Microsoft Integration Options within Korbyt

This document reviews the integration options for Microsoft, its associated products, and Korbyt.

Written By Ed Kinne

Last updated 5 months ago

The integration options have been broken down into different categories.
You can move through the categories and specific options using the On This Page section to the right.

User Management

Allow Microsoft Azure AD/Entra directories to manage your Korbyt CMS and End Users.

Azure AD / Entra Single Sign-On

Korbyt’s integration with Azure Active Directory(Entra) gives IT admins the ability to grant access to the CMS via SSO, import existing Azure users, import existing Azure Groups, and automatically assign Roles to imported users. This can also be used to create and manage users of the Korbyt Desktop and Mobile application.

At a high level, the process involves:

In Azure

  • An IT administrator will follow the steps to configure a Korbyt App registration within your Azure environment.

  • This process will create credentials that will be needed in Korbyt

In Korbyt CMS

  • Once completed, navigate to the Korbyt CMS > Advanced > Directories and use previously generated credentials for configuration.

  • You will be able to choose which Azure Users/Groups you would like to configure for SCIM provisioning.

  • Once completed and the initial integration runs, users will be granted access to Korbyt.

For Details on creating Azure AD Integrations for CMS users, you can review the Azure AD section of How to manage CMS Users and Groups

For details on creating Azure AD Integrations for End-Users of Desktop or Mobile & Web, you can review the Azure AD section of Managing End Users for Desktop(InView) / Mobile & Web

Room Management and Event Information

Display room availability, upcoming events, or a general calendar of activities.

Office 365 Calendar Adapter

The Korbyt Office 365 Adapter enables users to bring in live calendar data and render it in any format desired within a Layout. Utilize Korbyt’s no-code Layout builder to customize room scheduling experiences on the fly, synced seamlessly with any calendar.

The Office 365 Adapter – Outlook Calendar Data article provides instructions for integration steps in Azure and Korbyt

At a high level, the process involves:

In Azure

  • In the Exchange Admin Center, under Resources, add your Rooms

  • Setting the sharing permissions for that room resource calendar to include the Korbyt Admin, who will be setting up the adapter.

In Korbyt CMS

  • Create an Office 365 Adapter

    • This will create a table of event information in Korbyt

  • To Display event information, you will need to

Room Scheduling Element in a Layout connected to Office 365

Korbyts Room Scheduling Element allows users to easily build a room scheduling experience from an Office 365 calendar. Utilizing Korbyt’s no-code Layout builder to customize room scheduling experiences on the fly, synced seamlessly with any calendar resource the user has access to through their Office 365.

While easy to use and not requiring advanced IT support, the Room Scheduling Element will have to be used on separate Layouts for separate rooms. For large multi-room integrations, the Office 365 Calendar Adapter may be the better option.

At a high level, the process involves:

In Azure

  • No direct action is needed as long as the user in Korbyt already has administrative access to the calendars they wish to link to

In Korbyt CMS

Document Importation, Management

Allow Microsoft to feed documents into Korbyt rather than having users log in to upload them manually.

SharePoint Document Adapter

Korbyt’s SharePoint Adapter feature automatically pulls content to the Korbyt CMS from your SharePoint. Users can add content to associated folders in their familiar SharePoint interface and have the items automatically imported to the Korbyt CMS. The SharePoint Document adapter can create a new playlist, or with Clever Playlists, that content can then be automated to screens without a user ever logging into the Kobryt CMS.

The article,How To Setup A SharePoint Office 365 Documents Adapter, has specific instructions for both Azure and Korbyt CMS configuration.

At a high level, the process involves:

In Azure

  • An Azure administrator will need to configure an App Registration for Korbyt.

    • Configuring supported account types, setting a Redirect URI

    • Finding your Azure Application ID, Directory ID, and creating a Client Secret

In Kobryt CMS

  • Creating a Templated Adapter for SharePoint 365 Documents adapter

    • Using the configuration information from Azure

  • If you want the items imported to automate to screens, then a Clever Playlist will be needed that is either linked to the media manager folder, or to the Tag that you used in the courier settings

OneDrive Courier

Korbyt's Courier feature automatically pulls content to the Korbyt CMS from a user’s OneDrive. Users can publish effortlessly without logging into Korbyt. Simply create your item, save it to OneDrive, and the item will be imported into Korbyt. With Clever Playlists, that content can then be automated to screens without a user ever logging into the Kobryt CMS.

At a high level, the process involves:

In OneDrive

  • Create a folder that you will connect to Korbyt

    • Korbyt cannot connect to the Root folder

    • Korbyt can be set to read into Subfolders of the one you create, though

In Korbyt CMS

  • It is suggested to create a folder in the Media Manager to receive your OneDrive items, but they can be saved to the Root in Korbyt

  • Create a Courier to connect to the OneDrive folder you wish to synchronize with

    • Couriers for Automatic Content Import has detailed steps

    • The administrators of your tenant have to enable OneDrive as a courier option for it to be available to you

    • The courier will copy items into the Media Manager

  • If you want the items imported to automate to screens, then a Clever Playlist will be needed that is either linked to the media manager folder, or to the Tag that you used in the courier settings

Automatic Transcoding PowerPoint to Images

The Korbyt Media Manager will automatically transcode an imported PPT file into a series of PNG image files with one image for each slide.

At a high level, the process involves:

In Korbyt CMS

  • Navigate to the Media Manager, click the Import button, and select your PPT file

  • After you click done, the CMS will create a new folder with the same name as the file, and in that folder will be a series of PNG image files for the slides

This process can replace highly customized fonts with more standard ones. If Font standards are essential, we advise that you should “Save As” in PowerPoint either as images or as a movie file for the whole presentation.

Display Data, Dashboards, and Documents

Korbyt has many different ways to import data from different Microsoft systems and display it in Korbyt

Power BI Options

There are three ways to display Power BI in Korbyt

Power BI Element

The Power BI Element gives users the option to embed live and interactive Power BI reports and dashboards into their Korbyt Layouts. This will require administrative access to your Power BI environment

At a high level, the process involves:

In Power BI

In Korbyt CMS

Power BI Through URL Sharing

The Power BI platform allows users to share via URL, and the Korbyt External URL Element provides a way to display them.

At a high level, the process involves:

In Power BI

  • Configure your specific Power BI dashboard to share through a URL

    • This is a feature that may be disabled by your Microsoft Administrators

    • This support article from Microsoft provides additional details -

      Collaborate and share Power BI reports and dashboards

    • Note: the Power BI URL must either

      • A) be publicly accessible for the Layout to render it, or

      • B) You must use hardware-based credentials on the Media Players to give them permission via the URL dashboard.

In Korbyt CMS

Power BI Through Embeddable HTML Code

The Power BI platform allows users to share via an HTML embeddable code, and the Korbyt HTML Element provides a way to display them.

At a high level, the process involves:

In Power BI

  • Configure your specific Power BI dashboard to publish to the web

    • This is a feature that may be disabled by your Microsoft Administrators

    • This support article from Microsoft provides additional details -

      Publish to web from Power BI

    • Note: the Power BI embed code must either

      • A) be publicly accessible for the Layout to render it, or

      • B) You must use hardware-based credentials on the Media Players to give them permission via the URL dashboard.

In Korbyt CMS

Excel Online Sheets

Korbyt’s HTML Container Element gives you the ability to pull in living Excel Online Sheets as part of your signage experience. This allows your worksheets to be edited remotely while still being displayed on any screen, anywhere

At a high level, the process involves:

In Excel Online

In Korbyt CMS

Excel Through CSV Files and Data Adapters

The Korbyt CSV Data Adapter enables you to render Excel files as CSV data on Korbyt Layouts using the Data Subscriptions feature. Any edits to the Excel file (CSV formatted) will update the Data Subscriptions on your signage displays within 15 minutes.

At a high level, the process involves:

In Excel

  • Create/re-use an Excel file saved in CSV format

In Korbyt CMS

  • Import your CSV File to the Media Manager

  • Create a CSV Adapter in Korbyt; this will create a data table of your information

  • Create a Layout in Korbyt Managing and Creating Layouts

  • Add a Data Subscription to the Layout that links it to the CSV Data Table How To Add Data To A Layout Or Message

    • You can then filter and format your data as needed

  • Once your Layout is published, it will have to be assigned to a screen via a Playlist Creating and Managing Playlists

  • To Change/Update the data

    • Edit the CSV file on your computer, being sure to keep the same file name

    • Import your updated file to the Media Manager, being sure to import to the same place as the original file, and that “Overwrite file if exists” is checked

    • This will replace the old file with the new, and when the adapter updates, it will bring in the new information. This can also be done with files brought to Korbyt through a Courier

Documents (Word and PPT) through PDF

The Korbyt Documents Element allows you to display and even page through PDF documents on screen.

At a high level, the process involves:

In Word or PPT

  • Create/re-use a file and save as PDF

In Korbyt CMS

MS Teams Channels

The Microsoft Teams Element in Korbyt gives users the ability to embed Microsoft Teams Channels within Korbyt Layouts.

At a high level, the process involves:

Teams

  • No action needed

In Korbyt CMS