Interesting votes...

A couple of months ago I posted a poll asking when you implement OCS2007 in your production environment. This poll will be closed in 15 hours from now. Interesting is that 70 percent of my blog visitors are implementing OCS2007 within 1 month. Or already implemented it.

Votes:

• 1 month (70 percent)
• 6 month (15 percent)
• 1 year (2 percent)
• other (11 percent)

Winner: 70 percent based on 49 votes and a total of 70 votes. One conclusion: a very good year next jear 2008! A lot of implementations are going on and administrators and end-users are playing with it, that’s very good. Especially Live Meeting 2007 in combination with Office Roundtable etc...

Time for new polls:

How did you implement OCS2007 in your production environment?

Happy New Year and beware of fireworks!

New OCS KB articles released on OVUG

For more information see: here

MOC 2007 Hotfix KB 943083

Released at 17/12/2007:

Quick Details

File Name:
communicator.msp

Version:
2.0.6362.36

Knowledge Base (KB) Articles:
KB943083

Date Published:
12/17/2007

Language:
English

Download Size:
4.8 MB

Download

KB articles released for MOC2005, 2007

New on OVUG: KB articles released for MOC2005 and MOC2007

See it: Here

Tags van Technorati: KB944686,KB944687,KB944612,Office Communicator 2007,Office Communicator 2005

OOF back on 03/01/2008

Dear blogreader,

I am currently out of the office. I will be back on 03/01/08.

Until then, please do not expect me to answer to any e-mail, my phone, or react to voice mail messages.

Thanks for reading my blog this year! Upcoming year lots of extra news about Unified Communications. Well happy New Year and Merry Christmas everybody!

Kind regards,
Joachim Farla e-office m b.v.
Technical Infrastructure Consultant

Microsoft Response Point

Make small business telecommunications easy
Backed by industry-leading hardware vendors like D-Link, Quanta, and Aastra, Microsoft Response Point phone system software offers a breakthrough voice-activated user interface, simplified setup and user management, and effortless mobility.

Demo Response Point

Q: What is Response Point?
A: Easy to use and manage, Microsoft Response Point is innovative new phone system software that offers small business customers a radically simplified phone experience. You can access the phone and its features using just your voice. The intuitive Response Point administrator software allows you to complete phone moves, additions, or changes with a few mouse clicks. And there is no special phone training or networking expertise required. For a small business owner, Response Point offers a complete phone system—at an affordable price—that grows with your business.

Tags van Technorati: Microsoft Response Point

OCS 2007 - Continuous prompts for Address Book download

..after deploying Office Communications Server 2007 Enterprise Edition that the Office Communicator client is unable to download the address book from the IIS server.. nice article on the Communicator blog of Microsoft.

Here

Tags van Technorati: Address Book failed to download,OCS,Microsoft Office Communicator 2007,Enterprise Edition OCS

Research Describes Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Unified Communications

Research Describes Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Unified Communications

Businesses can improve productivity, shorten sales cycles, lower travel costs, and enhance customer retention using Microsoft unified communications products and services, Forrester Research finds.
Learn more about the total economic impact of UC.

Download PDF

Unified Communications IT Pro Sweepstakes

Well go for it!

If you're an IT professional or IT manager living in the United States, you could win a Windows Mobile Smartphone—or the grand prize, a Microsoft RoundTable conference phone. Just sign up for an on-demand webcast or virtual laboratory.

Register for an eligible on-demand webcast or virtual lab with your Windows Live ID, and your name will be automatically entered for the drawings. (If you don't already have a Windows Live ID, it's easy to get one during the registration process.)

One winner will be selected each week through January 28, 2008. Each will receive his or her choice of a Samsung Blackjack, T-Mobile Dash, or Motorola Q Smartphone. Everyone eligible for the weekly drawing also will be entered in the February 1, 2008, drawing for the grand prize—a Microsoft RoundTable conference phone with a 360-degree camera that can capture a panoramic view of meeting participants, track the speaker, and record meetings.

Sign up here

Hyper-V public beta is available for download

The last month I was triggered several times to look at Hyper-V from Microsoft. Main question for me: does Hyper-V support OCS2007 in a virtual environment? I do not have the anwser yet.

Features:

• Quick Migration and cluster high availability - for migration of VMs for planned and unplanned downtime. BTW, don’t forget that Windows Server 2008 now includes support for up to 16 nodes! (up from 8 in WS 2k3)
• Hyper-V is now included by default in Windows Server manager, which means enabling virtualization is as easy as installing any other role.
• Support for running Hyper-V with Server Core in the parent partition
• Volume Shadow Services support
• VHD Tools support (compaction, expansion and inspection)
• Hyper-V MMC only installation. The Hyper-V MMC can be installed on Windows Server 2008 without installing the complete Hyper-V role enabling remote management of Hyper-V servers
• Support for up to 4 virtual SCSI controllers per VM, with 255 VHDs per controller; see demo
• Support for multiple network adapters per VM; see demo
• Support for up to 64 GB of memory per VM
• Note that Hyper-V beta is an English-US only release. The first localized releases will be available prior to RTM.
• We have made numerous performance, scalability and stability enhancements since the CTP release. We are quite proud of the quality of this beta release, but it is beta, so please send any issues you might find.

Microsoft Corp. this morning delivered a holiday surprise for customers and partners, unveiling a public beta for its hypervisor-based server virtualization technology called Hyper-V, a feature with some versions of Windows Server 2008. Customers and partners today can download Windows Server 2008 RC1 Enterprise with the beta version of Hyper-V to evaluate the new technology, test applications and plan future consolidation, business continuity and high-availability projects.

DOWNLOAD !!! and Readme File

The beta was previously expected to be ready in the first quarter of 2008 with the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows Server 2008. The beta is available for download here.

Then, Microsoft's Server Division chief jumped in for some more back-patting.

"Delivering the high-quality Hyper-V beta earlier than expected allows our customers and partners to begin evaluating this feature of Windows Server 2008 and provide us with valuable feedback as we march toward final release,” said Bill Laing, general manager of the Windows Server Division at Microsoft.

This is all a bit hilarious to anyone covering this space closely. Microsoft, in fact, planned to ship the Hyper-V beta in the first half of 2007, then delayed the release to the second half of 2007 and then delayed the delayed release to the first half of 2008. So now Microsoft has beat out the target ship date of its most recent delay and met the target of its first delay, which in Redmond is enough of a good job to warrant a "holiday surprise" fanfare. (Let's also not forget that Microsoft has ripped out a number of Hyper-V features.)

Anyway, the Hyper-V software – code-named Viridian – will give Microsoft a true competitor to VMware's ESX Server software and the Xen-based products from companies such as Citrix and Virtual Iron. The software will replace today's unimpressive Virtual Server software and ship either as a standalone package or with various flavors of Windows Server 2008.

The standalone product will cost $28 – a price seemingly designed to help Microsoft avoid any anti-trust grumbles that might have arisen if it gave away the software.

Most of the major virtualization players now give away some form of their flagship virtualization products. Often, they limit the free package to smaller server configurations, or give away the base hypervisor that handles core virtualization tasks and then charge for management software.

Microsoft's entrance into the market has a number of analysts and reporters speculating that VMware will lose large amounts of revenue. (Forbes managed two stories on Microsoft's surprise: "Microsoft scares VMware" and "Microsoft Declares War on VMware". In actual fact, this was the same story with two different headlines, and the piece contained heroic amounts of disinformation.)

VMware charges between hundreds of dollars and thousands of dollars per socket, depending on the configuration, for the standalone version of ESX Server. Thing is, less than 20 per cent of VMware's revenue comes from standalone hypervisor sales. The company makes the vast majority of its money selling the VMware Infrastructure suite that includes the hypervisor along with a host of management tools.

Microsoft has a lot of work to do before it can match VMware's management bits. For example, Hyper-V will not ship with a complementary package for shifting virtual servers between physical servers, as you'll find today with VMware's VMotion and Citrix's XenMotion. As we understand it, most of the virtualization customers out there today consider this type of software essential.

Those of you who want full details on obtaining and using the Hyper-V beta should pop over here.

Overview

This time-limited release of Windows Server® 2008 Release Candidate will expire on June 30, 2008. After this time, you will need to uninstall the software or upgrade to a later release or a fully-licensed version of Windows Server® 2008.
This product requires a valid product key for activation within 30 days of installation.
If you have received a product key via email confirmation, you may use the key with the software you download from this site or with a DVD containing Windows Server® 2008 Release Candidate.

File Name:
6001.17119.071210-1916_amd64fre_Server_en-us-KR1SXFRE_EN_DVD.iso

Version:
1.0

Date Published:
12/12/2007

Language:
English

Download Size:
2536.4 MB

Office 2007 SP1 fix issues in Communicator 2007

Communicator 2007

• Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 now presents more accurate presence information and does so with consistent visual cues.
• The icons used to display presence are modified so that users who are red-green colorblind can determine people’s presence status.
• Office Communicator 2007 no longer causes presence icons to flicker when multiple people appear simultaneously.
• Presence information in Office Communicator 2007 and other Microsoft Office applications is consistent in all scenarios.
• Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 no longer starts in the background along with Office Communicator 2007.

Following are the KB articles referenced in the SP1 xls file

• KB936871 When you sign-in to Communicator, Outlook is started in the background. For example, when you check Task Manager, the Outlook.exe process is running. Additionally, Outlook-related items, such as meeting reminders, may appear.
• KB936871 To check for a missed conversation, you click the "Voice Mail" search folder in Outlook 2007. Or, you click the "Missed Conversation" notification in Microsoft Office Communicator. If you then check for a missed conversation in the same session of Communicator, you receive a notification that states that Outlook could not be started.
• KB937212 When a message is saved as a missed conversation in the Microsoft Office Communicator folder in Outlook 2007, the message indicator for the folder does not indicate a new, unread message.

Tags van Technorati: Office 2007 SP1,KB936871,KB937212,Communicator 2007

OCS2007 Enterprise Voice Planning and Deployment Guide

Office Communications Server 2007 Document: Enterprise Voice Planning and Deployment Guide

This document provides information to help you plan and deploy Enterprise Voice in your Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 infrastructure.

Release date: 12/13/2007

Quick Details

File Name:
OCS_VoIP_Guide.doc

Version:
1.0

Date Published:
12/13/2007

Language:
English

Download Size:
4.1 MB

Overview

This guide offers in a single volume the conceptual, planning, deployment, and management information that you need to successfully integrate Enterprise Voice into your Office Communications Server 2007 infrastructure. Information in this document includes the following:

• An overview of the architecture, components, and call routing logic of Enterprise Voice.
• A discussion of the important choices you need to consider before you deploy Enterprise Voice.
• Step-by-step instructions for deploying Enterprise Voice.
• Step-by-step instructions for performing fundamental management tasks.

Tags van Technorati: Enterprise Voice,Office Communications Server 2007,VOIP

Office Communications Server 2007 Supportability Guide

The purpose of the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Supportability Guide is to provide a central, high-level reference for supported Office Communications Server 2007 topologies and configurations. It is also intended to answer frequently asked questions. This document identifies supported topologies, configurations, and scenarios described in detail in the existing deployment and planning documentation.

Quick Details

File Name:
OCS_2007_Support.doc

Version:
1.0

Date Published:
10/12/2007

Language:
English

Download Size:
620 KB

Download: Supportability Guide

Tags van Technorati: Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Supportability Guide,provide a central,high-level reference,Office Communications Server 2007 topologies and configurations,supported topologies,configurations,scenarios

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 SDK version 3.0.6362.35

This SDK was originally released on July 27, 2007. For a complete list of fixes and changes in this version, please see KB article 946044.

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, formerly called Live Communications Server, delivers streamlined communications to help you find and communicate with the right person, in real time, from the applications you use most.

The Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Software Development Kit (SDK) includes documentation and sample applications developed with the Office Communications Server 2007 platform.

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 SDK

The Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Software Development Kit (SDK) includes documentation and sample applications developed with the Office Communications Server 2007 platform.

 

Tags van Technorati: Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 SDK,OCSSDK.msi Version 3.0.6362.35,3.0.6362.35

Microsoft UCM API SDK ver 3.0.6362.33 available!

Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API SDK

Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API (UCMA) is an endpoint API that allows advanced developers to build and integrate server applications into an existing Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 infrastructure.

12/6/2007

Quick Details

File Name:
UcmaSdk.msi

Version:
3.0.6362.33

Knowledge Base (KB) Articles:
KB945712

Date Published:
12/6/2007

Language:
English

Download Size:
4.9 MB

Tags van Technorati: Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API SDK,UCMA

Try Exchange 2007 SP1 32-bits before installing

This download comes as a pre-configured VHD. This download enables you to evaluate Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1.

This download enables you to evaluate Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1. Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 is designed to reduce the growing cost and complexity of managing a corporate messaging system by providing more control for IT administrators, more value and expanded inbox access for end users, and increased security and compliance for the organization as a whole.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1 provides built-in protection technologies to help keep the e-mail system up and running and better protected from outside threats while allowing employees to work from wherever they are using a variety of clients including Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Web Access, and mobile devices. Exchange Server 2007 SP1 makes it easier for IT to deliver these new capabilities to their organizations by making the messaging environment easier to manage and more cost efficient.

Download Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1 VHD

Quick Details

Version:
1.0

Date Published:
12/4/2007

Language:
English

Download Size:
435.1 MB - 1835.1 MB*

Tags van Technorati: Exchange Server 2007 SP1,32 bits

Microsoft and Federated OCS/LCS Partners Connectivity Outage Notification

Awareness

Service Outage Notification

Microsoft and Federated OCS/LCS Partners Connectivity Outage Notification

---

Description:  Microsoft will be upgrading the External Access Proxy which controls the communication between the Microsoft OCS 2007 system and its Federated Partners OCS or LCS systems.

Affected Users:  This outage will prevent users from either Microsoft or its Federated Partners from being able to communicate with each other with Office Communicator.

Start Date/Time: 12/01/2007  12:00am PST

End Date/Time:  12/01/2007  4:00am PST

Services Affected:

· IM and Presence

· OCS – Collaboration

· Communicator Web Access

Impact: All services will be impacted during the upgrade.

Next Update Date:  If the work is completed during the scheduled time then no new communications will occur.  If the work is not completed or there are any issues then a follow up to this email will be sent.  The work window above does not imply the work will take that long, as the actual downtime will be very minimal.

Thank you

BOSD RTC Break Fix team

Question from a dear reader...

Hi,

since some weeks I follow your blog about OCS on unified-communications.blogspot.com and I appreciate your work very much.

I am desperatly looking for information about how OCS clients communication flows over the network:

For example a OCS user on a OCS server in Europe makes an IM communication with another OCS user on a OCS server in the same organization in the USA. I found that the SIP communication and the content oft he instant messages flows via the OCS servers and Video and Audio Streams flow directly from client computer to client computer?

• But how are Video and Audio streams for Live Meetings flowing And how are the streams for voice calls flowing?
• And how are those streams flowing for remote, federated and internet (=public IM) users?

I already googled a lot and studied almost all the OCS guides from MS but I have not found any complete documentation about the network requirements of OCS clients. I found a lot about how the network/firewall configuration must be for the OCS server itself but not for the OCS clients.

It would be great if you could point me to a good place where I can find that information.

Joachim Farla: well I pointed it out as good as possible. Review the OVUG Forum and give me your feedback. More information on: my feedback on OVUG

QoE Monitoring Server Release Note

Office Communications Server 2007 QoE Monitoring Server Release Notes

This document contains important information that you should know before you deploy and use the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, QoE Monitoring Server.

11/28/2007

Quick Details

File Name:
OCS_QoE Release Notes.htm

Version:
1.0

Date Published:
11/28/2007

Language:
English

Download Size:
23 KB

Download Release Note

Tags van Technorati: Office Communications Server 2007 QoE Monitoring Server Release Notes

Microsoft Office Mobile 6.1

Microsoft Office Mobile 6.1: Upgrade for Microsoft Office 2007 file formats. Work more UC like and upgrade the Office applications on your mobile.

Quick Details

File Name:
OfficeMobile_Licensed_0409_US.msi

Version:
6.1

Date Published:
11/28/2007

Language:
English

Download Size:
12.7 MB

Download: Here

;-) i'm running it:

Tags van Technorati: Microsoft Office Mobile 6.1 , Windows Mobile 6

Which API could i use?

Do you have some difficulties in deciding which API you must use for a specific functionality? Thursday, nov 29 there was a very good webcast to give you a overview. Presenters: Michael Dunn (also the guy from the OCS IgNite Tour) and Mithun Dhar. It gives you a good overview of the different API you can use when building your own application. You see differences in server and client API's. How to build your own Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 application, how to integrate OCS functionality within your own LoB applications, Designing Speech Server workflow. Nice webcast!

Recording Subject:

MSDN Webcast: Unified Communications for Developers: Building Co

Recording ID:

1032357751

Organizer:

WWEvents Organizer

Recording On:

Thursday, Nov 29, 2007 11:32 AM (PST)

Duration :

0:46

Hot news! SP1 for Exchange can be downloaded!

Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

Quick Details

Version:
08.01.0240.006

Date Published:
11/29/2007

Language:
English

Download Size:
840.6 MB - 1695.4 MB*

E2K7SP1EN32.exe

840.6 MB

Download

E2K7SP1EN64.exe

854.7 MB

Download

Note from the editor

On November 30, you will be able to download Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1. The list of new features in SP1 is long, including new deployment options, new features and improvements for each server role, improved integration with other applications, and even a new, third type of continuous replication. There are also general updates to almost all of the high availability topics for SP1, as well as significant updates in other content areas, such as those related to the Mailbox, Client Access, Hub Transport and Edge Transport, and the Unified Messaging server roles. You can find documentation on the new features by browsing or searching the Exchange Server TechCenter Library. If you're in evaluation mode, you can now download the Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1 trial software and see how secure, anywhere access can enhance operational efficiency.

Unified Messaging has been improved and has added new features in Exchange 2007 SP1. To use some of these features, you must correctly deploy Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 in your environment.

To correctly plan and deploy Exchange 2007 SP1 and Communications Server 2007 in your Unified Messaging environment, you must follow the planning and deployment steps that are provided in the

Office Communications Server and Client Documentation Rollup.

The following is a summary of the Unified Messaging features that are available in an integrated Exchange 2007 SP1 and Communications Server 2007 environment:

• Ability to create SIP URI and E.164 dial plans by using the New Dial Plan wizard
• Additional logic for resolving internal calling number
• Notification of forwarding when leaving voice messages in scenarios where the destination uses call forwarding
• Support for recording high-fidelity voice messages in Exchange Unified Messaging
• Access to Outlook Voice Access from Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 without requiring the user to enter a PIN
• Ability for Office Communicator 2007 clients to associate subjects and priorities to voice messages
• Support for media streams to traverse firewalls
• Integration of missed call notification e-mail messages with Office Communicator 2007
• Ability to prohibit Play on Phone calls that are placed by using Office Communicator 2007 from being subjected to call forwarding rules that are configured

The following features are available in Exchange 2007 SP1 without integrating your Unified Messaging environment together with Communications Server 2007:

• Support for Secure Realtime Transport Protocol (SRTP).
• Exchange Management Console support for configuring Mutual Transport Layer Security (mutual TLS) for dial plans.
• Ability to add a SIP or E.164 address for a user by using the Enable Unified Messaging Wizard.
• Ability to modify extension numbers and SIP and E.164 addresses for a UM-enabled user by using the Exchange Management Console.
• In-band fax tone detection. By default, this feature is disabled but can be enabled in environments that use IP PBXs.
• Quality of Service (QoS) support.
• For more information about each of these features in Unified Messaging and Exchange 2007 SP1, see New Unified Messaging Features in Exchange 2007 SP1.

New OCS document Backup/Restore!

Office Communications Server 2007 Document: Backup and Restoration Guide

This document provides information to help you backup and restore service in your Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 infrastructure.

11/27/2007

File Name:
OCS_Backup.doc

Version:
1.1

Date Published:
11/27/2007

Language:
English

Download Size:
1013 KB

Unified Communications API Roadmap

Mark Parker from Microsoft describe the following APIs and documentation:

• Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Server SDK
• Communications Server 2007 Speech Server Documentation
• Microsoft Office Communicator Automation API
• Live Meeting 2007 API Reference Guide
• Microsoft Office Live Meeting Service Portal API Documentation
• Unified Communications Managed API V1.0 SDK
• Microsoft Unified Communications Client 1.0 SDK
• Microsoft Unified Communications AJAX SDK

See: API doc

Tags van Technorati: Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Server SDK Communications Server 2007 Speech Server Documentation Microsoft Office Communicator Automation API , Live Meeting 2007 API Reference Guide , Microsoft Office Live Meeting Service Portal API , Documentation Unified Communications Managed API V1.0 SDK , Microsoft Unified Communications Client 1.0 SDK , Microsoft Unified Communications AJAX SDK

UC workplace

Some people may think how is the UC laptop of Joachim Farla setup? Well to give you a short briefing of that see the following.

• Microsoft Windows Vista Business Edition x86
• Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise Edition
• Microsoft Live Meeting 2007 console
• Microsoft Office Communicator 2007
• Microsoft Communicator Web Access 2007
• IBM Lenovo T61P (4 gigs of RAM) 230 gb of HDD Intel 2 Duo CPU T7500 @ 2,20 Ghz (WEI = 4.8)
• The Voyager 510 Bluetooth headset from Plantronics brings all day wearing comfort and superb audio quality to busy mobile professionals in a stylish and discreet design. For added convenience the Voyager 510 can be worn on either ear and folds for easy storage, and for added versatility incorporates Bluetooth V1.2 and multipoint connectivity. The optional base adaptor brings the benefits of Bluetooth wireless technology to your office phone, allowing you to use the Voyager 510 for all your communication needs. We use the device for a couple of months now.. and we are very excited (the only thing we have feedback on is the personocall software delivered out of the box is not working under Windows Vista - so picking up calls with 1 push on your headset is not working) in-depth information from Plantronics says that this will be fixed in January 2008. More specifications of this device: more
• Windows Mobile 6.0 Palm Treo device (recently upgraded from WM5.0) - CoMo installed on it connecting to our Access Edge infrastructure and HSDPA connection.
• LifeCam NX-6000. Compact and reliable, this webcam was designed especially for notebook computers. I've tested this device for a couple if hours now and I’m very surprised! Very good device, good sound quality and easy to ship ;-), and you get a very nice bag for put ting in the device when you are on the road. More information see the site at Microsoft: all features

So, last preparations for tomorrow second UC event @ e-office lot's of demo's on Live Meeting 2007, Exchange 2007, Unified Messaging, CWA 2007, MOC2007, CoMo, MoCM2007, autobot OCS, autobot integrating Enterprise Search MOSS, SharePoint integration OCS, MOR2007, Office Roundtable, CX700 Communicator phone, Polycom devices, LiveCam, Enterprise Voice, interoute. Tomorrow i will install the CX700 PolyCom device in our production environment. I will post how we did that and what the configuration issues may are. Personally I think that it will be an OOFTB-installation.

Tags van Technorati: Live Meeting 2007 , Exchange 2007 , Unified Messaging , CWA 2007 , MOC2007 , CoMo , MoCM2007 , autobot OCS , autobot integrating Enterprise Search MOSS , SharePoint integration OCS , MOR2007 , Office Roundtable , CX700 Communicator phone , Polycom devices , LiveCam , Enterprise Voice , interoute

Newsletter Dec 2007 released!

This newsletter can sent to you personally and includes content based on my daily experiences with Unified Communications and its related products. If you do find this is interesting subscribe: SUBSCRIBE

More see: Newsletters Online...

Third UC&C event e-office

7th of February 2008 e-office is presenting the third unified communication and collaboration event in Houten (the Netherlands).

This event gives you an global overview of the functionalities of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Communicator 2007, Live Meeting 2007.

Subscribe? Ofcourse: Subscribe ;-)

And fill-in the form:

Second UC&C session e-office

27th of november e-office is presenting the second unified communication and collaboration event in Houten (the Netherlands).

This event gives you a global overview of the functionalities of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Communicator 2007, Live Meeting 2007.

At the end we will go more indepth for people who need more technical information. I will present the last 30 minutes of this session. Within this session i will show you the buildingblocks to start with OCS2007.

Presenters:

Before my presentation we will do some demo's because we are a company in believing "show me how it works".

For more technical people reading my blog i will give you a short wrap-up of my demo environment:

• Microsoft Office Communicator Web Access*
• Enterprise Pool in Expanded Mode with 1 front-end server*
• Web Conferencing Server*
• A/V Conferencing Server*
• Mediation Server*
• Wb Conferencing Edge Server*
• A/V Conferencing Edge Server*
• Exchange 2007 Server 64 bits
• Exchange 2007 UM Edge 64 bits
• 3 IBM T61P laptops with 4 gigs of RAM.
• Microsoft Office Roundtable :-) 
• CX700 Communicator Phone!

 

 

 

 

Agenda of this event:      

13.00 – 13.30 coffee/thea
13.30 – 13.45 introduction
13.45 – 14.30 vision unified communications & collaboration
14.30 – 15.00 demo unified communications
15.00 – 15.15 uur pause
15.15 – 15.30 continue demo unified communications
15.30 – 16.00 demo Roundtable
16.00 – 16.30 interactive discussion (whiteboard)
16.30 - 17.30 wrap-up snack

Subscribe next UC session 7 february 2008 @: Subscribe

Direction: (Live Search Maps) > e-office

 

Tags van Technorati: e-office , UC&C session , office communications server , roundtabel , CX700 , polycom CX700 , Office Communicator Web Access 2007 , conferencing server , Exchange 2007 UM , Unified Messaging , 64 bits , MOC2007

Unified Communications and Windows Mobile

Unified Communications and Windows Mobile

Michael Murphy and Chip Vollers discuss the benefits of Unified Communications and Windows Mobile.

Communications today are increasingly complex, with a vast array of ways to communicate and an equally broad range of different devices and applications. While supposedly making our lives easier, all of these options actually make our lives more complicated. We are simply overwhelmed by the options to stay in touch with each other. This is communication chaos.

Microsoft believes the answer lies in software. Software that is people-ready, helping people to work more effectively together in real time. Unified Communications solutions provide presence awareness throughout Office System and LOB applications, enable teams to work together from distributed offices and while on the go, and reduce down time and hasten business decisions. Microsoft's UC solutions deliver identity-based, rich presence-enabled communications on the desktop and extend those capabilities to Windows Mobile devices with Office Communicator 2007. Communicator Mobile 2007 is designed to easily work with existing Office Communications Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 deployments, minimizing cost, management, and additional infrastructure investments.

Length: 0: 20:06 

WMA | MP3 High | MP3 Low Links may not work. Stay in contact... i will contact Jason ;-)

Tags van Technorati: Windows Mobile , Unified Communications

Unified Communications

New OCS Administration Guide version 1.1

Office Communications Server 2007 Document: Administration Guide

This document provides explains how to administer Office Communications Server 2007.

Released: 11/20/2007

File Name:
OCS_Admin.doc

Version:
1.1

Date Published:
11/20/2007

Language:
English

Download Size:
8.3 MB

OVA how to control?

Do you know how to control OVA feature in Exchange Server 2007 UM? Microsoft released the following PDF file: OVA

Enjoy!

Tags van Technorati: outlook voice access , OVA , Exchange Server 2007 , Unified Messaging

Turkey..haha

Happy Thanksgiving everybody and for all the turkeys out there, you won't get eaten if you use Microsoft Dynamics CRM every single day! ahahaha nice post from mennotk

Weblog down.. oh no!

Reported: 12 Jun 2007, 7:30 PM UTC

Apparently there was a Raid 6 hardware failure and sharepointblogs, sharepointexperts, sharepointbootcamps, and whatever else is hosted by sharepointexperts has died.  From what I understand Dustin Miller has been working around the clock.  I believe Andrew Connell has more information on his blog at www.andrewconnell.com.

Ton Stegeman (MVP and e-office employee ;-)) on Microsoft Office SharePoint 2007 (MOSS) did lose almost all his posts and images attached.

Solution:

Step 1. Download WinHTTrack from Download Site

Step 2. Make a full backup of your current weblog.

Last night i backupped all my blogs unified-communications and ocsvirtualusergroup and it worked very well.

Assign an project name:

Specify your action and add specified URL

Run the tool... en wait!

The tool worked fine for me.

Tags van Technorati: WinHTTrack

Contact?

If you run Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 SP1 or Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (hopefully ;-) and connected your AP or Edge servers to the internet... we can get in contact!

Step 1. Fill in my name joachim.farla@e-office.com (my SIP account is the same as my SMTP address)

Step 2. Drop me in your contact list! And live!

So, very simple! Do not hesitate to contact me by IM. I'am always in for a technical issue or just working things out generally. By the way you can also contact me through the public website of e-office at link

Interoute and consolidated edge server does it work?

Does it work interoute and consolidated edge server? See the link on the OVUG Forum (section Enterprise Voice, Mediation Server) Link: Here!

Two very good questions from Julian Datta from Microsoft.

Tags van Technorati: Mediation Server , Interoute one , consolidated edge server , ports , public IP address , Office Communicatons Server 2007 , GW

Unified Communications Learning Path for Partners

Today i was investigating some learning paths available at Microsoft. See this site to make your own selection: Site

For techincal people the recommendations are:

Core training: More

Electives: More

Additional Resources: More

Microsoft’s Unified Communications (UC) Voice Ignite

Microsoft’s Unified Communications (UC) Voice Ignite is a 5-day technical workshop for partners who are proactively mobilizing their IT, Networking, and Telecommunication professionals to deliver Voice over IP solutions to customers. This invitation-only no-fee* event is based on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 unified messaging (UM) and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007.

During UC Voice Ignite you will build on your previous experience with Microsoft’s UC products** and learn how to successfully design and deploy Microsoft voice solutions for your customers through presentations based on experience, Hands on Labs, and a Make It Right Project.

We look forward to your active participation at this unique technical event!

*Hotel and travel expenses must be covered by the attendee. Breakfast and lunch will be provided daily.

**Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Architecting and Deploying Unified Messaging (UM Power Up) and Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 Ignite are prerequisites to attending UC Voice Ignite. If you have not already attended these trainings, you may search for local events or self-paced courses and labs offered online through the UC Learning Path Tool.

Tags van Technorati: voice ignite , ocs , Ip solutions

Are you a writer?

The lost couple of months i'm in contact with a project manager at Syngress for writing a new OCS2007 book "How to Cheat at Administering Office Communications Server 2007". They still looking for writers! ISBN: Book

Attached an e-mail from Syngress:

I'm still looking for authors for the following chapters of Elsevier's book titled How to Cheat at Administering Office Communications Server 2007, which is scheduled to go to press early in December:

5: Configuring the Edge Server

7: Configuring Archiving

The deadline for writing these chapters is December 3. If you can post this message on your forum, I'd definitely appreciate it. I need to find authors ASAP.

So, question who can help Syngress for writing the last chapters of this book. Doing it myself is not possible ;-(. When you think you help Elsevier please contact me ASAP.

 

Tags van Technorati: How to Cheat at Administering Office Communications Server 2007 , Office Communications Server 2007 , Cheat , Elsevier , Writers

MOC2007 Presence Controls

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 Presence Controls

The Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 Presence Controls use the automation interfaces of Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 to show presence information using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007.

Quick Details

File Name:
OCPresenceControls.msi

Version:
2.0.6362.27

Date Published:
11/13/2007

Language:
English

Download Size:
519 KB

11/13/2007

Tags van Technorati: MOC2007 , Presence Controls

It's Showtime

Special tenx to Jos Verlinde Senior MCS Consultant Microsoft Netherlands. It's Showtime special for the UC specialists in the Netherlands.

IT's Showtime

Office Communications Server 2007 integratie met telefoons

The presentation can be downloaded: Download

A.M.A Case Study and Interoute Services

A new Case Study is released at Interoute how interoute and AMA integrates with Microsoft Technology. Interesting...

More information on how to try this solution see: Signup for interoute one

More information about how to configure you're Mediation Server see: Configure Mediation Server

Tags van Technorati: interoute one , A.M.A , Mediation Server , OFfice Communications Server 2007 , Exchange 2007

Communicator Web Access

Communicator Web Access (2007 release) is an Office Communications Server 2007 server role that is now available on the Office Communications Server 2007 CD and no longer downloadable from the web. Communicator Web Access (CWA) addresses a specific customer need that is not satisfied by any other Office Communications Server 2007 server role. CWA provides a server scale client for Office Communications Server that targets the following 3 platforms:

• Locked-down Windows – these are IT administered Windows computers, and therefore users cannot install Office Communicator 2007 to sign-in to Office Communications Server. Such users can still sign-in to Office Communications Server via CWA.
• Non-Windows platforms – computers not running a Windows operating system cannot install Office Communicator 2007. Such users can use CWA.
• Mobile client platforms – mobile devices with web browsing capability and compatible with AJAX technology or a custom client can potentially sign-in to Office Communications Server using CWA.

More information on the MOC weblog: CWA Tenx guys!

UC Launch the Kuip

Yesterday we had a wonderful day at the Kuip in Rotterdam. The UC Launch in the Netherlands together with Microsoft Netherlands. In the very early morning we had to build up the stand 06:30 AM ! 05:45 out of bed... pff. Not easy can i say.

We prepared a complete demo environment for this day. Some highlights:

• 4 x demo laptops with Vista Business and Office 2007 Enterprise Edition
• 3 x Toshiba cams to demonstrate IM+Video
• 3 x Windows Mobile 6.0 Prof devices with CoMo client installed
• UC video devils wears prada
• self-made CoMo demonstration video
• 1 server running OCS - Communicator Web Access Server 2007
• 1 server running OCS - Mediation Server connected to interoute (largest iSIP company in the United Kingdom
• 1 server running OCS - Enterprise Edition Pool
• 1 server running OCS - Web Conferencing Edge / Remote Access
• 1 server running OCS - A/V Conferencing Edge
• 1 server running OCS - A/V Conferencing Server
• 1 server running OCS - Web Conferencing Server
• 1 server running OCS - Web Components Server

We get a lot of different questions on our stand. Top items:

1. How do you integrate interoute with OCS Mediation Server? Answer: Connect Interoute and OCS Mediation Server

2. How much does it cost to route outbound and inbound calls through the Interoute Network? Answer: Overview more information send a e-mail to Nelson Tavares da Silva at Nelson.Tavaresdasilva@interoute.com (Account Director)

3. How is the voice quality within OCS? Answer: More information you can read in this document: QoE document

4. Is there a possibility to integrate OCS functionals (basic IM etc) only in basic ASP.net websites? Answer: Yep, see the Microsoft AJAX SDK OCS: OCS 2007 SDK and OCS: Unified Communications AJAX SDK or OCS: Communications Server SDK.

5. How many does the MOR costs? MOR = Microsoft Office Roundtable device. Answer: vary between 1900 euro and 3000 euro. See: Fluks and NEC More information on Roundtable:  "Microsoft RoundTable is an advanced collaboration and conferencing device that provides meeting participants with an engaging, immersive conferencing experience. Combined with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 or Microsoft Office Live Meeting service (2007), RoundTable provides a 360-degree view of the conference room, wideband audio, and video that tracks the flow of conversation between multiple speakers. "

6. How does OCS deal with logical Routing between multiple Mediation Servers and VOIP gateways? Answer:

Communications Server 2007 is responsible for seamlessly routing all voice calls for users who are enabled for Enterprise Voice. Core routing components and logic for Enterprise Voice reside on the following Communications Server 2007 roles:

· Standard Edition Server in the role of Front End Server or Director

· Enterprise Edition Front End Server

The core routing components are the Translation Service, Inbound Routing Component, and Outbound Routing Component:

Translation Service

The Translation Service is the server component that is responsible for translating a dialed number into E.164 format, using normalization rules based on location profiles that are defined by the administrator.

Inbound Routing Component

The Inbound Routing Component handles incoming calls largely according to preferences that are specified by users on their Enterprise Voice clients. For example, users specify whether unanswered calls are to be forwarded or simply logged for notification. If call forwarding is enabled, users can then specify whether unanswered calls should be forwarded to another number or to an Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging server that has been configured to provide call answering. The Inbound Routing Component is installed by default on all Standard Edition Servers and Enterprise Edition Front End Servers.

Outbound Routing Component

The Outbound Routing Component routes calls to PBX or PSTN destinations. It applies call authorization rules to callers and determines the optimal media gateway for routing each call. The Outbound Routing Component is installed by default on all Standard Edition Servers and Enterprise Edition Front End Servers.

The routing logic that is used by the Outbound Routing Component is in large measure configured by network or telephony administrators according to the requirements of their organizations. This guide is primarily devoted to explaining how to plan and configure data structures that the Outbound Routing Component uses to route outgoing calls. These data structures include phone usage records, voice policies, and routes.

More information see:

Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 Enterprise Voice Planning and Deployment Guide (download: doc)

Conclusion: great day, great presentations and a lot of happy people!

Tags van Technorati: UC Launch , Netherlands , MOR2007 , Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 , routing , outbound , inbound , IM , Video and Audio OCS , Live Meeting 2007 , LM2007 , Enterprise Voice , QoE

New Microsoft Office Communications Server elearning

Learn how to take advantage of the enhanced e-learning collection on enterprise capabilities provided by Office Communications Server 2007, and get a richer experience using virtual labs designed for the final product version.

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7667746

Note: You may also want to mention the free downloadable sample chapters from the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Resource Kit:  http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7675616

 

Tags van Technorati: elearning OCS

Analysis, Tuning Audio with OCS2007!

Log Analysis and Tuning Using Analytics and Tuning Studio whitepaper is released.

Quick Details

File Name:
TuningWhitePaper.doc

Version:
1.0

Date Published:
11/4/2007

Language:
English

Download Size:
1.1 MB

Download: Link

This whitepaper discusses using Analytics and Tuning Studio, which is included in Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Speech Server. Topics covered include an overview of analysis and tuning scenarios, a summary of trace logging configurations, application development decisions that impact application tuning, and best practices for speech application tuning. This paper also describes how to reduce no-recognitions due to out of grammar utterances, as well as how to perform various session, task, and turn analysis tasks.

Tags van Technorati: OCS Tuning , OCS Audio , OCS Analytics

Weekend off!

This weekend i was completely free. No work, no UC related things. I enjoyed it! Of course in this weekend there was something interesting catching my eye! After 1 hour sitting on my bike to Utrecht we arrived at Media Market.

No thats not real! Right? Worlds biggest Plasma TV. Woh! And also very cheap 60k euro's! heheh.

Some specs:

• Panasonic TH 103 PF9 EK
• 262 cm display!
• Full HD 1920-1080P
• Contrast 5000:1
• 2m pixels!
• Worlds biggest plasma
• Price: well i think i have to talk with my boss ;-)
• 103-inch
• 220 kg....
• 1500W ;-) jezus chri..

Conclusion: nice TV to put Media Center on hahaha. Next week we are setting on the UC Launch in the Kuip (Rotterdam)... stay tuned!