Skype for business (Lync) via Pidgin

[rocky7x]

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

[rumex]

Hi
When I attempted Accounts->Manage accounts, select Office communicator account and in the Advanced tab at the bottom select xfreerdp for Remote desktop client; I didnt see this option.
My sequence was

  523 add-apt-repository ppaipe-collab/ppa

  524  apt-get update
  528  apt-get upgrade

I can see the following
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpurple.so.0

/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpurple.so.0.10.12

and my pidgin reports

pidgin -v

Pidgin 2.10.12 (libpurple 2.10.12)

Really interested in repeating your success, can you help please?

[rocky7x]

Hi rumex,

The version of Pidgin and libpurple in that PPA is 3.0.0 (as you can see in the PPA -> 1:3.0.0~collab-1+201706131018~ubuntu16.04.1). So you should install that version of Pidgin and also verions of pidgin-sipe 1.23.0+sipe-0+201711221332~ubuntu16.04.1. Please try to do it via Synaptic for example, so that you are sure that the version is proper.

Then it should work.

[rocky7x]

The only thing that hasn't worked are the notifications via libnotify - that was kind of a showstopper for me at the end, why I reverted back to the old Pidgin, while using the Lync 2010 in my Windows Virtualbox for conf calls (since I have to run Windows in VB for SAP tools anyway). To be precise I wasn't able to make any notifications work, so I couldn't see when somebody was writing to me, unless noticing that a new window appeared on the taskbar. So I traded the notifications for the ability to do the calls Maybe the current development state allows the notifications to work, but I don't have time to test it now.

[rumex]

Thanks for the reply, I'm clearly getting the wrong version, so possibly havent set up the repositories correctly.  ...

[jbehura]

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

[jbehura]

Hi, This could potentially be very useful.
What credentials should I use when adding the account? Do I need a "Skype for Business" account? Without an "login" and "Password" credentials, I am not even able to add an account.
Thanks!

[rocky7x]

I use my company e-mail address and the domain password.

[TerryMulhern]

Hello,

I'm having issues with the connection on Linux with pidgin-sipe (can't access any finance assignments and tasks assigned to me). It happened after my company upgraded to Skype for business account to . Should I change the SIPE settings perhaps? Where can I change them?

Thanks.