back to article Microsoft wants to be your phone company, at least for voice

Microsoft wants to become your phone company, at least for for voice. Redmond's new ambitions emerged on Monday with the announcement of just how its bringing together the telephony bits it used to call Lync and Skype. Microsoft will soon offer a cloudy PBX, allowing connection of calls between the public switched telephone …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So Microsoft, who gets to see all that data then

    Perhaps your pals in the NSA etc?

    Why would any business sign up for this knowing that their data would be syphoned off to parts unknown

    IMHO this ranks up there with the Italians monitoring PS4 networks as the stupidest idea of the year.

    Sadly a good few businesses will sign up and become part of the new expanded MSN collective.

    1. Phil Kingston

      Re: So Microsoft, who gets to see all that data then

      "Why would any business sign up for this knowing that their data would be syphoned off to parts unknown"

      They'd make a rational business decision. Rather than a foil-hat privacy decision.

      Chances are their calls are routed all over the place at the moment anyway. So making an informed risk analysis and coming down in favour of this MS service is probably a shoo-in.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: So Microsoft, who gets to see all that data then

        There is no way I would allow an uncontrolled party access to my voice calls and messages, which is what Microsoft does.

        I'm not even sure it's legal to do so in the EU without client permission.

        1. dogged
          Meh

          Re: So Microsoft, who gets to see all that data then

          > There is no way I would allow an uncontrolled party access to my voice calls and messages, which is what Microsoft does.

          Those things the NSA and GCHQ already have trunk line access to?

          Right.

        2. big_D Silver badge

          Re: So Microsoft, who gets to see all that data then

          There are enough cloud telephone exchange VOIP PBXs out there at the moment. No problems with EU in doing that.

          We looked at it last year, but it worked out about 4 times more expensive per year than going with our exsiting telco and a local software VOIP-PBX!

          Given that MS are opening co-hosted data centers in Germany to get around Safe Harbour - data stays in Europe and is under the care of local providers, MS and its employees have no direct access to the servers or data.

        3. TheVogon

          Re: So Microsoft, who gets to see all that data then

          "which is what Microsoft does."

          That must be a different Microsoft from this one then:

          http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/10/microsoft_datagrab_irish_email_case/

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So Microsoft, who gets to see all that data then

      "Why would any business sign up for this knowing that their data would be syphoned off to parts unknown"

      You are under some illusion that it isn't already?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Leaving out the elephant in the room...

    ... purchasing Skype then altering supernodes to Microsoft only control to benefit their cozy relationship with the NSA. I'll pass.

    1. g e
      Black Helicopters

      Re: Leaving out the elephant in the room...

      Yes, Skype did become backdoored quite swiflty after MS acquired it.

      Makes you wonder if the ridiculous ($5Bn?) they paid for Skype was actually funded by the NSA in the first place.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Leaving out the elephant in the room...

        of course it fucking was!

    2. big_D Silver badge

      Re: Leaving out the elephant in the room...

      This is Skype for Business aka Lync, not Skype.

      1. Flywheel

        Re: Leaving out the elephant in the room...

        I thought Lync was bad until we switched to Skype. Now it's like trying to have online meetings over 56K diallup.

  3. A Non e-mouse Silver badge

    Not as simple as it seems

    I've spoken to various admins who fell into the telecoms world due to OCS/Lync/Skype for Business.

    They all thought telecoms would be a simple addition to their skill set. Boy did they learn the hard way!

    Telecoms is not as simple as it seems. Plus, dealing with people like BT, VIrgin, etc. every day saps your will to live far too quickly.

    1. Christian Berger

      Re: Not as simple as it seems

      The problem is that most big companies in that business care much more about certifications than getting their SIP stacks to work properly.

      With decent kit and decent VoIP providers setting up a line with DDI is no more effort than choosing the company in a drop down field and entering your username your password and your number range.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Not as simple as it seems

        With decent kit and decent VoIP providers setting up a line with DDI is no more effort than choosing the company in a drop down field and entering your username your password and your number range.

        Which tosses a soft ball into their Channel Partners court to be registered. That's the people that will handle the less than first rate enterprise accounts. Frankly, what with all the changes in their engagements, I feel for them. Not enough to want to join them, though.

  4. Andy Miller

    Mac

    Can't see them getting much traction until they get serious about OS X. Those of us on Macs (I'm not a fanboi - I need to develop for iOS) are still using the wonderful Lync 2011; the wonder being that this was deemed suitable for release in 2011, and hasn't been fixed yet.

    There may not be huge number of Mac users, but lots of the decision makers love there shiny Macs, and a business solution kind of has to reach everyone.

    1. TheVogon

      Re: Mac

      "Can't see them getting much traction until they get serious about OS X"

      Just LOL. You realise that Lync is one of Microsoft's fastest growing business segments - and they are currently wiping the floor with Cisco?

      "There may not be huge number of Mac users"

      Exactly.

      "but lots of the decision makers love there shiny Macs"

      Not many IT decision makers, and it's "their". You can give them a Lync handset if they can't use a proper computer.

      1. A Non e-mouse Silver badge

        Re: Mac

        You realise that Lync is one of Microsoft's fastest growing business segments - and they are currently wiping the floor with Cisco?

        How much is because people are buying Skype for Business licenses to use Skype for Business, and how much is because they're being given Skype for Business licenses as part of a Microsoft license bundle?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Mac

          "and how much is because they're being given Skype for Business licenses as part of a Microsoft license bundle?"

          Zero for the PABX side as far as I am aware - the only licences to use Lync Enterprise Voice are specifically for Lync. It doesn't come in bundles like ECAL for instance - you only get Lync Standard or Lync Enterprise - not the Voice license.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Trollface

    Line 692364 for smut!

    Satya will have a giant switchboard in his office, letting him listen to the good stuff. Allegedly.

  6. Paul Shirley

    Skype “a verb synonymous with...”

    Failed connections

    Dropped connections

    Crosstalk with other calls (how the fsck is that even possible, yet it happens)

    Weekly app improvements that improve ad delivery but rarely anything else.

    ...and top of range pricing for pstn calling!

    If the question was "how do we make calling buggier" Skype is the answer ;)

    1. dogged

      Re: Skype “a verb synonymous with...”

      Except it's not Skype. Not really. I hate Skype with a passion you can barely comprehend but Lync (now renamed "Skype for Business") actually works and is good.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Skype “a verb synonymous with...”

        Oh Lync is the only thing I miss since changing to a non-Microsoft job. (If I had to chose something)

      2. nijam Silver badge

        Re: Skype “a verb synonymous with...”

        > Lync ... actually works and is good.

        Agreed that SKype is dire, and far worse since "Back Door Man" (apologies to the Doors, for whom it meant something quite different) engulfed it. But I definitely don't agree about Lync, now with the logo (but nothing else) changed to read "Skype For Business" sometimes.

        We use Lync here, or, should I say, try, struggle, and generally fail to use it here. Is there anything quite so odd as being told that you've missed a call whilst still in the middle of that call? Par for the course with Lync, evidently.

        1. TheVogon

          Re: Skype “a verb synonymous with...”

          "Is there anything quite so odd as being told that you've missed a call whilst still in the middle of that call? Par for the course with Lync, "

          It is actually Exchange UM that is sending out this notification, not Lync.

          You can disable the missed call notification globally in the Exchange UM Mailbox Policy.

  7. Berny Stapleton

    QoS

    I really don't want to have to get direct connectivity into MS to ensure QoS....

    1. TheVogon

      Re: QoS

      "I really don't want to have to get direct connectivity into MS to ensure QoS...."

      Most significantly sized companies will want an Express Route connection for Office 365 / Azure anyway. For QoS this is no different from any other service potentially provided over the internet.

  8. Ed@theregister

    My experience of Skype has been largely poor. Poor sound and picture quality, if a picture even appears at all, and constant breaks, leading to someone saying 'Lets just do a conference call'. I guess I need more bandwidth, but it's been a bad experience in techie London offices as well as my little house.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I'd second that. But I don't think it's bandwidth at the user end. It's either my corporate IT team have specified a really narrow data pipe somewhere in their infrastructure, and/or Microsoft doing the same thing with theirs.

      Either way, Lync is a poor solution as implemented, even though it ought to work very well.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      ISTR a recent article here on the poor bandwidth and very long delays in getting network connections in The City.

  9. Alan Denman

    They might as well do it

    with no one buying their phones, treading on phone network toes has little risk.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: They might as well do it

      It might convince some big ISP/Telcos to buy fewer Microsoft software licences.

  10. joed

    good luck

    having recently blocked all Bing traffic on my net (W10 workaround - GUI settings could not be trusted) they can keep trying, in vain

  11. Szymon Kosecki

    All eggs in one basket

    I am more concerned with having all my proverbial eggs in a single failure basket than security agencies having access.

    When it goes, and it will go down sooner or later, it will take everything with it.

  12. Vic

    Novel?

    Deep integration between a cloudy PBX, a huge softphone ecosystem spanning the majority of computing devices, the PSTN and cloudy productivity apps is novel

    It isn't.

    Managed Asterisk instances have been going for many years - this is commonplace stuff. I used to be a reseller, but gave it up when I realised how many customers I had to get to make any proper money.

    Integration with productivity apps? The Snom series of SIP phones has full eventing for exactly that purpose. I don't know if the ones I've still got in stock are on sale any more...

    Vic.

  13. js1592

    Using this now

    So, to rehash previous, this has nothing to do with Skype, but is the new Lync. Also, I've been using this for like 3 months at my organization and it's awesome. Yeah, metadata and logs can be furnished without your knowledge but from the perspective of just making stuff work and non-state-sponsored attacks, it's fantastic.

  14. Sirius Lee

    No hint on the costs of connecting to the regular phone system then. My business has used open-source VoIP since 2005 and since then never paid more than 1p per minute anywhere in the world and usually considerably less and has had the benefit of local point of presences.

    When Office 365 was originally launched it offered connections to the telephone system. I was staggered to find that as a UK business the only options offered were the likes of BT at 10p per minute. Extortionate pricing and only a UK point of presence. What a disaster.

    So with these credentials and given the list of 'partners' listed in the article I have little confidence that Microsoft has upped its game. My expectation is that Microsoft and partners like BT will want to turn the clock back to a time when phone calls were outrageously expensive and inflexible. Microsoft has to recover the $8.5bn it paid for Skype some how.

  15. Scaffa

    One day of dealing with BT / Gamma number porting and I was ready for Nando's application form.

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