Let the Skype for Business meeting call you
Applies ToSkype for Business Skype for Business Online Skype for Business Online operated by 21Vianet

The Call Me At feature in Skype for Business provides a way for users to join the audio portion of a conference by using a cell phone or land line.

The first time you attempt to join a meeting through Skype for Business, you'll see the Join Meeting Audio dialog box:

Join Meeting Audio dialog in Skype for Business

The first option, Use Skype for Business, is selected by default. But if you want Skype for Business to call you at meeting time, you can select that option, provide a phone number, and wait for the call from your next meeting.

Call me at

With the Call Me At feature you can add a number on the fly or select a stored one. If you want to add several numbers, you can do so at any time through the Phones Options page.

Before you begin, click Gear icon > Skype Meetings, and click Before I join meetings, ask me which audio device I want to use.

Skype Meetings options dialog with Before I join checkbox highlighted

Add a number just before your meeting

  1. When the Join Meeting Audio dialog box is displayed, click Call me at.

  2. Click the arrow > New Number.

    Call me at option in the Join Meeting Audio dialog box

  3. Type your phone number and click OK.

    For information about number formats see Edit phone number.

Add a list of numbers

  1. Click Gear icon > Phones.

  2. Click the button for the phone number you want to add or update. Choices are Mobile Phone, Home Phone, and Other Phone. (You can't update your work phone number because it's assigned to you by your admin).

    Phones screen with phone numbers section highlighted

  3. Click OK.

Pick from a list of numbers

  1. When the Join Meeting Audio dialog box is displayed, click Call me at.

  2. Click the arrow and select the number you want to use.

  3. Click OK.

Audio

The Call Me At feature works extremely well provided that you use it in the way it was intended: by having Lync Server call a PSTN phone number. However, you can run into a less-than-optimal experience if you ask Lync Server to call you at a Lync-enabled endpoint (for example, a phone in a conference room). Following is the issue you might run into, as well as two ways to work around the problem.

To begin, here’s what happens when you provide the Call Me At feature with the phone number of a Lync-enabled phone. Suppose Ken Myer tries to join a meeting by having Lync Server call him at 1-206-555-1219, a Lync Server-enabled phone number. Ken will initially be connected to the meeting, but after a few seconds Lync will display the message Call was not completed or has ended, and Ken will appear to have been dropped from the meeting:

Dropped from meeting

Notice, however, that there is a discrepancy within the Lync conversation window. Ken Myer is the only name listed under the Participants heading. However, if you look in the title bar of the window, you’ll see that the conference contains a total of four participants.

Likewise, if you look in the conversation window of any of the other conference participants you will not see Ken Myer listed anywhere:

List of participants

And yet, at the same time, Ken Myer will be able to participate in the audio portion of the call by using his Lync-enabled phone. The Call Me At feature has actually worked, but the user experience is less than optimal.

There are at least two ways to work around this problem. If you have already joined a conference in this fashion (like Ken Myer did), you can typically resolve the issue by engaging in a different modality. For example, if you send an instant message the conversation window will now show all the conference participants, including yourself:

List of participants

At this point you should be able to participate in the meeting in the expected fashion.

Alternatively, you can avoid this issue altogether by changing the way you join the meeting. If you need to have Lync Server call a Lync Server-enabled phone, you should begin by joining the meeting without an audio connection. To do that, click Don’t join audio when presented with the Join Meeting Audio dialog box:

Don't join audio

After you have successfully connected to the meeting, you can now “invite” the Lync Server-enabled phone to join the meeting as well. To do that, place the mouse over the People icon and then click Invite More People:

Invite more people

That will bring up the Send an IM dialog box. Ignore the dialog box title (you’re not actually sending an instant message) and type the phone number of the Lync-enabled phone:

Send an IM

After you click OK, Lync Server will call the number entered in the dialog box. When the connection is made, you will have full audio capabilities through the Lync-enabled phone, and you will be able to see and interact with the full conference roster.

Invite another person to call into your meeting

Let's say you need to pull someone else into your meeting. Even if the person wasn't included on the original meeting invitation you can invite them to join.

  1. While in the Skype for Business meeting, click the IM icon (IM button when you're in a meeting) to open the IM window.

  2. Click Invite More People.

  3. Type a name or phone number or choose someone from your contacts list.

  4. Click OK.

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