Skype Web

[Jan Dominquez]

Idid an interview over Skype which was recorded. The file ended-up having 800mb. The recording was playing fine on Skype app. I tried to download it and the file was incomplete, less than half of the actual video which is playable through Skype app.

Thought it might be a problem with either my internet connection or Skype webservers. But Skype is working fine on my phone (the app) and the website at least loads (though my phone doesn't support skype web).

Still, I can't even load Skype web now to try to download again, can't try it over the desktop app. My internet connection is working fine. It is not the firewall, what else could this be? There is something blocking connections to Skype servers on my computer (Windows 10).

However, I reverted the DNS back to test it again after downloading, and for some mysterious reason the same thing happened again. Connected to Skype, download started, then it stopped and Skype app and web would not connect/load anymore. Don't know whats up with that but may help someone in the future.

I have customers who are using Skype for Business for web conferencing (meetings). In the past I've been able to join these from a browser, but recently it started to force the use of a .msi plugin that won't work in Linux (for obvious reasons). I can obviously run a VM for these, but it would be better to join natively.

has a Linux client, but it's $49/US per year. They have a free version, but I have not been able to get a straight answer on whether I can join a meeting with the free version as a guest without any time limitations. I don't care about initiating screen sharing or video, or even audio (I can use a dial-in number). I just want to know if I can see the customer's screen without paying for their service.

Yes it is just using a VM which you already mention. However I found that it works pretty damn well this way. My laptop has NVMe SSD, 8 cores and 16GB RAM so I can easily spare 2 cores and 4GB to boot a Win 10 VM in seconds, and copy/paste a skype4B link directly in, as well as drag and drop any Office files to share screen.

The shared clipboard and drag and drop support in VirtualBox allow it to work seamlessly. Audio, Mic, and webcam can be passed through to VM seemlessly too. I have used this method for a long time for work, never had an issue. Give it a shot, you will be surprised.

Unfortunately, after the most recent Safari update, I am unable to join Skype meetings using the Skype for Business Web App. When launching the meeting from Safari, I get a message that the installation failed. When I use Firefox, the installation runs, says it is successful however the meeting does not launch. From Google, the meeting will launch, however when someone shares their screen, we do not get any video (and there is never any audio).

I've contacted Microsoft, see this thread: Skype web app plug-in for Safari on MacBook Pro fails to install - Microsoft Community The work arounds provided do not work. I've contacted Apple support and have been told that Microsoft will need to create a new app. While that may happen, I'm not holding my breath.

Hi Eric! Thank you for taking the time to jump in here. One thing I did not mention was that other browsers are allowing me to launch the Skype for Business Web App, but the problem I run into then is that I get a blank screen when someone is sharing their desktop, and there is also no audio, causing me to have to dial into the actual call as well. I did confirm this with Opera, Firefox and Chrome and will check with SeaMonkey and Waterfox as well, but have a low confidence level at this point.

Hello again Eric, unfortunately - two different machines (one personal one corporate), 4 different accounts and Safe Mode did not help either. I have 12 team members that are experiencing the same thing and we all experienced this after the most recent upgrade to Safari. Apple support has said that they will not support the Skype for Business Web App in Safari any longer and that Microsoft would need to write a new app for this. The unfortunate thing is that it seems this Safari update kills the ability to use the Skype for Business web app in every other browser as well which doesn't really makes sense.

Download and install Skype meetings app: (this part you will need to find on your own, a google search produced several results.

But it needs to be the Skype meetings app, not the Skype For Business app.) I used this link: -nation/third-party-products/617/skype-meetings-app

If Skype for Business Web app plug in is not already installed , you will see familiar screen from which you will need to download it and install it before joining/jumping in the meeting

This article addresses the deployment of a single Office Web Apps 2013 Server and subsequent integration with an existing Skype for Business (SfB) Server 2015 environment. The environment and example steps outlined here are a continuation of a series of related articles covering the installation and configuration of a Standard Edition topology of Skype for Business Server 2015.

When testing various Skype for Business meeting modalities in the last article a specific feature was briefly mentioned which was not yet available: the ability to use the Present PowerPoint Files option from the Present menu. This is because the deployed environment does not yet include an Office Web Apps Server which is required to support that functionality. This server is not a SfB role but is actually part of the Office server family and is leveraged by Skype for Business as well as other Microsoft server products like Exchange and SharePoint.

It is important to be aware that once deployed this feature may still not function on any Skype for Business clients on workstations which are not joined to the same domain as the SfB deployment. In these scenarios either server certificate revocation checking needs to be disabled on the workstations or the RootCA certificate configuration needs to be modified. These concepts are addressed in this TechNet article. (For this environment the later RootCA approach has already been addressed in the prerequisite statements defined in the first deployment article of the series.)

In the example Skype for Business environment this PowerPoint sharing functionality has not yet been introduced. The steps in this first section show how to confirm that the feature is not yet available.

At this point it is evident that the environment is missing the required server role and configuration in order to support this feature. The remainder of this article details the installation and integration steps required to add the desired functionality.

The remaining sections in this article are outlined in this diagram to show the general order of steps and visually represent which steps are performed on which platform. For example orange indicates configuration steps completed on the OWA server where the blue is for steps performed on the SfB server.

As the Office Web Apps Server can not be collocated on any of the existing servers in the environment like a Domain Controller, Exchange Server, or Skype for Business Server then a separate, dedicated server needs to be deployed to host this role.

A new Windows Server 2012 R2 virtual machine was deployed and joined to the existing jdskype.net domain. Alternatively both Windows Server 2008 R2 and 2012 are also supported server operating systems for this role if desired. (The following steps are for Server 2012 R2, if a different server version is used then check this TechNet article for a list of different required components.)

As outlined in this TechNet article Office Web Apps Server cannot be upgraded without losing some of its configuration data. Thus it is recommended to disable any automatic updates on this server and configure them to require manual approval. If a future Office Web Apps update is automatically installed via Windows Update it will most likely result in a broken server and PowerPoint presentations will no longer function for any SfB clients in the environment.

For this reason it is recommended to apply any newer Office Web Apps Server updates prior to the initial configuration. When applying future updates to a functional, configured server make sure to follow the guidance in the TechNet article referenced in the previous paragraph which explains how to remove and recreate the server farm each time and update is applied.

The following historical table lists the more recent public updates for Office Web Apps. As these are service packs and cumulative updates then only the most recent update (highlighted in green) needs to be applied. (A complete list of updates including minor hotfixes and security patches see this blog article.)

If for some reason the Office Web Apps server was installed with the RTM installation media then the SP1 update must be applied before installing the latest update. As the SP1 media was used for this specific server installation then only the most recent July 2015 cumulative update needs to be installed on the server.

This step is optional and is only applicable if additional language support has also been configured on the Skype for Business Server. If so then this package adds support for other languages to shared PowerPoint presentations.

While the previous steps where basically just collecting and installing downloaded software this section will cover the configuration of the Office Web Apps Server. Once this is completed the next section will address configuration on the Skype for Business side to complete the integration.

Note that this article deals with an internal-only lab environment and thus any External configuration is not covered. In a potential future article when a Skype for Business Edge Server is introduced and thus a reverse proxy solution is needed then this configuration will be revisited to provide for external access. As this server handles only HTTPS (TCP 443) requests then it is not a role that is handled by the Edge Server, but must be published through a supported reverse proxy model in the same way that the SfB Front End server web services will be.

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