Back in January I went through Lync 2013 for the iPhone. One of the issues I noted was that my phone’s Conversation History only showed those conversations I had using the phone. Also, these conversations didn’t show in my laptop’s Conversation History.
From my post:
“However, this made me think of a would-be-nice for the Skype for Business iPhone client…access to full Conversation History within the client. I don’t know how many times I’ve consulted Conversation History for dates, numbers, etc. If I could do that on my phone & find conversations from my laptop? Major timesaver.”
A Refreshing Walk Through Lync 2013 for iPhone (1-22-15)
Ladies and gentlemen…I called it.
One of the new features in Skype for Business Server 2015 is the Server-Side Conversation History.
Server-Side Conversation History: The Details
As I noted previously, Conversation History in Lync Server 2013 was device-specific. It stored a record of your conversations in the Lync 2013 client, and in an Outlook folder labeled “Conversation History”, depending on which device you used for that conversation. You’re on a laptop, you get a log in the Conversation History folder. You’re on your phone, you get a log in your phone’s Lync client.
Now with Skype for Business, instead of device-specific storage, all Conversation History is stored server-side. Which means that all your devices can see the same Conversation History.
You do need Exchange Server 2013 or Exchange Online. And it must be set up for integration with Skype for Business Server. After that, all it takes is a PowerShell cmdlet.
How You Set Up Server-Side Conversation History
I checked our Skype for Business server. As I suspected, Server-Side Conversation History was deactivated by default.
Fortunately, it’s easy to activate (provided you have Exchange set up & integrated). Credit to these two blog posts for their clean & clear instructions.
1. Skype for Business Enable Server Side Conversation History – Martin Boam’s Microsoft UC Blog
Martin’s article has a step-by-step procedure using the Set-CsClientPolicy cmdlet. He also has instructions on integrating Exchange, if you haven’t done that yet.
The enabling cmdlet format goes like this:
Get-CsClientPolicy -Identity Global |Set-CsClientPolicy -EnableServerConversationHistory $true
This is one of two ways; #2 below has the other way.
2. Skype for Business Server 2015 – New Commandlets – Randy’s Lync and UC Blog
Randy’s post has a full list of the new Skype4B cmdlets. The three directly referencing Server-Side Conversation History are:
- Get-CsConversationHistoryConfiguration – Shows you the Conversation History configuration settings.
- Remove-CsConversationHistoryConfiguration – Resets the Conversation History configuration.
- Set-CsConversationHistoryConfiguration – Modifies the Conversation History settings. This is Way #2 to activate Server-Side Conversation History.
Using these cmdlets, the format would be:
Set-CsConversationHistoryConfiguration -Identity “Global” -EnableServerConversationHistory $True
(Please note: These cmdlets modify the Global client policy. If you want to limit Server-Side Conversation History to certain groups, use that group’s identity for the -Identity parameter.)
Victory for Mobile Skype4B Users!
The move to Skype for Business 2015 contains many usability improvements. Most of these expand Lync 2013’s capabilities (Call via Work) and/or blend in Skype functionality (Rate My Call).
Server-Side Conversation History’s biggest help is in mobile user experience. Now I have access to my conversations – ALL my conversations – on my phone, wherever I am. I see all sorts of benefit to different professionals: Support tracking, IT management, project collaborations, sales/marketing lead tracking, and so on.
Now if only we’d get a new Skype for Business iOS/Android client…
(One IS coming, in the “next few months” according to Microsoft. Sigh.)