Skype For Business Mac Screen Sharing

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• Skype For Business Mac Screen Sharing Mac
• Skype For Business Mac Screen Sharing Apps

Skype for Mac Skype is a popular chat application that helps millions of people to keep in touch with their friends and family. It is a cross-platform tool and some people also use it for business communications. Microsoft released a new version for Mac users quiet recently. In the Control Center, long-press on the screen recording toggle to view more options. Now, select “Skype” as shown below and tap on “Start Broadcast” to start sharing the content that’s on your screen. Skype understands privacy and that is why you can only share application window on your devices. Click on screen sharing, choose window that you want to share and worry less about showing your private information.

Video-based Screen Sharing (VbSS) in Skype For Business Server 2015 is now available for download: Skype for Business Server 2015 Cumulative Update KB3061064. VbSS is included with Skype for Business Server 2019.

Video-based Screen Sharing, or VbSS, grew out of Lync screen-sharing. The difference between VbSS and traditional screen-sharing has to do with the underlying protocols used, and what they excel at. Screen-sharing uses the remote desktop protocol (RDP), which is great at creating thousands of 1-to-1 sessions between people's computers. Newer technology, VbSS, will make use of User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

Skype for Business Server wanted to improve people's 1-to-1, and their 1-to-many (multi-party) conversations and meeting experiences. VbSS makes use of the media platform (which relies on UDP as the underlying protocol), with the goal of improving your video start times, the viewing quality of what you're watching (especially if what you're watching is moving fast), and reliability overall.

1. Aug 02, 2017 Unable to view a user's screen sharing. Works fine on Windows. Only Mac app seems to be the issue. It happens in all calls where someone tries to share a screen. I am the only Mac client who cannot see it.
2. At the bottom of the call window, click the monitor icon. Select Present Desktop, Present Programs, or Present PowerPoint Files. Select your screen, program, or file you want to share. Control your sharing activity with the sharing bar at the top of your screen.

Part of the goal of improving screen-sharing is that transitions between VbSS and RDP be as seamless as possible when they occur. Since VbSS is an update to underlying technology that is used in screen sharing for Skype for Business Server, it may be difficult to detect which technology you're leveraging unless you're looking at SIP details in the network traffic, or you're sharing content that is fast moving or 3-D. If, for example, your workplace has a lot of legacy clients, RDP will still be available as a failsafe to your meetings and conversations. Skype for Business Server uses internal logic to decide which of the two methods (VbSS or traditional screen-sharing) to apply when clients connect. RDP can, and will, be substituted for VbSS when the situation calls for it, so that your viewing experience won't be interrupted.

Planning

VbSS pros and cons

Switching to VbSS aims to make three key improvements:

1. Make screen-sharing (up to 5%) more reliable compared to RDP alone.

2. Make the session setup and video experience faster compared to RDP alone (setup in half the time, with a 6:1 improvement in frames-per-second).

3. Works much better than RDP in low bandwidth conditions, even when sharing high motion content, such as 3-D graphics.

Please keep in mind that these numbers rely on the health and proper performance tuning of your network, and may involve networks external to your own, if your clients are on mobile devices.

You should also be aware that some fidelity/crispness of your shared content has been traded for reliability, speed, and efficiency. In most cases this will not be readily visible to users.

Ports and protocols

Required server ports

Required client ports

If QoS is enabled for the following media ports and VbSS is also enabled, during a conference that includes desktop sharing the AS MCU will use the video port settings shown in bold below for the screen share traffic.

Important

These settings are a special case, and these exact settings must be used when implementing both of these features. This overrides other recommended settings in the documentation for QoS. For application sharing you will also need to specify ASMCUSVC.exe in the QoS GPO in addition to defining these port values.

Application Server QoS/VbSS required settings

Capacity planning

Each Front End Server running Skype for Business Server 2015 Cumulative Update 2 (CU2) or later supports up to 375 participants for screen sharing using RDP (though only 250 per meeting). This capacity doesn't change post-CU3, when VbSS is introduced and used.

That being said, we've done performance and stress testing in our lab, and the following measurements should also be considered with regard to your own deployment (depending on usage, of course).

Assuming:

• You're using Skype for Business Server 2015 CU2 or later in your deployment.

• All the users in your Skype for Business Server environment have screen resolutions higher than 1920x1080.

At full capacity (which as noted above, is 375 screen sharing participants per Front End Server in total, though only 250 per meeting), your Front End Server may be utilizing ~89% of the 1 Gigabit of network card. This is because the existing screen sharing technology in Skype for Business Server CU2 (RDP) transmits the on-screen content at the native resolution of the presenter's PC. So with higher screen resolutions factored in, you may already be experiencing network bottlenecks for screen sharing with Skype for Business Server 2015 CU2.

To mitigate this, one or more of the following options may be helpful:

• Upgrade your Front End Server from a 1 Gigabit network card to a 10 Gigabit Ethernet card.

• Increase the number of Front End Servers to load-balance traffic.

• Limit the bandwidth (bitrate) used for VbSS and RDP by putting a cap on the maximum bandwidth used by either channels.

The numbers in this table are influenced by individual networks and by the content being shared. Please test to establish baselines for your network or networks.

Network bandwidth requirements for media traffic

The VbSS bandwidth is:

Clients and servers support

Video-based Screen Sharing requires Skype for Business Server 2015 CU3 or later, and a current version of the supporting clients listed in Mobile client feature comparison for Skype for Business and Meetings support.

There are situations where screen-sharing will transition to RDP, like these:

• If your account is hosted in an environment where the ASMCU doesn't meet the minimum build that supports VbSS.
• If someone who uses an older version of the Skype for Business client joins your session, for example anyone using any Windows client version that is lower than 16.0.6330.1000, Skype for Business Room System Devices, or Skype for Business Mobile Apps.
• If a user is sharing from the Skype for Business Web App.
• If someone is using Skype for Business on Mac and not is homed on Skype for Business Online or Skype for Business Server 2015 with the July, 2018 cumulative update (or later).
• If someone starts any Program/Windows Sharing.
• If someone starts recording the session.
• If someone invokes Remote Screen Control during the session.
• Meetings with more than 250 participants (where VbSS is not currently supported).

Be aware that once the session transitions to RDP it will not transition back to VbSS. Again, the transition from VbSS is meant to be seamless, and, with hope, will not be easy to detect in most situations.

Note

It's not supported to block, or attempt to block, transition from VbSS to RDP in Skype for Business screen-sharing.

Enabling, disabling, and configuring VbSS

The great thing is, once you've installed the Skype for Business Server 2015 Cumulative Update 3 (CU3) or later, all your users will be enabled for 1-to-1 and multi-party VbSS by default. This may be problematic for you if you have a reason to not have this functionality enabled for all your users. In that case, you're able to use these steps to disable users (the enable users steps will follow):

How to disable users from using VbSS

• You can assign a user policy that doesn't allow VbSS to any users who shouldn't be using VbSS by running this cmdlet in the Skype for Business Management Console (replace [PolicyName] with the policy you're doing this for):

• You also can update the global conferencing policy, which will affect all users without an assigned policy:

  For more information on this command, see Set-CsConferencingPolicy.

• If you need to turn VbSS off completely, you can run this command:

  For more information on this command, see Set-CsMediaConfiguration.

Skype For Business

Note

In a multiparty Skype for Business meeting, all client endpoints will respect the policy setting for the meeting organizer.

How to enable users to use VbSS

• You can assign a specific user policy that allows VbSS to any users who need to be using VbSS by running this cmdlet in the Skype for Business Management Console (replace [PolicyName] with the policy you're doing this for):

• You also can update the global conferencing policy, which will affect all users without an assigned policy:

  For more information on this command, see Set-CsConferencingPolicy.

• If you need to turn VbSS back on after turning it off (it's on by default), you can run this command:

  For more information on this command, see Set-CsMediaConfiguration.

Note

In a multi-party Skype for Business meeting, all client endpoints will respect the policy setting for the meeting organizer.

See also

Want to learn how to use Skype for Business?

The current global pandemic has forced many businesses to go remote — but that comes with tons of communication challenges!

Luckily, Microsoft’s Skype for Business is a popular video conferencing tool that can help you overcome that. But if you don’t know how to use it properly, your communication issues are only going to get worse.

Don’t worry!

This article is a step-by-step guide on how to use Skype for Business the right way.

However, as Microsoft will be replacing Skype for Business with Microsoft Teams, support for Skype for Business will end by 2025. Additionally, new Office 365 users can’t download Skype for Business anymore — they should download Teams instead.

To help you with this transition, we’ll briefly cover how to get started with Teams as well.

This article contains:

(Click on the links below to jump to a specific section)

Let’s get started.

What is Skype for Business?

Skype for Business (previously known as Microsoft Lync) is a popular communication platform developed by Microsoft. It supports remote communication through various channels like text, audio and video chat.

Key features of Skype for Business include:

• Instant messaging
• HD video conferencing
• Voice calls
• Call recording
• File sharing
• Whiteboard collaboration
• Broadcasting online meetings

How is Skype for Business different from Skype?

Skype for Business and Skype are both used for virtual communication.

So how are they different from each other?

Here’s how:

• Skype: Meant for small businesses (~20 people). It’s free to use, but if you want services like mobile or landline calls, then you would have to go for the paid plans.
• Skype for Business: Meant for larger businesses (~250 people). It offers enterprise-level security, account management and integrates with other Office 365 applications like Microsoft Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint, etc.

How to use Skype for Business [Step-by-Step Guide]

As Microsoft Teams is replacing Skype for Business, new Office 365 users can no longer download Skype for Business.

This section is only meant for those who have already downloaded Skype for Business as a virtual communication tool.

Skype for Business has two versions:

Skype for Business Server

An on-premise application used by highly regulated large organizations. It requires specialized hardware and dedicated IT support and maintenance.

Skype for Business Online

A cloud-based application that can be accessed by users anytime, anywhere! There are no additional hardware or maintenance costs here.

As COVID-19 quarantines have forced most teams to work remotely, we’ll focus on how to use Skype for Business Online.

This step-by-step guide covers how to:

• Get started with Skype for Business
• Use it for video conferencing
• Use it for scheduling meetings
• Use it for audio or video calling
• Use it for screen sharing
• Use it for instant messaging

A. How to get started with Skype for Business

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get started with some basic features of Skype for Business:

1. How to set a presence status in Skype for Business

Setting an availability status makes it easier for team members and business clients to communicate efficiently.

Skype for Business lets you display your availability (or presence) with various statuses like Available, Busy, Away, etc.

Here’s how you can add or edit these:

Step 1: Sign in to your Skype for Business account.

Step 2: In the new window that appears, click on the drop-down arrow in the status menu under your name.

Here, you can choose from a list of status options, like:

• Available: online and active.
• Busy: shouldn’t be interrupted.
• Away: logged on, but away from the computer for a long time.
• And more!

You can also use “Reset Status” for Skype to automatically set your presence status based on your app activity. (On Mac, use the “Automatic” option instead.)

As Skype for Business Online integrates with your Microsoft Outlook account, you can even check your colleagues’ presence statuses or edit your own status via email.

Note: If there’s no keyboard or mouse activity for over 5 minutes, then your status automatically changes to “Inactive”.

2. How to set up contacts in Skype for Business

Skype for Business lets you add people to your contact list from within and outside your organization.

Here’s how to add contacts on Skype for Business:

Step 1: Click on the “Add a contact” icon to access various options to add contacts. The “Create New Group” option lets you create groups that you can add your contacts to.

Step 2: To add people, type their name into the search box in the main Skype for Business window.

Step 3: Right-click on their picture, select “Add to Contacts List” and choose the right contact group.
Now you’re all set to communicate with your contact list!

B. How to use Skype for Business for Video Conferencing

Skype for Business’ video conferencing features combat the lack of face-to-face interaction when working remotely.

But video calls aren’t all you can do.

Skype for Business users can share their screen with attendees during a call or even conduct a webinar easily.

Here are the steps to start a video conference in Skype for Business:

Step 1: Launch your Skype for Business application and set your presence status to Available.

Step 2: Go to the “Meetings” tab and click on the “Meet Now” option.

Step 3: The meeting screen will immediately appear as a pop-up. Here, you can add participants by clicking on the “Invite” button at the top right corner.

C. How to schedule a Skype for Business meeting

As Skype for Business Online works with Microsoft Outlook, you can follow these steps to schedule a meeting quickly:

Step 1: Open Microsoft Outlook.

Step 2: Go to the “Appointments” tab.

Step 3: Click “Skype Meeting”.

This will add the call info to the meeting invite.

Fill in the required meeting details and hit “Send.”

The recipients will receive Outlook calendar reminders and a “Join Meeting” pop up when the meeting is about to start. Simply click on it to join the conference call!

D. How to make audio or video calls

Here’s how to make audio or video calls to someone via Skype for Business:

Step 1: To make a call, find the person in your contact list and click the “Audio” or the “Video” icon.

Step 2: When you receive a call on Skype for Business, a pop up offering various call settings appears.

These include:

• Mute (Microphone icon): Your microphone is muted.
• Video on/off (Camera icon): Click on this to turn your webcam on or off.
• Options (three dots): A list of additional options appear:
  • Conduct an audio call only.
  • Respond with an instant message only.
  • Set your status to “Do not disturb” and reject the incoming call.

E. How to share your screen during Skype for Business calls

Let’s say you need to discuss that PowerPoint presentation you made last night with another individual. Or maybe show someone how to perform a specific task.

How do you do that virtually?

As a presenter, you can easily share your screen via Skype for Business for this.

Here’s a closer look at how:

Step 1: Click on the “Present” icon (shaped like a monitor) in the meeting window.

This will open a pop-up, giving you several options to share your screen:

• Present Desktop: Share your entire screen.
• Present Programs: Share an open Word or Excel file.

Step 2: When you share your screen, the “Now Presenting” tab will appear on your device.

Additionally, your presence status will auto-change to “Presentation” to restrict other Skype users’ alerts.

Step 3: Each participant will receive a request to accept your shared screen/content.

If you want another attendee to demonstrate something, you can give them control over the sharing session by clicking “Give Control”. You can click on “Take back control” to revoke these access rights anytime you want.

Step 4: Use “Stop Presenting” to stop sharing your screen.

F. How to use Skype for Business for instant messaging

Skype for Business lets you communicate with your contacts list in real-time via instant messaging (IM). This is faster than a phone call and less formal than an email.

Here’s how to do this:

Step 1: Hover over the contact you want to start IM with and click the “Message” icon (shown below). Their chat box will appear, where you can start a real-time conversation instantly.

Step 2: When someone starts an IM conversation with you, a pop up appears on your screen.

To respond, click on their photo and type in your message.

To reject the message, click “Ignore.”

Step 4: You can add more people to your IM conversation window by dragging their contact picture into your IM conversation. Alternatively, click the “Invite More People” button at the top of the window to do this.

Step 5: To send an IM to all the contacts in a group, right-click on the group in your contact list and click on “Send an Instant Message” to deliver the message to all group members.

How to transition to Microsoft Teams

Whether you’re using Skype for Business or not, it’s best to switch to Microsoft Teams as early as possible.

This way, you won’t face any difficulties when Skype for Business is rolled back!

To help you out, we’ll briefly cover how to get started with Microsoft Teams.

Note: You can check out our extensive guide on Microsoft Teams for more information.

A. What is Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is an online communication platform that’s part of the Microsoft Office 365 suite.

Meant for larger businesses (>250 people), it lets you host large audio or video conferences with individuals within or outside your company.

Key Features of Microsoft Teams:

• Centralised hub for all Office 365 applications
• Enhanced security and compliance
• File creation, sharing and editing within the application
• Can be accessed easily via desktop, a mobile device or web browser
• Audio and video calls (with VoIP support)
• Instant messaging (IM)

B. How to get started with Microsoft Teams? [Step-by-Step Guide]

Follow this step-by-step guide to get started with Microsoft Teams:

1. Create an Account

A) For desktop

Step 1: Visit the Microsoft Teams web page and click on “Sign in.”

Step 2: Click the “Create one!” tab on the new “Sign in” page.

Step 3: Type your work email address into the “Create account” window and click on “Next.”

Step 4: Create your password and then enter the required details on the pages that follow.

After creating your account and verifying your email, you can start using Microsoft Teams via its homepage.

B) For mobile

Follow the steps above to create your Microsoft account via mobile phone.

2. Download the Microsoft Teams app

A) For desktop

Step 1:Visit the Microsoft Teams homepage and click on “Download Teams.”

Step 2: Click on “Download for Desktop.”

Based on your operating system, you will get a download link for either Mac or Windows.

Skype Screen Sharing Problems

Step 3: Once downloaded, follow the on-screen instructions to install Microsoft Teams.

B) Mobile version

Step 1: Based on your phone, you can download the Microsoft Teams app from the Google Play Store for Android or the iOS App Store for Apple.

Step 2: After installing the app, log in to Teams via your Microsoft account.

C. Microsoft Teams pricing

Microsoft Teams offers four different plans that you can choose from as per your business needs:

1. Microsoft Teams (Free)

Offers features like instant messaging, audio and video call, file sharing and file storage.

2. Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $5/user per month

Offers all “Free” features along with video conferencing (up to 250 people).

3. Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50/user per month

Offers “Microsoft Teams Business Basic” features + desktop versions of Office apps like Excel, Word, etc.

4. Office 365 E3: $20/user per month

Includes “Business Standard” features + unlimited file storage per user on OneDrive + enterprise-level video service to hold video conferences across the organization for $20.00 user/month.

Conclusion

With COVID-19 disrupting businesses everywhere, having a remote communication tool is now more essential than ever.

And while Microsoft Skype for Business is a good option to collaborate with your co-workers, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be there for the long run. That’s why it makes sense to switch to other platforms like Microsoft Teams or Zoom instead!

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