What developers need from Skype For Business

In today's article I am going to lay out a few ideas for the Skype For Business developer team, specifically what developer partners need to continue to better the products that add functionality to S4b.  As you know the entire S4B ecosystem has been undergoing some major changes with both in the introduction of o365 pbx announcement as well as the migration of on prem installs from Lync 2013 to Skype for Business.  As you can see from the developer site, the tools needed to take full advantage of these technologies is not keeping up.

Current the only technology with any support for Skype for Business Online is the old Lync 2013 client SDK.  Since the roadmap is wide open here are some of the suggested technologies I personally would love to see.

Skype for Business Online

1.  Equivalent to UCMA.  This is one of the most powerful S4B libraries and is a must.

2.  Reporting API.  This would add immense functionality for developers.

3.  MSPL API.  This would allow for call center type apps hosted in the cloud.

4.  Response Group API.  This could allow for automated sign in/out that could be controlled by a supervisor.

Skype for Business On Prem

1.  Reporting API.  This would add immense functionality for developers.

2.  Response Group API.  This could allow for automated sign in/out that could be controlled by a supervisor.

UWP (Windows Universal)

1.  S4B app and matching client API.  This would allow a new version of the Lync 2013 client sdk that would work with the new UWP app for desktop and mobile.

Any UWP API would also benefit from a reporting interface, as well as a response group interface.

In summary, now is an exciting time for Skype For Business, and with the right developer tools, this community benefit users greatly, allowing us to create the next generation of apps that speed adoption of S4B in today's business enterprise.

Doug Routledge, C# Lync, Skype for Business, SQL, Exchange, UC Developer  BridgeOC
Twitter - @droutledge @ndbridge