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Live events are the “in” thing today when it comes to promoting businesses. What makes this attractive to audiences is that we can attend a live event in the comfort of our own homes, on our couches or even our beds using our desktops, laptops, or even smartphones.

With the advancements in technology today, it is now much easier to reach a much larger audience (we’re talking about a worldwide reach) when hosting an event. We are now not limited anymore to audiences in one area only. It is also convenient for hosts that could not travel much. Hosting a live event can even be much easier, thanks to Skype Meeting Broadcast.

“Skype Meeting Broadcast is a new component of Skype for Business that enables Office 365 users to produce and broadcast a meeting on the internet with up to 10,000 attendees, who can attend from a browser on virtually any device.” Source: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt631189.aspx

Skype for Business lets you quickly schedule people for an online meeting. In Outlook, open your calendar and click New Skype Meeting. Add the people you want to invite, type a subject, and choose the date and time. Type your agenda above the line. Be sure not to change any of the information below the line. In Planning Poker items are estimated one by one and a group is supposed to compare each item to a baseline item (typically a ‘1’). It’s exactly where lies the main problem. Skype for Business Online will be retired on July 31, 2021 after which the service will no longer be accessible. In addition, PSTN connectivity between your on-premises environment whether through Skype for Business Server or Cloud Connector Edition and Skype for Business Online will no longer be supported.

If you have Skype for Business, then you can use Skype Meeting Broadcast to host an online event for thousands of attendees.

With just a few clicks, we can start hosting an event in Skype Meeting Broadcast. Once this feature has been enabled by the admin, we can start using it.

The first step in setting up an online event in Skype Meeting Broadcast is to set up the date. We can schedule a broadcast in the portal, and as previously mentioned, we can open the even for up to 10,000 attendees.

While in the portal, you also have the option to record the event, or add apps for audience participation.

After setting up the schedule in the Skype Meeting Broadcast portal, the next step is to produce the event. This would be done in the Skype for Business interface.

In Skype for Business, you can upload slides that will be used for the event, test the audio to make sure they are working properly, and finally tstart the broadcast once everything is set. This is the part where you take a deep breath, and smile for the camera as you turn it on.

Once the event is over and done with, we can download the recording of the meeting in the Skype Meeting Broadcast portal. This is useful in reviewing the event, especially if we are looking for things to improve for the next online event.

You can also see a report of the meeting in the portal, which includes attendee names and their e-mail addresses, browser information, activities, and more. Basically, you can use this information as a reference for future events. You can give your future audiences tips, such as using the best browser for the event.

Less stress

Using Skype Meeting Broadcast to host a live event will lessen the stress of the preparation, since with only a few clicks and a strong internet connection, you’re already good to go.

Wider reach

With up to 10,000 attendees for an event, you can have a wide audience reach from across the globe.

Opportunity for new connections

With a wider audience reach, you can have more connections with people from different parts of the world. Your business can be global.

Want to see a free demo of Skype Meeting Broadcast in action?

Read this topic to learn how to plan hybrid connectivity between Skype for Business Server and Teams or Skype for Business Online. Setting up hybrid connectivity is the first step in moving your on-premises environment to the cloud.

If you have on-premises Skype for Business users that are also using Teams (side by side), those users do not have the ability to interoperate with Skype for Business users from their Teams client, nor communicate with users in federated organizations, from their Teams client. To gain this functionality in Teams, these users must be moved from Skype for Business on-premises to the cloud, which requires configuring Skype for Business hybrid mode. In addition, for the best experience, these users should be in Teams Only mode, which ensures all incoming calls and chats from any user land in the user’s Teams client.

Setting up hybrid connectivity and moving all users to the cloud is also required before you decommission your on-premises Skype for Business deployment. With hybrid connectivity set up, you can choose to move your users to the cloud based on your schedule and business need. With Direct Routing, you can leverage your on-premises voice infrastructure while you move to the cloud and after your migration is complete.

This topic describes the infrastructure and system requirements you'll need to configure hybrid connectivity between your existing on-premises Skype for Business Server deployment and Teams or Skype for Business Online.

After you have read this topic and are ready to configure hybrid connectivity, see Configure hybrid connectivity between Skype for Business Server and Microsoft 365 or Office 365. The configuration topics provide step-by-step guidance for setting up hybrid connectivity between your on-premises deployment and Teams or Skype for Business Online.

Important

Skype for Business Online will be retired on July 31, 2021 after which the service will no longer be accessible. In addition, PSTN connectivity between your on-premises environment whether through Skype for Business Server or Cloud Connector Edition and Skype for Business Online will no longer be supported. Learn how to connect your on-premises telephony network to Teams using Direct Routing.

About Shared SIP Address Space functionality

With hybrid connectivity set up between an on-premises deployment of Skype for Business Server and Teams or Skype for Business Online, you can have some users homed on-premises and some users homed online.

This type of configuration relies on shared SIP address space functionality, and is sometimes referred to as 'split domain'--meaning users of a domain, such as contoso.com, are split between using Skype for Business Server on premises and Teams or Skype for Business Online, as shown in the following diagram:

When shared SIP address space is configured:

• Azure Active Directory Connect is used to synchronize your on-premises directory with Microsoft 365 or Office 365.
• Users who are homed on premises interact with on-premises Skype for Business servers.
• Users who are homed online may interact with Skype for Business Online or Teams services.
• Users from both environments can communicate with each other.
• The on-premises Active Directory is authoritative. All users should be created in the on-premises Active Directory first, and then synchronized to Azure AD. Even if you intend for the user to be homed online, you must first create the user in the on-premises environment, and then move the user to online to ensure the user is discoverable by on-premises users.

Before a user can be moved online, the user must be assigned a Skype for Business Online (Plan 2) license. If the user will be using Teams, the user must also be assigned a Teams license (and the Skype for Business license must remain enabled). If your users want to take advantage of additional online features, such as Audio Conferencing or Phone System, you need to assign them the appropriate license in Microsoft 365 or Office 365.

Hybrid connectivity infrastructure requirements

To implement hybrid connectivity between your on-premises environment and Microsoft 365 or Office 365 communication services, you need to meet the following infrastructure requirements:

• A single on-premises deployment of Skype for Business Server or Lync Server that is deployed in a supported topology. See Topology requirements in this topic.

• A Microsoft 365 or Office 365 organization with Skype for Business Online enabled.

  Note

  You can use only a single tenant for a hybrid configuration with your on-premises deployment.

• Azure Active Directory Connect to synchronize your on-premises directory with Microsoft 365 or Office 365. For more information, see Azure AD Connect: Accounts and permissions.

• Skype for Business Server administrative tools. These are required to move users from on-premises to the cloud. These tools must be installed on a server with access to both on-premises deployment and the internet.

• Online administrative tools. You can use either the Teams admin center or Windows PowerShell to manage Teams and Skype for Business Online. To use PowerShell to manage either Teams or Skype for Business Online, download and install the Skype for Business Online Connector.

• Shared SIP address space must be enabled, and your on-premises deployment must be configured to use Microsoft 365 or Office 365 as a hosting provider. For more information about the steps required to configure hybrid connectivity, see Configure hybrid connectivity.

After you configure hybrid connectivity, you can move users to Teams or Skype for Business Online. For more information, see Move users from on-premises to Teams and Move users from on premises to Skype for Business Online.

Server version requirements

To configure your deployment for hybrid with Teams or Skype for Business Online, you need to have one of the following supported topologies:

• A Skype for Business Server 2019 deployment with all servers running Skype for Business Server 2019.
• A Skype for Business Server 2015 deployment with all servers running Skype for Business Server 2015.
• A Lync Server 2013 deployment with all servers running Lync Server 2013. However, if hybrid voice connectivity is required, you must use a mixed version topology as noted below.
• A deployment with maximum of 2 different server versions as listed below:
  • Skype for Business Server 2015 and Skype for Business Server 2019
  • Lync Server 2013 and Skype for Business Server 2019
  • Lync Server 2013 and Skype for Business Server 2015

If hybrid voice is desired in any topology, both the edge server that is designated as the Federation Edge as well as the pool associated with SIP federation must be running Skype for Business 2015 or later. Users can remain on a Lync 2013 Pool if one exists. For more details, see Plan Phone System with PSTN Connectivity in Skype for Business Server.

The following topologies that include Lync Server 2010 are supported with Skype for Business Online for instant messaging and meetings. Topologies that include Lync Server 2010 are not supported for hybrid voice nor Teams.

• A mixed Lync Server 2010 and Skype for Business Server 2015 deployment
• A mixed Lync Server 2010 and Lync Server 2013 deployment
• A Lync Server 2010 deployment with all servers running Lync Server 2010 with the latest cumulative updates.

The federation Edge Server and next hop server from the federation Edge Server must be running Lync Server 2010 with the latest cumulative updates. The Skype for Business Server 2015 or Lync Server 2013 Administrative Tools must be installed on at least one server or management workstation.

Multi-forest support

Microsoft supports the following types of multi-forest hybrid scenarios:

• Resource forest topology. In this kind of topology, there is one forest that hosts Skype for Business Server (the resource forest), and there are one or more additional forests that host account identities, which access the Skype for Business Server in the resource forest. In general, users can access Skype for Business functionality in another forest if the following requirements are met:

  • Users are properly synchronized into the forest that hosts Skype for Business. In hybrid configurations, this means that users must be synchronized as disabled user objects.
  • The forest hosting Skype for Business must trust the forest containing the users.For details on resource forest hybrid scenarios, see Deploy a resource forest topology for hybrid Skype for Business.

• Multiple deployments of Skype for Business Server in multiple forests. This configuration can arise as a result of merger and acquisition scenarios, as well as in more complex enterprises. Consolidation of all users from on premises to the cloud in a single Microsoft 365 or Office 365 organization can be achieved for any organization with multiple Skype for Business deployments, provided that the following key requirements are met:

  • There must be at most one Microsoft 365 or Office 365 organization involved. Consolidation in scenarios with more than one organization is not supported.

  • At any given time, only one on-premises Skype for Business forest can be in hybrid mode (shared SIP address space). All other on-premises Skype for Business forests must remain fully on premises (and presumably federated with each other). Note that these other on-premises organizations can sync to AAD if desired with new functionality to disable online SIP domains available as of December 2018.

    Customers with deployments of Skype for Business in multiple forests must fully migrate each Skype for Business forest individually into the Microsoft 365 or Office 365 organization using split-domain (Shared SIP Address Space) functionality, and then disable hybrid with the on-premises deployment, before moving on to migrate the next on-premises Skype for Business deployment. Furthermore, prior to being migrated to the cloud, on-premises users remain in a federated state with any users that are not represented in the same user’s on-premises directory. For more details, see Cloud consolidation for Teams and Skype for Business.

Federation requirements

When configuring Skype for Business hybrid mode, you must ensure that your on-premises and online environments can federate with each other. The online environment has open federation by default; the on-premises environment often has closed federation by default.

The following requirements must be met to successfully configure a hybrid deployment:

• Domain matching must be configured the same for your on-premises deployment and your Microsoft 365 or Office 365 organization. If partner discovery is enabled on the on-premises deployment, then open federation must be configured for your online organization. If partner discovery is not enabled, then closed federation must be configured for your online organization.
• The Blocked domains list in the on-premises deployment must exactly match the Blocked domains list for your online tenant.
• The Allowed domains list in the on-premises deployment must exactly match the Allowed domains list for your online tenant.
• Federation must be enabled for the external communications for the online tenant.

Network considerations

The following sections describe considerations for:

• DNS settings
• Firewall considerations

DNS settings for hybrid deployments

When creating DNS records for hybrid deployments, all Skype for Business external DNS records should point to the on-premises infrastructure. For details on required DNS records, please refer to DNS requirements for Skype for Business Server.

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Additionally, you need to ensure that the DNS resolution described in the following table works in your on-premises deployment. (If you already configured federation for on-premises, then you most likely already have these.)

Depending on how DNS is configured in your organization, you may need to add these records to the internal hosted DNS zone for the corresponding SIP domain(s) to provide internal DNS resolution to these records.

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Firewall considerations for hybrid deployments

Computers on your network must be able to perform standard Internet DNS lookups. If these computers can reach standard Internet sites, your network meets this requirement.

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Depending on the location of your Microsoft Online Services data center, you must also configure your network firewall devices to accept connections based on wildcard domain names (for example, all traffic from *.outlook.com). If your organization's firewalls do not support wildcard name configurations, you will have to manually determine the IP address ranges that you would like to allow and the specified ports.

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For more information, including details about ports and protocol requirements, see Microsoft 365 and Office 365 URLs and IP address ranges.