Running Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 in a Virtualized Topology

This whitepaper defines the supported topologies and provides best practice recommendations for running Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and SQL Server™ 2008 in a Windows Hyper-V environment or other hypervisor technologies.

Link

OCS 2007 R2 database

Data Types and Storage

Planning a storage solution for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 requires knowing what types of data are generated and where each type is stored. The following table lists this information.

Type of data	Name of data store	Location
Persistent user data (for example, ACLs, contacts, home server or pool, scheduled conferences)	RTC	Enterprise Edition, back-end database; Standard Edition, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express with SP2.
Persistent Office Communications Server 2007 R2 settings	RTCConfig	Enterprise Edition, back-end database; Standard Edition, SQL Server 2005 Express with SP2.
Transient user data (for example, endpoints and subscriptions, and transient conferencing state)	RTCDyn	Enterprise Edition, back-end database; Standard Edition, SQL Server 2005 Express with SP2.
Database containing global address information used by Address Book Web query service to support Address Book search queries from Communicator Mobile for Windows clients	RTCab	Enterprise Edition, back-end database; Standard Edition, SQL Server 2005 Express with SP2.
Address Book download files created by Address Book Server and downloaded by Office Communicator, Office Communicator Phone Edition, and Office Communicator Attendant clients	User-specified UNC path	For Enterprise Edition, download files are stored in a user-created shared NTFS folder located on a dedicated file server on a separate computer (recommended) from the Enterprise Edition Front End Server. For Standard Edition, files are stored in <Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 installation folder>\Web Components\Address Book Files on the local Standard Edition server.
Meeting content (for example, Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentations, question and answer logs, polling, chat, and uploaded content)	User-specified UNC path	For Enterprise Edition, download files are stored in a user-created shared NTFS folder located on a dedicated file server on a separate computer (recommended) from the Enterprise Edition Front End Server. For Standard Edition, files are stored in <Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 installation folder>\Web Components\Data MCU Web\Web on the local Standard Edition server.
Meeting content metadata (XML data that describes the meeting content, such as date and time a PowerPoint presentation is uploaded)	User-specified UNC path	For Enterprise Edition, download files are stored in a user-created shared NTFS folder located on a dedicated file server on a separate computer (recommended) from the Enterprise Edition Front End Server. For Standard Edition, files are stored in <Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 installation folder>\Web Components\Data MCU Web\Non-Web on the local Standard Edition server.
Meeting content compliance log (XML data that records content upload activities, along with the uploaded meeting content)	User-specified UNC path	For Enterprise Edition, download files are stored in a user-created shared NTFS folder located on a dedicated file server on a separate computer (recommended) from the Enterprise Edition Front End Server. For Standard Edition, files are stored in a default folder on the local Standard Edition server.
Application data files that are used internally by the application server component for the pool	User-specified UNC path	For Enterprise Edition, download files are stored in a user-created shared NTFS folder located on a dedicated file server on a separate computer (recommended) from the Enterprise Edition Front End Server. For Standard Edition, files are stored in <\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 installation folder>\Application Host\Application Data on the local Standard Edition server.
Update files used by the client version control mechanism to update Office Communicator clients and by the Device Update Service to update unified communications (UC) devices	User-specified UNC path on Enterprise Edition Installer-created folder on Standard Edition	For Enterprise Edition, update files are stored in a user-created file share located on a separate computer (recommended) from the Enterprise Edition Front End Server. For Standard Edition: Client update files are stored in <Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 installation folder>\Web Components\AutoUpdate. Device update files are stored in <Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 installation folder>\Web Components\DeviceUpdateFiles.
Monitoring Server Quality of Experience (QoE) data	QoEMetrics	Monitoring Server QoE database normally deployed on a separate computer (recommended) from the back-end database. This database is always deployed on the same server, in the same instance, as the CDR database.
Monitoring Server CDR data	LcsCDR	Monitoring Server CDR database normally deployed on a separate computer (recommended) from the back-end database. This database is always deployed on the same server, in the same instance, as the QoE database.
Archiving data	LcsLog	Archiving service database normally deployed on a separate computer (recommended) from the back-end database.
Group Chat data	User-specified database name	SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2008 database deployed on separate computer from the Group Chat Server.
Group Chat Web and compliance folders (to store files uploaded to the Group Chat Web service)	User-specified UNC path	A file share that can be accessed by all of the Group Chat Servers and services in the pool.
Group Chat compliance data	User-specified database name	SQL Server 2005 with SP2 or SQL Server 2008 database deployed on separate computer from the Compliance service. This can be the same database instance that is used for Group Chat data.
Transient Response Group Service data	ACDDyn	Enterprise Edition, back-end database; Standard Edition, SQL Server 2005 Express with SP2.

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OCS 2007 R2 lcscmd

LCSCmd is a very powerful tool that makes it possible to do things such as activate servers, check server configurations, manage certificates, and prepare AD DS for Office Communications Server installation. What it doesn't do is the actual installation of the servers.

LCSCmd installs with Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Core Components (osccore.msi) and the Administration Tools (admintools.msi), but it can also be run from the CD or a share. By default you'll find LCSCmd.exe in the Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 folder.
Usage Instructions
lcscmd /Forest: /Action:
/PoolName:
/PoolBE:
/RefDomain:
/MeetingContentPath:
/MeetingMetaPath:
/AppDataLocation:
/ClientUpdateLocation:
[/PDCRequired:[TRUE|FALSE] ][/GlobalSettingsDC: ]
[/DC: ][/GC: ]
[/Global: ]
[/GroupDomain: ]
[/GroupDomainDC: ]
[/DBDataPath: ]
[/DBLogPath: ][/Clean:[TRUE|FALSE] ]
[/EnableArch:[TRUE|FALSE] ][/EnableCDR:[TRUE|FALSE] ]
[/EnableQoE:[TRUE|FALSE] ]
[/DynDataPath: ]
[/DynLogPath: ][/PoolFQDN: ]
[/InternalWebFQDN: ]
[/ExternalWebFQDN: ]
[/ABOutputlocation:

]
[/MeetingArchivingPath: ]
[/ABSDataPath:

]
[/ABSLogPath:

]
[/ACDDataPath: ]
[/ACDLogPath: ]
[/Force:[TRUE|FALSE] ][/L: ]
[/XML:[TRUE|FALSE] ][/?:[TRUE|FALSE] ]

/Forest Executes the action for the specified forest. If no fully
qualified domain name (FQDN) is specified, current forest is
used. It defaults to "".

/Action Takes a string specifying the action name. Valid action names
include CheckSchemaPrepState SchemaPrep CheckForestPrepState
ForestPrep ForestUnprep CheckAllDomainsPrepState CreatePool
RemovePool CheckPoolState CheckAllPoolsState
UpdatePoolBackend Diag

/PoolName Specifies the pool name.

/PoolBE Specifies the backend SQL Server instance that will be used
by the pool.

/RefDomain Specifies the reference domain FQDN.

/MeetingContentPath
Specifies the UNC path where meeting presentation content
should be located.

/MeetingMetaPath
Specifies the UNC path where meeting meta data should be
located.

/AppDataLocation
Specifies the folder where OCS Applications will write their
files.

/ClientUpdateLocation
Specifies a folder for the Client Update file store.

/PDCRequired
Specifies whether PDCs are required for the action. It
defaults to "TRUE".

/GlobalSettingsDC
Specifies the FQDN of a global settings domain DC. Must be
local domain DC if settings are in configuration container
and root DC if settings are in the system container. It
defaults to "".

/DC Specifies the FQDN of a domain DC. It defaults to "".

/GC Specifies the FQDN of a forest GC. It defaults to "".

/Global Specifies the global setting location. It defaults to "".

/GroupDomain
Specifies the FQDN of the domain where Office Communications
Server universal groups are located in. It defaults to "".

/GroupDomainDC
Specifies the FQDN of a DC in the domain where Office
Communications Server universal groups are located in. It
defaults to "".

/DBDataPath Specifies the folder where the database data file should be
located (must not end in \"). It defaults to "".

/DBLogPath Specifies the folder where the database log file should be
located (must not end in \"). It defaults to "".

/Clean Specifies whether to do a clean setup for pool backend
creation actions. It defaults to "FALSE".

/EnableArch Specifies whether archiving is enabled or not for the pool.
It defaults to "FALSE".

/EnableCDR Specifies whether to enable CDR. It defaults to "FALSE".

/EnableQoE Specifies whether to enable QoE. It defaults to "FALSE".

/DynDataPath
Specifies the folder where dynamic database data file should
be located (must not end in \"). It defaults to "".

/DynLogPath Specifies the folder where dynamic database log file should
be located (must not end in \"). It defaults to "".

/PoolFQDN Specifies DNS host name of the pool. It defaults to "".

/InternalWebFQDN
Specifies the FQDN of the internal web server. It defaults to "".

/ExternalWebFQDN
Specifies the FQDN of the external web server. It defaults to "".

/ABOutputlocation
Specifies the folder where the Address Book server will write
its files. It defaults to "".

/MeetingArchivingPath
Specifies the UNC path where meeting presentation content
archiving should be located. It defaults to "".

/ABSDataPath
Specifies the folder where Address Book Server database data
file should be located (must not end in \"). It defaults to
"".

/ABSLogPath Specifies the folder where Address Book Server database log
file should be located (must not end in \"). It defaults to
"".

/ACDDataPath
Specifies the folder where Response Group Service database
data file should be located (must not end in \"). It
defaults to "".

/ACDLogPath Specifies the folder where Response Group Service database
log file should be located (must not end in \"). It defaults
to "".

/Force Specifies whether to force task execution. It defaults to
"FALSE".

/L Specifies the log file path. If not specified, '\[][].html' is used. To
disable logging specify '-' as the log file name. It
defaults to "".

/XML Specifies whether the log file to be generated should be in
XML format instead of HTML. It defaults to "FALSE".

/? Shows help on usage. It defaults to "FALSE".

What’s new on interoperability between OCS R2 and SIP/PSTN Gateways, IP-PBXs and SIP Trunking Services.

Yann Espanet has write a nice article about interoperability of OCS 2007 R2.

Read at Unified Communication

OCS 2010 rumors from web

PBX killer, Voice CAL coming to OCS in 2010

Microsoft will ship a new version of its Office Communications Server (OCS) in 2010 and another in the following year or more, according to its TechNet Web site.

The server will include new features, including native E-911 support, designed to finally establish OCS as a PBX replacement rather than a complement, which is the positioning for the current version even with its new SIP-trunking features.

Clear Choice Test: Is Microsoft Office Communications Server your next IP PBX?

In addition, Microsoft will introduce a new Voice Client Access License (CAL) needed to access the new PBX-killer’s “enterprise-voice” features.


Microsoft is launching a promotion through its Software Assurance (SA) maintenance program to offer users up to two years free access to the new Voice CAL coming in OCS 2010.

OCS is the centerpiece of Microsoft’s unified communications strategy and includes instant messaging, presence, conference and VoIP features. In February, the company released the latest version, OCS 2007 R2.

The TechNet Web site did not provide a deep-dive on details of what the new Voice CAL includes, but in general it has all the current voice functionality in the Enterprise 2007 R2 CAL plus something entitled “enterprise ready voice – PBX Replace Voice,” Branch Survivability, E-911, PSTN Failover and Analog Device Support.

Rumors of a new Voice CAL for OCS first surfaced in February, but a blog posting on a TechNet Web site called The Three UC Amigos said that a news license will be required, and introduced a promotion to get users to commit to the new Voice CAL now.

The promotion will provide free access rights to the 2010 and 2011+ versions of the Voice CAL to any company that has SA coverage as of June 30, 2009 on their OCS Enterprise CAL or their Microsoft Enterprise CAL Suite.

Users will have to stay current on SA through the two releases of OCS.

The promotion offer also has the option of free access to only the 2010 version of the Voice CAL to those that purchase after July 1, 2009 an SA contract for their OCS Enterprise CAL or their Microsoft Enterprise CAL Suite.

Users who already have SA on OCS Enterprise CALs or their Microsoft Enterprise CAL Suite only have to keep their contracts current to get the new Voice CAL at no additional charge.

The Three UC Amigos posting said new OCS releases would come in 2010, which matches up with the Office 2010 roadmap Microsoft released Wednesday, and in “2011+.” The OCS releases were referred to as Wave 14 and Wave 15.

With Wave 14 there will be three CAL options and combinations: the Standard CAL covers IM and Presence; the Enterprise CAL adds conferencing; and the Voice CAL adds Voice.

More from Networkworld

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Global Settings Migration Tool

Brief Description
Migrate OCS 2007 global settings from the System container to the Configuration container using the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Global Settings Migration Tool.

Quick Details
File Name: MigrateOCS.msi
Version: 3.0.6362.105
Date Published: 12/10/2008
Language: English
Download Size: 363 KB

Overview
The Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Global Settings Migration Tool enables Administrators of existing deployments of OCS 2007 to migrate the OCS-specific global settings residing in Active Directory, from the root domain’s System container to the Configuration container. The migration of OCS global settings to the Configuration container provides a better solution for decentralized AD topologies.

Download

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Documentation

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Documentation. Get all the R2 doc in one file

Office Communicator R2 configuration information

With the new R2 version of the client, Microsoft introduces a dialog of "Configuration Information" for Office Communicator 2007 R2.

Read more

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Office Communicator Mobile 2007 R2 for Java (Nokia S60 240X320 resolution)

Brief Description
Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile for Java is an enterprise client software for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 optimized for Java enabled cell phones. The client allows you to view colleagues availability using presence status, initiate single/multi-party IM sessions and get updated contact information from your company directory.

Quick Details
File Name: communicator_NOKIAS60R1_JVP_EN_US.zip
Version: 1.0.6875.0
Date Published: 3/31/2009
Language: English
Download Size: 453 KB

Overview
Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile for Java is an enterprise client software for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 optimized for Java enabled cell phones. The client allows you to do the following:

1. View colleagues availability using real time presence status updates.
2. Initiate single/multi-party IM sessions with the ability to simply navigate across open IM sessions.
3. Get updated contact information directly from your company directory.

Download

.

Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile 2007 R2 for Java (Motorola Razr V3xx - U.S.)

Brief Description
Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile for Java is an enterprise client software for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 optimized for Java enabled cell phones. The client allows you to view colleagues availability using presence status, initiate single/multi-party IM sessions and get updated contact information from your company directory.

Quick Details
File Name: communicator_moto_MOTORAZRV3XX_ATT_EN_US.zip
Version: 1.0.6875.0
Date Published: 3/31/2009
Language: English
Download Size: 451 KB

Overview
Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile for Java is an enterprise client software for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 optimized for Java enabled cell phones. The client allows you to do the following:

1. View colleagues availability using real time presence status updates.
2. Initiate single/multi-party IM sessions with the ability to simply navigate across open IM sessions.
3. Get updated contact information directly from your company directory.

Download

.

OAT for OCS

OAT is an Open Source Security tool designed to check the password strength of Microsoft Office Communication Server users. After a password is compromised, OAT demonstrates potential UC attacks that can be performed by legitimate users if proper security controls are not in place.

download

Roudtable with Polycom

The Polycom CX5000 device adds a unique plug-and-play group video experience to this family of solutions. In addition, its integration with Live Meeting 2007 makes it easy for organizations of any size to add voice and video collaboration to multisite meetings.

• Delivers a unique, engaging 360-degree group video experience
• Brings video, voice, and content together into one seamless interactive session
• Immediately enhance team collaboration which helps you realize a fast ROI
• Enables faster and more effective decision making, improved interaction and lower costs
• Easy to deploy and use
• Part of a full suite of voice and video solutions for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

Read more at polycom

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Capacity Planning Tool

Brief Description
Capacity planning and load simulation tool for Office Communications Server 2007 R2

Quick Details
Version: 6907.3
Date Published: 3/30/2009
Language: English
Download Size: 8 KB - 27.0 MB*

Overview
The Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Capacity Planning Toolkit provides a set of tools and documentation to simplify capacity planning for Office Communications Server 2007 R2. The Capacity Planning Toolkit can be used as a complement to the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Planning Guide.

This release of the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Capacity Planning Toolkit contains tools and documentation to simplify your hardware planning, provide you with increased knowledge and best practices for performance tuning, and improve your ability to verify the performance of your intended Office Communications Server 2007 R2 deployments.

The Capacity Planning Toolkit is intended for use by IT professionals in a test environment prior to production deployment. These tools should never be used against a live production environment.

The tools in this Toolkit are designed to be used with Office Communications Server 2007 R2 only. If you are searching for tools that work with Live Communications Server 2005, please download the Live Communications Server 2005 Capacity Planning Toolkit from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=107a5e83-ca59-4bcb-a3bc-27efd97a477d&displaylang=en

Download
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Office Communications Server 2007 R2 VHD

Brief Description
This download comes as a pre-configured VHD. This download enables you evaluate Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 for 60 days.

Quick Details
Version: 1.0
Date Published: 3/24/2009
Language: English
Download Size: 664 KB - 8902.6 MB

Overview
Start evaluating Office Communications Server today. Office Communications Server 2007 R2 delivers streamlined communications for your users so they can find and communicate with the right person, right now, from the applications they use most (like Office Outlook).

Download

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Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 Hotfix KB 961552

Brief Description
This download contains an update for Microsoft Office Communicator 2007.

Quick Details
File Name: communicator.msp
Version: 2.0.6362.129
Knowledge Base (KB) Articles: KB961552
Date Published: 3/27/2009
Language: English

Overview
This hotfix download for Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 is described in the Knowledge Base article 961552.

Download

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Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007 SP1

Brief Description
The Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Management Pack monitors all editions of Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

Quick Details
File Name: OCS2007_R2_SCOM2007.msi
Version: 6.0.6907.21
Date Published: 3/26/2009
Language: English
Download Size: 1.1 MB

Overview
The Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Management Pack monitors Standard and Enterprise Edition of Office Communications Server 2007 R2. This release also incorporates the Quality of Experience (QoE) MP which was previously a separate Management Pack. Monitored types are event log entries, performance counters, as well as stateful monitoring of QoE. Note that this version of the Management Pack only monitors Office Communications Server 2007 R2, and cannot be used to monitor Office Communications Server 2007.

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 monitored objects are:

* Enterprise Edition
* Standard Edition
* A/V Authentication service
* Application Sharing Server
* A/V Conferencing Server
* Conference Announcement Service
* Conference Attendant Service
* Web Components
* Archiving Server
* Communicator Web Access
* Mediation Server
* Monitoring Server
* CDR Server
* SIP Proxy Server
* A/V Conferencing Edge service
* Access Edge service
* Web Conferencing Edge service
* Monitoring Server
* QoE of A/V Conferencing Server
* QoE of Mediation Server
* QoE of network locations


Feature Bullet Summary:

* Alerts indicating service impacting events
* Alerts indicating configuration, and other non-service impacting issues
* State monitoring of Office Communications Server services
* Product knowledge: Cause and resolution of identified problems


Release History

* 3/26/2009 - Version 6.0.6907.21, Original release of the English version.

Download

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Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Communicator Web Access Language Pack

Brief Description
This download adds multilingual user interface (MUI) functionality to Microsoft Office Communicator Web Access 2007 R2 release.

Quick Details
File Name: CWALangPack.exe
Version: 6907.30
Date Published: 3/26/2009
Language: English
Download Size: 6.1 MB

Overview
Users of Communicator Web Access 2007 R2 have access to many of the same features that are available in the Office Communicator 2007 R2 desktop client. By using Microsoft Office Communicator Web Access 2007 R2 release, users can access the instant messaging, presence, and conferencing features in Office Communications Server 2007 R2 through a Web browser without installing software desktop client or connecting through a VPN.

Download

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Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Response Group Service Language Pack

Brief Description
The Response Group Service Language Pack delivers additional languages for the Response Group Configuration Tool and the Response Group tab.

Quick Details
File Name: AcdWebMlp.exe
Version: 6907.30
Date Published: 3/26/2009
Language: English

Overview
The Response Group Service Language Pack delivers additional languages for the Web-based Response Group Configuration Tool and the Response Group tab in the Office Communicator 2007 R2 client. By installing this language pack on your Office Communications Server Web Components servers, you can enable Response Group Service administrators or response group managers to view or configure Response Group Service settings in their preferred language. Also, formal agents in your organization can view the Response Group tab in their preferred language instead of the language configured on the server.

Download

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Integrating Telephony with Office Communications Server 2007 and 2007 R2

Quick Details
File Name: OCS R2 Enterprise Telephony Integration White Paper.docx
Version: 1.1
Date Published: 3/26/2009
Language: English

Overview

This paper details for our customers, partners and the industry at large the approach that we have defined and the various programs that we are putting in place to support this strategy.

Download

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OCS CWA 2007 R2 and Normalization Rules

A nice post from OCS team blog write by Jens Trier Rasmussen

OCS 2007 introduced the concept of location profiles and normalization rules to convert phone numbers from one format to another, typically to E.164 formatted numbers with a prefixed ‘+’. A set of normalization rules are assigned to a location profile and within the location profile the rules can be ordered to control which rule will be applied first in case multiple rules can be used for a given phone number.

Read more at OCS Team Blog

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News - Unified Communications: Does Microsoft Still Need Nortel?

When VoiceCon 2009 kicks off March 30 in Orlando, The VAR Guy wonders: Will Microsoft arrive solo to this latest unified communications dance, or will it still have Nortel Networks on its arm? Here are some clues.
Fact is, the Microsoft-Nortel relationship — inked in 2006 — has served its purpose. At this time last year, Microsoft and Nortel said they had attracted 500 joint unified communications customers — among other major major milestones. Impressive stuff.
Read more at thevarguy

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Microsoft Forefront Security for OCS 2007 R2

FSOCS provides fast and effective protection against IM-based malware for OCS 2007 and OCS 2007 R2 environments by including multiple scanning engines from industry-leading security partners. FSOCS also helps reduce corporate liability by blocking instant messages containing inappropriate content.

This release includes:

· 64bit support

· Support for OCS 2007 R2

· Support for OCS 2007 Enterprise Edition server roles

· Integration with OCS 2007 Access Edge role to protect corporate IM from external public IM threats

· Localization in 11 languages

Like other Forefront server security products, FSOCS provides superior detection of the latest threats when compared to single engine solutions by using our multiple engine scanning technology. FSOCS has also been featured in a few of the OCS R2 virtual launch sessions that you should check out. Lastly, we are making available some new content including a new demo walk though, case studies from Sporton International and Convergent Systems, and a datasheet. Be on the lookout in the next few weeks for our Technet virtual hands on labs!

Secure your OCS deployments and download FSOCS today!

Read at

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SmartSIP for OCS 2007 R2

Evangelyze Communications’ (EC) SmartSIP solution extends the already powerful telephony capabilities of the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 platforms by enabling SIP connectivity with virtually any internet telephony service provider (ITSP) or SIP phone.

• Extends OCS SIP trunk support to virtually any ITSP
• Multi-SIP trunk support per OCS Mediation Server
• Improvements to OCS 2007 R2 platform:
  • ENUM support
  • NAT Traversal
  • AD phone number matching for extension/DID
• Support for generic SIP PBXs and endpoints/devices
• Virtual gateway service

Read more

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OCS 2007 QoE parameter

Assess Voice-Related Network Conditions
Several factors contribute to a network’s ability to carry voice. For example, the ITU specifies that from the time speech is uttered, it should reach the listener’s ear within 150 ms for an optimal experience. At 250 ms, the delay is acceptable, but at 400 ms participants will begin to experience awkward start/stop audio collisions, especially during a conference, when speakers are more likely to interrupt one another. To prevent this and other situations, the underlying network should meet the following guidelines:

Factor	Recommended value
Latency	< 50 ms
Jitter	< 30 ms
Packet loss	< 5%
Bandwidth	See below

Measure network latency, jitter, and packet loss during normal network conditions
It is important to verify that baseline network latency, jitter, and packet loss fall below the thresholds that are shown in the previous table. You should measure these factors within each LAN location and between locations on your WAN. The actual test payload should be a UDP stream of approximately 64 byte packets sent every 20 ms. A number of tools are available to perform this test, with varying price and sophistication. Microsoft Network Monitor is one option, but free tools are available on the Internet, and several companies sell other sophisticated network analysis tools like wireshark. With any of these tools, you can measure these network factors in all supported topologies.

Check behavior of firewalls, switches, and packet shapers

Many companies place additional firewalls within the corporate network, which can create issues related to port blocking; however, just because the requisite ports are opened on these internal and perimeter firewalls doesn’t mean that the network path is voice ready. Often these additional network components introduce latency or alter the data flow of the stream. For example, the preferred transport for media flow is UDP, because it is connectionless and therefore more suitable for real-time communication. Most enterprises run their services on TCP, and network administrators may not realize that their infrastructure is giving lower priority to UDP or spreading out successive UDP packets. This type of behavior needs to be checked and corrected.

Perform a Network Audit
Several companies provide services for doing a network audit. A typical audit report will show detailed information about your entire network topology. If your enterprise doesn’t have the tools, resources or expertise to perform the analysis described above, it may be worth enlisting one of these companies to perform a network audit.

QoE and QoS
QoE is effectively a superset of QoS. It brings a broader, end user-centered perspective to ensuring voice and video quality than the narrower, traditional network-centered approach. Because the end user experience can be affected by network factors, Office Communications Server supports targeted QoS by using the differentiated services model (DiffServ). For details and additional resources about differentiated services, see “An Overview of Windows 2000 Quality of Service” at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb742478.aspx.

Read more

ClearOne CHAT 170 for OCS 2007

A speakerphone for individual or small group use, the CHAT 170 connects to PCs and laptops for rich, full-duplex audio communication with Microsoft Office Communicator 2007. The CHAT 170 is the perfect addition to the office or conference room for greatly enhanced collaboration.
Read more

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OCS 2007 R2 Standard error 0xC3EC79E6

If the Office Communications Server Monitoring Agent fails to start with this error:

Service Name: RtcQmsAgent
Descriptive Name: Office Communications Server Monitoring Agent
Failure
[0xC3EC79E6] Service failed to start as requested.

You must install MSMQ from the operating system as follow:

1. In Control Panel, double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
2. On the left tab of the Add/Remove Programs window, click Add/Remove Windows Components.
3. Once the Windows Components Wizard opens, click to select the Message Queuing Services item. Click Next.
   
   This will start the MSMQ 2.0 setup process. Your Windows 2000 and Windows XP installation CD-ROM, network share, or install point must be available.
4. MSMQ will display an installation dialog box. You will be prompted to install either an MSMQ server or a dependent client. Click Message Queuing Server.
5. MSMQ will then search for a Domain Controller with MSMQ installed. If MSMQ doesn't find a domain controller automatically, it will display a dialog box requesting the "Name of the computer running MSMQ." You can type in the name of a Windows 2000 and Windows XP Domain Controller.
6. You can also choose to install MSMQ 2.0 in Workgroup mode (by selecting Message Queuing Will Not Access a Directory Service),
   

view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base

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Managing OCS 2007 R2 from the Command Line

• Configuring OCS 2007 R2 with LCSCmd.exe
• Prepping Active Directory for Office Communications Server
• Creating the Enterprise pool and activating server roles
• PWorking with certificates

Link
By Greg Stemp and Jean Ross

How Remote Call Control Powers OCS 2007 R2

At a Glance:

• What Remote Call Control can do
• How RCC works
• Common OCS scenarios for implementing RCC

Link
By Rajesh Ramanathan

OCS 2007 R2 MOM/SCOM Pack delayed

While working to release the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 MOM (System Center Operations Manager 2007) Pack we encountered a blocking problem where this cannot coexist with the Office Communications Server 2007 MOM Pack. While fixing this issue will be straightforward there is the overhead of repackaging the R2 MOM Pack. With current projects we are projecting this to be completed Q1 CY09.

link

OCS 2007 R2 - Time To eBay The PBX

An interesting interview between Mitchell Ashley consultant at Converging Network LLC and Terry Gold Microsoft Gold Certified Partner
Link on Networkworld

OCS 2007 installation with SQL 2005 SP3

There has been a change in SQL 2005 SP3 that can impact the installation of OCS 2007. This does not impact OCS 2007 R2.

SQL 2005 SP3 has an update that changes a return code that the OCS 2007 install was not designed to handle. If you are having to install a new OCS 2007 pool and are using SQL 2005 SP3 here are two possible work around to complete the install.

1. Install EE pool from a server that has SQL 2005 Sp2 client tool on a different server altogether

2. Uninstall SQL 2005 SP3 Backward compatibility and then install SQL 2005 SP2 BC(SQLServer2005_BC.msi on SQL 2005 Sp3 EE server.

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Resource Kit

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Resource Kit Tools provides a set of deployment and technical reference information for Microsoft Office Office Communications Server 2007 R2.
It provide a set of deployment and technical reference information for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2. The set of tools and documentation in the Resource Kit Tools can be used as a complement to the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 documentation or as stand-alone tools.
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Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Resource Kit

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Resource Kit Tools provides a set of deployment and technical reference information for Microsoft Office Office Communications Server 2007 R2.
Download

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 & Jabra

Jabra DIAL 520 OC Offers Portability, Lower Total Cost of Ownership for Customers

GN Netcom, one of the world leaders in innovative headset solutions, announced its first USB phone to support Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Release 2, the Jabra DIAL(TM) 520 OC. Offering plug and play capabilities and portability at an affordable price, the DIAL 520 OC USB phone expands Jabra’s award-winning line of products that support Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and include corded, wireless DECT, and multiuse Bluetooth headsets. Also announced is a new Bluetooth(R) headset to extend the line of Jabra headsets optimized for Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

With the Jabra DIAL 520 OC, GN Netcom has created a unique USB phone that features innovative capabilities with Office Communications Server 2007 R2, true wideband audio for optimum call clarity, and intuitive usability. The Jabra DIAL 520 OC also features dedicated answer, end and mute buttons for seamless integration with Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

“As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, we were able to work closely with Microsoft to create a product that not only takes advantage of the innovative features introduced in Office Communications Server 2007 Release 2, but also offers portability and the lowest priced handset available for Office Communications,” said Chris Briglin, Vice President of Business Development, GN Netcom. “The Jabra DIAL 520 OC is an ideal product for every type of Office Communications 2007 user, offering high usability features to help maximize productivity and making the most of IP telephony from the office or the road.”

The Jabra DIAL 520 OC phone includes features that make it suitable for a variety of industries and employees, from office personnel to field employees and executives. Key product features include:

• Seamless integration with Office Communications Server 2007 R2 through dedicated answer, end and mute buttons
• Wideband audio for optimum call clarity
• Intuitive instant usability with no additional drivers needed
• LCD display showing call details

“GN Netcom end points take advantage of the wideband capabilities in Microsoft Office Communications 2007 Release 2, enabling customers to unify their communications systems and meet the growing demand for enhanced business collaboration,” said Moz Hussain, director of the Unified Communications Group at Microsoft Corp. “Microsoft is excited to work with GN Netcom to demonstrate the value of software-powered unified communications solutions to our customers.”

In addition to the Jabra DIAL 520 OC, GN Netcom will introduce the M5390 USB for Office Communications. The Jabra M5390 USB OC is a Bluetooth headset featuring a wireless range of 200 feet, wideband audio and simultaneous pairing with mobile phones and Office Communications.

The Jabra DIAL 520 OC and the Jabra M5390 USB OC will be available through GN Netcom’s global network of authorized distributors and resellers. For further information, please visit www.jabra.com/microsoft.

by www.usbworld.biz

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.

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Release Notes

The following files are available for download:

• Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Release Notes (Office_Communications_Server_2007_R2_Relnotes.htm)
• Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 Release Notes (Office_Communicator_2007_R2_Relnotes.htm)
• Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Attendant Release Notes (Office_Communications_Server_2007_R2_Attendant_Relnotes.htm)
• Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Release Notes (Office_Communications_Server_2007_R2_Group_Chat_Relnotes.htm)
• Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 Phone Edition Release Notes (Office_Communicator_2007_R2_Phone_Edition_Relnotes.htm)
• Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile for Windows Mobile Release Notes (Office_Communicator_Mobile_for_Windows_Mobile_Relnotes.htm)

OCS 2007 R2 Resource Kit

Microsoft has released a new book for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, it will be available from February 4
Link Microsoft Press

OCS 2007 R2 rumors

Finally they put the keyboard!
As a replacement for the polycom CX200 phone, there are rumors of a "improved" model to hit the market after the OCS 2007 R2 release.

Phone and devices for moc at this time

OCS 2007 R2 Documentation

New documentation about OCS 2007 R2
Here

OCS 2007 R2 prepare active directory

Before you deploy and operate Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 R2, you must prepare the Active Directory® Domain Services (AD DS) by extending the schema and then creating and configuring objects. The schema extensions add the Active Directory classes and attributes that are required by Office Communications Server.

Before!

Before you start the process of preparing Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) for Office Communications Server 2007 R2, ensure that your Active Directory infrastructure meets the following prerequisites:

• All domain controllers in the forest where you deploy Office Communications Server run Windows Server® 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 R2, or Windows Server® 2008.
  
  
• All global catalog servers in the forest where you deploy Office Communications Server run Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 R2, or Windows Server 2008.
  
  
• All domains in which you deploy Office Communications Server are raised to a domain functional level of Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008. You cannot deploy Office Communications Server 2007 R2 in a Microsoft Windows® 2000 mixed, Windows 2000 native, or Windows 2003 interim domain.
  
  
• The forest in which you deploy Office Communications Server is raised to a forest functional level of Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008. You cannot deploy Office Communications Server 2007 R2 in a Windows 2000 mixed, Windows 2000 native, or Windows 2003 interim forest.

Schema

The schema preparation step extends the Active Directory schema to include classes and attributes that are specific to Office Communications Server. It is run once, on the Schema master in the root domain, for each Active Directory forest where you plan to deploy Office Communications Server.

Forest

The forest preparation step creates the following for Office Communications Server use:

• Active Directory global settings and objects
  
  
• Active Directory universal groups
  
  

This step creates objects that contain global settings and information about your Office Communications Server deployment. Global settings are stored either in the Configuration container or in the System container of the forest root domain. This step also creates objects that contain property sets and display specifiers used by Office Communications Server, and stores them in the Configuration container.

Forest preparation must be performed once in the root domain for each Active Directory forest where you plan to deploy Office Communications Server.

Domain

The domain preparation step adds to universal groups the necessary access control entries (ACEs) that grant permissions to host and manage users within the domain. Domain preparation creates ACEs on the domain root and three built-in containers: Users, Computers, and Domain Controllers.

OCS 2007 R2 New feature

What is new for OCS 2007 R2

* New Call Delegation Feature

The new Call Delegation feature in Office Communications Server 2007 R2 enables managers to delegate phone-call handling to one or more administrative assistants or other delegates. When a delegate answers a call, the manager is notified that the call has been answered, along with the name of the delegate who answered.

* New Team Ring Feature

The new team ring feature in Office Communications Server 2007 R2 makes it possible to forward incoming calls to a defined team. When a team receives a forwarded call, each member’s phone rings, and all members can see who forwarded the call. When a team member answers the call, the phones of all other members stop ringing.

The team ring feature is essentially a call-forwarding option that the team leader configures in Office Communicator 2007 R2. In the Call Forwarding Settings dialog box, the leader can set up a team, add members, and configure how calls are forwarded to other team members.

* New Response Group Service

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Response Group Service enables administrators to create and configure one or more small response groups for the purpose of routing and queuing incoming phone calls to one or more designated agents. These response groups can be deployed in departmental or workgroup environments and in entirely new telephony installations.

* New SIP Trunking Support

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 simplifies and reduces the cost of deploying Enterprise Voice by enabling an enterprise to connect its voice network to a service provider offering Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) origination, termination, and emergency services.


* New Group Chat Feature

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat enables users to engage in persistent, ongoing IM conversations. Group Chat differs from group IM in that the latter is not persistent. After a group IM session has ended, its state is lost. With Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat, however, the conversation persists, along with all IM, files, Web links, and other associated data.

* New Desktop Sharing Feature

Desktop sharing enables users to transmit a view of their desktop to others. Office Communications Server 2007 R2 introduces a Web-based client to enable users to initiate desktop sharing during any Web conference that is hosted by the server. The desktop sharing client is based on and integrated with the 2007 R2 release of the Microsoft® Office Communicator Web Access client.