumer IM, Presence, Audio, Video

Configure federation with Other Skype for Business systems

You can run the following commands on your Skype for Business Server Management Shell

	Set-CsAccessEdgeConfiguration -AllowFederatedUsers $True

Configure federation with Skype for Business Online

You can run the following commands on your Skype for Business Server Management Shell

	Set-CSAccessEdgeConfiguration -AllowOutsideUsers 1 -AllowFederatedUsers 1 -EnablePartnerDiscovery 1 -UseDnsSrvRouting

	New-CSHostingProvider -Identity SkypeforBusinessOnline -ProxyFqdn "sipfed.online.lync.com" -Enabled $true -EnabledSharedAddressSpace $true -HostsOCSUsers $true -VerificationLevel UseSourceVerification -IsLocal $false -AutodiscoverUrl https://webdir.online.lync.com/Autodiscover/AutodiscoverService.svc/root

Configure with Exchange Online

You can run the following commands on your Skype for Business Server Management Shell

	New-CsHostingProvider -Identity "Exchange Online" -Enabled $True -EnabledSharedAddressSpace $True -HostsOCSUsers $False -ProxyFqdn "exap.um.outlook.com" -IsLocal $False -VerificationLevel UseSourceVerification

Configure Public IM Connectivity (Skype.com)

You can run the following commands on your Skype for Business Server Management Shell

	Remove-CsPublicProvider -Identity Skype

	New-CsPublicProvider -Identity Skype -ProxyFqdn federation.messenger.msn.com –IconUrl https://images.edge.messenger.live.com/Messenger_16x16.png -NameDecorationRoutingDomain msn.com -NameDecorationExcludedDomainList "msn.com,outlook.com,live.com,hotmail.com" -VerificationLevel UseSourceVerification -Enabled $true -EnableSkypeIdRouting $true -EnableSkypeDirectorySearch $true

Now go to https://pic.lync.com to setup the federation. You will need the following information.

  • Microsoft Agreement Number
  • Access Edge service fully qualified domain name (FQDN)
  • Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) domain(s)
  • Any additional Access Edge service FQDNs
  • Contact information

It can take up to 30days before it’s activated (my experience is within a day).

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