Unified Communications Product Evaluation

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Microsoft Lync Server 2013 Documentation Help File Update

Microsoft releases updated version of Microsoft Lync Server 2013 Documentation Help File.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35405

 

Call Quality Methodology – a practical approach

Want to know more about Call Quality Methodology? It's time to go through the updated version of Lync Server Networking Guide v2.


What is CQM?

CQM is a holistic way to systematically define and assert call quality based upon the methods outlined in the Networking Guide. CQM divides a Lync implementation into ten discrete areas that impact quality, defining targets and a remediation plan for each one. CQM is a framework to tackle call quality problems – you can modify or extend it to address the particular conditions on your network.

For more details: http://blogs.technet.com/b/nexthop/archive/2013/10/21/announcing-the-release-of-the-lync-server-networking-guide-v2.aspx

Configuring DHCP scope options for Lync phone in non-windows environment

Dealing non-windows environment has always been exciting for a windows professional. A non-windows DHCP server can be configured with hex value to support Lync phone login.  Usually this is what you configure in Windows DHCP server.

Option Number	Option Name	String Value
1	UCIdentifier	MS-UC-Client
2	URLScheme	https
3	WebServerFQDN	Lyncweb.contoso.com
4	WebServerPort	443
5	CertProvRelPath	CertProv/CertProvisioningService.svc
120	SIP-Servers	lyncpool.contoso.com

 

Which you can convert to hex using any online string to hex converter. However it may not be sufficient. During an engagement I used several string to hex converters, but of no use. Finally I used the tool which I should have used at first go; DHCPUtil.exe. :)
 
Located DHCPUtil.exe on Lync server (%ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Microsoft Lync Server 2013) command prompt. Ran following command.

DHCPUtil.exe -SipServer lyncpool.contoso.com -WebServer lyncweb.contoso.com >Hex.txt

It created a file Hex.txt under %ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Microsoft Lync Server 2013. This file has corresponding hex values for DHCP scope options. We could login in Lync phone clients (hard reboot is required) successfully after configuring the DHCP server with HEX values.

For detailed instruction on how to configure DHCP scope options for Lync phone client: http://blog.schertz.name/2010/12/configuring-lync-server-for-phone-edition-devices/
 

Step by Step: Enabling Lync 2013-Skype federation.

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Lync 2013 Duplicate Contacts Entry (From Outlook)

This article has been moved to http://www.rtcpedia.com/Blogs/Action?blogId=19&blogURL=Lync2013DuplicateContacts

Visit www.rtcpedia.com for many more Skype for Business articles.

Step by Step: Lync 2013 Databases Failover (Pool, CMS,Monitoring)

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Lync 2013 Monitoring Server URL Access Issues

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Check the version of Lync Server components

I wish if Get-CsServerVersion returned the actual version of Lync Server. However, that's not the case. It always returns the base version of the Lync Server.

So how would you determine what's the actual version of the Lync Server? It's easy now... Thanks to Premal Gandhi. Run following command on the Lync Server to get the actual version.

Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from win32_product' | where {$_.name -like "Microsoft Lync Server*"} |ft Name, Version -AutoSize

Tim explains the couple of other methods as well in this blog... :)

Centralize​d Logging and OCSLogger in Lync Server 2013

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Lync Server 2013 Certifications

Following URL talks about Lync Server 2013 certifications at expert and master level.

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/lync-server-certification.aspx#fbid=5xXvbiH7Ktk
 
First you need to pass Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) communications exam and then it's the turn for Microsoft Certified Solution Masters (MCSM) communications exam.

Office Web Apps Server: Lync 2010 vs Lync 2013

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Active Directory, Exchange, Lync User Creation Tool

Greetings guys,

PowerShell has made administrators life much simple now-a-days. However quest over automation still continues... :). Came across to a quite useful user creation tool for Active Directory, Exchange and Lync.

http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Z-Hire-Employee-Provisionin-e4854d6b

Disclaimer: The tool has not been thoroughly tested by us. It's always advised to test it in a test environment before using for production.

Exchange UM Association Migration from Lync 2010 to Lync 2013

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What is new in Lync Server 2013

It’s always good to get enrolled for training when the product is not even RTM’ed. J Microsoft Lync 2013 Ignite training (Kuallumpur) agenda was focused on new features and functionalities in Lync Server 2013 preview. It gave us opportunity to learn the great features coming Lync 2013 way. It’s a pleasure sharing top seven changes in Lync server 2013 with my blog readers.

1.      Topology Builder (TB) changes:

a.   Topology Builder (TB) now supports SQL mirroring. Lync 2013 supports SQL mirroring for backend purpose.

b.   You don’t have to use different management tool for persistent chat (Group Chat). Its integrated with the Lync Server 2013 Topology Builder (TB).

2.      Architecture related changes:

a.   You've gotten even better reason to follow defined procedures when adding/removing a server from the pool. This is because of architectural changes in the Lync 2013 pool. Now, back End database is no longer the real-time data store in a pool. User based information is kept on three Front End Servers in the pool. For each user, one Front End Server acts as the master for that user’s information, and two other Front End Servers serve as replicas. If a Front End Server goes down, another Front End Server which served as a replica is automatically promoted to master.

b.   The Back End Server serves as backup storage for user and conference data, and is also the primary storage for other databases such as the Response Group database.

c.    Also, this is the reason why you should plan for three FEs in a pool in an enterprise edition deployment.

3.      No Group Chat (GC), Its Persistent Chat (PC) now:

a.    Persistent Chat server role is a new role in Lync Server 2013. Group Chat (GC) word goes off. Persistent Chat role is integrated part of Lync Server 2013, unlike Group Chat (GC) in Lync Server 2010 where Group Chat (GC) used to get registered as third party service in Lync 2010.

b.   There is no need of another client tool to access Persistent Chat (PC) features. Lync 2013 client provides client side functionality of Persistent Chat (PC).

4.      Server role changes:

a.   In Lync Server 2013, A/V Conferencing Server is always collocated with Front End Server.

b.   Archiving and Monitoring servers are always collocated on the Front End (FE) server. They still need a backend, which can be shared with backend of pool.

c.   Lync Server 2013 setup allows you to use Exchange archiving store.

d.   There is no separate XMPP server. It’s integrated with FE and Edge server.

5.      Lync 2013 Web App:

a.   Lync 2013 web app supports full conferencing feature. This is one of the best things to happen for users not having Lync client installed on PC.

6.      Skype integration:

a.   One of the most awaited features.

7.      Video conferencing Enhancements:

a.   HD conference support: Lync 2013 supports multiparty HD video and content sharing. This is the first time that Lync has started supporting HD video conference. Earlier you had to use a third party (for example Polycom) to enable it. Which was a costly and effort consuming exercise.

b.   Enhanced Video Gallery: The rich video gallery shows 5 videos at one point of time. Other participants in the conference are shown with HD photo. Users have option to pin up five participants to see static videos (irrespective of their activity).  The video gallery identifies active speaker and shows up his/her video/photo.

c.    H.264 SVC support: Jeff Schertz (http://blog.schertz.name/2012/07/video-interoperability-in-lync-2013/) talks about it in detail. I personally know what it means to have H.264 SVC support for HD video conference. J Earlier version of Lync supported proprietary RTV video codec. I find it encouraging knowing that now Lync supports H.264 codec… however I am not too much hopeful of its benefit as of now. I’d leave you guys in safe hand of Jeff to know more about it. ;)

Of course there are many other features... However this article talks about features which excite me more!!! :)

 

 

Date: 5th November 2012