Integrating Microsoft Lync / Skype for Business with Pexip Infinity

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

Pexip Infinity can be integrated with Lync as part of an existing, on-premises Lync environment inside an enterprise network, or as a standalone Pexip environment deployed in a public DMZ, leveraging direct federation with remote Lync environments. It enables full interoperability between Microsoft's H.264 SVC/RTV/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 Lync participants to join conferences hosted on Pexip Infinity, Pexip Infinity can act as a gateway between Lync and standards-based endpoints. This enables Lync clients to receive and initiate point-to-point calls with H.323/SIP endpoints and registered Infinity Connect clients, and invite those devices into a Lync multi-party conference while retaining the native meeting experience on each device.

The version 12 release of Pexip Infinity is interoperable with:

• Lync 2010 and 2013 desktop clients for Windows
• Lync 2011 desktop clients for Mac OS X
• Lync 2013 mobile clients for Apple iOS and Android devices
• Skype for Business.

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

Architecture overview

Pexip Infinity can be integrated with Lync in two different ways:

• as part of an existing, on-premises Lync environment inside an enterprise network (referred to in this document as on-prem deployment)
• as a standalone Pexip environment deployed in a public DMZ, leveraging direct federation with remote Lync environments (referred to in this document as public DMZ deployment).

This deployment guide covers both deployment methods. You will typically choose one of the above two methods, depending on requirements and preference. Each deployment method has a set of pre-requisites and configuration steps which are covered in detail in the relevant sections.

On-prem deployment

To integrate Pexip Infinity with an existing, on-premises Lync environment, one or more SIP domains are statically routed from the Lync environment towards one or more Pexip Infinity Conferencing Nodes. Then, when a Lync user dials a conference alias, such as meet.john@example.com, or the alias of a standards-based endpoint, the user is placed into the conference in question. The 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 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 Lync-enabled user in AD. For example, if a user's Lync URI is john@example.com this could not be used as their VMR alias; however meet.john@example.com could be used.

With Lync environments that are geographically spread, for instance with Lync infrastructure in both Europe and US, it may be desirable to deploy a pool of one or more Conferencing Nodes in each location, to ensure efficient media routing between a Conferencing Node and the Lync user. In these cases, a static SIP domain route should be created from the local Front End pool (FEP) towards a redundant pool of Conferencing Nodes in its nearest geographic location. If two Lync users from different geographic areas dial into a conference via Conferencing Nodes at different locations, the two local conferences are automatically merged together by the virtual backplane between the two respective Conferencing Nodes.

In a similar manner, to support dialing out from a conference to a Lync participant, Lync servers are configured for each location. This allows Pexip Infinity to dial out to the Lync server from a Conferencing Node at the most appropriate geographic location.

For further information, see Example deployment in an on-prem Lync / Skype for Business environment.

Public DMZ deployment

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

For further information, see Example public DMZ deployment for remote Lync / Skype for Business environments.