Skype for Business

Outlook calendaring delegation is the ability to manage another user’s calendar, and is a commonly setup in most organizations for anyone that requires access to someone else’s calendar.  In this post, we will focus on executives that have staff that require access to their calendars, but again this really applies to anyone in the organization. With the number of Skype for Business deployments increasing, organizationally use of Skype for Business Meetings through delegates will be needed as well. Skype for Business Delegation can be setup for users with Enterprise voice features, but it is also used when someone needs to setup a Skype Meeting on behalf of someone who does not have enterprise voice.  Setting up Skype for Business delegation without enterprise voice also has a caveat. That issue is with one-way sync. The problem is that when the Exchange delegate is removed, they are not automatically removed as a Skype for Business delegate. The Skype for Business delegate will need to be manually removed from within the Skype for Business client.

This article will cover how to enable delegation in Skype for Business server, and within the Outlook client. Also diving into the removal of this access once it’s no longer needed at a future point in time.

Getting Started

By default, the ability to delegate Skype for Business meetings and functions is not enabled for users on the Skype for Business server.  This feature needs to be enabled using PowerShell cmdlets before any of delegation features can occur. This is done through the Exchange delegation settings, and by enabling the EnableExchangeDelegateSync parameter in the client policy on the Skype for Business server. Enabling this feature allows the delegation to happen regardless of whether or not Enterprise Voice is enabled.

To allow this magic to happen make sure the following are in place:

  • Both the executive and their delegate must have the full Skype for Business client installed, but the delegate will not require the full client version.  To ensure that unforeseen issues do not occur, I would highly recommend that both manager and delegate have the same version of Microsoft Office and Skype client install. This strategy will save you headaches in the long run, I promise.
  • The account you are using to run the PowerShell cmdlets on the Skype for Business server have administrative permissions in order to manage the csUser Polices.

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Enabling Exchange Delegation

Let’s enable the delegation permissions. However, if they are already configured then this step can be skipped.

  • Go to file in the outlook client of the executive, and then select account settings, Delegate Access

Skype for Business

  • Add the person should be setup as a delegate

Skype for Business

  • Select the permissions you want the delegate to receive and click on ok

Skype for Business

Enabling Delegation on Skype for Business Server

Now that you have taken care of the Exchange delegation piece, you need to enable the delegation on the Skype for Business server using these steps.

  • Logon to one of the Front-end Skype for Business servers, and open the Skype for Business management shell
  • Type the following cmdlet:
  • Set-CsClientPolicy <your client policy name> –EnableExchangeDelegateSync $True
  • If you have multiple Client policies then you will need to enable this setting for each of the client policies that apply for your configuration
  • Once enabled, the Skype for Business delegates will get a notification within their Skype for Business client indicating they have been added as delegate

Skype for Business Client

Scheduling a Skype for Business Meeting on Behalf of Someone

To schedule a meeting that will utilize the collaboration features such as, screen sharing, PowerPoint presentations and whiteboards; the delegate will need to access the executive calendar in order to schedule the meeting

  • If you are the delegate, open the appropriate calendar in Outlook
  • Select the date and time you want to schedule the Meeting
  • Click on the Skype Meeting icon on the top of the meeting bar to generate a unique conference ID

Skype for Business

  • Click send when complete

To remove someone from Skype for Business delegation

In the event that you need to remove or delegates in Exchange it does not automatically remove that user from the Skype for Business delegation. This needs to be completed on the Skype for Business client from the manager/boss’s client.

  • With the Skype for Business client go to the “Delegate Group”, right click on the delegate’s contact and select remove from group

Skype for Business

Conclusion

 

With a proper procedure in place for calendar and Skype for Business delegation your environment will not experience the issue with one-way sync. This will also prevent other unexpected issues that can come when delegate access is not removed when it should be. This configuration doesn’t require Enterprise voice and allows your Executives and their delegates to seamlessly work within Outlook or Skype for Business client for daily functions. Enjoy!