Hosted Exchange VS. Google Apps: Which Works Better for Small Business?
Filed under: Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2010, Reference, Unified Communications
I saw a great discussion thread on LinkedIn today (view the thread here) - about whether a consultant’’s client should move to Hosted Exchange or Google Apps.
The replies leaned a bit more toward Google Apps than Exchange. Many good points about how much IT help is available/budgeted, “getting what you pay for,” simplicity of Google, familiarity of Exchange/Outlook, etc.
You'd think I would weigh in on the side of Hosted Exchange. It is one of our services (and a very popular one at that), but even we recognize that at times something simpler, like Google Apps, makes for a better solution.
See, when we get a client who wants to move to hosted services, there's a lot of factors to consider. Many of them are addressed in the thread: mobile users, growth potential, available budget, available IT expertise/extra support hours needed, and the client's needs for the service.
We weigh these between two prime factors: The size of the business, and what their day-to-day practices are surrounding email.
Can A Business Outgrow Google?
Let's divide up some factors between size and daily practice here. Under size, we can list things like:
- How many mobile users a company has - iPhones, Blackberries, Android, etc.
- How many Outlook users there are (and how often they use it).
- What amount of on-site IT is in place, or do they rely on contracted IT support?
Both systems - Google Apps and Hosted Exchange - can sync with iPhones and Blackberries. (Androids MIGHT prefer Google, but I can't imagine why.) Outlook however leads more people to Exchange than away from it. One big intangible with email is how many users “live in” Outlook. True, Google Apps Premier Edition will sync with Outlook, but the difference is that those Apps accounts are on Google's servers, not hosted servers you contract. Which leads to the question of IT support. Who do you want to support your email? How fast of a response time do you need?
Under day-to-day email practices, we'll put these factors:
- What are users' preferred communication methods?
- How much email storage is needed?
- How often do users share calendars?
- Who's administering?
If email is the big communication tool (and it is for most businesses), then even a smidge of downtime is potentially catastrophic. We admit it, Exchange isn't perfect here…but then, nobody is. Google Apps does beat Exchange on default account space (25GB against 5GB). But shared calendaring brings us back to Outlook and its rich invite features.
We're back at the administration question. Many LinkedIn posters recommended contract IT support, especially if you're a smaller company. Of course Google provides support for Apps…but interfacing with other systems? Not so much.
What's the Verdict?
So where did we end up? When is Hosted Exchange a good choice, and when is Google Apps better? I'll give my answers in terms of the two prime factors I mentioned.
IN TERMS OF BUSINESS SIZE: For startup-level businesses, Google Apps makes more sense. Little infrastructure is needed, and it’’s easier for a few people to adapt (they probably use Google already). Generally, the larger the business, the more likely Exchange will better suit them.
IN TERMS OF DAY-TO-DAY EMAIL PRACTICES: If a company already uses Outlook, we recommend they go Hosted Exchange. If they have an IT department already, so much the better. If not, and they don't want to spend much, then go Google Apps and get some local support in case integration hits a snag.
Of course, this is just one blog post. Do your research before contacting suppliers.
Which do you use, Google Apps or Hosted Exchange? Let me know in the comments.
OCS and Windows 7: Problems to Watch Out For
Filed under: OCS 2007, OCS 2007 R2, Reference, Unified Communications
It's bound to happen. New systems, hundreds of possible configurations…bugs will pop up. Today I've collected four bugs found when you put OCS 2007 R2 and the Windows 7 OS together. We've run across a couple of them ourselves. I'm including source links for all of them, since we definitely weren't the only ones!
Office Communicator Client Won't Open on Windows 7
On some Windows 7 PCs, the Office Communicator client application won#039;t open. This is due to a registry bug. To fix it, open RegEdit and navigate to this entry:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftCommunicator]
Change the PreventRun key value to 0 instead of 1. Apparently it works like a charm.
OCS Doesn't Inventory All Applications on a Windows 7 PC
This is something that didn't show up during Windows 7 Beta testing. It came about as a weird fluke after RTM. OCS 2007, while inventorying local software on a Windows 7 machine, will miss certain applications. These applications work just fine; OCS can”t see them.
The bug originates in the storage methods used by the Windows 7 registry governing 32-bit and 64-bit applications. In other words, a 64-bit Windows 7 PC's registry stumbles on reporting some applications to OCS.
As of yet there is no fix. However, since this bug doesn't interfere with running any applications, it's not a big reason to worry.
(Source: http://forums.ocsinventory-ng.org/viewtopic.php?id=5198 )
OCS Stops Working on a Windows 7 Beta PC
A funny thing can happen if you run OCS 2007 on a Windows 7 Beta PC - the Office Communicator client may stop working. Poof. Just like that. The event log will show a faulting module in KERNELBASE.dll.
An inventive solution comes from the LCSKid MSDN Blog: He recommends installing a patch that's actually intended for interfacing between Office Communicator and older versions of Windows (Vista, XP, 2000). Inventive! Points to “The LCS Kid” for sniffing this out.
Download the patch from Microsoft.com.
(By the way, this Windows 7/OCS 2007 only works for testing. Use Windows Server 2008 for running OCS in your office.)
(Source: http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonward/archive/2009/03/16/windows-7-and-office-communicator-2007.aspx )
Address Book Sync Error on Windows 7 PCs
Is your Office Communicator client showing a red exclamation point on its icon? When you click it, do you see this error message?
“Cannot synchronize with the corporate address book. This might be because the proxy server setting in your web browser does not allow access to the address book.”
The problem isn't with a proxy server though. It's with, of all things, Internet Explorer 8. Try unchecking the “Check for server certificate revocation” box in IE's options to fix this.
Never let it be said we aren't open about bumps in the OCS road. Thanks to everyone who documented their own encounters with these bugs.
Have you encountered a Windows 7/OCS 2007 bug (or just a weird problem that had a simple fix)? What was it? How”d you arrive at a solution?
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Got Enough Bandwidth for OCS R2?
Filed under: Conferencing, OCS 2007, OCS 2007 R2, OCS 2010, Reference, Unified Communications, Voice over IP
One quick point for today. When implementing an OCS 2007 R2 setup, make sure there's plenty of bandwidth available. Standard or Enterprise edition. With or without VoIP built-in.
One of our clients (a nationwide energy firm) uses OCS to communicate between branches. Initially this was facilitated by T1 lines. However a few weeks ago, we upgraded them to a DS3 line.
They'd had some issues beforehand - garbled calls, lost IM transmissions, general stability. Most of it came from problems the Unified Messaging server had.
That all vanished when the DS3 line was put in. Poof. More bandwidth = no more connection troubles. Just like that.
Not sure how much bandwidth you have available? Use Speakeasy's Bandwidth Speed Test. Compare the results to the Three UC Amigos' OCS 2007 Bandwidth Requirements . (Alternate reference: Mark Garcia's OCS Web Conferencing Bandwidth Charts.)
6 Things to Check Before an OCS Conference
Filed under: Conferencing, OCS 2007, OCS 2007 R2, Unified Communications, Voice over IP
You”re about to have your first full-on Live Meeting conference with a client! OCS is all set up; you”ve got the cameras ready in case they want to jump to video. VoIP is set up, Mediation server is a go, Edge server in place. Let’’s call them up, right?
Not so fast. Check a few things first. You wouldn”t want your first OCS conference to crash would you? Might cause problems with the client, if they think your conferencing setup isn”t up to snuff.
These are 6 things to check in your OCS setup before any conference is held. I”m assuming basic OCS functionality is already taken care of; these are things you might not think to check right away. But they can "tangle the lines" if they”re not addressed.
1. Test the VoIP connection by calling someone outside your internal network.
If they can”t hear you/you can”t hear them, there’’s a problem on the Mediation server or VoIP gateway. (Run video on this test too, if you plan to use video in the conference.)
2. Check the Edge server for invalid certificates.
A run-through of the Edge server’’s event log will tell you if there’’s any certificate issues creeping around. If so, these should be resolved. They could potentially mess up your client’’s external connection to your OCS setup if not.
3. Double-check your SIP domains.
If you used sip.domain.com (as most Edge servers do), make sure it’’s an FQDN (fully-qualified domain name) and it’’s not blocked by any firewall rules. This can scuttle any external connections if not checked.
4. Is public IM federation turned on & running?
Just in case you want to send over a link during the conference. If your SIP domains are okay, this shouldn”t have any configuration problems.
5. Run the OCS Remote Connectivity Analyzer.
This Analyzer is a Microsoft tool (beta) that tests remote connectivity to an OCS server. It will even auto-discover the needed port and Access Edge.
Ask your client to run the Analyzer on their end before the conference. It’’s free and web-based, so it should be quick & easy: https://www.testocsconnectivity.com/
(The Communications Server Team blog has a write-up on it here: Office Communications Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer - Communications Server Team Blog)
6. And as a last check, make sure that your Internet connection is solid.
If that goes down, well…there’’s not much else you can do, is there?
If everything checks out here - you”re ready to have your chat.
P.S. - Jeff Schertz of PointBridge Blogs has a detailed review of connectivity needs too. With a few handy diagrams.
Did I miss anything? Is there something you like to check in OCS before any big conference session? Let us know in the Comments. Be as detailed as you like; it helps everybody!
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Three Articles on Unified Communications Tech
Filed under: Instant Messaging (IM), OCS 2007, OCS 2007 R2, Unified Communications, Voice over IP
SIP Primer from SearchUnifiedCommunications
Back in November I posted a few resources for SIP trunking. Here’’s one more: a more in-depth SIP primer at Unified Communications News.
Author Elaine Hom talks about the many points in SIP where cost and time savings come about. It’’s a good introduction, and even addresses some basic concerns & caveats. Worth the read if you”re using SIP in any way.
The IP PBX: Who Needs It?
Written by Shamus McGillicuddy for his Unified Communications Nation blog, this post is a comment on the necessity of PBXs in general (IP PBXs in specific). I think the direction he’’s pointing is the right one. We”re in the middle of a big shift in communications technology.
Before, you pretty much only had the PBX option. Now, not only do you have other options for phones (VoIP, cellphones), you have options for different types of communication too (IM, video).
Zeacom Unveils a New Gateway for OCS
Two weeks ago I talked about VoIP gateway manufacturers. Here’’s a new one. Zeacom is a communications solutions company out of New Zealand (with a US office in Irvine, CA). They announced a new gateway for Microsoft OCS 2007 on February 1st.
There isn”t a lot of info on their site about it, but there’’s plenty on overall UC solutions. I”ll keep an eye out for reviews of their new gateway–might be one we can add to the Recommended list.
Any more links related to these you”d like to share? Put them up in the Comments.
Technorati Tags: Microsoft business technology OCS 2007 SIP 
VoIP Gateway
Get On the List: Putting Together OCS Contact Lists for Users
Filed under: Instant Messaging (IM), OCS 2007, OCS 2007 R2, Unified Communications
In most IM clients you have to add new contacts one by one. It’’s annoying, it’’s piecemeal…and if you”re in a big office with lots of people, skipping it altogether starts to appeal after about 5 seconds.
Avoiding this is good. Especially if you want to actually use OCS for communicating with others. So the smart thing for an OCS administrator to do is push contact lists out. Formulate standardized groups and apply them to everyone’’s Office Communicator clients. (Whether they like it or not! Bwahaha…er, sorry. Got carried away.)
First, Group Your Contacts
Group them by department or by task.
Department groups could be Administration, IT, Project Development, Sales, HR, etc.
Task-based groups could be Main Product Team, Support Staff, Marketing, etc.
For starters, I”d recommend department groups for everybody. Then task-based groups as needed.
Next, Choose a Script or a Utility
Now that you have some groups built up with appropriate contacts, you”ll have to push them out to users. There are two ways to go about this right now - use a Microsoft scripting approach, or a third-party utility.
The Microsoft script is called “LCSAddContacts.wsf.” It’’s in the OCS Resource Kit available here. (Note: This version works with OCS 2007 R2 only.)
LCSAddContacts.wsf does one thing and one thing only: Adding contacts to OCS. It will even sort with Active Directory Containers. The WinXNet blog has a good tutorial on how to use it for pushing out contact lists.
The other way is to use a third-party utility called Office Communications Server Contact Manager (OCSCM for short) found here: http://www.ocscm.com/
I haven”t tried this one out. It has a user guide, FAQs and a support forum though. Plus it’’s free. Good to have as an option.
If you”re still on original OCS 2007, try OCSCM out. If you”re up to R2, go with LCSAddContacts.wsf.
A final note: Be sure to double-check your contact groups before pushing them out as lists! People WILL notice if they”re on a list that doesn”t correspond to their job function.
Do you know another way to manage contact lists for an OCS 2007 setup? Drop us a comment with a link below.
Technorati Tags: Microsoft business technology OCS 2007
Which Voice Gateway Should You Use for OCS?
Filed under: OCS 2007, OCS 2007 R2, OCS 2010, Unified Communications, Voice over IP
Here’’s a list (Microsoft Technet) of Direct SIP Gateway and IP-PBXs approved for use with Office Communications Server.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/ocs/bb735838.aspx#direct
Obviously, we haven”t tested them all. I can only give you what we”ve learned on our own install (and subsequent client installs).
Aculab - The ApplianX Gateway
The ApplianX Gateway for OCS 2007 was the first voice gateway we tested.
This gateway was designed to interface between OCS-based VoIP and the regular PSTN. One of the first to do so in the world, in fact.
The ApplianX Gateway is capable of handling 240 VoIP calls at once. In terms of voice quality, it’’s great, but I did notice one thing: the longer you were on a call, the more packets got lost. Words would start falling out of the conversation. I”m not sure this was a problem with the gateway however, or with our bandwidth allocations.
I do know that it went away before we switched to Dialogic.
Dialogic - The DMG2000 Media Gateway
When we upgraded our OCS to R2, we switched to a Dialogic Media Gateway. I don”t see any reason to change again.
None of the fabled VoIP problems happen - no “I can hear myself in echo,” “They can”t hear my voice,” or “The calls break up on us all the time.” Client installs have gone smoothly.
Another handy thing about Dialogic is the guides they post on their site. You can downoad white papers, datasheets and configuration guides for all their media gateways, free.
Dialogic.com Downloads
Other Choices
- Quintum’’s Tenor Gateway is highly-rated in the industry.
- Cisco has a gateway available, but some interoperability issues do exist. See the Cisco Interoperability Portal for more on that.
- As a general rule, avoid a gateway that isn”t rated for R2. You”re almost guaranteed problems when OCS 2010 is released.
Which is the Best Choice for a Voice Gateway?
The best gateway choice is the one that will allow everyone in your office to make voice calls, handle the load, and still be open for expansion down the line. So it pays to consider these factors in your research.
Size of business. If you”re a smaller business or startup, try Aculab or Dialogic. Over 40 employees? Dialogic is my first recommendation, but the Quintum may work well for you.
Expected call volume. If you”re enterprise-level and have a call volume in the hundreds (or thousands), consider the devices rated for “Direct Sip via IP-PBX.” Otherwise, look at Cisco or Dialogic’’s Enterprise Media Gateway.
OCS version. The Aculab ApplianX Gateway isn”t certified for use with R2. I”m hoping for an upgraded version by the time OCS 2010 rolls out. Go with any of the others rated for R2.
JBuddy Messenger: An Office Communicator Alternative
Filed under: Conferencing, Instant Messaging (IM), OCS 2007
The client app that ships with OCS 2007 is called Office Communicator. When you ask the average user what OCS is, they”ll point to their Communicator window (which looks like this) and call that OCS.
Office Communicator Window
Communicator does its job very well. (I actually prefer it over most IM apps out there.) For a while I assumed it was the only OCS client app. You wouldn”t find a third-party alternative for a big Microsoft server, would you?
Well, it seems you would.
Here’’s JBuddy Messenger. A third-party OCS-capable IM app that runs in Java. I came across it in the TechNet OCS forums.
JBuddy Messenger Window
For Business IM
JBuddy starts out like Trillian or Adium - as a free multi-protocol IM client. But with licensing it becomes a business-level communications tool. In other words, you need a license to connect to OCS 2007 with it.
Because JBuddy is written in Java, it works on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
As far as I can tell there is no support for voice or video. JBuddy is focused on Instant Messaging.
Why and When You”d Want to Use JBuddy
If you”re running OCS without VoIP
Say you aren”t planning on a VoIP install yet. Perhaps your office uses all cellphones. But you still need IM capability, and group chat would be nice.
Your Employees Use Different Instant Messaging Systems
While it’’s possible to set up third-party IM accounts in Office Communicator, JBuddy allows use of AIM, ICQ and Yahoo Messenger right away. With licensing it will operate with Jabber server, Lotus Sametime, and of course OCS 2007.
If you just want a fast, simple IM client for the office
JBuddy does the job.
In the end, it’’s nice to have choices. JBuddy is the first third-party messenger app to support OCS I”ve come across.
Because it doesn”t do conferencing and you need an enterprise license first, I”d only recommend JBuddy for small companies who use multiple IM systems and need a way to consolidate those. Otherwise, stick with Office Communicator.
Downloading JBuddy Messenger is free, but you”ll need to purchase an enterprise license to use all its business features (including OCS connectivity). http://www.zionsoftware.com/products/messenger/
If you”d like to try it out, request a 30-Day Evaluation License (free trial) here:
http://www.zionsoftware.com/products/messenger/request-eval.shtml
Four Predictions on OCS in 2010
Filed under: OCS 2007 R2, OCS 2010, Reference, Unified Communications, Voice over IP
Welcome to 2010! Are we back to scrambling already?
Before we get too crazy, let me make a few predictions about OCS. (It’’s the thing to do this time of year.) We”re headed for another year of big shake-ups and racing towards better-priced options. I”m sure Office Communications Server will be involved in some of it. Though I”ll freely admit, I may deny one or two of these by the time 2011 rolls around.
Prediction #1: OCS 2010′’s release will come with calls to end the PBX. It won”t…not yet.
Office Communications Server 2010 is slated for release either in Q2 or Q3 2010. We”ll hear a lot of buzz beforehand, along with calls to 100% replace PBX phone systems with OCS. (I”m not actually the first to say this.)
If it truly is a PBX-killer - and I”m hopeful it is - then these calls will be justified. However, OCS adoption over PBX won”t begin in earnest until 2011. It takes time to make such a big change - time to get used to the idea, and time to plan the change itself. Smaller companies will get a jump on OCS 2010 instead. They don”t always have a PBX to replace.
Prediction #2: OCS 2007 R2 will grow as a hosted service, even with OCS 2010′’s release.
I”m no economist; I won”t even try predicting what the markets will do this year. What I will say is that more companies will look for more ways to save. Startup costs, trying to grow without much budget, no desire to buy all-new servers…these factors will push more companies toward hosted services as a lower-cost option. Judging from the adoption rates and interest we”ve received, I”m expecting companies in the mid-to-upper range of SMBs to take the most advantage here.
Prediction #3: We”ll see a growing comfort with VoIP as a phone system.
Voice over IP is becoming a more accepted alternative to regular phone lines. In a way, we have Google and Skype to thank for this. The rampant popularity of Google Voice, and the popularity of Skype (even in business use) shows people are more comfortable with the idea of using the Web for voice communication now.
When OCS 2007 first came out, many people didn”t trust its VoIP capability as a reliable phone system. That was just 2 years ago. Now that technology has caught up and social adoption is higher, that lack of trust won”t be applied to OCS 2010.
Prediction #4: OCS 2010′’s 64-bit structure may discourage some from upgrading.
There is a problem in all this. OCS 2007 R2 is available only in 64-bit. Exchange 2010 just shipped with a 64-bit version. It’’s not hard to imagine that OCS 2010 will be 64-bit only. This will cause some sticking for those companies who haven”t moved to 64-bit servers yet; upgrading to OCS 2010 would mean buying new 64-bit servers. For those companies looking to SAVE on communications, spending extra is a contradiction. And a big upgrade objection.
(There’’s always the hosted option though!)
A few things to think about. Overall I think OCS” prospects are good, even with the 64-bit snag. Some will say the new smartphones coming out are a danger to OCS, but I think they have a more complementary role than a competitive one. We”ll have to see where 2010 takes us, won”t we?
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What Happens When You Don”t Change Your OCS Presence Status
Filed under: Instant Messaging (IM), OCS 2007, OCS 2007 R2, Unified Communications
Let’’s talk about OCS Presence for a moment. Specifically, what happens in the minds of others when you leave yours the same for days on end.
Do You Do This?
If your office use OCS at all, you know someone like this. You never know what Bill or Mary is doing–because they haven”t changed their Presence status in days. They”ve been “Updating the server” or “Meeting with Joe.”
Since last week? Really?
Presence is there for a reason. It makes others aware of what you”re doing. Just like IM. Are you here, available to talk? Away, not at your desk? Busy on a project, so please don”t disturb?
These are things co-workers need to know. And it frustrates the heck out of them when they can”t tell.
Why They Do It
Now the reason people don”t change their Presence status is simple. They”re lazy.
No, it’’s not “I just don”t have time” or “It’’s new, so I forget about it.” Those are excuses. They”re lazy and don”t value what help Presence does bring them.
It takes what, five seconds to update Presence? Nobody is so busy they can”t spare five seconds. (And if they think they are, they need to offload some duties.)
It’’s Poor Communication - Why Presence is Something to Remember
There’’s a very good reason why those five seconds matter. If you”re not updating your Presence status while working, it casts a bad shadow on you in the minds of others.
Little things like this can make people lose trust in your effectiveness. “He/she can”t be bothered to let us know what they”re doing? Are they not working at all? Or maybe hiding something?”
That’’s the kind of thought process this starts. With stale Presence status, your productivity can be called into question. If nobody knows what you”re doing, how can you prove you”re doing anything?
Something else to consider: If management monitors employee productivity (and there’’s no reason why they shouldn”t, if they do use OCS), then a days-old Presence will make them wonder. What are you up to? Anything?
Now you see where this can become a problem.
Loss of (Your) Value - What Happens as a Result
Without others able to determine what you”re doing, your value as an employee could drop. (I”m not saying this will happen. But it could.)
Why? Because people will stop relying on you. They”ll assume you”re not available for whatever reason and go about their business. They stop seeing you as a person who can help them do their job. That becomes a real problem for you. Fast.
And if management makes the same assumption? That you can”t keep “the rest of us” in the loop, so you could be screwing around not doing work? Well…
An Easy Way to Remember to Update
Like I said before - five seconds. And here’’s an easy way to remember.
Plan to update Presence before & after lunch. This way you put Presence in your thoughts related to lunch. (You”ll remember lunch, right?) Associating Presence with another idea like this makes it easier to recall afterward. A little memory trick courtesy of modern psychology.
OCS Presence status should be updated every day. Five seconds. Keep it up, and retain the impression of a reliable, productive worker in the minds of others.
The OCS Insider will go on holiday from today until January 1st. Join us again after that for more exploration of OCS 2007 - and the upcoming OCS 2010. Happy Holidays!
