Le Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 Group Policy Field Guide est un guide essentiel pour les administrateurs qui sont chargés de définir la stratégie de groupe ou à configurer les paramètres du Registre pour les utilisateurs de Communicator. Il utilise des explications claires et des exemples concrets pour illustrer comment et pourquoi utiliser une politique de votre organisation.

 

Link : http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=447bdbeb-66dd-4199-a5f7-00bef747fcd5

Version:
1.0

Date Published:
2/1/2010

Language:
English

Download Size:
3.3 MB

 

Un nouveau téléphone USB optimisé pour Office Communicator 2007 va apparaître sur le marché, par contre, il coute un bras.

J'espère avoir l'occasion de le tester prochainement.

Ces caractéristiques :

• Simple plug‐and‐play design allows users to be up and running with
  Microsoft® Office Communicator in minutes when connected to user’s PC via
  the USB port
• Bright, backlit LCD gives users the information they need including incoming
  caller ID, time, and user’s online status/presence
• Wideband audio heightens speech clarity and reduces errors ensuring
  excellent PC audio call quality
• One‐touch audio management including volume control and worry‐free mute
  key that lights up when activated
• Users can work hands‐free using the integrated speakerphone or by plugging a headset into the RJ‐22 headset port that is compatible with Plantronics H top headsets and U10P cables

 

Je viens de tomber sur un excellent article reprenant toute une série de questions revenant très souvent dans le cadre du rôle de Monitoring dans OCS 2007 R2 :

Q.  Is installation of the Monitoring Server Role supported on a Virtual Image?

A.  No, it is only supported to run on phyiscal hardware (fyi – the same true for the Archiving Role).

 

Q.  Is it supported to use the OCS Monitoring Role in a virtualized pool?

A.  Yes, but only the CDR functionality. The Monitoring Role can be installed on a physical machine and connected to a virtualized pool. OCS server roles that provide any audio (or video) functionality are not supported in a virtualized Enterprise pool so associating the QoE Service with virtualized Enterprise pool is not supported.

Collocation Questions & Answers

Q.  Is it supported to collocate the R2 Monitoring Server databases with the OCS R2 Monitoring Role itself?

A.  Yes, with the usual scalability and performance caveat (e.g. design the database for optimal scalability and performance – see the “Scaling” section of the R2 Monitoring Deployment Guide).

 

Q.  Is it supported to collocate the R2 Monitoring Server with the Standard Edition server?

A.  Yes, however you must use the full edition of SQL Server on the server instead of using the SQL Server Express Edition normally used with a Standard Edition server.

 

Q.  Is it supported to collocate the R2 Monitoring Server databases on the same SQL server as other OCS server databases? (e.g. Enterprise or Standard back-end database, Archiving database, or the Response Group Service database, for example).

A.  Yes, with the usual scalability and performance caveat (e.g. design the database for optimal scalability and performance – see the “Scaling” section of the R2 Monitoring Deployment Guide).

 

Q.  Is it supported to collocate the R2 Monitoring Server databases with other databases from 3rd party products?

A.  Yes, however it is recommended you run the Monitoring Server databases in a separate instance from other databases (see the “Scaling” section of the R2 Monitoring Deployment Guide).

 

Q.  Can you install the QoE and CDR databases on different SQL servers?

A.  No.  The Monitoring Server databases (the QoE and CDR databases) are seperate databases, but they both must run on the same SQL server (and in the same SQL instance).

 

Q.  What versions of SQL can the Monitoring databases use?

A.  SQL Server 2008 (32-bit or 64-bit) or SQL Server 2005 with Service Pack 2 (32-bit or 64-bit).

 

Q.  Can you associate multiple Monitoring servers with a single Monitoring Database?

A.  Yes.

 

Q.  Approximately how many users can a single Monitoring Server Scale to?

A.  A single Monitoring Server can serve up to 200,000 users. If you have multiple pools that total less than 200,000 users, we recommend that you associate all these pools with a single Monitoring Server

Source : http://blog.insideocs.com/2010/01/28/ocs-2007-r2-monitoring-role-faq/

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Des sessions de formations gratuites en e-learning sont proposées par Microsoft une fois par semaine ce mois de Février.

Au programme :

Microsoft Office Communicator empowers users to communicate and collaborate easily using a range of tools accessible from a single application, including instant messaging (IM), voice & video, and desktop sharing.

This virtual, instructor-led session introduces key Office Communicator usage scenarios through live demonstrations and hands-on activities.
Please click on the course title for more information about the class.

In this high-level overview, we will explore the following features:

• Instant Messaging: Need a fast answer to a question? Use Office Communicator to easily find a contact and start an Instant Messaging (IM) conversation.
• Presence: Use presence status to determine if and when a contact is available for an IM conversation or audio call. Set your own presence status to indicate how and when contacts can reach you.
• Contact Management: Build your Communicator contact list for the way you work. You can add distribution groups or organize contacts into your own custom groups.
• Audio and Video: Make or receive audio calls using your computer. If you have a webcam, you can add real-time video to your conversation.
• Desktop Sharing: Share your desktop during an instant messaging session to collaborate or edit documents with a single colleague or an entire team.
• Office Application Integration: View a contact's presence status and start communicating from within your Office applications, including Microsoft Office Outlook and SharePoint.
• Add a Live Meeting: Use the Meet Now option to quickly start a new conference and invite people who are either inside or outside of your organization.
• Communicator Web Access: Stay connected with Communicator while at home or traveling -- all you need is an Internet connection.

Join us to learn more about Office Communicator and what it can do for you!

·          

·         Le lien : https://events.livemeeting.com/967/15027/reg.aspx?pc=05

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        Microsoft a publié une mise à jour pour le composant

        Office Communications Server 2007 R2 XMPP Gateway

         

        Cette mise a jour régle les problèmes de communication avec e-Jabber et la fédération avec quelques domaines de Google.

        Le lien : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/979311

Un schéma très bien fait des différents échanges de flux d'informations dans l'environnement OCS 2007 R2 est disponible en téléchargement chez Microsoft :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=af2c17cb-207c-4c52-8811-0aca6dfadc94

Très très pratique pour réfléchir à un problème de fonctionnement

Il avait était promis y a quelques temps, il est enfin disponible!

Bonne lecture : http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=9ccaac38-2da8-4a76-8193-96f4bbf04678

Il se pourrait que Microsoft est découvert pourquoi Office Communication Server 2007 R2 ne fonctionnent pas sur leur nouveau système d'exploitation Windows Serveur 2008 R2 :

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/975858/

Envisagez le scénario suivant :

• Une application ou un service appelle la fonction InitializeSecurityContext avec l'indicateur ISC_REQ_EXTENDED_ERROR sur un ordinateur qui exécute Windows Server 2008 R2 ou Windows 7.
• L'application ou le service s'appuie sur l'attribut retourné indicateur ISC_RET_EXTENDED_ERROR.

Dans ce scénario, l'application ou le service peut rencontrer une défaillance de fonction ou une exception.

Par exemple, une négociation TLS (Transport Layer Security) échoue lorsque Microsoft Office Communicator Server 2007 R2 est installé sur un ordinateur qui exécute Windows Server 2008 R2. Ce problème entraîne certaines fonctions de fonctionner dans Office Communicator Server 2007 R2.

Cela avance finalement :).

I now have complete feature parity with a 64-bit OS (Windows 7) running 64-bit Office 2010 with LiveMeeting and Office Communicator, that I had with 32-bit Office 2007 not too long ago.

You can read about the changes for LiveMeeting here and the changes for the Conferencing Add-in here.

You can download the updated LiveMeeting client here and the updated Conferencing Add-in here.

For the add-in, you will have to choose 32-bit or 64-bit which depends on which flavor (32-bit or 64-bit) of Office you are using. The only 64-bit version of Office to date is the Office 2010 Technical Preview/Beta. Any version before that is 32-bit.

Anyone running a 32-bit OS is going to use 32-bit Office and will want the 32-bit version.

You can certainly run 32-bit Office on a 64-bit OS, and in this case, you would want the 32-bit Conferencing Add-in. One reason I can think of is if you want to keep using Xobni until a new version of that application comes out, or you have other 32-bit Office plugins that you use.

I am using 64-bit Office primarily for a relatively strange reason. Sure, running native applications is a good thing, but I am mainly interested in applications not "mucking around" with my Office configuration by adding in things covertly.

The biggest offender I can rattle off the top of my head is the plugin that iTunes installs into Outlook without asking. It has a notorious history of causing problems with delaying Outlook to shut down. I'm not picking on Apple, I just wish it was an optional component of iTunes.

Plus, I'm just a fan of 64-bit applications in general.

Note: One limitation of using Live Meeting on a 64-bit OS still remains - uploading Office documents other than PowerPoint to LiveMeeting and having LiveMeeting dynamically convert/scale the documents to each client's workspace. I generally don't use this feature so it is a non-issue for me.

The technical reason - a 64-bit Microsoft Office Document Imaging (MODI) print driver does not exist.

Lors de l'installation d'un front-end OCS R2, si la mise a jour de sécurité KB974571 est déja installé sur le serveur, l'erreur suivant lors de la phase d'activation du serveur est affichée :

Failure
[0xC3EC78D8] Failed to read the Office Communications Server version information. This can happen if the computer clock is not set to correct date and time.

Pas de panique, un fix est disponible pour résoudre ce problème :

Lors de l'installation d'OCS 2007 R1 ou R2 Enterprise Edition, lors de la phase de validation du service de partage d'application ou de Conférence Web, l'erreur suivant revient souvent : 

Received a failure HTTP response.: Unauthorized
[0xC3FC200D] One or more errors were detected

Ce n'est pas un problème critique, mais si vous souhaitez le résoudre, il faut suivre la procédure suivante :

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry key:
3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\MSV1_0
4. Right-click MSV1_0, point to New, and then click Multi-String Value.
5. Type BackConnectionHostNames, and then press ENTER.
6. Right-click BackConnectionHostNames, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, type the FQDN of your enterprise pool, and then click OK.
8. Close Registry Editor, and then restart the IISAdmin service.

Resolution found over at Technet http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd441168(office.13).aspx

Voici quelques codes d'erreurs pouvant arriver pendant la phase de validation des services :

Failure[0xC3EC796C] One or more errors occurred during execution of the wizard; the wizard was unable to complete successfully. Please check the log file for more information
http://blogs.lanlogic.net/blogs/tom/archive/2007/08/24/ocs-activation-error.aspx

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Failure[0xC3EC78B4] Office Communications Server Archiving Service is not installed on the server.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=52627734-b354-4f74-a6ed-e298259cda19&DisplayLang=en

------------------------------------------------------------------

Failure[0x800706BA] The RPC server is unavailable.
If you solved this problem correctly Failure[0xC3EC78B4] Office Communications Server Archiving Service is not installed on the server.This won't occur.
Else try this way Change your Remote Procedure call service log on to Local System account.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Warning[0x03EC78E3] No DNS record is found for the pool FQDN. Please register the pool FQDN with DNS before deploying Office Communications Server in the pool.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Error: Service : Office Communications Server Archiving and CDREventLog Error: The Office Communications Server Archiving and CDR service terminated with service-specific error 3222142979 (0xC00E0003). Failure[0xC3EC79E6] Service failed to start as requested.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

J'ai eu de nouveau ce problème lors de partage de fichiers ou d'utilisation du tableau blanc lors d'un déploiement chez un client d'un front-end OCS R2.

Pour résoudre ce point, il faut aller dans IIS7:

Dans "Basic Settings" dans le répertoire virtuel /Etc/Place/null/Filetree, les crédentiels dans "Connect As" doivent être  "RTCGuestAccessUser".
Vérifiez aussi les permissions du partage réseau contenant les documents de la réunion et que les groupes suivant sont présent et possedent les droits adéquates :
- RTCComponentUniversalServices (Modify)
- RTCUniversalGuestAccessGroup (Read).

Enjoy.

Pour information, les contacts récents de communicator sont stockés dans la base de registre sur ce lien là:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Communicator\<sip-uri of user>\GroupStateCacheU\~~

Voici un excellent article sur les problèmes de localisation avec OCS 2007 R2 :


For all of you European OCS 2007 R2 users, there’s a small “hidden feature” in the release of the OCS 2007 R2 Edge server.

During our migrations from OCS 2007 R1 to the all new R2 RTM release, we noticed some strange A/V Edge Authentication server errors. Users would see a “limited calling” error in Communicator, the Mediation server would complain there was no valid A/V Authentication service, and the front-end A/V Validation would simply fail without any helpful notification. After some in-house troubleshooting, it was time to call in the troops. Together with Microsoft, we validated the Edge configuration, did some tracing, and couldn’t find anything wrong with the edge server. One of the problems that kept coming up was a vague “Version Mismatch” error in the snooper logs. One of our troops at Microsoft took a closer look and noted that the edge server was complaining about a version 2,0 instead of a 2.0. Yes, you read that correctly, a comma instead of a period. We never thought of the fact that we installed the servers with Dutch localization, and apparently, Microsoft didn’t either.

One of the main differences when using a European localization, is the change in number notation. Where the US locale uses a notation like $ 1,000,000.00 , us Europeans will use € 1.000.000,00 . This caused the Edge server to be unable to recognize any version numbers coming in. This bug has been reported to Microsoft, and is in the process of being fixed.

In the meantime, you can work around this issue in the following manner;

    * On the Edge server, add the Edge Service account to local administrators and logoff.
    * Logon using the Edge Service account
    * Go to control panel, Regional and Language options.
    * Change the format to English (US).
    * Remove the Service Account from the local administrators and reboot.

You can verify this workaround by rerunning the validation wizard on your front-end. It will show the A/V authentication service pass with flying colors!

Microsoft a publié une documentation mise à jour :

Version: 1.4

Date Published: 12/14/2009

Language: English

Download Size: 16 KB - 173.1 MB

Une mise à jour pour la version Iphone a été publiée. Cette mise à jour régle certaines problématiques concernant son installation :

Features:

• Support for OCS CWA 2007 and 2007 R2 servers that are published behind an ISA Server using Single-Sign On (SSO) authentication. If you have deployed CWA using ISA SSO, the connection will now be seamless.
• Support for Enterprise certificates. If your OCS CWA is configured with an internal certificate, the user is warned about the untrusted certificate and can choose to “accept” the certificate in order to proceed. This is the same behavior that is available in all major web browsers today. This will greatly improve the out of box experience for users at companies that have used an internal CA to issue their CWA certificate (or certain Public CA’s that have proved to be problematic for the iPhone platform).
• Support for Distribution Groups (This feature is available only if your company has deployed OCS 2007 R2).
• Robust connection status information and error messages

Fixes:

• Improved speed and responsiveness.
• Support for passwords with certain special characters.
• Fix for intermittent app crashes when signed in to multiple OCS endpoints.

Une mise à jour du kb a était publié récemment :

Version: 6907.56

Knowledge Base (KB) Articles: KB968802

Date Published: 11/3/2009

Language: English

Download Size: 378 KB - 106.9 MB*

This hotfix download for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 is described in the Knowledge Base article 968802.

La partie intéressante de cette mise a jour est le systême de mise à jour Cumulative Server qui évite d'exécuter manuellement l'installation d'une mise a jour. Le programme d'installation mise à jour cumulative de serveur s'applique à toutes les mises à jour pour le rôle de serveur approprié dans un seul clic.

Le fonctionnement est très simple :

1. Télécharger le programme d'installation Server mise à jour cumulative :
   
   Download the ServerUpdateInstaller.exe package now.


2. Exécuter le programme d'installation de mise à jour Cumulative Server à l'aide de l'interface utilisateur ou à l'aide d'une ligne de commande.
   
   
3. Appliquer la mise à jour pour Office Communications Server 2007 R2 précédent - fin de la base de données si elle est appliquée. Pour obtenir cette mise à jour, reportez-vous au site Web de Microsoft à l'adresse suivante :
   969834  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969834/ ) Mise à jour pour entreprise Edition une base de données principale

Le blog de Damien Caro apporte quelques réponses bien utile sur certains point concernant la virtualisation et office Communicator. La virtualisation du client Communicator est supporté mais uniquement dans le cas d'une virtualisation par AppV  au niveau du poste client. L'état des lieux est clairement décrit dans cet article de la base de connaissance : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951152/en-us :

Office Communicator 2007 and Office Communicator 2007 R2 support all native functions. This includes text chats, presence functions, desktop sharing (Office Communicator 2007 R2 only), Remote Call Control (RCC), audio, and video when you use them in Client-Side Application Virtualization mode (Microsoft Application Virtualization for Desktops 4.5).

Concernant l'autre mode de virtualisation, la virtualisation de présentation, (Terminal Server) apporte une couche d'abstraction supplémentaire au niveau du réseau qui perturbe les algorithmes de détection des modifications des conditions réseau (bande passante, latence, …) rendant l'expérience utilisateur potentiellement très mauvaise. La voix et la vidéo avec Office Communicator ne sont donc pas prêtes d'être supportés en environnement de type terminal serveur.

Enfin la réponse concernant le support d'Office Communication Server 2007 R2 sur un système d'exploitation Windows Server 2008 R2 et pourtant ce n'était pas faute d'avoir essayé.

Voila l'information officielle :http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/supported-applications.aspx

On retient donc :

“Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and later versions will be supported beginning Q1 2010”

Qui s'applique aux versions :

• Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter

• Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise

• Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard

• Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation

File Name: OCS2007R2_with_Hyper-V.docx

Un document qui apporte sa pierre à l'édifice concernant Office Communications Server 2007 R2 et la virtualisation. Cette solution est certifié Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP)
La virtualisation sera supporté pour les fonctionnalités suivantes :

• Presence
• IM (including conferencing, remote access, federation, and Public IM Connectivity)
• Group Chat

Le document décrit une series de résultats de configurations sous environnement Hyper-V.

Microsoft a developpé le  "Web Service Provider" pour OCS 2007 R2 et Exchange 2010 Outlook Web App.

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Web Service Provider permet aux administrateurs d'implémenter les fonctionnalités de messagerie instantannée et de présence pour les utilisateurs de  Microsoft Office Outlook®-Live.

Download:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=ca107ab1-63c8-4c6a-816d-17961393d2b8

Les informations de présence de Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 peuvent ne pas appara^tre dans outlook 2003 (SP2) ou 2007. Cela arrive souvent quand l'URI SIP de l'utilsateur est différente de l'adresse email primaire de l'utilisateur ou quand l'utilisateur a de nombreuses adresses e-mail.

Rick Varvel a publié sur son blog un merveilleux guide permettant de mettre à jour les devices OCPE (Tanjay) en utilisant le service de mise à jour des devices d'office Communication Server 2007 R2 de manière tres détaillée, si je l'aurais eu avant, je me serais moins embêté :)

voici le lien de téléchargement : OCPE Upgrade Process 199_522_6907 for R2 (v1.5).docx