Friday, January 30, 2009

Upcoming scheduled AOL / PIC maintenance window

Upcoming scheduled AOL / PIC maintenance window

source

Summary:

America Online will be performing scheduled maintenance on their SIP Access Gateways during the following maintenance window:

Confirmed Maintenance Start time: 2009-02-03 04:00 ET

Projected Maintenance End time: 2009-02-03 06:00 ET

There may be sporadic access service availability and users may experience service disruption.

User Action:

No action needs to be taken by your Office Communications Server administrator(s). Additionally, there will not be any further notification regarding this maintenance activity unless there is a broad disruption of service. In such cases, we will relay outage communication accordingly.

Filed under: PIC

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

UC Newsletter released (January 2009)

As you probably saw the UC newsletter 2009 (Jan) is released. You can download the newsletter by clicking the newsletter on the top of this page (SkyDrive). If you prefer receiving it by email? Please, sent me your email address.

clip_image001

UC Personal newsletter: 2009/01 (January)

URL: http://unified-communications.blogspot.com

Assign someone else? SUBSCRIBE

Wilt u iemand anders opgeven, stuur dan graag zijn/haar emailadres door

OCS R2 Launch Video's on YouTube

Special thanks for Jamie Stark for pointing me out to this wonderful OCS 2007 R2 launch video's:

http://nl.youtube.com/profile?user=OCSR2Launch&view=videos

OCS R2 Launch register now!

We want to encourage as many people as possible to sign up for the launch.

The virtual event will be available at www.ocsr2launch.com on Tuesday, February 3. The site will be packed with useful and entertaining content for anyone interested in unified communications, including breakout sessions and a partner pavilion.

R2 downloads from Microsoft Download available

Since last night all the OCS R2 stuff (documentation) is available for download. Special thanks to Matthijs Hoekstra (UC Evangelist Microsoft Netherlands) for pointing me out.

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Release Notes
These documents contain important information that you should know before you deploy and use Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and clients.

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Testing and Troubleshooting Guide
This guide covers implementation of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat.

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Client Group Policy Settings
This spreadsheet lists the Group Policy settings for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 clients.

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Planning and Deployment Guide
This guide covers implementation of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat.

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Getting Started Guide
This guide provides instructions about how to use Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat.

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Quick Reference Card
This guide provides instructions about how to use Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat.

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat What's New Guide
This guide provides details of feature changes between MindAlign 6.5 and Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat.

Deploying the Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 Client with Office Communications Server 2007 R2
This guide helps administrators deploy the meeting client for a Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 environment.

Microsoft Office Live Meeting Quick Reference for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2
This quick reference card summarizes the common tasks associated with using the Live Meeting client with Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

Meeting Client for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Testing and Troubleshooting Guide
This guide explains in detail how to test and troubleshoot Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 hosted on Office Communications Server 2007.

Getting Started with the Microsoft Office Live Meeting Client for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2
This document outlines new features and common tasks in the Microsoft Office Live Meeting Client for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Quick Reference for Dial-in Conferencing
This quick reference card summarizes the dial-in conferencing features in Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Recording Converter for Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007

link

Recording Converter for Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 is a tool for Office Live Meeting 2007 customers to convert recorded meetings in High Fidelity Presentation (HFP) format into single movie files. The converted movie files can be integrated with a customer's existing learning management system, and edited by using a video editing tool such as Windows Movie Maker, and then viewed on portable devices.

Recording Converter consists mainly of two components:

  • Recording Converter Engine - Lm2move.exe that can be run as a command-line tool. The tool can be called in a script for batch processing.
  • Graphical User Interface - Lm2movui.exe that provides users with an interactive user interface and calls the conversion engine from the background for conversion processing.

Major options that can be used when converting a recorded meeting include the following:

  • Specify start and end time of a meeting to export part of a recorded meeting (command line only).
  • Specify output video dimension.
  • Specify video and content layout; supported options include:
  • With panorama and webcam video – include all videos if applicable in the converted recording.
  • No panorama video – exclude panoramic video in converted recording.
  • No webcam video – exclude webcam video in converted recording.
  • Without video – exclude both panorama and webcam video in converted recording.
  • Specify the frame rate of output video files (command line only).

e-office specializes in latest Unified Communications technologies

e-office specialises in latest Unified Communications technologies
latest version Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 already in use by e-office

As one of the first Microsoft UC Voice Partners in the Netherlands e-office has implemented the latest version of Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS), Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 (OCS2007 R2).
In the latest version of OCS2007 R2 the integration of the OCS Server and the Communicator Client Mobile has been significantly improved by the new features included in the mobile client. In addition to the standard presence state, the mobile presence state of a person is now also visible. Another new feature is the possibility of sharing your desktop within instant messaging conversations and web conversations.

The new applications of OCSR2 2007 are an important part in realising a complete Unified Communications & Collaboration working environment which will simplify working processes for professionals.
‘Our specialists are skilled in Microsoft OCS and in implementing migrations,’ says Joachim Farla MVP and Unified Communications specialist at e-office. ‘With the realisation of OCS2007 R2 we are already able to gain experience with this new technology and advise customers about the advantages of the latest Microsoft Unified Communications technologies. Therefore we would like to invite our customers to experience the new possibilities and advantages of the latest version OCS2007R2 during a demonstration by one of our experts.“
more information
For more information about the latest version of OCS and the possibilities or a demonstration of OCS2007R2, please visit our website microsoft.e-office.com or contact Arjan van Eijk by sending an e-mail to Arjan.van.Eijk@e-office.com

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

More info on Exam 088-924

Guys, there is more information available on the UC Learning Paths Site about the Exam 088-924. Select your role in step 1 what you want to do in step 2 and last but not least step 3 the qualifying exam.

image

I have more information about the RTM availability of 088-924 but I'm still in progress to lift the NDA of this. Stay tuned in case the NDA is lift. More information on this UC blog very soon. 

-Joachim

Output:

image

Monday, January 19, 2009

Microsoft Unified Communications Training and Adoption Kit Flash Cards - English

Quick Details

File Name:
2007tipsandtricksPPTDeck.ppt

Version:
1.0

Date Published:
1/18/2009

Language:
English

Download Size:
5.2 MB

Overview

This deck of tips and tricks flash cards can help you get things done. Each card provides step-by-step instructions for how to use your company’s unified communications software and technology.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Certificates and Group Chat Server in OCS2007 R2

A couple of days ago we started to deploy our new Group Chat Server. After the installation of the Group Chat Server we discovered that the Lookup Service and the Channel Service didn't start up. After some investigation we saw that the certificate needed to exchange keys with the OCS2007 R2 home server didn't have a private key.

The process to get in touch with this error message is:

FIRST: setting the logging level to ERROR on the Channel Server (Group Chat Server Configuration):

image

SECOND: setting the logging level to ERROR on the Lookup Server (Group Chat Server Configuration):

imageAfter configuring the settings above we need to turn back to the initial logging folder, by default the logs directory is created in <SYSTEM>:\Program Files\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2\Group Chat Server\Logs

After some additional investigation we saw a couple of ERROR breakpoints in the TXT file.

Example 1:

ERROR    |20090114-12:37:31.297|    6:|PeerTransport.Connect | unable to start WCF Service:
The certificate 'E=e-services@e-office.com, CN=ocs01.contoso.local, OU=IT, O=CONTOSO, L=Houten, S=Utrecht, C=NL' must have a private key that is capable of key exchange. The process must have access rights for the private key. at
    at System.ServiceModel.Security.SecurityUtils.EnsureCertificateCanDoKeyExchange(X509Certificate2 certificate)

Example 2:

ERROR    |20090114-12:37:31.297|    6:         |       MAServiceBase.LogUnhandledException                         | <System.ArgumentException: The certificate 'E=e-services@e-office.com, CN=ocs01.contoso.local, OU=IT, O=CONTOSO, L=Houten, S=Utrecht, C=NL" must have a private key that is capable of key exchange. The process must have access rights for the private key.

Resolution:

while requesting your certificate please make sure you can export the private key and import the certificate including the PK in IIS7.0 to edit the Secure Bindings of the MGCWebService

image

After importing the right SSL certificate (including PK) check if you can reach the webservice on /MGCWebService/MGCWebService.asmx">https://<SERVERNAME>/MGCWebService/MGCWebService.asmx

Example:

image

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Nortel Business and Financial Restructuring

Today, Nortel is filing for creditor protection in Canada, the United States and Europe in order to undertake a comprehensive business and financial restructuring. More

Architecture and Design for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Datasheet

Quick Details

File Name:
Architecture_and_Design_for_Office_Communications Server_2007.pdf

Version:
1.0

Date Published:
1/14/2009

Language:
English

Download Size:
137 KB

Overview

Architecture and Design for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 from Microsoft Services can help you fulfill your vision for unified communications.

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Licensing

The biggest question is: how is the OCS2007 R2 licensing positioned. Is it dramatically changed or only some components? A couple of days ago we as MVP's had the privilege to see the new OCS2007 R2 licensing structure. OCS2007 R2 RTM is launched so also the OCS2007 R2 licensing. If you need any additional information please contact me. The most important one: No price increases (OCS2007 vs OCS2007 R2)!!

From the community I received a lot of questions about:

  • Are you allowed to install all the OCS-roles (in particular EDGE and MED) with a single license of OCS Standard?
  • What is the Euro and $ price for the STD Server? review your agreement or see the list prices.
  • What is the difference between the STD and ENT Server license?
  • New features rationalized to current CAL structure:
    • Group Chat added to Standard CAL!
    • Desktop Sharing added to Enterprise CAL!
    • All call/voice/conferencing features added to Enterprise CAL!
  • Who needs a call in OCS?

image

  • What is the difference between STD and ENT CAL? See the image below for the complete overview.
  • What rights does the STD/ENT CAL give you?

image

  • What does the licensing model of the Communicator look like? In which situations (IE Office versions) is licensing of the Communicator not required? The Communicator R2 License is still needed to use your standard or enterprise features.
  • What are additional software components in OCS?
    • Office Communicator Web Access 2007 R2
    • Office Communicator Mobile for Java 2007 R2
    • Office Communicator Mobile for Windows Mobile 2007 R2
    • Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat (free)
    • Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Attendant (free)
    • Office Live Meeting client (free)
  • Is the OCS CAL part of an Enterprise Agreement? Yes, the CALS are added to the Enterprise Agreement (standard and enterprise)
  • Is there an upgrade license available? Customers renewing SA will renew into the new OCS licensing structure. Note: see the LCS licenses without SA.

image

  • Is the OCS External Connector still available? No, the OCS External Connector is now longer available in OCS2007 R2. It's simply to complex so they skipped the need for purchasing the External License Connector.
  • Enterprise Edition Simplification in R2. For OCS EE Servers make all roles except EDGE/Front End Servers.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

OCS2007 R2 Kickoff week e-office!

Interesting enough this week is kickoff week at e-office to implement Office Communications Server R2 RTM (OCS2007 R2) in our production environment!

As innovative partner (Gold) and very early adopter of the RTM bits we started yesterday to make our Functional Design (FD), Technical Design (TD) and Implementation Specifications (IM) for OCS2007 R2 RTM.

I really suggest to make a proper design before implementing OCS2007 R2 into your infrastructure. If you need any help btw please contact me and I will help you implementing it. At least my advice ;-)

Below my vision about the strategy to implement OCS2007 R2:

Step 1. Make a proper Functional Design (FD) before starting with the technical part. Make sure you describe the functionality users have after implementing OCS2007 R2. How they can use it and in special why?

Step 2. Make a proper Technical Design (TD) before starting the hands-on part. Make sure you describe the technical overview and please do not avoid details (OCS Topology, roles, consolidation of roles, ADS-domain structures, sa-accounts etc etc)

Step 3. Activity Plan (AP) before hitting the install button. Who is prepping the Schema, Forest and Domain? Who is making the SA-accounts? Review your FD and TD before proceeding.

Step 4.  The first part will be prep your Schema, Forest and Domain. Before you start the process of preparing Active Directory Domain Services (ADDS) for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, ensure that your Active Directory infrastructure meets the prerequisites. More information will be available very soon.

Step 5. The second part. Before you deploy Office Communications Server R2, you must prepare Active Directory Domain Services (ADDS). Active Directory preparation includes schema preparation, forest preparation, and domain preparation. After that install the right version of OCS2007 R2 Standard or Enterprise Edition.

Step 6. The third part. Every deployment at a customer side is different. In a Greenfield situation (no OCS2007 R2 at all) I really  suggest deploying the OCS2007 R2 Edge Role to expose your OCS2007 R2 functionality to the Internet. Especially useful when information workers are at home (without VPN or so), would like to have virtual meeting with Live Meeting etc. e-office will absolutely deploy this role! In situations where LCS2005SP1/OCS 2007 is deployed go back to the drawing table. Most of the features in OCS2007 are back in OCS2007 R2 (all of them are improved) and lots of extra software (Archiving, Monitoring Server, Mediation)

Step 7. Decide which additional software roles you would like to deploy. Some options for your consideration list. Group Chat Server (Group Chatting in different virtual rooms sharing content together, and fully manageable by your Group Chat Administration Tool).

Interface 1: OCS2007 R2 Group Chat Administration Tool.

image

Interface 2: OCS2007 R2 Group Chat Console for end-users:

image

Interface 3. OCS2007 R2 Attendant Console

Manage your calls, send instant messages and see who is online using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Attendant.

image

After login: ;-)

image

A really nice functionality is ofcourse Communicator Web Access 2007 R2. Today we deployed the new CWA side by side to our old one and see some very nice improvements. Check out this:

Interface 4. The new CWA Login Page

image

imageDesktop Sharing through CWA! After installing the CWA addition we can do desktop sharing right through the SSL channel. Right click the Share My Desktop feature and there you go.

As e-office we also deployed Group Chat Server. My first impression if really outstanding. We had some struggles installing the OCS2007 R2 Group Chat Server, we bring all the brilliance together and figure out it was asking for a certificate with a Private Key to exchange keys correctly.

Interface 5: Group Chat Administration Tool

image

Interface 6: Group Chat Console

image

Just to give you the first experience. More technical articles posted this month. Stay tuned and feel free to ask about the functionality, deployment pattern's, design scenario's etc etc.

-Joachim 

Monday, January 12, 2009

OCS 2007 R2 and Localization

For all of you European OCS 2007 R2 users, there’s a small “hidden feature” in the release of the OCS 2007 R2 Edge server.

During our migrations from OCS 2007 R1 to the all new R2 RTM release, we noticed some stange A/V Edge Auhentication server errors. Users would see a “limited calling” error in Communicator, the Mediation server would complain there was no valid A/V Authentication service, and the front-end A/V Validation would simply fail without any helpfull notification.  After some in-house troubleshooting, it was time to call in the troops.

Together with Microsoft, we validated the Edge configuration, did some tracing, and couldn’t find anything wrong with the edge server. One of the problems that kept coming up was a vague “Version MisMatch” error in the snooper logs. One of our troops at Microsoft took a closer look and noted that the edge server was complaining about a version 2,0 instead of a 2.0. Yes, you read that correctly, a comma instead of a period.

We never thought of the fact that we installed the servers with Dutch localization, and apparently, Microsoft didn’t either. One of the main differences when using a European localization, is the change in number notation. Where the US locale uses a notation like $ 1,000,000.00 , us Europeans will use  € 1.000.000,00 . This caused the Edge server to be unable to recognize any version numbers coming in.

This bug has been reported to Microsoft, and is in the process of being fixed. In the meantime, you can work around this issue in the following manner;

  • On the Edge server, add the Edge Service account to local administrators and logoff.
  • Logon using the Edge Service account
  • Go to control panel, Regional and Language options.
  • Change the format to English (US).
  • Remove the Service Account from the local administrators and reboot.

You can verify this workaround by rerunning the validation wizzard on your front-end. It will show the A/V authentication service pass with flying colours! Special thanks to Korneel who was giving me this information.

Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.5

Quick Details

Version:
HMC

Date Published:
1/7/2009

Language:
English

Download Size:
4.0 MB - 82.1 MB*

HMC 4.5 brings together powerful Microsoft enterprise products such as
Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, and
now gives you Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, which
manages all real-time communications such as instant messaging (IM)
and audio and video conferencing.
Other new features and enhancements:
• Exchange Server 2007 SP1: Web-based OABs and resource mailboxes
• Windows SharePoint Services: multi-tenant People Picker functionality
• Provisioning capabilities have been expanded: Microsoft Provisioning System (MPS) cross data store integration procedures and Individual Information Worker (IIW) tenant model

System Requirements
  • Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2; Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 Windows Server 2008

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

e-office en StartReady samen in Unified Communications

Press Release: (Dutch) - for Dutch Audience

e-office en StartReady samen in Unified Communications

Het nieuwe werken snel mogelijk gemaakt met kant-en-klare totaaloplossing

Houten, 7 januari 2009

e-office, the human software organisation en specialist in het optimaliseren van de digitale werkomgeving van professionals, werkt samen met StartReady,

StartReady and e-office

leverancier van een kant-en-klare toepassing voor Unified Communications (UC). e-office implementeert de Unified Communications-toepassing van StartReady bij klanten en biedt service rond de toepassing. Door gebruik te maken van de StartReady-toepassing kan e-office in een kort tijdsbestek de technische invulling van Unified Communications verzorgen. Zo heeft e-office voldoende tijd de klant te ondersteunen bij de organisatie- en attitudeverandering die gepaard gaat met een nieuwe manier van werken.

Mensen willen onafhankelijk van tijd en plaats toegang hebben tot de juiste informatie en expertise. Door het gebruik van UC neemt de bereikbaarheid en flexibiliteit van medewerkers toe, doordat zij via verschillende communicatiemiddelen toegang hebben tot bijvoorbeeld e-mail, agenda, contacten en aanwezigheidsinformatie. StartReady heeft hardware en Microsoft software, waaronder Office Communications Server 2007, geïntegreerd tot een kant-en-klare technische oplossing (appliance). In deze totaaloplossing zijn installatie, beheer en licenties al inbegrepen. Binnen een aantal dagen is de appliance geïnstalleerd en klaar voor gebruik. Hierdoor kan e-office op een laagdrempelige manier huidige en potentiële klanten kennis laten maken met Unified Communications en daarmee de voordelen van het nieuwe werken.

“Het succes van het nieuwe werken hangt nauw samen met de manier waarop een organisatie is ingericht en hoe de medewerkers omgaan met de technologie om  samenwerking te vereenvoudigen. Het nieuwe werken vereist een andere manier van denken”, aldus Menno Windsma, directeur van e-office Microsoft. “Delen en vertrouwen staan daarin centraal. Met de oplossing van StartReady zijn wij in staat de technische implementatie van Unified Communications sneller te verzorgen  en kunnen wij ons richten op organisatorische veranderingen en het trainen van medewerkers in het omgaan met de verschillende communicatiemiddelen.”

Lucas Wensing, algemeen directeur van StartReady: “We zien dat steeds meer bedrijven interesse hebben in een partnerschap met ons. Doordat wij een betaalbare, eenvoudig te implementeren Unified Communications-oplossing in huis hebben, maken we het voor potentiële partners heel aantrekkelijk om onze oplossing in hun portfolio op te nemen. Wij nemen onze partners alle beslommeringen rond het onderhoud en de techniek van een UC-oplossing uit handen, zodat zij zich kunnen focussen op hun kerntaken. Ook de samenwerking met e-office is hier een mooi voorbeeld van. Zij kunnen zich hierdoor optimaal richten op het realiseren van de benodigde organisatie- en attitudeverandering die nodig is voor het nieuwe werken.”

----------------------

Over StartReady

StartReady, opgericht door twee voormalig Microsoft medewerkers, werkt nauw samen met Microsoft en staat garant voor gedegen technologische kennis en marktervaring. Het bedrijf ontwikkelt gebruiksvriendelijke en laagdrempelige IT-oplossingen op basis van Microsoft-technologie. Door hardware en software te integreren tot één eindproduct, kunnen deze appliances zonder verder installatie meteen in gebruik worden genomen. Gemakkelijk, betrouwbaar en stabiel. www.startready.com

Over e-office

e-office is opgericht in 1991 en heeft zich direct vanaf het begin gespecialiseerd in het optimaliseren van de werkomgeving voor professionals. Deze manier van werken past bij deze eeuw: work21. De dienstverlening van e-office is gericht op het begeleiden van de organisatie- en gedragsverandering die nodig is om de werkprocessen te verbeteren. Daarnaast verzorgt e-office de realisatie van digitale werkomgevingen inclusief de juiste portaloplossingen op basis van IBM- en Microsoft-technologie. e-office adviseert organisaties over de manier waarop zij technologie kunnen inzetten om (virtuele) samenwerking te verbeteren en zo efficiënter te werken, ongeacht tijd of plaats. Hierbij staat een goede balans tussen mens, organisatie en technologie centraal. e-office realiseert naast digitale werkomgevingen en portals ook oplossingen voor intranet, extranet of websites en mobiele oplossingen. De toepassingen van e-office worden gebruikt in verschillende sectoren, zoals de financiële sector, de zakelijke dienstverlening, zorg en industrie. Klanten van e-office zijn onder meer Achmea, Blauwhoed, Boskalis, FBTO, Fortis, Loyens & Loeff, Rabobank International, Stork en Koninklijke Visio. Voor de realisatie van haar oplossingen maakt e-office gebruik van de nieuwste (portal-)technologieën en is Microsoft Gold Partner en IBM Premier Partner. Bij e-office, gevestigd in Houten, werken zo’n 100 specialisten. Voor meer informatie over e-office: www.e-office.com.

Voor meer informatie:

e-office

Eline Roelfsema

Tel.: 088 001 83 00

e-mail: eline.roelfsema(at)e-office.com

Official press release

UC Tips and Tricks Flashcards for End-Users

I’m delighted to share with you our brand new Unified Communications Tips and Tricks Flashcards for End-Users!  Specials thanks to Robin Martin-Emerson.

The attached deck of tips and tricks flash cards for Microsoft’s Unified Communications can help end-users get things done. Each card provides step-by-step instructions for how to use Microsoft’s Unified Communications software and technology. Use it yourself or send these to others you know.

If you need the resource files please sent me an email and I will get it for you.

Download link

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

New Roles and Capabilities in Office Communications Server 2007 R2

Lots of customers also have questions about the new roles and capabilities in OCS 2007 R2. Idem with this blogpost a short list is provided.

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 introduces the Unified Communications Application Server (UCAS) which is installed on each front end server. e-office will install also the UCAS server to support these capabilities for our internal employees. This UCAS component enables many of the new capabilities in OCS 2007 R2 which are implemented as UCAS applications. The table below shows new Office Communications Server 2007 R2 roles and associated capabilities.

Roles Component Capabilities
Conferencing Auto Attendant (CAA) UCAS Application PSTN dial-in conferencing
Conferencing Announcement Service (CAS) UCAS Application PSTN dial-in conferencing, Music on hold
Call Control Server (CCS) UCAS Application Single Number Dialing for mobile phones
Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) UCAS Application Response Group
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Web Component Workflows for Response Groups
Application Sharing MCU Desktop Sharing via RDP
Mobile Communicator Express (MCX) CWA

Single Number Dialing for non-Microsoft phones

Channel Service, Lookup Service, Web Service and Group Chat Console Chat Server Group Chat
Attendant Console Client Delegation, Boss/Admin, Console

 

Key changes from Office Communications Server 2007 and now in R2!

Lots of customers would like to know which major changes Microsoft has made to their existing OCS infrastructure (OCS 2007) vs OCS 2007 R2. Let make a very short list for you. Enjoy it and feel free to leave some comments if you like.

Update Server:

The Update Server no longer requires Windows SharePoint Services

Roles impacted: Front End, Web Components, Reverse Proxy

Comments: A file share is used instead to store image updates which are published through a virtual directory on the Web Components server and through the Firewall via the HTTP Reverse Proxy. Integration with Microsoft Software Update Services is no longer provided.

QoE Server:

QoE Server becomes Monitoring Server and includes CDR functionality that was in the Archiving Role

Roles impacted: Quality of Experience Monitoring Server

Archiving Server:

Archiving Server no longer collects CDRs

Roles impacted: Archiving Server

Enterprise Edition Expanded Topology:

Enterprise Edition Expanded Topology is no longer a preferred deployment scenario

Roles impacted: Expanded Edition roles

Comments: Consolidated Edition should be deployed for Enterprise Edition Pools. The Expanded Edition configuration is no longer offered in the setup wizard.

Consolidated Edge role:

The Consolidated Edge role is now the only supported edge topology.

Roles impacted: Edge

Comments: Multiple consolidated edge servers can be deployed behind a load balancer for scale and high availability

Publicly routable IP address:

A publicly routable IP address is no longer needed in a site with only a single Edge Server

Roles impacted: Edge

Comments: When multiple edge servers are deployed with a load balancer, a publicly routable IP address is still required.

Edge Server port requirements:

Edge Server port requirements have been changed:

Roles impacted: Edge

Monday, January 5, 2009

Lots of OCS R2 news

As you probably missed the OCS R2 video's on TechNet Edge Microsoft published lots of information especially looking at the OCS R2 Planning Tool, CoMov3, Anywhere Access, Single Number Reach, Group Chat, OC, CWA, Conferencing and the brand new OCS R2 Attendant! Within almost 30 days from now you can deploy Office Communications Server 2007 R2 ! ;-)

Stay tuned on this weblog within 30 days you will receive some blogposts on how to migrate to OCS R2 (from OCS 2007). How to perform forest and domain preps (tips and tricks) and much more.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile (2007 Release) version 2.0.468.0

Quick Details

File Name:
CommunicatorMobile.msi

Version:
2.0.468.0

Knowledge Base (KB) Articles:
KB960492

Date Published:
12/28/2008

Language:
English

Download Size:
4.7 MB - 4.7 MB*

Issue that the hotfix rollup package fixes

  • Communicator Mobile 2007 crashes when you try to sign in to Office Communications Server 2007 R2.