With the prerequisites out of the way, you can begin configuring Pidgin.
For example, the library's name on System76's Pop_OS! is pidgin-sipe while in the Solus 3 repo it is simply sipe. Please note that the sipe library has different names in different distros. You also need a SIPE plugin, as it's part of the secret sauce to make Pidgin work as a Skype for Business replacement. The only Skype feature that won't work with Pidgin is screen sharing, and file sharing can be a bit hit or miss-but there are ways to work around it. Pidgin can be found in just about every Linux distro's repository, so getting your hands on it should not be a problem.
OPEN SKYPE FOR BUSINESS IN OFFICE 365 SOFTWARE
There are pay software options for Linux that provide feature parity with Skype for Business, but Pidgin is a fully free and open source option licensed under the GNU GPL. Microsoft's Office Communicator became Microsoft Lync which became what we know today as Skype for Business. What if you could replace that proprietary software with free and open source applications and make them work with an Office 365 backend you have no choice but to use? Buckle up, because that is exactly what we are going to do with Pidgin, an open source replacement for Skype. the list goes on of Microsoft software and services that dominate the enterprise workspace.
Office 365, Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, Outlook. Technology is at an interesting crossroads, where Linux rules the server landscape but Microsoft rules the enterprise desktop.