Skype for Business, QoS and HP Procurve/Commware

[MichaelRicardo]

We have replaced our phone systems with Skype for Business and at few of our sites - users are expereincing issues with call quality and drop out and somestimes skype signing users out - could this be qos issues on our network and how would resolve this?

Michael

[16again]

For signing in, skype uses TCP, so if you even have trouble staying signed in, you really got a bad connection.
Did you have previous VOIP system that worked OK?  Maybe it used different special voice connections (VLANs and links) , but now the Lync soft client is just using data connection

[MichaelRicardo]

For signing in, skype uses TCP, so if you even have trouble staying signed in, you really got a bad connection.

>> We have low bandwidth at remote sites and sometimes it is heavily utilized. 

Did you have previous VOIP system that worked OK? 

>> No - traditional phone systems and moving to Lync was a big step - aimed cutting the cost and maintaining old PBX which is large and needing specialist skills.

Maybe it used different special voice connections (VLANs and links) , but now the Lync soft client is just using data connection.

>> Most ppl use soft phone and a few have a physical Lync phone (Polycom vvx) but all reside on the same vlan as an LT / DT. I am also fining out - Lync issue is not just on our network and user getting call degradation at home etc. I have advised them reinstall o365. Also, do malware scan.

[Stephen A Swain]

Any Voip system requires some level of QoS design. On WAN links it is critical, but you'll still require it on LAN too. On the internet it isn't possible to guarantee QoS.

You will need to have administrative control end to end to be able to do QoS properly, that is, being able to manage and control the QoS queue policy on every hop between client and server, it's called a QoS PHB (Differentiated Services, Per Hop Behaviour). See these articles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differentiated_services , https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4594 .

Voip services from home is going to be difficult to provide optimal call quality, since you can't guarantee end to end QoS over networks where you have no control.

In terms of Lync (Skype for Business), you'll need to look at configuring the clients to advertise their DSCP (DiffServ Code Point) to match the Voice Queue in the LAN and WAN QoS queueing model. In other words select a DSCP (e.g. EF), and apply the correct QoS configuration on every switch and router in your network.

And for planning needs, you need to set aside enough bandwidth to support the required max concurrent calls limit on any bandwidth constrained links, See https://technet.microsoft.com/EN-US/library/gg425841.aspx . Example, on WAN links, you may need to configure a low latency queue for voice, but limit the number of calls supported, so it doesn't starve other network traffic.

[Richard Litchfield]

You might also want to think about the HPE Network Optimizer solution specifically build around SDN concepts for Lync/Skype for Business. The SDN component takes that data direct from the Skype server and sets the flows with the appropriate QOS.

[Mike_ES]

Hi Richard,

Could you please explain more about SDN Lync solution? Any design guide shared on the HPE resources?

What hardware (switches) is the minimum for it?

Br,

Michal