An App Store for OCS? Great Idea!

Recently The VAR Guy blog announced that an OCS app store was in the works. Not by Microsoft though - by Evangelyze Communications, an OCS channel partner (like us!).

(There's a nice write-up on No Jitter too. Eric asked some good questions.)

I find this idea very interesting. Honestly, I hadn't figured OCS as the type of platform for an app store. But as I think about what these posts have covered, it makes more sense. Let me explain what I'm thinking here.

As Companies Grow, Communication Needs Change

The larger a company grows, the more complex its communications needs become. Communications Server is quite flexible enough to handle more complexity (especially with OCS 2010 coming). But there's no shame in getting help. By building onto OCS, you can customize its setup toward more specific customer needs.

We've done that ourselves with the Dialogic VoIP gateway. No reason someone can't do it with apps in an app store.

Say one company needs video conferencing between interstate offices. Another doesn't care about conferencing, but wants VoIP on all their phones. Two different priorities. Two different OCS setups. Perfect opportunity for custom developers.

Advantages of an OCS App Store to Developers

A Showcase
Enterprise-level apps aren't always easy to market. (Not to mention custom development services!) You're mostly marketing direct to companies, without always knowing where they are in their buying cycle. Your marketing could arrive too early - or too late.

Contrast that with a profile in an app store. Then the customers come find you when it's time to buy. All you have to do then is make sure you have a solid product, and you deliver content that addresses their communications needs.

IP Security
Safety of your intellectual property, that is. Since this would be run by a Microsoft partner and not Microsoft itself, Evangelyze has a vested interest in keeping such a store buttoned down and protected. (I'm sure Microsoft will help at some point too.)

Project Focus
You can focus on one endpoint (Polycom desk phones, smartphones, laptops/netbooks) instead of trying to develop a big huge solution for everyone. The customers who want apps for that endpoint will come find you. We already see this kind of specialization in the Apple store.

Some OCS App Ideas

I'm throwing out some ideas for apps here, off the top of my head. If you want to use one (or you're already working on the same idea), email me.

1. Social media inter-communication. Plug in Facebook Chat and Twitter.
   • A LinkedIn chat module? Maybe create an app that bridges two (or more) LI profiles via OCS IM, letting them chat in real-time after connecting? You could even leapfrog LinkedIn development here.
2. Office Communicator versions for all smartphones. Maybe a wrapper for the Communicator client, or a duplicate (better?) app for each interface - Droid, Blackberry, iPhone/iPod, etc.
3. Video Conferencing add-ons.
4. Remote server access. Maybe turn OCS into a command prompt for Telnet or SSH?
5. Translation. Auto-translate Instant Messages into a different language, and back again.
6. Software Gateway. Hey, might as well aim high. I'm sure this is possible. Someone's already working on it, I'll bet.

Call me crazy, but I like the idea of a channel partner building an OCS app store. They have a different perspective from the team who made OCS. And it's also different from developers who'll be working on custom apps for OCS. That sort of “midway” perspective should translate to a platform everybody can take advantage of for better communications technology.

What do you think? What kind of apps would you like to see in an OCS app store? Shoot me a comment; let's talk about it.

OCS 2007 R2 Now VS. OCS 2010 Later: What's the Plan?

(Sorry about the delay on this post. WordPress didn't want to cooperate last week, and I didn't have the time to fight with it.)

A few days ago we were asked a question. This question, I felt, deserved its own post. Because it brings up a very important OCS version point.

“Should we upgrade now, or wait for OCS 2010?”

In this case “upgrade” referred to the fact that this client had no present OCS system. The choice was between putting in a brand new OCS 2007 R2 system, or waiting a few months for the upcoming release of OCS 2010.

What Do You Need from OCS Now? Later?

This question comes down to two concerns: present need and future planning. What communications tools do you need? And how far in the future do you want to (or typically) plan?

These questions can help determine which is best. Upgrading to OCS 2007 R2 now, or waiting until the end of this year when OCS 2010 arrives. I'll address both while comparing the advantages of each approach below.

A couple things to keep in mind while we consider:

• Voice is a big upgrade issue.

• So is cost.
• Planning time is always dependent on how big an organization is.

Advantages in Upgrading Now

1. You'll get a jump on preparation. It takes time to survey and prepare.
   • You'll need an inventory of the user pool, and what they want.

   • You'll need to decide which services you want to use (VoIP or no, which servers are needed).
   • You'll need to decide what architecture to use (all local, all hosted, virtual?).
   • And you'll need to add necessary server hardware. (Or go with a hosted option, of course.)

   Deciding to start an OCS 2007 R2 implementation plan now gives you an option. Do we spread it out over a couple months? Or take a week and get it all done? The choice is yours.

2. “OCS 2007 now, OCS 2010 later” is NOT mandatory. You don't have to upgrade again (at least not right away) if your new OCS 2007 R2 system works for you.
3. An OCS 2007 R2 system removes the need for (and cost of) third-party conferencing solutions.

Advantages in Waiting for OCS 2010

1. It's intended to replace the PBX. OCS 2007 R2 can replace a PBX, but it requires some add-ons (ex., media gateway). OCS 2010 however is intended as a full PBX replacement.

2. Fewer servers needed. As I pointed out the other day, OCS 2010 will run on fewer physical servers than 2007 R2.
3. Even more prep time. If you have a larger organization, it will (obviously) take longer to prepare for a major communications change than it would a small business. Especially since you'll be moving people over to OCS, not just technology. Fortunately, you still have plenty of time to ease in.

Based on all this and the two questions I mentioned earlier, this is what I recommend:

If you intend to move to VoIP, plan for transitioning to OCS 2010.

If you're already using VoIP or don't want to use it, implement OCS 2007 R2 now.

What's your plan? Which OCS version are you moving toward?

Rename and a Revamp - New Features of Communications Server 14

Last week at TechEd, Microsoft announced the new features of Communications Server 14. Frankly, I”m not sure why the new version is named “14.” But that's not what I wanted to write about anyway.

What I'm blogging about today is a few of the features announced. More specifically, how those features translate into new benefits for small business OCS users.

Many of 14's updates focus on simplification: Easier administration, more unified front-end interface (Unified Communication - get it?). The main small-business advantage comes from a more comprehensive client application. All communication channels ready and waiting for you.

1. The Rise of Communicator 14

Every service goes through the Communicator 14 client. Live Meeting was originally separate from the Office Communicator 2007 client. (They were developed separately at first.) Communicator 14 has it built in. All conferencing capabilities, in fact…along with IM, voice calls, Presence, even a visual Voicemail menu.

2. More Roles Virtually Capable

In 14 there's support for virtualizing almost all OCS server roles (AV Conferencing, Archiving, Edge Mediation, etc.). Putting in a new Communications Server 14 setup becomes more appealing if there are fewer physical servers needed than for OCS.

3. Web Client Following You Around

14 includes a new Silverlight-based web client version of Communicator. Very handy if you have people who live on netbooks or smartphones. I've played with Silverlight a little too; this client is almost guaranteed to be much faster than CWA.

4. Avoid the Media (Server) and Still Call the Office

There's a new media bypass, reducing the need for a mediation server. It allows a front-end server to go “direct SIP,” meaning you can call into (supported) PBX phone systems without mediation. In other words, simpler setup, and you can still call non-VoIP phones.

5. Alert! Call #2467 is Failing!

I really like this one. There's a new Monitoring Pack in Communications Server 14. If calls are failing or their quality drops, alerts will show in the Monitoring Pack. You can even boost the audio quality if it’’s degrading!

6. SQL Backend Moved to Express Lane

The Director server role will include a SQL Express database in 14. So there's no more need for a separate SQL backend. That means even fewer servers running.

There's even more features than these too. A very thorough overview is on the “Inside OCS” blog.

A smaller, more streamlined communications system. Appealing to small business cost and space concerns, wouldn't you say?

What are you looking forward to in Communications Server 14? Drop us a comment and let's talk.

When Support Calls Go Awry!

Or, The Many Components Involved in Running OCS-Based VoIP

A client of ours had lots of trouble getting Conferencing to work lately. We put in OCS for them only 4-5 months ago. Naturally, they called us and said,

“Your OCS is broken! We can”t conference now!”

“Quick, Fix It!” “Which Part?”

Of course we sent an engineer out at once. He quickly determined that the problem was not OCS by communicating with our office from it. But he COULD reproduce the conferencing problem.

So what was causing it?

It’’s times like this when we all remember that OCS is one part of a VoIP phone system. A critical part, but a part nonetheless. It’’s just the part that faces the user every day, in form of the Office Communicator application. So it gets the blame when another system component won”t behave.

And that’’s what happened with our client. After some investigation, it turns out the phone company providing SIP lines to their office was having issues. They told our engineer it would be fixed by the next day. It was.

To check, we conferenced with the client a day later. Sure enough, they heard us just fine.

Glad to Help, Once We Find the Problem

OCS has multiple components - servers (Standard, Edge, Mediation and CWA), SIP Trunking, IP-PBX Gateway, Internet connections, and Office Communicator. And sometimes it only takes one breaking to mess up the others. Aggravating, I know.

I figured this was a good opportunity to remind everyone about the many things involved in running VoIP. Every IT system has components. And they do their jobs for us. Most of the time.

Is Lack of User Adoption Hampering Your UC Plans?

How familiar is this little IM scenario to you?

Bob's IM: Hey Frank, do you have the project specs ready yet?
Frank's IM: yeah, busy right now can I send it later?
Bob's IM: Sorry Frank, your Presence didn't say you were busy. Later's fine.
Frank's IM: ok
(Frank's Presence status doesn't change at all for the next week. Bob gets his specs the next day.)

What's the problem here? User adoption. Or lack thereof. In this case, lack of adoption of OCS' Presence tool.

One of the biggest hurdles in Unified Communications is getting users to start using it. People “don't have time” or “aren't used to it” (how are you supposed to get used to something if you never use it?).

Why We're Nervous About Switching to Unified Communications

There's a simple reason why people don't want to switch to new technology like UC - we're afraid.

Oh, not of UC itself. It doesn't bite. It's just another manifestation of the human fear of change.

Nothing wrong with that. (Fear of change evolved for very good reasons at the time!) But it does get in the way of adopting newer technologies like Office Communicator or Exchange 2010.

Unified Communications contains new ways for users to communicate among themselves (and with customers). Disrupting the long-standing order of Phone and Email? People are bound to hesitate.

Someone will have to push the office to switch.

If you're the sysadmin or IT manager…that's you. (Sorry.)

Two Ways to Spur Adoption

Make it Dead Simple
Offer a training course. Mandatory.

Provide reference material. (The Unified Communications Strategies blog has solid UC material.)

Indicate what aspects of Unified Communications should be used for which activities. For example, all internal phone calls will be done through Office Communicator. Any non-critical project discussions should use IMs. And so on. Write up the complete list and post it someplace everyone will see it.

Remove Alternatives
Schedule the “old system” for deactivation at some point in the future (say 30-60 days from UC implementation). Now this may not always work - in some cases, the “old system” is the phone!

If adoption is the goal however, you may not have a choice. You'll have to make it difficult for people to use anything except the UC channels.

Remove any old phones. Make a big announcement that everyone will use Unified Communications channels from now on. Change company cellphone plans if necessary.

People will grumble and complain about it for a few days, maybe weeks. But they'll adapt.

I think I'll go into more detail on these next week. In the meantime, how have you spurred user adoption of a new product or technology? Share your story in the comments.

Observations from the 2010 Cloud Connect Expo

I attended the Cloud Connect Expo in Santa Clara yesterday. (It's still going today; check www.cloudconnectevent.com if you haven't attended yet!) I like heading to events like that - I can get an idea of industry direction, see new technologies coming out, make some new connections and so on. Cloud Connect was no different.

Before I go add my connections on LinkedIn, here's a few observations of the Cloud Connect events.

Most of the attendees were from tech companies. Like me! I spoke with a few of the wandering fellow techies about why they'd come. Their reasons were either to check out the cloud computing industry's status (like me). Or they were looking for cloud-based services they could add to their own products & resell.

A few vendors seemed surprised when I told them about our Hosted OCS. What? Running OCS in a cloud-computing type of setup? Why, that's a novel idea! (Yes, we thought so too.)

Marketing tactics were a bit behind the times. Oh, they had a Twitter event hashtag (#ccevent) and a dedicated social network up. That's great. But some of the booths had vague promotional language, and/or their reps used hard-sell tactics. Nobody's fault, but it was a little too pushy for such new services. Hopefully this will smooth out by the time the cloud reaches more common understanding. And speaking of that…

People are already talking about cloud standards. I think this is a big help for cloud computing overall. Defining standards early on, especially for such an open-purpose technology model as cloud computing, should help us all avoid confusion over things like “What's this cloud stuff going to DO for us?” in the future.
Dave at IBM had a presentation on current efforts to produce open standards for the cloud. I'll repost a couple links they gave:
www.cloudusecases.org - A Google Group for defining use cases of cloud computing. There's a group-composed white paper on such use cases too (available on Scribd here: http://bit.ly/1FXRAH).
www.Cloud-standards.org - The Cloud Standards Wiki. Many more links to standards organizations and contributing groups are here.
www.Opencloudconsortium.org - One of the current contributing groups to cloud standards.

No Microsoft reps. Nobody showed up for the Microsoft booth yesterday! What's up with that? Even the IBM guys next door boggled. Hopefully someone's there today.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft business technology OCS 2007 Cloud Computing Cloud Connect

OCS Insider Tip: Avoid Using Refurbished Polycom Phones for VoIP

We use Polycom phones for OCS. And we recommend them to clients. They're great when you want an external phone for using VoIP, just like a regular phone. (Well, a bit better, since Polycom phones also have a screen displaying your contacts' Presence status.)

However, these are all new Polycom phones. Not refurbs.

One of our clients decided to order a bunch of refurbished Polycom phones for some new hires (without consulting us, mind you). A few days after that they called us. “We're having Internet problems,” they said. “Everything's going so slow!”

So we sent someone out to have a look. Sure enough, their bandwidth was very low. Connection was fine; something was eating up bandwidth from inside their network. The servers? Nope. An employee PC? No.

Turns out that one of the refurbished Polycom phones was sucking up bandwidth like a supercharged vacuum cleaner. For no reason at all. We removed that phone and replaced it with a new Polycom phone. And the speed problem evaporated.

We tested the refurbished phone back at our office. But we never determined why it decided to become a bandwidth hog.

So, here's our Insider Tip for the week. Are you looking at Polycom for VoIP phones? Great idea! Buy new phones though. You might save money on refurbs…but you could also lose out on work time when they misbehave.

Got Enough Bandwidth for OCS R2?

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

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!

Technorati Tags: Microsoft business technology OCS 2007 SIP VoIP Edge Server

JBuddy Messenger: An Office Communicator Alternative

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.

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.

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

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