Integrating Skype for Business with Pexip Infinity

Pexip Infinity allows Microsoft Skype for Business and Lync* users to meet with other people regardless of the system they are using – Skype for Business / Lync, web browsers or traditional video conferencing systems. All participants can enjoy wideband audio, high definition video and cross-platform presentation sharing.

It can be integrated with SfB/Lync as part of an existing, on-premises SfB/Lync environment inside an enterprise network, or as a standalone Pexip environment deployed in a public DMZ that enables direct federation with remote SfB/Lync environments, or as a hybrid deployment where SfB/Lync users may be homed either on-premises or in Office 365.

Pexip Infinity enables full interoperability between Microsoft's H.264 SVC/RDP and H.263, H.264, VP8 (WebRTC) and BFCP/H.239 for truly seamless video and content sharing in any-to-any configurations, such as multiparty conferences.

In addition to enabling SfB/Lync participants to join conferences hosted on Pexip Infinity, Pexip Infinity can act as a gateway between SfB/Lync and standards-based endpoints. This enables SfB/Lync clients to receive and initiate point-to-point calls with H.323/SIP endpoints and registered Connect app clients, and invite those devices into a SfB/Lync meeting while retaining the native meeting experience on each device.

* Note that where this documentation refers to "SfB/Lync", it represents both Microsoft Skype for Business and Lync unless stated otherwise.

Architecture overview

Pexip Infinity can be integrated with SfB/Lync in three ways:

  • As part of an existing, on-premises SfB/Lync environment inside an enterprise network (referred to in this guide as on-premises deployment).
  • As a standalone Pexip environment deployed in a public DMZ, leveraging direct federation with remote SfB/Lync environments (referred to in this guide as a public DMZ deployment).
  • As a hybrid deployment which is a mix of on-premises and Office 365 deployments where users may be homed in either environment. A hybrid deployment has the same configuration requirements as a public DMZ deployment.
  • Office 365

You will typically choose one of these methods, depending on requirements and preference. Each deployment method has a set of prerequisites and configuration steps which are covered in detail in the relevant sections of this guide.

On-premises deployment

To integrate Pexip Infinity with an existing, on-premises SfB/Lync environment, one or more SIP domains are statically routed from the SfB/Lync environment towards one or more Pexip Infinity Conferencing Nodes. Then, when a SfB/Lync user dials a conference alias, such as meet.john@vc.example.com, or the alias of a standards-based endpoint, the user is placed into the appropriate Pexip-hosted conference. The SfB/Lync user can also pin one or more such aliases to their contact list for easy access later.

Pexip Infinity supports routing on the same domain as the main SfB/Lync installation, or a different domain/subdomain. If the same domain is used, Pexip Infinity services (such as a Virtual Meeting Room), or standards-based endpoints, cannot have a URI that is already in use by a SfB/Lync-enabled user in Active Directory. For example, if a user's SfB/Lync URI is john@example.com this could not be used as their VMR alias; however meet.john@example.com could be used.

An on-premises deployment can also provide access to Pexip Infinity services for clients located on the public internet. Here is an example deployment scenario for a separate VTC subdomain (vc.example.com) that provides B2B support for standards-based devices, federated B2B support for external SfB/Lync clients, and support for remote corporate SfB/Lync clients:

In this deployment scenario:

  • Federated SfB calls to the Pexip Infinity video subdomain (e.g. @vc.example.com) are routed through Proxying Edge Nodes (see Deployment guidelines for Proxying Edge Nodes for more information).
  • Remote corporate SfB clients are routed through your SfB Edge server as normal, but they can also make gateway calls to the Pexip Infinity video subdomain (e.g. @vc.example.com) — in which case media is routed through the SfB Edge server providing the internal Transcoding Conferencing Node can route to the public facing interface of the SfB Edge server (otherwise a TURN server is required).
  • Federated calls to your SfB domain (e.g. @example.com) are routed through your SfB Edge server as normal.
  • Any external Connect app clients (WebRTC and RTMP), SIP and H.323 endpoints and other forms of business-to-business video calls are routed through Proxying Edge Nodes. These calls can be gatewayed via Pexip Infinity to SfB/Lync clients or SfB/Lync meetings if required (see Using Pexip Infinity as a Skype for Business gateway for more information).

For full information on configuring Pexip Infinity with on-premises SfB/Lync, see Example deployment in an on-premises Skype for Business environment.

Public DMZ / hybrid deployment

As Pexip Infinity supports SfB/Lync natively, it can be deployed to enable SfB/Lync interoperability without having any existing, on-premises SfB/Lync infrastructure. In such a deployment, Pexip Infinity can federate directly with remote SfB/Lync environments (on-premises environments as well as SfB/Lync Online/Office 365), without the need for a local SfB/Lync environment.

In this mode, Pexip Infinity can be deployed in a single datacenter, or if desired, multiple geographically-dispersed datacenters, optionally leveraging call control and/or GeoDNS functionality for ensuring optimal/shortest path signaling and media routing across public networks.

If required, Pexip Infinity nodes can be deployed in a DMZ behind a static NAT firewall. The diagram (right) shows an example deployment scenario that also includes B2B support for standards-based devices.

When integrating with a hybrid deployment of SfB/Lync, where users may be homed either on-premises or in Office 365, you should follow the same configuration guidelines as for a public DMZ deployment.

For full information, see Example public DMZ / hybrid deployment for remote Skype for Business environments.