No Response, Please Try Your Call Again
The OCS Insider will be back next week. I'm heading out for a business trip in just a few minutes. I'll be back in time for next week's post.
Speaking of, which of these topics would you like to hear more about?
- OCS 2007 R2 Support
- OCS 2010
- Voice over IP
- Using OCS for Conferencing (audio or video)
- OCS-Related Hardware
- Usability Tips
Leave a comment, or email me and let me know! Catch you all later.
Rename and a Revamp - New Features of Communications Server 14
Filed under: Conferencing, OCS 2007 R2, OCS 2010, Unified Communications, Voice over IP
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!
Filed under: Conferencing, OCS 2007, OCS 2007 R2, Unified Communications
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?
Filed under: Conferencing, Instant Messaging (IM), OCS 2007, Unified Communications, Voice over IP
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.
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!
Technorati Tags: 
Microsoft 
business 
technology 
OCS 2007 
SIP 
VoIP 
Edge Server
