the UC Guys

Restart all Lync Services on a Server

There are likely many ways to do this including some fancy Powershell Scripts I’ve seen to do this but here is the easiest way I’ve found to restart all lync services running on a server.  The nice thing is this will work on all Lync Server roles and you can do it in just two lines:

 

Get-CsWindowsService | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Running"} | Stop-CsWindowsService
Get-CsWindowsService | Where-Object {$_.Status -ne "Running"} | Start-CsWindowsService

 

Enjoy.

What’s your favorite Lync Survivable Branch Appliance (SBA)?

Hey Lync UC Professionals!  Wondering what your favorite Lync SBA is and why?  Hoping to start a good discussion about your personal experiences with SBA’s you have used and why you prefer them.  Whether its simplicity of use, technical support, or overall cost please feel free to share your experiences here.

Moving to Office 365 (Part 2): Moving Voicemail into the Cloud

By Dino Caputo & Kevin Kieller of enableUC

Cloud services continue to attract much interest from potential customers and Microsoft's Office 365 is often considered by those looking to move to the cloud.

Part 1 of this series looked at how enableUC moved from Microsoft BPOS to Office 365, primarily focusing on email. (For more of an overview of Office 365, see Office 365: First Impressions.)

In this installment we look at how Office 365 allows organizations to move their voicemail into the cloud. The example we look at involves voicemail for a Lync environment however keep in mind that there is an opportunity to move voicemail to the Office 365 cloud for other more traditional telephony systems as well. We will likely explore using cloud-based Office 365-powered voice mail with other telephony systems in future installments.

enableUC's Lync Environment

The Office 365 version of Lync includes a number of limitations.

A full comparison between Lync Online and on-premise Lync Server features can be viewed here. In summary, the main limitation of Lync Online is the lack of voice and telephony functionality. Features such as PSTN calling (inbound and outbound) are not possible with the native Office 365 offering today.

To work around these (current) limitations with Office 365, enableUC has installed its own on-premise version of Lync.

The enableUC Lync environment consists of two Physical Servers which run Windows Server 2008R2 and leverages Hyper-V virtualization to host the Lync server roles required. The following 5 virtual server roles support enableUC's Lync infrastructure today:

• Active Directory Domain Services (ADDS) with DNS and Certificate Services
• Lync Standard Edition Server (providing all Lync workloads)
• Lync Mediation Server (providing SIP/TCP to SIP/TLS & SRTP to RTP translations as well as codec translations, RTAudio to G.711, termination point for ThinkTEL SIP Trunk)
• Microsoft Threat Management Gateway (TMG) providing secure Web reverse proxy services
• Lync Edge Server allowing for remote user access and federation to other OCS/Lync networks as well as Public IM Networks (AIM, MSN, and Yahoo)

Focus on Voicemail

With BPOS, the previous version of Microsoft's hosted offering, the Exchange component did not support the unified messaging role that provides voice mail.

This meant that in order for enableUC to have voicemail, we effectively needed to leverage either a 3^rd party solution or run Exchange Server on premise alongside Lync, which diminished the value proposition of BPOS.

A major improvement with Office 365 was the inclusion of Exchange Unified Messaging as part of the offering. This allows organizations to enable Microsoft Exchange Unified Messaging for their on-premise Lync deployment or connect a UM capable IP-PBX. If you have previously worked with and enabled Exchange UM for and on-premise solution, enabling cloud-based Exchange UM will be very similar.

In summary, below is the ten step process that enables an on-premise Lync deployment to use voicemail services from the Office 365 cloud:

1. Ensure you have a working Lync environment.
2. Verify existing or create a new Hosted Voice Mail Policy.
3. Create UM Dial Plan.
4. Configure an E.164 Routing Number within the Dial Plan and Configure a Subscriber Access Number.
5. Create a Lync Exchange UM Contact to represent the previously created Dial Plan in Exchange.
6. Associate the Hosted VoiceMail Policy with the Contact Object.
7. Ensure that the Lync Users you want to UM enable are first enabled for Lync Enterprise Voice.
8. Enable users for Hosted Voicemail in Lync.
9. Enable users for Exchange UM within Office365.
10. Ensure users have email addresses in Active Directory.

     

All the "Techie" Details Fit to Print

For those technically adept and those who want to "play along at home" below is the detail on how this process unfolded for our configuration. (Those who are scared off by technical jargon may want to skip ahead to the "Success and Limitations" section.)

1. First off you need to have a working on premise Lync environment that includes a Lync Front-End Standard Edition server or a Lync Enterprise Edition Pool along with a Lync Mediation server (could be collocated on Standard Edition Server) and a Lync Edge Server. I will assume for the purposed of this post that your environment is fully functional in terms of the Lync workloads.

    

2. By default Lync creates a Global Hosted Voice Mail Policy you can use or you can create a new Policy based on a Lync Site, or Per-User basis. Here is what the command would look like to create a Per-User basis policy:

    

   New-CsHostedVoicemailPolicy -Identity Oakville -Destination exap.um.outlook.com -Description "Hosted voice mail policy for Oakville users." -Organization "enableUC.com"

    

   The destination should always be exap.um.outlook.com

    

3. In Exchange Control Panel (ECP), create a new UM Dial Plan for the Lync users who will be enabled for Enterprise Voice, and use Exchange Online UM for voice mail. This will need to be a SIP URI based Dial Plan and for simplicity I used a 10 Digit plan that matched our E.164 numbers.

   To do this logon to the Office 365 Admin site and select Manage under the Exchange Online heading as shown below:

    

   

 

This brings you to the Exchange Online Control Panel. Next select the Phone and Voice option choose UM Dial Plans.

 

 

 

Click New UM Dial Plan and set the type to "SIP URI". I used a 10 digit dial plan that will simply match our DID numbers.

 

 

Save your changes.

 

 

1. Next we create The E.164 Routing number which coincides with the Dial Plan that we just created. This tells Exchange UM how to route calls destined for any user configured for this dial plan. You will also specify this same number but in a readable format which represents the Subscriber Access number. This will also be the number that users would dial into for Exchange Voice Access. Click on "Configure UM Dial Plan" for the UM Dial Plan you just created:

    

   

 

Enter the E.164 Routing Number you have selected and then enter the same number as you want it displayed to users

1. We now need to create a contact object within Active Directory to represent the Dial Plan. To do this we run the following Lync Powershell cmdlet:

 

New-CsExUmContact -DisplayNumber +1645551212 -SipAddress sip:EX-UM-SA@enableUC.com -RegistrarPool EUCLyncSE1.corp.enableUC.com –OU "OU=EXUMContacts,DC=corp,DC=enableUC,DC=com"

The DisplayNumber, SIP address and Registrar Pool should be changed to your values specific to your organization. You can even specify where you want these contacts created using the OU parameter.

1. We will now associate the Hosted Voicemail Policy we dealt with in Step 2 with this contact object we just created in Step 5. Again we run a Lync Powershell cmdlet to do this.

Grant-CSHostedVoiceMailPolicy –Identity "ex-um-sa" – PolicyName Oakville

If you used the Global HostedVoiceMail Policy then you don't need to specify a PolicyName otherwise use the PolicyName parameter. In our case since we created created a user based Hosted VoiceMail Policy called Oakville that is what I specified. The Identity parameter should exactly match what you called your Exchange UM object that was created in step 5. Note that the cmdlet in step 5 will create the Display name using the first part of the sip uri.

1. Ensure users you want to Exchange UM enable are Enterprise Voice enabled in Lync.
   
2. If you used a Global or Site based CSHostedVoiceMailPolicy then you may not need to do this. If you used a per-user based CSHostedVoiceMailPolicy then you will need to apply that policy to each user that requires Exchange UM. Use the same cmdlet as in step 6.
   1. So for me it would be Grant-CSHostedVoiceMailPolicy –Identity "Dino Caputo" – PolicyName Oakville
   2. Then Set the CSHostedVoiceMail attribute for the user with the following cmdlet: Set-CsUser -Identity "Dino Caputo" -HostedVoiceMail $True
      
3. In the Exchange Control Panel within Office365, enable a user for Unified Messaging.
   
4. Ensure users have their email address field populated within your local Active Directory. This is crucial for the Lync client to be able to access Exchange Web Services in the cloud and for the voicemail functionality to work in the Lync client.

    

If everything has been setup correctly the next time you sign onto Lync you should be prompted to install the Microsoft Online Services Sign-in Assistant. This client facilitates the remote Exchange Autodiscover process, allowing Lync to communicate with Exchange Web Services and tap into the rich integration features that Lync and Exchange provide. Install this client and restart the Lync client. You will then be prompted for your Office 365 Credentials after signing onto Lync.

Success and Limitations

Overall our transition to voicemail in the cloud went very well.

For an organization that is focused on Unified Communications we really needed an on-premise Lync environment to take advantage of its full list of capabilities and also to facilitate the custom development that we are presently doing. Generally speaking there is no difference between the on-premise version Exchange 2010 UM and the cloud version with respect to the feature set offered. For more Q&A on this topic please see http://community.office365.com/en-us/w/exchange/569.aspx

In our case, all of the Lync client integration features between Outlook and Exchange 2010 Online worked well. This includes features such as Missed Call Notification, Conversation history, voicemails, received and dialed calls right from within the Lync and Outlook client.

What doesn't work so well is Lync Phone Edition. (For clarity, Lync Phone edition is the software that runs on the Lync-compatible IP phone sets.) Although you do get Message Waiting Indicator (MWI) on received voicemails and can listen to them via the Lync Phone Edition, you cannot access Exchange Contacts or Calendar because the Phone is not capable of talking to Exchange Web Services which is required for these features to work.

These issues arise due to the fact that the Lync Phone Edition does not support wildcard certificates, which is what Microsoft Exchange Online is utilizing in order to enable organizations to connect to it. We are hoping that this is something that Microsoft will correct in the near future as many Office 365 customers will want to take advantage of using Lync Phone Edition.

Using Office 365 Voice Mail with Traditional PBXs

An exciting area for customers looking at moving their voicemail into the cloud and taking advantage of all the great features of Exchange UM is that your existing IP-PBX may be capable of leveraging Office 365 Exchange UM.

We run into many customers that have IP-PBXs that are working fine however their voicemail solution is on its last legs. In this case, Exchange UM online might be able to solve your problems.

Conclusion

While not a trivial process, setting up voicemail in the cloud using Microsoft's Exchange UM Online is certainly possible and very worthwhile. If you have Lync Server on premise today or have an existing IP-PBX this is a solution you may want to consider.

Dino Caputo is a partner with enableUC a company that helps organizations get the most out of their UC investments. You can follow Dino on twitter at @dinocaputo.

Kevin Kieller is a partner with enableUC and regular contributor to No Jitter. You can follow Kevin on twitter @kkieller.

Office 365 Launch and Partner Resources from Microsoft

	OFFICE 365 LAUNCH Office 365 launched with great success! · See the Launch webcast · Read the press release · Know the great Office 365 customer stories · Learn what others are saying · See the image gallery of the NYC launch event · Visit the Office 365 newsroom
	OFFICE 365 PARTNER RESOURCES The eagerly anticipated launch of Office 365 has finally arrived. Don't miss the resources below for new content that will help partners lead the way to the cloud with the most trusted name in business productivity. The new QuickStart is the place for all Office 365 Online Services Partner readiness resources. QuickStart shows partners how to promote the value proposition of Office 365 and how best to navigate today's sales conversations by effectively communicating how much small and mid-size businesses can save with Office 365. Office 365 Technical Training Recommendations · Office 365 Technical Training Learning Plans · Office 365 Ignite Online Workshop · Office 365 Deployment and Migration Training Office 365 Sales Training Recommendations · Office 365 Sales Training Learning Plans · Office 365 Pricing and Licensing Training · Updated Partner Cloud Services Training · Office 365 Pricing, Licensing and Updated EA · How to sell Office 365 to SMB Customers · Office 365 Feature Functionality Overview Featured Office 365 Partner Opportunity Content: · Microsoft Online Services Partner Agreement Guide · Office 365 Operational Launch Guide · EA Office 365 Partner FAQ · Office 365 Beta Frequently Asked Questions · Office 365 Advisor Partner Onboarding · Office 365 Partner Overview · Office 365 Partner Opportunity Featured Office 365 Sales and Marketing Content: · Office 365 Small Business Data Sheet · Office 365 Mid-Market Data Sheet · Office 365 Enterprise Customer Data Sheet · Office 365 Small Business Customer Deck · Office 365 for Enterprise Customer Deck · Office 365 Mid-Market Customer Deck Speaker Notes · Office 365 Mid-Market Customer Deck · Office 365 Top Reasons to Buy · Office 365 for Small Businesses Top 10 Benefits · Office 365 for Enterprises Click-Through Demo · Office 365 for Small Businesses Click-Through Demo · Office 365 Mid-Market Telesales Guide · Office 365 Customer Purchase and Support Guide · Office 365 BlackBerry Cloud-Based Service · Office 365 Partner Sales Toolkit - Value Added Resellers Featured Office 365 Technical Content: · Office 365 SharePoint Online Technical Overview · Office 365 Office Pro Plus Technical Overview · Office 365 Lync Online Technical Overview · Office 365 Exchange Online Technical Overview · Transition to Office 365 FAQ · BPOS to Office 365 Customer Transition Guide · Office 365 Technical Overview · Office 365 Trial Guide and Plan P1 Set Up ▲ Top

Office Communications Server (OCS) Group Chat Channel Service Stopping Intermittently

One of my clients recently went through a very painful troubleshooting process with OCS 2007R2 Group Chat whereby the Channel Service would stop after minimal load was presented to it.  We would get the following error in the Group Chat logs:

 

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

   at Microsoft.Rtc.Internal.Chat.Server.ServerCommon.User.ChannelParticipantsMap.YieldForEachNativeEndpoint(IServerChannel channel, PermissionType permType, Predicate`1 predicate)

   at Microsoft.Rtc.Internal.Chat.Server.Channel.MessageProcessors.GroupChatProcessor.Process(GroupChatMessage command, ProcessStatus status)

   at Microsoft.Rtc.Internal.Chat.Server.Channel.MessageProcessors.MessageProcessor`2.Microsoft.Rtc.Internal.Chat.Server.Channel.MessageProcessors.IMessageProcessor.ProcessInSafeMode(ITransportMessage transportMessage, ProcessStatus status)

 

After weeks of troubleshooting with Microsoft it turns out that root cause of the issue was due to the Group Chat Logging Level set to up to DEBUG.  The default is INFO but we had turned up the logging level during the initial burn in period to troubleshoot another issue and had left it that way.  In fact Microsoft had asked us to turn it up to DEBUG as well to troubleshoot this issue as Group Chat doesn’t really log much relevant into to the Application Event Log.

The issue was escalated up to Product Development and they were able to reproduce the issue citing the logging level actually creating a situation while under heavy loads would terminate the Channel Service.  Apparently it was related to Group Chat functions that attempt to determine if client is native or remote.  If NULL then it impacts the Channel Service if Logging is above DEBUG level causing a QUIT PROCESS to being the graceful shutdown. 

The immediate workaround is to lower logging level to INFO for the Channel Service which can be done on the Group Chat Server Configuration Tool as shown below.

Microsoft said that this issue will be fixed in CU11 which is slated for sometime in early 2012.

I haven’t confirmed if this also affects Lync 2010 Group Chat but suspect it does given the little differences between the versions.

Lync Server 2010 Cumulative Updates: July 2011

Latest Lync Cumulative updates are located here:

The latest batch of Lync cumulative updates are detailed below:

Server-side updates

• Lync 2010 Server – KB2571546 – download
• Lync 2010 Core Components – KB2571545 – download

Client-side updates

• Lync 2010 (Communicator) – KB25715423 – download (x86 / x64)

Microsoft Lync Quick Reference Cards for end user Training

Microsoft has released a set of quick reference cards for end user training.  These cards can be customized for your branding needs as well! 

These cards can be downloaded here

Plantronics Voyager PRO UC v2: Reviewed

In the course of my job assisting companies with Microsoft UC, I've been personally using and demoing many devices that work with the Microsoft stack.  These "Optimized For" Microsoft Office Communicator or Lync client devices have gone through extensive testing and are certified to work properly and provide excellent voice quality.  I can't stress enough to customers that I speak with the necessity to use a certified device in their UC pilots or deployments of Microsoft Voice.  Often, the reason poor experiences are sited is because uncertified devices are used.  Look for the logos below when choosing devices that work with Microsoft OCS or Lync Server.  You can find the full list of devices here:

       

I recently acquired the Plantronics Voyager PRO UC Bluetooth over the ear device and wanted to write about the experience I've been having with it. 

First off the device is small and comfortable over my ear.  I wear glasses and the design seems to be forgiving of this fact.  It came with a few different ear buds and I choose the one that was most comfortable for me.  It offers a tiny Bluetooth USB adaptor that I can leave plugged into my laptop at all times which is convenient.

   

I also like this device because I can pair it both with my PC and my mobile device making for a seamless experience when I'm in the office or away from my computer.  Plantronics did a good job in the design in that the device "speaks" to you letting you know things like "Power On", "Power Off", "PC connected/disconnected", Mobile Phone connected/disconnected" and how much battery life I have left in hours.  This is a far better user experience than counting the number of blinking lights when you power it off (something most people would not have known to do in the anyway!) 

Another stellar feature is the device's ability to sense if you are wearing it or not. Plantronics calls this Smart Sensor.  This comes in useful in couple of ways.  For example,  I may have the headset on my desk and a Lync call comes in.  I can see the toast notifying me of a call and I simply slip the device over my ear and it tells me "Answering Call" and connects the call.  Brilliant.  Another great innovation is incorporating Presence Awareness into the device.  For example, I've configured my device to show that "I'm available" when its on my head and when its off my head to say "Be Right Back"  The device does a good job of recognizing when I'm actually wearing it.  The normal rules of Presence will still work so if I lock my PC my status will correctly be set to "Away" even if I leave it on my ear.

The Smart Sensor comes in very handy when with your Mobile device.  I can't tell you how many times I've been out at lunch or at a client site and my bluetooth earpiece was in my coat pocket and I've answered my phone wondering why I can't hear anything only to realize that my BT adaptor is in my pocket.  The Smart Sensor detects its not on your ear and the call routes to your mobile saving you the embarrassing experience.  Wonderful!   Of course of you are adept enough to realize the Voyager Pro is in your pocket simply put it on when the call comes in and it will automatically answer just like when using OCS or Lync.

In terms of answering a call when you are already wearing the device you can do this by simply tapping the earpiece when you are notified of an incoming call.  Tapping it twice allows you to call back the last caller which is a nice feature.  If your mobile supports voice dialing you can initiate this by pressing and holding the earpiece button for a couple seconds until you hear your mobile's "Say an command" option.

Plantronics did a nice job on the GUI and control panels.  For instance I can quickly see how many hours of talk time I have in the system tray.

   

The Control Panel allows me to setup all the preferences with respect to the device:

Support is included for many popular soft phones, including Lync, OCS and Skype which is great.  The control detects which are running allowing for proper integration with that application.

Here is where I can set my presence options:

The device comes with an impressive 6 hours of talk time and can be charged fully in 90mins using a standard micro-usb cable or the provided wall outlet charger.

Overall I'm very impressed with this unit and am excited vendors are upping their game in terms of making their devices more UC savvy.

In the coming months as time permits I will post some reviews of other devices I have used so stay tuned.

Please note that this review consists of my personal opinions only.  I am not affiliated with Plantronics.

Lync Server BPA Tool

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=030548df-0dc7-4f86-b8a9-2f5ec8de8ba5&displaylang=en

Lync Server 2010 Visio Stencil

Download the stencil here and put them in your "My Shapes" folder and they will be available in Visio:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=65b5a396-2c87-445d-be23-d324727d19cb&displaylang=en