28th March 2017, 11:51
Just thought I'd post a successful use case for replacing Skype for business aka Lync with Pidgin and pidgin-sipe, if anyone uses it. With the new pidgin-sipe plugin, it's possible to do desktop sharing - that was the last missing piece, so now it is fully usable for conferences and Lync (Skype for business) is not needed anymore via VM. What needs to be done:
1. add pidgin-collab ppa: https://launchpad.net/~sipe-collab/+archive/ubuntu/ppa
2. upgrade pidgin and all other packages from the ppa to the newest version
3. start pidgin, go to Accounts->Manage accounts, select Office communicator account and in the Advanced tab at the bottom select xfreerdp for Remote desktop client. By default it sets Remmina, but I had problems with it - it wouldn't connect in some cases. xfreerdp works like a charm.
And that's it - for me it works completely transparently, people on the other side of the line have no idea it's not Skype for business.
Some usage tips:
1. to join a conference, go to Accounts->select the Office communicator account->in the dropdown menu select Join scheduled conference and just paste the URL
2. calling someone is completely independent from desktop sharing, so when a call is underway, to share a desktop, right click on the contact and pick Share desktop
3. in a conference call there is an option for that.
Hope it helps someone
1. add pidgin-collab ppa: https://launchpad.net/~sipe-collab/+archive/ubuntu/ppa
2. upgrade pidgin and all other packages from the ppa to the newest version
3. start pidgin, go to Accounts->Manage accounts, select Office communicator account and in the Advanced tab at the bottom select xfreerdp for Remote desktop client. By default it sets Remmina, but I had problems with it - it wouldn't connect in some cases. xfreerdp works like a charm.
And that's it - for me it works completely transparently, people on the other side of the line have no idea it's not Skype for business.
Some usage tips:
1. to join a conference, go to Accounts->select the Office communicator account->in the dropdown menu select Join scheduled conference and just paste the URL
2. calling someone is completely independent from desktop sharing, so when a call is underway, to share a desktop, right click on the contact and pick Share desktop
3. in a conference call there is an option for that.
Hope it helps someone
