Before you start
The Nimbus installation requires prior setup for your Tenant. Get in touch with your Customer Success contact. To prepare:
- Read the following page carefully as technical details (User Roles, Licensing, Permissions) need to be discussed and set up accordingly.
- ☝Please note that Nimbus Installation and follow-up Service Provisioning is not possible until your Tenant is configured on Luware side.
How Nimbus structures User Roles
Within the MS Teams Client Nimbus will use your existing structures to authenticate any team members as users of Nimbus.
| Role | Installation-related tasks | Related links | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TENANT ADMIN |
Tenant Admin is required to execute the Nimbus Installation in your company tenant. The tenant admin
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Tenant admins or users with similar roles in your company start with the prerequisites on this page and related pages such as Nimbus Installation and Service Provisioning.
After the Installation, you might want to learn about the Administration UI. It is accessible via the following admin panel URLs: INC Nimbus Admin URLs
✅ Make sure to configure your web proxies to allow access to these domains or whitelist the complete *.luware.cloud domain. |
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| TEAM OWNER |
Team Owner is a service administrator in Nimbus. A team owner
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Team owners will mainly interact with Configuration and Service Settings on their related services.
Being involved with building new Nimbus service teams, it's important for team owners to know about the different Service types and how users are assigned. Nimbus currently syncs your Tenant users in the following ways. |
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TEAM MEMBERS |
Team Member is a service user (or agent) in Nimbus. A team member
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Team members are primarily involved in the Usage of Nimbus. In the same way as team owners, they access the UI via the following portal URLs: INC Nimbus Portal URLs
✅ Make sure to configure your web proxies to allow access to these domains or whitelist the complete *.luware.cloud domain. |
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GUEST MEMBERS |
Do not exist in Nimbus. | None – Unauthenticated guest members have no access to Nimbus features. |
Nimbus Licensing Structure
Nimbus Services, Users and Addons are individually licensed. During your onboarding – or whenever you decide to change your license count – your Customer Success contact will discuss License Management details with you.
Service Types
☝ Depending on your service type chosen the set of Nimbus Features varies. Before you continue with your first Service Provisioning we strongly recommend to inform yourself about the available types of services, as it ties directly into both your licensing, related configuration effort and how (future) users are onboarded into your service.
A comparison Nimbus service types
INC Nimbus Service Types
Base Licenses
| Advanced Routing | Enterprise Routing | Contact Center | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Description | By default, Nimbus is provisioned as an "Advanced Routing" service, each with individual Task Queue and Distribution settings. | Enterprise Routing offers more workflow flexibility and additional call context support. | Contact Center offers skill-based routing outside of single-service constraints with high user flexibility. Prioritize your calls to create VIP- and Emergency hotlines. |
| Target audience |
Collaborative teams and customer services requiring flexibility with minimal setup effort.
Nimbus Service users and MS Teams members stay in sync automatically. |
Extended teams with dedicated support and sales capabilities, tied into external CRM / Service Desk systems.
Nimbus Service users and MS Teams members stay in sync automatically. |
Contact Centers or Priority Services handling specialized tasks regardless of customer time zone or service called.
Users and roles are manually assignable, acting independently from MS Teams. |
| Configurable Nimbus Features |
✅ For each of your services, you can freely configure Opening Hours and Workflows. ✅ Each user gets easy access to the Nimbus Personal App and Nimbus Teams Tab, seamlessly integrated into the MS Teams client experience. ✅Each service team has access to its own Dashboard with KPI metrics, impacted by indivdiual Distribution Service Settings. |
✅Enables Outbound Service Calls and caller Context. ✅ Adds further Service Configuration options and Workflow Templates to pick from. ✅Extends your users My Sessions view with Codes, Tags and Context, allowing for more detailed call experience that includes task / upselling note taking for your your Power BI historical reporting. |
✅ Define dynamic teams based on skills and advanced User Roles instead of relying on fixed MS Teams / Member / Owner structures. ✅Assign users as customizable “Agents” with indivdiual Responsibility Profiles. ✅Access to customizable Dashboards with individual widgets and filters for KPI monitoring. ✅Allows for After-Call-Work (ACW) to shield users from further tasks, configured individually in the Distribution Service Settings. ✅Enables User States tracking for extended Reporting capabilities. |
| Call distribution |
Based on "Queue" Workflow settings and user presence.
💡Tasks are distributed to all users equally (round-robin, longest-idle first). 💡 Workflows allow flexible routing between services, each with their own distribution type, IVR, and set of opening hours. |
Adds dynamic task handling to workflows.
💡Allows checking and reacting to a caller's queue status, e.g. to re-distribute long-waiting tasks to backup services. 💡Optionally, tasks can be handled on a "first-to-pick-up" basis for higher throughput. |
Enables skill-based user routing.
💡Freely allows you to define your Skills and Responsibilities as criteria for call distribution. 💡Calls are distributed based on Distribution Policies in your services which ensure that users with the matching skills are pooled dynamically. |
Additional Addons and Apps
These Addons and Apps can be additionally added to your License Management and freely distributed among your services and users.
INC Addons and Apps
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Allows the user to act as a front-desk operator.
✅Get access to extended Address Book searches. ✅Support Call Handling scenarios (e.g. Safe, Blind transfer, Consultation calls). 🔎 Attendant Console can be activated via User Administration per user. |
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Allows direct interaction widgets on your website
✅Remove the need of additional software on customer side. ✅Optionally avoid service queues if you want customers to directly interact with your users. 🔎 Learn more on our Interact Solution page. |
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Assistant can run in browser or app, with additional features available for Contact Center users:
✅ Within the Browser Nimbus UI: Direct access to functionality such as RONA or Responsibility Profiles management directly in the Nimbus UI. ✅ Installed as standalone App the need to have Nimbus open on your browser at all times is removed. The App will also show context and and trigger web requests (e.g. to external CRM APIs), which are configurable on either Direct Call Templates and Service Call Templates . 🔎Nimbus Assistant can be activated via User Administration per user. |
Script Execution and Impersonation Permissions
Nimbus is deployed and (re)configured using PowerShell scripts. Please note:
- You need tenant admin permissions to use PowerShell for Nimbus deployment.
🔍 For more information, see Provisioning via Microsoft PowerShell. - On first script run, we highly recommend starting the PowerShell session as administrator to ensure that necessary dependencies are installed. Our scripts will retrieve dependencies automatically and install them on your running PC if necessary.
- A re-execution is needed for every service team deployment or service update as the changes need to be pushed to Azure.
External Communication and MS Teams Presence
INC Nimbus External Access Requirement
EXTERNAL ACCESS REQUIRED
TENANT ADMIN You need your tenant to allow external communications with the "luware.com" domain.
Learn more about managing external access
🔍 The necessary configuration steps are described in the Microsoft Teams Documentation: Manage external Access.
You will also need to disable the "Enhanced Presence Privacy Mode" policy which prevents visibility of the Teams Presence.
About the "Enhanced Presence Privacy Mode"
The "Enhanced Presence Privacy Mode" is a global configuration which, if enabled, prevents all external organizations from viewing the Teams Presence status of your users via Teams Federation.
If this mode is enabled, Nimbus will see all users as permanently Offline, and thus won't be able to distribute calls to them.
☝ This is a legacy configuration option used in Lync / Skype for Business which is not available anymore in the Microsoft Teams Admin Center. It can only be viewed and configured via PowerShell. As a global setting it applies to all users and cannot be deactivated or bypassed for individual users.
✅ To check whether this is enabled in your tenant by running the following PowerShell command:
Get-CsPrivacyConfiguration | Select EnablePrivacyModeThe command will return "True" if the Enhance Presence Privacy Mode is enabled, or "False" (default value) if it is disabled.
✅ To deactivate it, run the following PowerShell command:
Set-CsPrivacyConfiguration -EnablePrivacyMode $false🤔 Why are these steps necessary? Without being able to read the Teams presence data of your users, Nimbus will consider them as Offline and thus not available for call distribution. They will not be able to receive any inbound calls or place any outbound calls via Nimbus.
Nimbus SignalR WebProxy Requirement
WEBPROXY: ALLOW SIGNALR FOR STATUS UPDATES
❌ Blocking SignalR has direct impact on call information, user experience and reporting.
Luware Nimbus and related Apps use Microsoft SignalR to communicate content updates to connected clients immediately, rather than having the server wait for a client to request new data.
→ To allow your Nimbus UI to correctly reflect data updates, ensure that your WebProxy does not block connections to the following destination:
wss://*.signalr.net
If you do not like to whitelist entire domains with wildcards and know your Nimbus cluster location, you can allow the following destinations instead:
lu-sigr-prod-nimbus-chno-01.service.signalr.net
lu-sigr-prod-nimbus-chno-02.service.signalr.net
lu-sigr-prod-nimbus-dewe-01.service.signalr.net
lu-sigr-prod-nimbus-dewe-02.service.signalr.net
lu-sigr-prod-nimbus-ukso-01.service.signalr.net
🤔 What are the effects of a blocked SignaIR path? There will be 30-45s update delays on the Nimbus frontend until a workaround method to receive the data is found.
PSTN Licensing
Transfer to PSTN limitation
TRANSFER TO PSTN LIMITATION
Out of the box, Nimbus and related addons can only perform PSTN transfers according to Microsoft's licensing and constraints.
Which PSTN license do I need to acquire?
As of 2023, "Microsoft Teams Phone Standard" licenses are no longer supported by Microsoft. Previously, those licenses were viable for Nimbus. Regardless if you are using Direct Routing, Calling Plans, Operator Connect, the "Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account" license is now always required.
| Your Setup | Required License |
|---|---|
| Direct Routing |
"Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account" |
| Calling Plan |
"Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account" + "Microsoft Teams Domestic Calling Plan" or "Microsoft Teams Domestic and International Calling Plan" or "Microsoft Teams Calling Plan pay-as-you-go" + "Communication Credits" (if these aren't already included as part of your plan) |
|
Operator Connect |
"Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account" |
☝Please note that Luware staff cannot give recommendations on which license plan is best suited for your needs. Depending on your scenario, additional Teams App licenses may be required. Exact details are to be discussed with your Microsoft contacts.
Also see: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/teams-add-on-licensing/virtual-user
How does PSTN licensing affect service and call transfers?
Assuming that Service A has a PSTN license assigned - but further Services don't - the following scenario may unfold:
Scenario A - Service A workflow is configured to transfer the caller to Service B. The license of Service A is used, the PSTN transfer occurs. The PSTN license is re-used throughout further transfers to Services C...D…x…and so on.
Scenario B - Service B is called directly instead. Now the workflow of Service B attempts a redirect to either service A or transfer to C. The PSTN transfer fails due to a missing license on Service B.
🌟Learnings:
- For one first-level-response service: If you handle first-response calls always via the same service, you need a PSTN license for that particular first-level service.
- For multiple first-level-response services: If you handle first-response calls always via multiple services, you need a PSTN license for all those first-level services .
- Nimbus will attempt to use the PSTN license of the first service that responded to a call, regardless of how many further internal service transfers are performed thereafter.
- If no PSTN license is found on a service that requires it for a transfer, the transfer task will be considered as failed and treated accordingly by the system (e.g. workflow exit announcement, reporting "transfer failed" outcome).
☝Note that handling and tracking of running cost for PSTN licenses is outside of the Luware support scope. If you require assistance in extending and/or configuring your Nimbus services for PSTN, our support will gladly assist you:
Luware Support Address
| Luware Website | https://luware.com/support/ |
|---|---|
| Luware Helpdesk | https://helpdesk.luware.cloud |
| Cloud Service Status | https://status.luware.cloud/ |
Phone Number Configuration
When managing your phone numbers for the usage with Nimbus services, please note the following:
- If you're using Direct Routing (numbers managed outside of Teams), you can assign any phone number to a Nimbus service.
- If you're using calling plans for Microsoft, you can only assign a Service number type. User (subscriber) type numbers will not work.
Further information can be found in the MSFT documentation Types of phone numbers used for Calling Plans.
Design Limitations and Limited Support Scenarios
No assistance for unsupported scenarios
These scenarios may work for Nimbus under certain conditions, but are not officially supported by Luware. Note that our support team cannot assist you in these cases.
| Scenario | Rationale |
|---|---|
| Operating systems other than Windows 10 or 11 | Luware is committed to get the best experience possible for a Windows 10/11 user base. However, Luware is committed to address any requests and concerns and will prioritize its future development based on frequent user feedback. |
| Mobile device support (Android/iOS) | Mobile device support for Nimbus (both Android and iOS) is currently not a focus. However, Luware is committed to address any requests and concerns, and will prioritize its future development based on frequent user feedback. |
| Teams web client |
Design limitation on Microsoft Teams web clientThe Teams web client currently has a known limitation that sends a lot of incorrect status updates especially when refreshing the page in the browser. This has a noticeable impact on how Nimbus handles Agent presence, availability, and reporting features. Causes and workaroundsMicrosoft treats web-based Teams clients' presence status changes differently and with seemingly lower priority. The effects include:
Until this is resolved by Microsoft, Luware strongly advises you to exclusively use a locally installed Teams client app for all productive users of your organization.
|
| Auto Attendant and Call Queues (Teams native) |
Transfer to Teams-native auto attendants and call queuesNimbus does currently not support direct transfers via Blind transfer, Safe transfer, or Consultation Call to either UPN or PSTN numbers of Teams-native Auto Attendants and Call Queues. Any such transfer or consultation attempt will lead to the call being aborted. Causes and workaroundsThis is caused by Microsoft Teams limitations with regards to what voice applications (such as Call Queues, Auto Attendants, and Nimbus) are allowed to do, and cannot be circumvented by Nimbus. 💡 A possible workaround would be to force the call over your direct routing SBC by using an internal dummy number that isn't otherwise associated with any other Teams user or service already. This call would then be routed to your SBC, which can then re-direct it towards the actual number of the Call Queue/Auto Attendant on the Teams side again. As this workaround is dependent on voice infrastructure components outside of Luware's control and support scope, please reach out to your SBC provider or skilled personnel for its implementation
💡 The above mentioned workaround is not technically feasible if you are using Microsoft Calling Plans or Operator Connect to provision numbers directly through Teams. Forcing an external reroute as a workaround is not possible with these numbers.
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| Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) | Using a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) with NimbusNimbus does not officially support a Virtual Desktop Infrastructures (VDI). While we have reports that Single Sign-On (SSO) in Nimbus may work on VDI, some users may still be unable to log in to both the Nimbus Portal or Admin UI. Causes and workaroundsInstead of logging in to Teams itself, VDIs redirect the user to a browser window for logging in to the Nimbus app. This can cause problems with the login because the token flow may not come back to the Nimbus app. Furthermore, this redirect poses a security risk and is thus considered a non-supported scenario. → Workaround: If you encounter this problem the only solution on a VDI is to train your users to log in to portal.luware.cloud and admin.luware.cloud using Nimbus in their browser instead. 💡 Please note that the Luware support cannot assist with your VDI configuration. While this scenario may work with an adapted proxy/component configuration on your tenant, Luware cannot safely guarantee that all customer side VDI configurations work in this scenario. |