CUCM and Skye for Business

[scooter817]

HI Everyone

My manager came to me this afternoon and asked me about moving to one platform. We currently have Jabber and Skype and they are wanting to move to Skype. He wanted to know is it possible to have Skype control the Cisco phones in our network like Jabber does. I told him that I really didn't know if that was possible but I would ask around to find out.

[Ratheesh Kumar · Accepted solution]

Hi there

To an extend yes, with the help of CUCILync. Thats basically a desktop application that provides access to Cisco UC from Microsoft Lync and Skype for Business.

Key features of Cisco UC Integration for Microsoft Lync include:

• Make and receive video calls using the Cisco Precision Video engine.

• Make and receive phone calls through Cisco Unified Communications Manager.

• Drag and drop and right-click integration with the Microsoft Lync contact list.

• Instant Messaging and Presence integration with Microsoft Lync.

• Mute, hold, and transfer during calls.

• Software phone or desktop phone mode selection.

• Communications history of missed, placed, and received calls.

• Audio and visual notification of incoming calls.

• Ad hoc conferencing.

• Visual voicemail.

• Click to Call from Internet Explorer, Microsoft Outlook and other Microsoft Office applications.

• Start a Cisco WebEx meeting from the contact list, a conversation, or a Microsoft Lync and Skype for Business instant messaging session.

• Expressway Mobile and Remote Access.

• Service Discovery

You can get more details from the below release notes

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucilync/11_6/cuci_b_release-notes-for-cisco-uc.html#reference_94FD4FF72B5DA237290F577FC4E1FEF7

Hope this Helps

Cheers
Rath!

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[Jonathan Schulenberg · Accepted solution]

I suggest avoiding CUCILync at this point. In my opinion, it was developed for a very specific customer profile in a different era. At the time (OCS 2007) Lync had a significant feature advantage over Jabber - then called CUPC. Cisco developed CUCILync as a defensive move: it let Microsoft “have” the IM&P functionality but undermined arguments for Enterprise Voice. Essentially the argument was to use each vendor for what they were better at.

Fast forward to 2018 and Jabber has at least met if not surpassed the functionality of Lync/S4B. The reasons for running both clients on your laptop - each of which consumes memory and battery life - are pretty weak. Furthermore, current S4B client versions have handicapped the CUCILync plugin to require alternate-click-to-call; you can no longer replace the native call buttons in their client.

I suggest standardizing on Jabber and begin taking a look at both vendors evolutionary replacements: MS Teams vs. Webex Teams. Neither are fully-baked yet but that’s where the industry is moving.

[scooter817]

Thanks Jonathan

I told my manager that I would recommend just moving everyone to Jabber and forget about the S4B but that's what they really want to use. So I think I'll talk to our CDW rep and see if they can help me figure this out for my department.