The client had a need to provide video conferencing for offices across several islands in the State of Hawaii. Having experienced previous failures from other vendors with video conferencing, the selection of Microsoft Skype for Business was slowly implemented, going through multiple pilot phases. The major hurdles included connectivity via VPN tunnel on less than ideal 1 Mpbs connections, wireless bridges, and technically challenged users.
The on-premises implementation costs for hardware and software were not significant because most of the network infrastructure were in-place - Exchange Server, SQL Server, Enterprise Certificate Server, and Windows Active Directory. With Microsoft Hyper-V, virtual servers were quick to setup and provided high availability with multiple Hyper-V servers. Office 365 licensing helped maintain a reasonable licensing cost.
Skype, already user-friendly was easy to learn and use. Using non-proprietary cameras, microphones and video displays were added benefits over other room-based conferencing solutions from the past.
