Question about O365 and Lync

mark.souness

mark.souness

mark.souness

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15 Nov 2005
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70
In order to use Enterprise Voice with Office 365 Plan E4 an on-site Lync Server has to be created with SIP link for enterprise voice, this is what i am lead to believe?

Does anyone have any tips about setting this up and/or any providers of the SIP trunk?

The biggest question is what happens when/if the on-premise broadband link is unavailable, does this prevent calls being made / received?

I am looking for a provider that can provide a SIP connection for 70 users from one site via an existing microwave broadband connection 80mb/80mb - does anyone know if this is possible and if so any good providers?

I would like to stay with Lync due to the integration with the rest of Office 365 that is already being paid for ???
 
If you're asking these sorts of questions then please don't try and do on-premise Lync voice. It's a very complicated service to get right, and it doesn't sound like you have a messaging team or a network team to be able to draw resources from.

Your SBC and SIP trunk provider will handle failover to ISDN for outgoing and/or incoming calls should the trunk go down.

Do you already have a Windows Server / Active Directory environment on-premise that you will be adding this to?
 
Yes, don't do it yourself. I do this for a day job, and it's far more complex than you'd imagine. The thing is though it's not that difficult to get it 80% right - and that will just royally irritate your users unfortunately.

You'll need to put on-prem Lync servers in and configure as an Office365 Hybrid setup.

Ref providers - GAMMA/PureIP are the two to go with. Make sure you get Lync compatible ones - they need to support G711 not G729.
 
just like to add that there are certain legalities regain any voice circuit like the ability to dial 999 etc so I would always get a 3rd party to do the comms as it negates your liability.

Also Lync EV is a **** to set up :D
 
I remember our Integration team carrying out a Lync System integration with a MITEL phone system along a SIP Connection.

Took 6 months to actually get it right 1 week to install.

Take it to a 3rd party as explained above to negate liability!
 
Thanks for all your replies.

I know there is a big saving in terms of line rental costs replacing an ISDN30 connection (15 channels) with SIP channels, but does anyone have any rough idea how much cheaper it makes the actual calls. I need to be sure that the investment in equipment is worthwhile.

Does anyone have any recommendations on brands of handset/equipment, we would like remote users to be able to receive calls via their laptop when connected to WiFi are there handsets that would do this i.e. USB telephones or, would it rely on Bluetooth headsets like plantronics etc?
 
Only your call provider will know the calls costs, and you should know your split of national/local/international/mobile from your current provider to get a good comparison.

In terms of handsets I like Polycom.

I can't help thinking you're approaching this a bit backwards though, what features are you looking for, and what PBX provides that for your budget? Once you have the PBX then you pick the handsets off the supported list, or you're in for a world of niggling hassles.
 
Hybrid o365/Lync and no exchange? Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun awayyyyyyyyy

Looking after this very setup put in by another company, it's sort of a combination of the worst of everything, with lync on top :|
 
I wasn't aware you required on premise exchange for Lync Enterprise Voice?

We have already migrated away from on premise exchange to O365 plan E3, which we planned to upgrade to E4 to cover the user cals for Lync servers.

We plan on replacing the entire phone system with new hardware, Avaya system which is quite old approx. 80 handsets, want to cut out current supplier.

We will be getting external support with all this but just need to understand if Lync is the best way forward, having gone O365 it makes sense to have the integration especially with wanting to roll out more remote working for staff.

This is a complete new system we are looking at so all options are open if anyone has any thoughts? Budget is relatively open as it will probably go on a lease once completed.
 
Lync can be a wonderful all encompassing solution. but equally can be a total ****ing nightmare. If you havent got any real exposure to Lync then get it fast and 100% before you go down the Lync route.

Enterprise voice is a pretty large undertaking even in small environments and without understanding of the topology and underlying infrastructure going tdown this road will be bad news.

if youre going to put the whole lot in the hands of 3rd party then wont you be at risk of redundancy?
 
Have a look at Active Communications who make a Lync-in-a-box appliance with an AD connector designed to plug into E4, and not require much in the way of a best-practises environment to go into.

Another option is Cobweb's Hybrid Lync, which is the enterprise voice bit designed to work with your existing 365 E4 subscription. I imagine they'd be very open to demoing the service, but you will most likely be tied to their SIP provider and associated call costs.
 
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