Introduction
The Skype IVR (Skype Interactive Voice Response) option in Synergy SKY enables users to join Skype Online (Skype for Business Office 365) meetings by dialing into a specific URI (e.g. ivr@company.com) and entering the numeric Conference Id that is automatically inserted into the meeting invitation when booking a Skype Online meeting. The option also make it easy for users to join the Skype meeting via WebRTC which usually has a higher success rate than the Skype Web app. The picture at the end of this chapter shows the work flow of this feature.
Note 1: The Skype IVR option requires the Audio Conferencing option to be enabled in the Skype Online subscription so that the Conference Id is populated in the meeting invitation.
Note 2: The Skype IVR option only works with Pexip, and requires a Local Policy Script to be added to the Pexip Management Node
Note 3: It is possible to stop the booking confirmation emails from the IVR service account to spam the user's mailbox by setting up a Second transport rule to remove accept confirmations
Work flow of the Synergy SKY Skype IVR service
Requirements
Exchange Requirements
Synergy SKY uses Exchange Web Services (EWS) or Graph API to access the Exchange Online environment.
For supporting Skype Online IVR meetings, the Exchange administrator needs to check or update the Exchange server with the following:
- Synergy SKY IVR Exchange resource account
- Exchange IVR resource account properties adjustments
- IVR URI in Skype invitation footer
- Hub Transport Rules (optional, but strongly recommended)
Skype requirements
- Skype Online E5 licenses or E1/E3 with Enterprise Voice / Audio Conferencing option for all users booking meeting that will have IVR capabilities
Pexip Requirements
- VMR Licenses equal to or above the number of concurrently running Skype conferences
- Local Policy Script in Pexip Local Policy Script
- Virtual Reception Room under Service Configuration > Virtual Receptions
Step by Step Guide
Note: All sections that you have to amend are highlighted in red
Synergy SKY IVR Resource Account
Create a Synergy SKY IVR resource account. It is used by Synergy SKY to monitor all calendar invitations for Skype meetings – these invitations are hitting the JOIN IVR resource mailbox due to a specific Hub Transport Rule.
- Define this resource account in the VMR Pools tab to allow for dialing conference@domain.com to join the conference directly
- Tick the 'Enable IVR dial-in into Skype Meetings' tick box in the 'Services' tab and specify the Exchange resource email address that you are going to use for the IVR function within your environment.
JOIN IVR Resource Properties Adjustments
REQUIRED:
For the Synergy SKY IVR mailbox, as multiple meetings will be sent there, conflicts must be allowed.
Set-CalendarProcessing <ivrAlias> - AllowConflicts $true
OPTIONAL:
If it is desired to keep the Subject of the meeting when provisioning into Pexip (to help fault finding and identifying a specific meeting by title in the Pexip Admin interface).
Set-CalendarProcessing <ivrAlias> - AddOrganizerToSubject $false -DeleteSubject $false
IVR URI in Skype Invitation Footer (Skype for Business configuration)
For general user awareness on how to reach the Skype IVR from their video endpoints that is not provisioned by JOIN with OBTP information, please add the following footer for all Skype invitations.
Example:
Join the meeting from a Video Conferencing system by dialing skype@company.com and enter the Conference ID followed by #.
This “skype@company.com” string is also the phrase your Hub Transport Rule will be checking on (see the next chapter).
For a PoC, you can manually add the footer to meetings that should be picked up by the JOIN service, or skip the hub transport rule and add the IVR resource account to the booking, which will make JOIN provision the IVR VMR on the Pexip MCU so that VC systems can dial into the Skype meeting.
Hub Transport Rules
Set up a Hub Transport Rule as defined in How To: Configure a Microsoft Exchange Transport Rule.