Friday, February 26, 2010

Office Communicator 2007: Presence Integration Between IM Applications and 2007 Microsoft Office System

Quick Details

File Name:
Office2007_IM_Integration.doc

Version:
1.1

Date Published:
2/24/2010

Language:
English

Download Size:
43 KB

Source: Microsoft Download

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Unified Communications Development For Non Professional Developers

Event Overview

Microsoft Unified Communications is unleashing the power of software to communications. But what communications solutions can a company deploy without having a full-time developer on staff? In this webcast, we walk you through a set of easy-to-use applications that anyone with basic programming skills can use to build on the developer platform of Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Office Communications Server. Join us to learn how to use the new Windows PowerShell capabilities to manage your Exchange users; how to use Exchange for managing a customer database; how to build a conference room scheduling application in the Exchange Web Services Managed API; and how build a basic help desk portal application using speech recognition. All code will be made available after the webcast on http://gotuc.net.

Presenters: Joachim Farla, Technical Infrastructure Specialist, e-office and Michiel van Oudheusden, Software Architect, e-office

Joachim Farla works as a technical infrastructure specialist at e-office, a Microsoft Gold Partner, where he focuses on information worker products, including Microsoft Unified Communications, Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. He is the founder and owner of the Unified Communications Virtual User Group in the Netherlands (ucvug.nl), and he owns the central Unified Communications weblog in the Netherlands (unified-communications.blogspot.com).

Joachim has provided consulting and research within the information technology industry and with Microsoft for the past 11 years, and he is a two-time Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) on Communications Server 2007. Joachim has been quoted, interviewed, and published in national press, including Kennisportal and TechNet. Joachim began his career at Arenda, a Dutch financial company. He later became a junior system engineer at ING Bank Netherlands, and then he worked for Ordina Network Management Services and Ordina Finance.

Michiel van Oudheusden is one of the software architects and developers employed at e-office. While primarily focused on front-end web development, he also worked on Windows and service applications. Unified Communications is one of the technologies where Michiel is interested in. For e-office he also developed the OCS web chat application, an anonymous chat application connected with the Office Communications Server.

Working for 6 years at his own company during his Computer Science study, he started at e-office three years ago doing what he likes most: designing and developing software for various customers with different and new technologies.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Unified Communications Development for Non-Professional Developers content available for download!

THANKS FOR JOINING US!#ucoms #ocs #ex2010

In case you were having issues while connecting to the Live Meeting Service all the information can be viewed by streaming servers or can be downloaded separately!

Today we presented a webcast about Unified Communications Development for Non-Professional Developers. Together with my colleague Michiel van Oudheusden we presented amazing stuff about OCS R2 development, PowerShell in Exchange Server 2010 and much more. From the e-office community within e-office thank you very much for joining us today. 

CaptureAs we promised we make the slide decks available for download and of course all the instruction video’s about for example PowerShell capability in Exchange Server 2010. Rocks and call to action!

Speakers:

  • Joachim Farla = JFA
  • Michiel van Oudheusden = MOU

Downloads:

Presentation available for download:

Speaker Subject Download
JFA/MOU UC Development for Non-Prof Developers

Link

Presentation in parts:

Speaker Subject

Streaming

JFA/MOU Introduction

Link

JFA/MOU Unified Communications Platform

Link

JFA/MOU Exchange Extensibility

Link

JFA/MOU Exchange Web Services

Link

JFA/MOU Office Communicator Extensibility

Link

JFA/MOU OCS Server Development Part I

Link

JFA/MOU OCS Server Development Part II

Link

JFA/MOU End (Wrap-up)

Link

Instruction videos:

Speaker Subject

Streaming

JFA PowerShell - EMS

Link

JFA PowerShell - Out-GridView

Link

JFA PowerShell - ISE

Link

MOU EWS Managed API

Link

MOU Presence Aware Workflow with OCS R2

Link

Upcoming blogposts:

Check out our upcoming content (blogposts) about:

  • Part 1: PowerShell in Exchange Server 2010 (the world of) upcoming this month (Author: Joachim Farla)
  • Part 2: How to write your own application against EWS Managed API upcoming next month (Author: Michiel van Oudheusden)
  • Part 3: How to build your own presence aware application in Office Communications Server 2007 R2? upcoming next month (Author: Michiel van Oudheusden)

Short wrap up:

Microsoft Unified Communications is unleashing the power of software to communications. But what communications solutions can a company deploy without having a full-time developer on staff? In this webcast, we walk you through a set of easy-to-use applications that anyone with basic programming skills can use to build on the developer platform of Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Office Communications Server. 

Join us to learn how to use the new Windows PowerShell capabilities to manage your Exchange users; how to use Exchange for managing a customer database; how to build a conference room scheduling application in the Exchange Web Services Managed API; and how build a basic help desk portal application using speech recognition. All code will be made available after the webcast on http://gotuc.net.

Q&A UC Assistant – Today’s UC Webcast

<PLACEHOLDER>

More information on the webcast: link

  • Webcast Length: 90
  • Date/Time: 2/23/2010 11:00:00 AM Pacific (pending)

If you have any additional questions regarding the TechNet Webcast: Unified Communications Development for Non-Professional Developers and we did not take the time we like to take your questions offline.

So each question will be answered. For submitting your questions please use the OCS Webchat on the right side of page. Our UC community team is ready to respond to your questions!

Kind regards,

UC community team

UC Weblog hits 200.000 page views

Just to share with you a magical moment. The UC Weblog hits the 200k of page views. Yes! Here some stats:

  • The UC Weblog exist 4 years!
  • 724 posts in total
  • Top referring domain at microsoft.com
  • Listed in the top of UC Weblogs at Microsoft
  • 141k of visits
  • best used browser: Internet Explorer
  • Primary used language is: English
  • Visited by 182 countries, Unified Status on top (44k)

Thank you for supporting all these time. We are very privileged to do so much in the community. Stay tuned and get your first UC information from us!

UCVUG.nl down for maintenance on 26/02/10 and 27/02/10

#ucoms #ocs #ucvug_nl

Attention: The UCVUG server is down for maintenance on 26/02 11:00PM until 27/02 02:00AM. Sorry for the inconvenience. 

Last call to join us on TechNet Webcast

Twitter: #ucoms #ocs #ex2010

Today we present a webcast about Unified Communications Development for Non-Professional Developers. Together with my colleague Michiel van Oudheusden we present to you amazing stuff about OCS development, PowerShell in Exchange Server 2010 and much more.

Event Overview

Microsoft Unified Communications is unleashing the power of software to communications. But what communications solutions can a company deploy without having a full-time developer on staff? In this webcast, we walk you through a set of easy-to-use applications that anyone with basic programming skills can use to build on the developer platform of Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Office Communications Server. 

Join us to learn how to use the new Windows PowerShell capabilities to manage your Exchange users; how to use Exchange for managing a customer database; how to build a conference room scheduling application in the Exchange Web Services Managed API; and how build a basic help desk portal application using speech recognition. All code will be made available after the webcast on http://gotuc.net.

Event ID: 1032440410 (Level 300 session)

Join: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032440410&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

Saturday, February 20, 2010

The MVP Summit is over! 2010 is closed

The MVP Summit in Bellevue Washington is over. While sending some last mails from my hotel room in Hyatt I look back at a wonderful and inspiring week with lots of new stuff. I think Microsoft is doing a great job within the Unified Communications landscape. Lots of good interactions with the PG’s (Product Groups) here in Redmond.

Tonight we are going to take a quick bite at Joe's in Bellevue and then get a short nap. Tomorrow morning I will travel back to Amsterdam. All the MVP’s I’ve met this week thanks for the interaction and special thanks to the MVP leads… you guys did a great job! Thanks!

-Joachim

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Beta Exam 71-404 still available for two weeks!

Due to extreme winter weather conditions, Microsoft is extending Beta Exam 71-404, OCS 2007 R2 Voice Specialization for another two weeks.

Register for FREE with code OCR2J for BETA Exam 71-404 at Prometric sites: http://www.prometric.com/Microsoft/default.htm.

Candidates should plan for up to four hours to take the Beta exam and provide feedback on every question (versus the typical two hours to take Released version exams.)

It is highly recommended that candidates for Exam 74-404 (Beta 71-404) have experience with OCS 2007 R2 and have completed the Unified Communications Voice Ignite v 2.0 (R2) Workshop.

A preparation guide for the exam is available at:

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=74-404&locale=en-us

Please note, the exam is available in English only.

Source: Voice Specialized Partner Program

Friday, February 12, 2010

Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) Program: Recognizes, Develops, Certifies Technical Excellence

Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) Program:  Recognizes, Develops, Certifies Technical Excellence

How do senior IT professionals differentiate themselves from the competition?  The MCM program, through intensive training by world class experts, plus extensive written and lab-based testing, certifies only the most qualified.  As an MCM you’ll join an elite community of Microsoft software and technology experts, and you’ll be recognized as one of the top Microsoft technology experts in the world. Learn more about the Microsoft Certified Master Program

Source: link

RT POSTPONED: Additional Windows Live Messenger PIC/Federation IP Address

SUMMARY:

Reference PIC Me! PIC Me! original blog on an Additional Windows Live Messenger PIC/Federation IP Address

Tomorrow’s planned added capacity has been postponed for technical reasons and to provide additional time for administrators to update their firewall settings if necessary to reflect the additional IP address.  The new date that this work is scheduled to go into place is Friday, March 26, 2010.  For organizations that have chosen to restrict this traffic to specific IP addresses, you must have the list in KB 897567 in place prior to Friday, March 26, 2010 or PIC connectivity with MSN will fail.

897567    Known issues that occur with public instant messaging and Communications Server
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;897567

I will provide reminder notifications as the date approaches.

REFERENCES:

OOF I’m attending MVP Summit 2010

I'm attending the MVP Summit 2010 in Seattle. Expect delay in my email responses. I will be back on 21/02/10. Stay up to date and follow me on:

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/joafar
WEBLOG: http://unified-communications.blogspot.com

The MVP Global Summit is a multi-day event that is hosted in Bellevue and at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. With a large catalog of deep dive sessions and a variety of networking opportunities, the MVP Global Summit enables MVPs to connect with other MVPs, build relationships with Microsoft product managers, and provide feedback on Microsoft products and technologies. The MVP Global Summit is an exclusive event for MVPs.

More information can be found on: link

Installing UCMA SDK requires .NET 3.5 Framework error message

When trying to install the latest UCMA SDK for OCS 2007 R2 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=B20967B1-6CF5-4A4B-B7AE-622653AC929F&displaylang=en), I got the error message stating that the installation could not continue because of a missing .NET 3.5 Framework.
Strange, because I program in Visual Studio 2008 and certainly had installed the latest version of the framework.

However, I also installed the Visual Studio 2010 RC recently including the .NET 4.0 Framework. Just uninstall this version, install the UCMA SDK and reinstall the .NET 4.0 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a9ef9a95-58d2-4e51-a4b7-bea3cc6962cb&displaylang=en) Framework to get it to work.


Thursday, February 11, 2010

Google Mounts Stealth Attack on UC with Buzz

Last night I had the opportunity to give my feedback on a article on Google subject (UC with Buzz). As I’m not the expert on Google UC I've forwarded the article to Stefan Hoogendoorn. Read his article over here:

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/189046/google_mounts_stealth_attack_on_uc_with_buzz.html

Feel free to give us feedback.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 Group Policy Field Guide

Twitter: #ucoms #ocs

File Name:
Communicator_2007_R2_Group_Policy_Field_Guide.doc

Version:
1.1

Date Published:
2/9/2010

Language:
English

Download Size:
3.3 MB

The Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 Group Policy Field Guide is an essential guide for administrators who are responsible for setting Group Policy or configuring registry settings for Communicator users. It uses clear explanations and practical examples to illustrate how and why you would use a policy in your organization.

Source: Microsoft Downloads

Monday, February 8, 2010

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 Trial Download updated to version 6907.0

File Name:
CommunicatorEval.msi

Version:
6907.0

Knowledge Base (KB) Articles:
KB980093

Date Published:
2/5/2010

Language:
English

Download Size:
14.2 MB

Office Communicator 2007 R2 has been updated to resolve the issue covered in Knowledge Base article 980093.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

e-office and the UC community

As you might discovered the last weeks/months we pushed (e-office)  into a new organization structure. A organization structure which is much more suitable for us. Like a good fitting suit. The structure of yellow and blue! More information can of course be found on the weblog of Roland Hameeteman, CEO e-office (Dutch)

It really feels good and we are making great progress. The new organization will be much more social. Experts in our own internal organization are even important as external experts.  Experts who live in the “cloud” or for example join the “UCVUG.nl Virtual User Group”.  You guys are significally important to us.

Unified Communications is still one of our core competences. This year we start the UC Community @ e-office! The UC community is there for you. Is doesn’t matter what kind of role you have in a organization. The community is there if you have any questions about Unified Communications or related products. We are ready together with our community experts to help you. We are yellow “innovative” and “creative”. On the other hand we can deliver HSO (Human Software) products and services for each kind or project. Blue! Aka: we are ready to ROCK!

The roadmap for upcoming activities:

  • UC Metro Program “14” we are participating in one of best programs for the next version of OCS. (NDA)
  • The new e-office corporate website is LIVE and kicking (check it our www.e-office.com and feel free to give us feedback on feedback@e-office.com.
  • UC Assistant is scheduled each month for 30 minutes of FREE consultation. Check out our experts on http://ucvug.nl. Next session is scheduled on http://ucas1.eventbrite.com/. Feel free to ask your questions to support your project or customer case. (Dutch Only). This is a UCVUG initiative.
  • Each employee now is OCS Webchat enabled. Check out the “medewerkers” section on our brand new site. See also our OCS Group Chat strategies!
  • UCVUG.nl is again this year live and kicking. Each quarter there will be a virtual user group session. The first one of this year can already be downloaded. See: http://ucvug.nl/ (homepage) and download the corresponding presentation materials. See also our Live Meeting Recording.
  • unified-communications.blogspot.com will continue this year with lots of hot content!
  • e-office will attend the MVP Summit 2010 in Seattle. (NDA). The MVP Global Summit is a multi-day event that is hosted in Bellevue and at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. With a large catalog of deep dive sessions and a variety of networking opportunities, the MVP Global Summit enables MVPs to connect with other MVPs, build relationships with Microsoft product managers, and provide feedback on Microsoft products and technologies. More information see: www.mvpsummit2010.com
  • We actively recruiting for UC/SP experts (UC/SP IT Pro’s or UC/SP Developers). Check out the site (Dutch)
  • e-office will present quite frequently on the NEW Microsoft UC Community Days at Microsoft HQ Netherlands. The last presentation can be viewed here.
  • e-office Joachim Farla [MVP] and Michiel van Oudheusden are presenting a TechNet Webcast about. Unified Communications Development for Non-Professional Developers (Level 300). Join us: here
  • We will continue our activities on the UC&C section on www.kennisportal.nl meet the experts: here

I’m proud so far! Stay with us this year and please spread the world about our initiatives. More to come….

-Joachim Farla

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 Group Policy Field Guide 1.0 ready for download

File Name:
Communicator_2007_R2_Group_Policy_Field_Guide.doc

Version:
1.0

Date Published:
2/1/2010

Language:
English

Download Size:
3.3 MB

Overview

The Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 Group Policy Field Guide is an essential guide for administrators who are responsible for setting Group Policy or configuring registry settings for Communicator users. It uses clear explanations and practical examples to illustrate how and why you would use a policy in your organization.

Source: Microsoft Download

Social Media OCS UC Partner Day Microsoft HQ Netherlands

Check out this SlideShare Presentation we presented on the second UC Partner Day at Microsoft HQ in the Netherlands. Presenters Joachim Farla [MVP] and Bas Krikke (presentation: Dutch)

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Plantronics Calisto® P540‐M Wideband USB Deskphone for Microsoft® Office Communicator 2007

image

PRE-RELEASE!

Optimized for Microsoft® Office Communicator 2007 R2*,
the Plantronics Calisto P540‐M USB phone’s familiar desktop design eases user transition into the PC calling environment. With this optimized USB deskphone, customers enjoy the following benefits:

  • Simple plug‐and‐play design allows users to be up and running with
    Microsoft® Office Communicator in minutes when connected to user’s PC via
    the USB port
  • Bright, backlit LCD gives users the information they need including incoming
    caller ID, time, and user’s online status/presence
  • Wideband audio heightens speech clarity and reduces errors ensuring
    excellent PC audio call quality
  • One‐touch audio management including volume control and worry‐free mute
    key that lights up when activated
  • Users can work hands‐free using the integrated speakerphone or by plugging a headset into the RJ‐22 headset port that is compatible with Plantronics H top headsets and U10P cables

With Calisto P540‐M USB for Office Communicator 2007, customers benefit from
streamlined PC call management through a familiar phone interface, high‐quality
audio quality due to wideband capabilities, and quick access to audio adjustments like volume control and mute. Moreover, the hands‐free options of either using the integrated speakerphone or plugging in a headset allow improved user productivity
and more effective communication while using Unified Communications applications
such as IM or email.

*Min. version: Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 version 3.5.6907.3

Monday, February 1, 2010

UC Assistant Session (1) planned for 25/02

New: UC assistant

image For the upcoming months UCVUG will introduce a new service. Each month we select several UC experts (MVP’s etc) to have a consultation hour. Very low level and good feedback to support your Unified Communications Project (PABX, Software, Hardware anything!) The sessions will come available through Live Meeting. The first session will be hosted by myself. The UC Assistant is focused on Dutch customers only.

 

So if you have questions about a specific customer case or I can provide you with Community Support as OCS MVP feel free to submit to this session.

JOIN US: Subscribe at: http://ucas1.eventbrite.com/

UC Partner Day on 2 February 2010

imageHurray! We are presenting on the next UC Partner Day tomorrow in Microsoft HQ Netherlands. Our main topic is social computing and OCS. We are going to talk about the e-office proposition in the Microsoft UC competence. Taking a “deep” dive in the UC/OCS as new communication platform. Little information about Wave 14 and the new version of the upcoming OCS “14” version. How Social Computing/Media is playing a role in people’s head etc etc.

 imageHow you can use SharePoint 2010 and doing social.                   

The presentation is completely virtualized. No bullet presentation, no long sentences on what so ever.  That is kind of a new style for us.  

We are very excited to be at Microsoft tomorrow morning. Hopefully we got lots of interaction. And we will have interaction:

Bas Krikke is also entering the stage!

Our timeframe: Social Media & OCS  14:00 – 14:30 (Join us) for more information about Wave 14 etc see this link.