microsoft skype for business and the quest for legacy video interoperability

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Microsoft’s Skype for Business and the Quest for Legacy Interop

Jordan Owens - Pexip

Copyright 2016 by InfoComm International®

Jordan Owensis the VP of Architecture for Pexip.

He joined Pexip in 2012 from TANDBERG and Cisco where he lead the Americas Technical Support organization, the Americas Product Engineering team, and a Pre-Sales Engineering organization for the previous 10+ years of his career.

At Pexip, Jordan is responsible for leading the Pre-Sales Engineering team, global support, and serves as an extension of the R&D organization into Sales.

Jordan represents the Office of the CTO

Twitter: @jf0wensEmail: [email protected]

Video: pexipdemo.com/jordan


So why are we here? Collaboration consists of

independent silos– Microsoft Skype for

Business/consumer– ”Legacy” video conferencing– WebRTC– Consumer-grade technologies

They don’t work together… But users don’t care

Can we integrate? How do we integrate? Where do we host? How do we meet?


Backdrop and market development.


True cross platform collaboration is not a company wide capability

As little as 5% of all meeting rooms are video equipped

Audio and web conferencing is pervasive

Everyone has capable devices and tools


71% of millenial employees show preference for video over audio conferences

Sources: PwC, NextGen Global Generation Study; American Community Survey, UC Census Bureau by globalworkplaceanalytics.com

71%

55% of managers have seen increased demand for videoconferencing

55%

More than 60% of collaboration is done with employees and partners outside the office

60%

Employees in Fortune 1000 companies are not at their desk 50-60% of their time

50-60%

But the way we work, and our attitude is changing


Source: Microsoft Keynote presentation, UC Expo, London, April 20 2016.

50bn

38%

50 billion minutes of audio and video per month.

38% of all international call minutes on Skype.

100M More than 100 million meetings every month.

100 million Skype licenses100M

Microsoft’s statistics


1500%

200%

By 2019, WebRTC will be utilized for 15% of enterprise voice and video communication, up from less than 1% today.

Between 2015 and 2019, the rate at which organizations will deploy cloud telephony will nearly double, from about 10% to almost 20%.

300%By 2020, over 90% of enterprise voice calls in the digital workplace will originate from collaboration applications, up from less than 30% today.

By 2019, group videoconferencing usage volumes enterprise-wide will increase 400% over current levels, driven by commodity endpoints and cloud-based services.

400%

Source: Predicts 2016: UCC Will Thrive With Web Standards, Commodity and Cloud, Gartner Group

What Gartner Thinks


Q: With the prediction that video will supersede email and voice calls by the end of 2016, when do you think this will be the case in your company?

Pre-2015 2015 2016 2017 2018 Post-2018

Transport & logistics Professional & financial services Manufacturing & pharmaceuticals Media Retail Total

Source: Workplace 2020, Google for Work: http://pex.me/1RPDvII

Market Expectations


Personal devices Billions

Lower costPersonal devices

Huge volume

Huddle rooms, MSFT Surface Hub

Large meetingrooms

Boardrooms

Immersive suites

10Mrooms

30-50Mrooms

Higher costMore integrationLower volume

100%Video systems purchased for huddle rooms are expected to account for 20 percent of the market in 2016, up from 10% in 2015.

45MLess than 15% of huddle rooms are already equipped with video conferencing equipment, leaving an estimated 25-45M rooms opportunity.

Sources: Wainhouse Research, Nemertes Research, Pexip

Huddle Rooms & Personal Growth


So… why are people not using it?

There is an explosion in video usage happening, but it is not driven by traditional video conferencing....


Market status – well known fact

Video is for most not yet a company wide

collaboration capability – as little as 5% of all meeting rooms are video equipped –


Why is video not heavily used within the greater user community?

Video is perceived to be complex

Difficult to connect and schedule

Always checking to ensure you see the

content, can you hear me

Shadow IT – users bring in their own

collaboration software

Interoperability headache

Cables are mess/unplugged so

it won’t work


Ensure interoperabilityAs teams and organizations grow and become more fragmented and use a variety of technologies, interoperability and cross-platform communications is becoming more and more important.

Unable to scaleEnterprises constantly run into challenges as they run out of capacity, and are unable to answer the increase in demand.

Inability to be efficientWith increased expectations for even higher productivity, corporations fail to deliver the efficiency they need to gain an edge and stay ahead of their competition.

Provide 360 degree simplicityEnd-to-end simplicity, from product acquisition, planning, deployment and configuration, management and budgeting – all the way to the end user video experience.

User & Administrative Pain Points


Where things stand today

Microsoft Lync/Skype for Business is deployed in organizations that are already heavily invested in traditional telephony and video conferencing

The challenge:

How do I use and benefit from all my investments?


Microsoft’s share of the desktopThrough office and in to Lync/Skype for Business, Microsoft has continued to organically grow their share of the desktop


Microsoft’s share of the desktopMicrosoft continuing through recent advances in IP telephony capability for both on premises and Office 365 deployments


Microsoft’s share of the desktopMany customers making/considering a move to Office 365 to operationalize their desktop A unique competitive posture for Microsoft, but it increases – not decreases – the need to facilitate interoperability


Users want answers… Microsoft’s continued advancement has placed IT managers at odds with their users

It should just work, but doesn’t


Challenges in detail Connectivity

– SIP, H323, MS-SIP ..?– Internal only, or also external?– Media routing?

Quality– H264 SVC / RTV v H264 / VPx

Content sharing– To / from Lync? As video? As content?

Where functionality is hosted– AV-MCU, other?

LCS 2005 > OCS 2007 > OCS 2007 R2 > Lync 2010 > Lync 2013 > O365 > Skype for Business


Users want answers… At the same time, user maturity has increased

through consumer grade technologies – More used to advanced communications than ever before (FaceTime,

Skype, etc) – Don’t care about “standards” or why it doesn’t work. They just want it to

work.


The question, therefore, is no longer why… but how?

User experience must be the focus and center of any solution


The but…

Technically, this is easier said than done


The but… Many of the Microsoft technologies are at odds/different than the “legacy” videoconferencing industry


The but… This further increases complexity and places the burden on vendors to absolve the user from having to see the complications


Multiple approaches…Interoperability can be achieved in a number of different forms Virtual Meeting Rooms

– Third party user experience

Gateways Soft AND/OR hard infrastructure


Multiple approaches…The good news:Many of these problems can be solved!

The bad news:Each option has benefits and drawbacks.

End users must maintain an active role in evaluating each of the different pathsGoals must be well understood and outlined

There is no “perfect solution”


So how is it done?


What is Skype for Business?• SIP-based communication• Sharing via RDP (TCP stream) @

native resolution • Desktop-based soft client, Surface

Hub, Lync/SfB Meeting Room, mobile clients

• Integrated with SfB FEP/Edge servers

• Dial to individuals/systems; URI-based dial plan


What is a VC system• H323 or SIP• Sharing via H239 or BFCP (UDP

stream) @ compressed resolution

• Pan/tilt/zoom camera to capture everyone or a few

• Standalone or using VC infrastructure

• Dialed by IP-address, E164, alias or URI


Architecturally, similar approaches

SfB Edge SfB FEP & AV-MCU

Surface Hub / SRS

SfB clients

SfB mobile

DMZ LANExternal and B2B federation

PSTN

SfB external/web/guest

Exchange


Whether on premises


H323 VC endpoint

SIP VC endpoint

SIP/H323 VC endpointoutside the organization VC Internal

Call controlMCU

VC Edgefirewall traversal


Or in the cloudOptional: Azure Express Route

PSTN



Surface Hub / SRS

SfB clients

SfB mobile


Or in the cloud

PSTN


SIP/H323 VC endpointoutside the organization

VC Cloud-hosted MCU

H323 VC endpoint

SIP VC endpoint


Skype AV-MCUOn-prem or 365

Surface Hub / SRS

SfB clients

MS-SIP signaling

H264SVC video+ RDP content (TCP)

All media direct

MS-SIP signalingH323 VC endpoint

SIP VC endpoint

VC Call Control

Signaling & media flow, point-to-point

H264 video+ H.239/BFCP content (UDP)

All media direct


Signaling and media flow – Conferences

Skype AV-MCUOn-prem or 365

Surface Hub / SRS

SfB clientsMS-SIP signaling

MS-SIP signaling

H264SVC video + RDP content (TCP)

Media flow via AV-MCU

H323 VC endpoint

SIP VC endpoint

VC Call Control, MCU

H264 video+ H.239/BFCP content (UDP)

All media to MCU


What about dial plans? Skype for Business Video ConferencingSIP URI IP addressHTTP meeting handler E.164 alias

URIIP plus extension dialing


What about the experience?


Skype and VC integration scenarios

H.323

Voice& Apps

SIP

Jabber

Web

RTMP Streaming

Lync/SfB

Surface Hub

Video MCU

H.323, SIP Video

Gateway to AVMCU: bring any VC endpoint into Skype meetings

Skype/Lync AV-MCUVideo GW Surface Hub

Any endpoint to any endpoint gateway

Video GWSurface Hub H.323, SIP Video

Legacy MCU

Gateway to legacy MCU

Video GWSurface Hub H.323, SIP Video


Meeting formats: VMR, GW and AV-MCUWhat does it mean for the Surface Hub?

Point-to-point Gateway– Enable client-to-client interoperability

Virtual Meeting Rooms– “Meet in the middle”via interop MCU

AV-MCU/Skype Meeting Gateway– Native MSFT experience extended with interop


Point-to-Point Gateways

VC to Skype Gateway

H.323 Direct dial point-to-point calling between clients

Native experience on both sides Must support full in call workflow;

both sides maintain expected usability

SfB client adds VC system to buddy list; VC system adds SfB client to phone book

Lync/SfB


H.323 and SIP

Point-to-Point Gateways• H323/SIP to MS-SIP signaling

translation• H264 to H264SVC transcode• Content: H239/BFCP to RDP• Potential increased dial plan

complexity• Possible network hair pinning

if not designed correctly VC to SkypeGateway

Signaling: MS-SIPVideo: H264SVCContent: RDP

Signaling: H323 or SIPVideo: H264/H263Content: H239/BFCP

Lync/SfB


Virtual Meeting Rooms (VMRs)Web

Video MCU

H.323

SIP

“MCU” or VMR provider owns the scheduling, join, and in call experience

Video-first, full screen layout Verify full, native content support Lacks full support all SfB advanced

features Crowded vendor offering, many

giving the same sales pitch

Lync/SfB


H.323

Voice& Apps

SIP

Jabber

Web

RTMP Streaming

Virtual Meeting Rooms (VMRs)

Lync/SfB

Surface Hub

• Interop MCU fully transcodes all connections

• Single layout sent down to all connected clients

• Shifts burden of complexity from client to infrastructure

• Must validate full functionality: what’s important?

• Scheduling questions

Video MCU


Gateway AV-MCU / Skype Conference

Native “Skype Meeting” scheduling Skype receives Gallery View But…

– Does VC endpoint see multiple participants?

– Does gateway transmit all connected gateway clients?

Full transcoded content Lacks some advanced features VC: potential complex join experience


Gateway AV-MCU / Skype Conference

SfB FEP & AV-MCU

AV-MCU compatible VC to Skypegateway

H.323 and SIPSfB clients

Surface Hub

H.323 and SIP

• Many state support for this workflow; few deliver

• Gateway mixes & multiplexes media between two environments

• Users lack feedback if advanced features do not transcode (e.g. polling)

• Puts burden on network design & architecture


Drag-and-drop VC room from Skype buddy list

VC room should be in Skype buddy list (via Exchange)

Search for it, and add to meeting

Must be invited by a meeting presenter/host


Add participant in the Hub interface after joining meeting

VC room should be in Skype buddy list (via Exchange)

Search for it, and add to meeting

Must be invited by a meeting presenter/host


Dial VC-Skype-GW IVR and enter Conference ID

Typically on premises only, must connect to FEP

Connect to IVR Enter conf ID Gateway resolves to complex URI

– Gateway performs look up of conf ID & resolves to complex URI

– Resolves 29905 –to – [email protected];gruu;opaque=app:conf:focus:id:BP8GAN12

Connecting to meeting

29905


Direct dial to AV-MCU with Conference ID

Typically on premises only, must connect to FEP

Dial conf ID directly (e.g. 29905 or 29905@domain)

Gateway resolves to complex URI Resolution via API call to FEP

– Resolving from: 29905– To: [email protected];gruu;opaque

=app:conf:focus:id:BP8GAN12

Dial 29905 or [email protected]


Booking serverBook SfB meeting

include Room1

Read Room1 Exchange mailbox

Message sent to endpoint

On click: Endpoint Dials SfB meeting via Gateway

Exchange

Room1

1

23

4

SfB AV-MCU

AV-MCU compatible VC to Skype gateway


Summary VC-Skype-GW

H323/SIP video endpointdialling in via IVR or direct

SfB FEP & AV-MCU

Surface Hub / SRS

SfB clients

SfB mobile

H323/SIP video endpointvia drag-and-drop

AV-MCU compatible VC to Skype gateway


Installation Architectures


Example On Prem Topology


VC Edgefw traversal

VC InternalCall controlMCU

Surface Hub / SRS

SfB clients

SfB mobile


H323 VC endpoint

SIP VC endpoint

PSTN

SIP/H323 VC endpoint



Example Cloud Only Topology

GW/MCU in Cloud

Optional: Azure Express Route

PSTN


Surface Hub / SRS

SfB clients

SfB mobile

H323 VC endpoint

SIP VC endpointSIP/H323 VC endpoint



Hybrid: Office 365, Interop On Prem

GW/MCU in DMZ

Optional: Azure Express Route

PSTN

SfB external/web/guestSurface Hub / SRS

SfB clients

SfB mobile

H323 VC endpoint

SIP VC endpoint

SIP/H323 VC endpoint



Hybrid: SfB On Prem, Interop in Cloud


Surface Hub / SRS

SfB clients

SfB mobile

PSTN


H323 VC endpoint

SIP VC endpointSIP/H323 VC endpointGW/MCU in Cloud


Architectural Imposed Limitations Remember… AVMCU join experience typically requires FEP

connectivity – Either native or through VPN – Must be a “Trusted – Application” for API lookup

Different options have different bandwidth requirements


Where to host the capacity Transcoding video streams requires "CPU" capacity The big question is very often:

– On-prem• How much capacity do you need?

– Cloud • What flavor of cloud?

– Or a combination• Is that even possible?


Where to host the capacity On-prem – deployed on internal servers

– VMware/HyperV/Xen/KVM On-prem installation deployed purely on IaaS

– Azure/Amazon Hybrid Cloud

– A combination of the above Private cloud

– Dedicated at external provider Public cloud

– Shared at external provider


Final Words


This is your solution Know what features & functions are important Prioritize your list Involve your users Try, try, try it out


Questions?


Jordan Owensis the VP of Architecture for Pexip.

He joined Pexip in 2012 from TANDBERG and Cisco where he lead the Americas Technical Support organization, the Americas Product Engineering team, and a Pre-Sales Engineering organization for the previous 10+ years of his career.

At Pexip, Jordan is responsible for leading the Pre-Sales Engineering team, global support, and serves as an extension of the R&D organization into Sales.

Jordan represents the Office of the CTO

Twitter: @jf0wensEmail: [email protected]

Video: pexipdemo.com/jordan

microsoft skype for business and the quest for legacy video interoperability

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