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Troubleshooting External Lync Mobility Connectivity Issues Step-by-Step

NextHop — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:20:00 GMT

This article provides step-by-step troubleshooting for Microsoft Lync Server 2010 connectivity issues for external users with mobile devices. This article assumes that Lync Server 2010 Mobility Service and Lync Server 2010 Autodiscover Service are successfully deployed and internal users are able to connect using the Lync 2010 mobile client. It assumes that Lync Server clients can successfully connect to an external mobile device user without error messages or warnings for web services connectivity. This article does not include steps for troubleshooting push notifications for Windows Phone 7 and iOS devices.

Author: Edwin Joseph

Publication date: February 21, 2012

Product version: Microsoft Lync Server 2010 with Cumulative update for November 2012

Symptom

When a mobile device with a Lync 2010 client tries to connect to Lync Server 2010, the user receives the error message:

Can’t connect to the server. It might be unavailable. Also please check your network connection, sign-in address, and server addresses.

Troubleshooting

Note: The SIP domain used throughout this document is contoso.com; replace contoso.com with your actual SIP domain. Lyncexternal.contoso.com is the external web services URL of the pool.

Step 1. Autodiscover setup check

If you use Autodiscover Service to locate Lync Server 2010, the first step is to type the Autodiscover URL into the web browser. For example after typing https://lyncdiscover.contoso.com in the browser, you should receive a prompt to open or save the lyncdiscover_contoso.com file.

If you receive a warning or an error, check the browser settings. If you are prompted for authentication when browsing lyncdiscover.contoso.com, there is a configuration issue on the reverse proxy.

If you are unable to obtain the lyncdiscover_contoso.com file, perform a Nslookup for lyncdiscover.contoso.com. Verify that the A record is setup for lyncdiscover.contoso.com and that it points to the correct external IP address.

When you open the lyncdiscover_contoso.com file in notepad, you should see the following content.

{"AccessLocation":"External","Root":{"Links":[{"href":"https:\/\/lyncexternal.contoso.com\/Autodiscover\/AutodiscoverService.svc\/root\/domain","token":"Domain"},{"href":"https:\/\/lyncexternal.contoso.com\/Autodiscover\/AutodiscoverService.svc\/root\/user","token":"User"}]}}

The URL identified in the lyncdiscover_contoso.com file must be the external web services URL for the Lync Server 2010 Front End Server or Lync Server 2010 Director pool. If the internal web services URL is identified, the web publishing rule is incorrect and is bridging the connection to port 443 instead of port 4443 for the Lync external web services.

When you have verified that the A record for lyncdiscover.contoso.com is correct and that the URL returned in the lyncdiscover_contoso.com file is the external web services URL for the Lync Server Front End Server or Lync Server Director pool, you are ready to look at the Lync mobility setup.

Step 2. Check Web Services Internal URL

A prerequisite for the Lync mobility component is that the Front End pool internal web FQDN must be distinct from the Front End pool external web FQDN.

To configure internal web services

Log on to the computer where Topology Builder is installed, as a member of the Domain Admins group and the RTCUniversalServerAdmins group.
To start Topology Builder, click All Programs, click Microsoft Lync Server 2010, and then click Lync Server Topology Builder.
In the Topology Builder console tree under Standard Edition Front End Servers, Enterprise Edition Front End pools, and Directory pools, select the pool name. Right-click the name, click Edit Properties, and click Web Services.
Under Internal Web Services check the option Override FQDN.
Add an Internal Web Services FQDN, and then click OK.
Verify the listening and published ports are configured correctly for your environment.
Repeat these steps for all Standard Edition Servers, Front End pools, and Director pools in your environment.
In the console tree, click Lync Server 2010. In the Actions pane, click Publish Topology.

Step 3. MCX configuration check

Log on to the computer as a member of the CsAdministrator group. In the Lync Management Shell run the following cmdlet.

Get-CsMCXconfiguration |fl

Verify the ExposedWebUrl is set to External. If this value is set to the Internal, only your internal mobility client can connect to Lync Server. To set the value for ExposedWebUrl to external, use the following cmdlet.

Set-CsMcxConfiguration –ExposedWebUrl External

Step 4. DNS record check

Verify that the A record for Lyncdiscover is setup correctly in the internal DNS.

External DNS Records

Record type	Host name	Resolves to
CNAME	lyncdiscover.contoso.com	External Web Services FQDN for your Director pool, if you have one, or for your Front End pool if you do not have a Director
A (host)	lyncdiscover.contoso.com	External or public or IP address of the reverse proxy

Step 5. Certificate check

Refer to the certificate requirements in the Lync Server 2010 Mobility Guide.

If you are using a Director, verify the certificate.

Director Pool Certificate

Description	Subject alternative name entry
Internal Autodiscover Service URL	SAN=lyncdiscoverinternal.contoso.com
External Autodiscover Service URL	SAN=lyncdiscover.contoso.com

Note: Alternatively, you can use SAN= *.contoso.com.

Front End Pool Certificate

Description	Subject alternative name entry
Internal Autodiscover Service URL	SAN=lyncdiscoverinternal.contoso.com
External Autodiscover Service URL	SAN=lyncdiscover.contoso.com

Note: Alternatively, you can use SAN= *.contoso.com.

Reverse Proxy (Public CA) Certificate

Description	Subject alternative name entry
External Autodiscover Service URL	SAN=lyncdiscover.contoso.com

Note: Assign this certificate to the SSL Listener on the reverse proxy.

After completing the four steps outlined above, browse to the Autodiscover URL in web browser https://lyncdiscover.contoso.com.

You should receive a prompt to open or save the file Lyncdiscover_contoso.com.

If you still do not receive an option to open or save the file lyncdiscover_contoso.com, verify the reverse proxy setup. Refer to the Lync Server 2010 Mobility Guide.

Step 6. Domain file check

If you receive the option to open or save the lyncdiscover_contoso.com file in the web browser, proceed to step 5.

Try to browse to the following URL in your web browser. http://lyncdiscover.contoso.com/autodiscover/autodiscoverservice.svc/root/domain

You should receive a prompt to open or save the domain file.

When you open the domain file in notepad you should see the following content.

{"AccessLocation":"External","Domain":{"Links":[{"href":"https:\/\/lyncexternal.contoso.com\/Autodiscover\/AutodiscoverService.svc\/root","token":"External\/Autodiscover"},{"href":"https:\/\/lyncexternal.contoso.com\/Reach\/sip.svc","token":"External\/AuthBroker"},{"href":"https:\/\/lyncexternal.contoso.com\/Mcx\/McxService.svc","token":"External\/Mcx"}],"SipClientExternalAccess":{"fqdn":"edge.contoso.com","port":"5061"},"SipClientInternalAccess":null,"SipServerExternalAccess":{"fqdn":"edge.contoso.com","port":"5061"},"SipServerInternalAccess":null}}

The URL mentioned in the domain file must be the external web services URL for the Front End Server or Director pool. If the internal web services URL is returned, the web publishing rule is incorrect. This means that it is bridging the connection to port 443 instead of 4443 for Lync Server external web services.

If you are unable to download the Domain file, there is a problem with the reverse proxy configuration or authentication settings for web services in Lync Server 2010.

Step 7. Web Services authentication check

Try to browse the URL https://lyncexternal. contoso.com/mcx/mcxservice.svc/mex in your web browser.

Depending on your browser settings, you should see https://lyncexternal.contoso.com/Mcx/McxService.svc/WebTicket_Bearer in the browser or the XML SOAP information. This means the web services URL authentication setting is set to negotiate.

To quickly verify the web services URL authentication settings, use the Lync Management Shell to run the following cmdlet.

Get-CsWebServicesConfiguration |fl

Verify the value for the UseWindowsAuth parameter is set to Negotiate.

Step 8. Debug log from mobile device

Enable and collect debugging logs from a mobile device to verify the reverse proxy configuration.

Note: The logging information may contain personal information. To address privacy concerns, edit the log file in accordance with company guidelines before forwarding logging information.

To Enable logging on a Windows Phone

1. From any screen of the Lync for Windows Phone application, touch the ellipses, to bring up the menu, and then tap settings.

2. On the settings page, toggle Diagnostic Logging to the on position.

3. Close and exit Lync. Launch Lync and sign-in to reproduce the issue.

4. To send the logs, tap the ellipses to bring up the menu and tap about.

5. On the about page, tap send diagnostic logs. The logs are stored in your Saved Pictures folder. To send the logs, tap ok and attach the image to the email that opens automatically.

6. When the new email opens, tap the paperclip to attach the log file. Swipe the menu to change to date view and select the most recent Lync log identified by the Lync icon.

7. Type in the recipient’s name and tap send.

8. To review the log, open the received file in a text editor. The log has a .jpg extension. Change the file extension to .txt and open a text editor.

To Enable logging on an iPhone

1. To enable logging access the Logging option from My Info tab -> Options -> Logging.

2. Within the Send Feedback screen, you have the option to submit Bug.

3. After you have completed the feedback, click the Next button at the top of the screen. This brings up your iPhone email client. Use your corporate account to send the feedback.

Note: Logging on an iPad is similar to an iPhone.

To Enable logging on an Android device

1. After sign in, tap Options on the Signing in tab. On the Options page, tap Diagnostic logging to enable logging. Sign out and then sign in.

2. Recreate the issue. Return to the Options screen and tap About Lync.

3. Tap Send diagnostic logs and then choose a configured email account.

4. Enter the recipients and subject line information and tap Send. The logs are attached as a .zip file.

Sample error messages

Here are some errors you might see in the device logs from Windows Phone 7.

Error : 410674486 : HttpRequestPump : Got a failure response to request UnauthGethttps://lyncexternal.contoso.com/Autodiscover/AutodiscoverService.svc/root/user. Status: UnknownError. Code: 403.

Verbose : 410674486 : HttpRequestPump : Error status description for request UnauthGethttps://lyncexternal.contoso.com/Autodiscover/AutodiscoverService.svc/root/user is "Forbidden ( The server denied the specified Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Contact the server administrator. )".

Error : 410674486 : MetadataManager : Web request to resolve failed. Error: HttpClientForbiddenError [Error, Transport, TransportFramework].

Here are some errors you might see in the device logs from an Android device.

ERROR TRANSPORT /mnt/hgfs/marvin_LyncRTM/dev/como/transport/metaDataManager/private/CMetaDataManager.cpp/511:Unable to get a response to an unauthenticated get to url https://Lyncexternal.contoso.com/autodiscover/autodiscoverservice.svc/root/user

ERROR TRANSPORT /mnt/hgfs/marvin_LyncRTM/dev/como/transport/authenticationResolver/private/CAuthenticationResolver.cpp/554:Unable to get the meta data for server url https://Lyncexternal.contoso.com/autodiscover/autodiscoverservice.svc/root/user

ERROR APPLICATION /mnt/hgfs/marvin_LyncRTM/dev/como/applicationLayer/infrastructure/private/CUcwaAutoDiscoveryServiceRetrialWrapper.cpp/348:Auto-discovery failed. Analysing the failure

ERROR APPLICATION /mnt/hgfs/marvin_LyncRTM/dev/como/applicationLayer/infrastructure/private/CLogonSession.cpp/1050:Auto-discovery failed, aborting sign-in!Error Samples

Here are some of the errors you might see in the device logs from an iPhone or iPad.

Error Code: 403 Forbidden. The server denied the specified Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Contact the server administrator. (12202)

ERROR TRANSPORT /Users/comobuildadmin/se_wave1_idx/src/dev/CoMo/transport/_buildIos/../metaDataManager/private/CMetaDataManager.cpp/511:Unable to get a response to an unauthenticated get to url https://Lyncexternal.contoso.com/autodiscover/autodiscoverservice.svc/root/user

ERROR TRANSPORT /Users/comobuildadmin/se_wave1_idx/src/dev/CoMo/transport/_buildIos/../authenticationResolver/private/CAuthenticationResolver.cpp/562:Unable to get the meta data for server url https://Lyncexternal.contoso.com/autodiscover/autodiscoverservice.svc/root/user

ERROR APPLICATION /Users/comobuildadmin/se_wave1_idx/src/dev/CoMo/applicationLayer/_buildIos/../infrastructure/private/CUcwaAutoDiscoveryServiceRetrialWrapper.cpp/348:Auto-discovery failed. Analysing the failure

ERROR APPLICATION /Users/comobuildadmin/se_wave1_idx/src/dev/CoMo/applicationLayer/_buildIos/../infrastructure/private/CLogonSession.cpp/1050:Auto-discovery failed, aborting sign-in!

Note: Log information and verbosity varies as per device and platform.

These error messages indicate the client is having an issue authenticating with Lync Server 2010. First, verify that Authentication Delegation is verified on the reverse proxy publishing rule configuration. This must be set to No delegation, but client may authenticate directly. If the reverse proxy publishing rules are set to No delegate and client cannot authenticate directly, it fails to sign-in when it reaches the step to provide credentials to request a token after MEX retrieval.

Summary

This article describes a process to verify connectivity from an external Lync mobility client to Lync Server 2010.

Browse to https://lyncdiscover.contoso.com. You will receive a prompt to open or save the lyncdiscover_contoso.com file.
Browse to http://lyncdiscover.contoso.com/autodiscover/autodiscoverservice.svc/root/domain. You will receive a prompt you to open or save the Domain file.
Browse to https://lyncexternal. contoso.com/mcx/mcxservice.svc/mex. Depending on your browser settings, you should see a banner for https://lyncexternal.contoso.com/Mcx/McxService.svc/WebTicket_Bearer or you should see XML SOAP information.

If are unable to connect, verifying the reverse proxy publishing rule configuration. If reverse proxy settings are correct, verify the Lync mobility settings as described in the Lync Server 2010 Mobility Guide. Verify that you have installed the latest updates for Lync Server 2010 Mobility Service. Service Here is the update for Lync Server 2010, Mobility Service: February 2012.

References

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Update: Configuring On-Premises Lync Server 2010 Integration with Exchange Online

NextHop — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 01:10:00 GMT

This article has been updated. A new section, Create a DNS SRV Record for Integration with Hosted Exchange UM, was added to this article on February 13, 2012 and the article was moved to the Lync Server 2010 TechNet Library. You can now view the content of this article at Configuring On-premises Lync Server 2010 Integration with Exchange Online.

This article describes how to configure integration between on-premises Microsoft Lync Server 2010 deployments and Exchange Online.

On-premises Lync Server 2010 supports interoperability with Exchange Online in the following ways:

Calendar data and out-of-office messages
Instant Messaging (IM) and presence interoperability in Outlook Web App
Voicemail interoperability

Outlook Web App can interoperate with on-premises Lync Server 2010 to provide users with instant messaging (IM) and presence within the Outlook Web App interface.

Author: Chloe Brussard and Randall DuBois

Publication date: June 28, 2011

Publication update: February 13, 2012

Product version: Lync Server 2010

Additional Information

For more information about how to configure your Lync Server 2010 deployment for Unified Messaging, see the following topics:

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Keywords: Lync Server 2010 integration with Exchange Online

How to Capture and Decrypt Lync Server 2010 TLS Traffic Using Microsoft Tools

NextHop — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:11:00 GMT

All Lync Server 2010 client traffic is encrypted by default and secure by design. In fact, you can’t run the Lync Server client in TCP mode, it must run in TLS. Security is essential, but it can pose a challenge when you are troubleshooting an issue, or just trying to better understand your system. Fortunately, the Lync Server team has created tools to make your life easier. The Lync Server Logging Tool provides an easy way to monitor or troubleshoot Lync Server traffic such as SIP traces in the clear. The awesome Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Resource Kit Tool: Snooper tool can parse log files and make them easy to read.

Author: Tom Arbuthnot

Publication date: February 15, 2012

Product version: Lync Server 2010

The Logging Tool and Snooper will address 99% of the troubleshooting issues you are likely to encounter in your Lync Server deployment. But, what if you do want to capture the actual network traffic, decrypt it, and see what's going on frame by frame? With a little effort and the right tools, you can meet the challenge.

Several additional tools are required, but after you set them up correctly it's a straightforward process to decrypt a capture. To find out how, read on.

Tools

Use these four tools on the server and a client machine to decrypt the traffic.

Microsoft Netmon 3.4
Network Monitor Open Source Parsers
Lync Network Monitor Parsers
Network Monitor Decryption Expert (install on the client machine for decrypting)

Step 1. Install the Tools

Install Microsoft Network Monitor on the Lync Server where you want to capture the traffic. Install the NM34_x64.exe edition, select the Typical setup option.

Install the latest version of Network Monitor Open Source Parsers on the Server, select the Typical install option.

Install Lync Network Monitor Parsers on the Lync Server, select the Typical install option.

When you have installed these three tools, you are ready to capture packets on the server.

Step 2. Capture the Traffic

On the server start Microsoft Network Monitor.

Select Parser Profiles Options.

Figure 1. Network Monitor Parser Profiles Options

Confirm that you have the latest parser version.

Select NetworkMonitor Parsers for Lync as the active parser and click OK.

Figure 2. Confirm the parser version

To start the process click New Capture.

Figure 3. Network Monitor New Capture

Click the Capture 1 tab.

Figure 4. Network Monitor start capture

To begin the capture click Start. We need to capture the initial TLS handshake, so it is best to restart the Lync Server 2010 Services if possible, then sign-in to the Lync client to ensure we get the full TLS negotiation.

Figure 5. Network Monitor stop capture

When your capture is complete, click Stop and save the capture.

Figure 6. Network Monitor save the capture

The saved capture is TLS encrypted. Next, we’ll see how to decrypt it.

Step 3. Decrypt the Capture

Copy the capture to a local machine and decrypt it. If you haven’t already done so, install these four tools on the local machine.

Microsoft Netmon 3.4.
Network Monitor Open Source Parsers.
Lync Network Monitor Parsers.
Network Monitor Decryption Expert. Select the Typical setup option.

Copy the capture file from the server to your local machine and open it.

Figure 7. Open the capture

View the capture file on your local machine.

Figure 8. View the capture file

To see the TLS traffic, filter by TLS.

Figure 9. Filter the capture file

You can see the TLS traffic, but the SIP information is encrypted.

Figure 10. View the SIP information

To decrypt the traffic with NmDecrypt, we need the information contained in the first TLS negotiation. The first negotiation contains the session ID. The session ID is used again in the session, but we must capture the first negotiation in order to get the information that NmDecrypt needs. In the case of a Lync client, the session ID is created during the initial sign in. Typically you need to start the capture and then sign in from the client whose traffic you want to capture.

There is a simple filter to confirm that you have this handshake information in your capture:

TLS.TlsRecLayer.TlsRecordLayer.SSLHandshake.HandShake.ClientHello.SessionIDLength == 0x0.

In our capture, this information is in frame 37.

Figure 11. TLS.TlsRecLayer

You may have captured traffic for multiple sessions and or clients. This can cause issues with NmDecrypt. You can narrow down the traffic in two different ways.

First, we can narrow it down by IP address. My client IP address is 192.168.5.73. I can apply the filter: IPv4.Address == 192.168.5.73. We can now see the traffic between my Lync client and the server.

Figure 12. Filter by IP address

Alternatively, we can narrow down the traffic by filtering per session. Use the tree on the left to find the appropriate conversation, and then right click on the appropriate branch to automatically build the filter.

Figure 13 illustrates filtering by the session Conversation.IPv4.Id == 8.

Figure 13. Filter by session

Both approaches work under different situations. If one doesn't work, try the other.

After you have your filtered traffic, use the Save As dialogue to create a separate capture. Apply the filter, and select Displayed Frames when saving.

Figure 14. Save the capture

To identify the certificate, you must find the TLS Handshake. Be advised, you may have only one certificate and it may be on your Lync Server.

The frame TLS:TLS Rec Layer-1 HandShake: Server Hello. Certificate. Certificate Request. Server Hello Done identifies the Certificate Description from the Server to the Lync client.

Figure 15. Select the TLS handshake

If we examine the frame, we can see the certificate. Look for Cert: 0x1.

Figure 16. Frame detail

We can see the certificate serial number and the Subject Name.

Figure 17. Serial number

To decrypt the traffic, the certificate from the server must be exported as a PFX, along with the private key.

To get the certificate go to the MMC on the server and add the Certificates snap-in.

Figure 18. Add the Certificates snap-in

Select Computer account to manage certificate handling.

Figure 19. Select computer account

Select your local computer.

Figure 20. Select the computer

Browse to the Personal Certificates store.

Figure 21. Certificates store

Find the certificate that matches the capture Serial Number and Certificate Name.

Figure 22. Match the serial number

Export the Certificate including the private key to decrypt the traffic.

Note: Be careful with the certificate and private key. This file grants access to your environment.

Figure 23. Export the certificate

Figure 24. Export the private key

If you can't export your certificate, see the troubleshooting section.

Figure 25. Select the export file format

Create a strong password.

Figure 26. Create a password

Name the file.

Figure 27. Name the file

Export the file.

Figure 28. Complete the export process

Copy the exported certificate to your workstation for the decryption.

Use NmDecrypt and the certificate to decrypt the traffic. Under Experts, choose NmDecrypt and Run Expert.

Figure 29. Run NmDecrypt

NmDecrypt creates a decrypted copy of the packet capture. This enables you to share the decrypted capture without sharing your certificate and private key (sharing your certificate and private key is not recommended).

Choose your certificate and enter the password. Choose a new capture name.cap and logfile.txt.

Figure 30. Decrypt the file

Click Start. Depending on your machine, this process may take several minutes.

Figure 31. Viewing the sec decrypting process

When the process is complete, the decrypted packet capture will pop up in a new instance of NetMon.

You may see the error message shown in Figure 32 at the end of the process.

Figure 32. Potential error message

Sometimes NmDecrypt cannot open the newly created file. If this happens, browse to the file location and open the file manually.

Now, we can filter by SIP and see the SIP packet information in the clear.

Figure 33. Filter by SIP and SIP packet information

We can also see the HTTP in the clear.

Figure 34. Decrypted HTTP content

Summary

This article describes how to capture and decrypt network traffic in a Lync Server 2010 environment. Microsoft Network Monitor is used to capture traffic and NMDecrypt is used to decrypt that traffic. NMDecrypt makes it possible to share decrypted capture information without sharing your certificate and private key (sharing your certificate and private key is not recommended). When the process is complete, you can directly decrypt network traffic captured on Lync Server 2010.

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Update: Lync for Mac 2011 - Managed Preferences

NextHop — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:46:00 GMT

With the release of Lync Server 2010, Microsoft made an effort to provide Lync Mac administrators with in-depth configuration preferences. The result was the Lync for Mac 2011 – Managed Preferences Technical Reference document. However, after extensive customer testing, it was determined that the document was inadequate in some areas and somewhat misleading in others. With that information, the Microsoft Test team reviewed the feedback and revised the document, adding clarity and focus. While many sections received only slight revision for clarity, other sections received additions, including how to create per-user preference. Over all, Microsoft strived to make this document more accurate, more clear, and more usable for Mac clients. See the updated article at Lync for Mac 2011 - Managed Preferences.

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New: Record Lync Online Meetings and Calls

NextHop — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:59:00 GMT

Thanks to the recent update of Lync Server 2010, Microsoft Lync Online users can now record meetings, conferencing sessions, and calls. To take advantage of this new feature, your Lync Online administrator must enable recording for your organization. See New Changes to Lync Online Control Panel for additional information.

Author: Patrick Kelley

Publication date: February 10, 2012

Products: Lync Online

For more information see New: Record Lync Online Meetings and Calls.

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New Changes to the Lync Online Control Panel

NextHop — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:33:00 GMT

The cumulative update for Microsoft Lync Server 2010 – January 2012 includes changes to the administration of Microsoft Lync Online for Microsoft Office 365. This update includes enhancements to user search functionality, presence privacy, mobile phone notifications, and call and conferencing recording. The update also resolves an issue encountered by users when changing a used ID.

Author: Darrin Hanson

Publication date: February 10, 2012

Product version: Lync Online

For more information see New Changes to the Lync Online Control Panel.

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AudioCodes Mediant Gateways Provide VoIP Connectivity for Lync Hosting Pack Deployments

NextHop — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:22:00 GMT

In addition to the global, cloud-based Office 365 service including Lync Online, Microsoft provides the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Multitenant Pack for Partner Hosting for companies offering hosted Lync services to their customers. The Lync Hosting Pack enables hosters to offer services such as IM/Presence, Conferencing, and Enterprise Voice in a multi-tenant architecture to overlay customers’ existing communications systems with UC capabilities. The Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Multitenant Pack for Partner Hosting is particularly attractive for companies that want to offer hosted Lync services in regions with unreliable international internet connections or where data security is a concern.

Author: Wajih Yahyaoui

Publication date: February 6, 2012

Product: Lync Server 2010

An important element of the Lync Server 2010 Multitenant Pack architecture, is its ability to interconnect with public telephony networks. This enables Lync users to send calls to and receive calls from external parties. In cases where a direct connection between the hosted Lync Servers and the PSTN is required (for instance, when no qualified SIP trunking providers are available in that location), it is necessary to deploy a VoIP media gateway to convert the VoIP traffic emanating from Lync into TDM traffic and vice versa.

Figure 1.

AudioCodes, a Microsoft Gold Unified Communication Partner, provides a range of media gateways that can be deployed by Lync hosters, to enable interconnection with PSTN operators. AudioCodes media gateways support a variety of PSTN interfaces and VoIP protocols. They also offer a wide range of scalability and redundancy options. As part of the Microsoft Unified Communications Open Interoperability Program, AudioCodes collaborates closely with Microsoft to ensure interoperability between AudioCodes media gateways and Microsoft UC platforms. Several AudioCodes media gateways are qualified for use with Lync Server 2010. This ensures that customers have a seamless experience with setup, support, and operation of their voice services. All AudioCodes gateway platforms have a common core architecture, software version, and management system which reduces training and ongoing support expenses for the hoster.

The AudioCodes media gateway platforms that are frequently used for PSTN connectivity of Microsoft Lync are listed in the table below. The variety of available gateways enables hosters to choose the most suitable solution for their needs, based on factors such as scalability and redundancy.

Gateway Model	Mediant 1000	Mediant 2000	Mediant 3000	Mediant 8000
Max PSTN Channels	120	480	2,016	16,000
PSTN Interfaces	1 - 4 E1/T1 1-20 BRI	1 -16 E1/T1 trunks	Up to 63 E1/84 T1 trunks	Up to 8xOC-3 (STM-1) ports, Up to 24xT3 (DS-3) ports Up to 252 E1/T1/J1 trunks
Redundancy	Dual redundant 10/100 Ethernet ports 1+1 Power supplies	Dual Redundant 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet ports 1+1 Power supplies	Power supply, fans: N+1 load shared Media gateway blades (including PSTN interfaces): 1+1	System Controller and Ethernet Switch blades: 1+1 Power supplies: N+1 Load Shared Media Gateway blades (including PSTN interfaces): N+1

Table 1 - AudioCodes Media Gateways Comparison

One company that has successfully deployed the Lync Server Hosting Pack with AudioCodes media gateways is New Edge Technologies. New Edge Technologies is a privately held company that specializes in Information Technology and Telecommunications services. Headquartered in Rabat, Morocco, the company is the only pure hoster of the Microsoft Unified Communications stack (Lync Server 2010) in Africa and the Middle East thanks to its strong partnership with Microsoft US. New Edge Technologies deployed AudioCodes Mediant media gateways with E1 ISDN interfaces to provide reliable interconnectivity between the hosted Lync platform and the local PSTN provider.

For more information on the hosting pack see the wiki page: Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Multitenant Pack for Partner Hosting Resources.

Additional Resources

Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Multitenant Pack for Partner Hosting Deployment Guide

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Lync and Learn, Session 7 - Federation with Exchange Online and Lync Online

NextHop — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:59:00 GMT

The seventh Lync and Learn session will focus on federation with Exchange Online and Lync Online and will be led by Loryan Strant. Loryan is Director and Co-Founder at Paradyne and has 10 years of experience in various senior consulting positions. He is passionate about the cloud and excited to share his Office 365 knowledge with the community. There will be a Q&A following the Lync and Learn session.

Presenter: Loryan Strant, Office 365 Grid

Date/Time: Thursday, February 9^th at 2:00 PM Pacific Time. (1 Hour presentation)

To sign up for this webcast please visit Lync and Learn - Federation with Exchange Online and Lync Online. View past Lync and Learn sessions here.

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Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Support for Large Meetings White Paper

NextHop — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:00:00 GMT

Most hosted meetings have fewer than 250 participants, but what if you need to host larger meetings? The published maximum size of a conference hosted on Microsoft Lync Server 2010 in a shared pool (a pool that hosts all Microsoft Unified Communications workloads including IM/Presence, Conferencing, and Enterprise Voice) is 250 users. However, Microsoft Lync Server can support meetings with up to 1000 participants using Lync Server Audio/Video Conferencing service, which includes sharing PowerPoint presentations. Support for these large meetings requires a dedicated Lync Server 2010 pool configured to support large meetings. The pool must be managed in a way that ensures hosting of only one large meeting at a time. For additional information about scalability considerations and implementation requirements for a dedicated pool for large meetings, including topology, hardware, software, and configuration requirements, as well as best practice recommendations for supporting large meetings, see the white paper: Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Support for Large Meetings in the Microsoft Download Center.

Note: This information applies only to Lync Server 2010 on-premises meetings.

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Next-Level Topologies for Archiving Server and Monitoring Server

NextHop — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:55:00 GMT

When designing Lync Server 2010 topologies there are multiple options available for deploying a Monitoring Server and an Archiving Server. Lync Server 2010 server roles, as well as their databases, can be collocated. Collocation improves network efficiency, increases flexibility, and reduces hardware costs. This article explores several alternatives to consider when deploying a Monitoring Server or an Archiving Server.

Author: Byron Spurlock

Publication date: January 31, 2012

Product version: Lync Server 2010

During a recent Lync Server 2010 deployment, a customer who wanted to deploy Archiving Server and Monitoring server asked; “What scenarios and options are available to us beyond the basics?” This is great question and it inspired me to write this article. This article describes Lync Server 2010, Archiving Server and Lync Server 2010, Monitoring Server topologies that are beyond the basic topologies used for typical scenarios.

To answer the question about additional scenarios and options, we will look at the following areas:

What are the core topologies?
What are the collocation topologies?

Core Supported Topologies

In the core topologies for Lync Server 2010, the Archiving Server and Monitoring Server are each deployed on separate servers, as described in the following two sub-sections.

Archiving Server Topologies

You can deploy an Archiving Server in each Lync Server 2010, Standard Edition server and Front End pool in your organization or you can deploy a single Archiving Server to support multiple Standard Edition servers and Front End pools. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the core topologies for each of these options.

Figure 1. Archiving Server supporting a single Standard Edition server or Front End pool.

Figure 2. Archiving Server supporting multiple Standard Edition servers or Front End pools.

Monitoring Server Topologies

Similar to the Archiving Server, you can deploy a Monitoring Server in each Lync Server 2010, Standard Edition server and Front End pool in your organization or you can deploy a single Monitoring Server to support multiple Standard Edition servers and Front End pools. Figures 3 and 4 show the core topologies for each option.

Figure 3. Monitoring Server supporting a single Standard Edition Server or Front End pool.

Figure 4. Monitoring Server supporting multiple Standard Edition servers or Front End pools.

Collocation Topologies

To reduce hardware costs for your Lync Server 2010 deployment, you can deploy multiple components on a single server. Lync Server 2010 supports a variety of collocation scenarios, as described in the following sub-sections.

Note: To determine whether to collocate server roles and databases, you must evaluate scalability and reliability factors. If you are supporting more than a few users, the disk space needed by the database can grow very large. For details about capacity planning, see the Lync Server 2010 documentation.

Separate Archiving Server and Monitoring Server. In this scenario, the Archiving Server and the Monitoring Server each reside on separate servers. The Monitoring and Archiving database both reside on a single SQL Server database. If you collocate the Archiving database with the Monitoring database, back-end database, or both of these databases, you can either use a single SQL instance for any or all of the databases, or you can use a separate SQL instance for each database, with the following limitations:

Each SQL instance can contain only a single back-end database, single Monitoring database, and single Archiving database.
The database server cannot support more than one Front End pool, one Archiving database, and one Monitoring database, but it can support one of each, regardless of whether the databases use the same SQL instance or separate SQL instances.

Figure 5 shows the topology where all Lync databases are collocated on a single server, with databases collocated on another server. This topology might be appropriate for an organization that has a significant number of users, wants to capture reports for Archiving and Monitoring, and wants to separate both roles, in order to handle the maximum number of users, but wants to reduce the hardware required. Although each role resides on a separate server, the databases can run on either a dedicated or existing SQL server.

Figure 5. Archiving Server and Monitoring Server running on separate servers with databases collocated on another server.

Archiving Server and Monitoring Server collocated on the same server with databases collocated on another server. Figure 6 shows a topology where the Archiving Server and Monitoring Server are collocated on the same server, with databases running on another server. This topology might be appropriate for an organization that wants to reduce the hardware requirements and does not have many users and has archiving requirements for only a portion of the organization.

Figure 6. Archiving Server and Monitoring Server collocated on a single server with databases collocated on another server.

Archiving Server, Monitoring Server, and their databases collocated on a single server. Figure 7 shows a topology where the Archiving Server and Monitoring server are collocated on the same server, with databases running an another server. This topology might be appropriate for an organization that wants to reduce hardware requirements and does not have many users and has minimal archiving requirements.

Figure 7. Archiving Server, Monitoring Server, and their databases collocated on a single server.

Archiving Server and Monitoring Server running on separate servers with databases deployed on a cluster of Back End Servers. Figure 8 shows a high-availability topology in which the Archiving Server and Monitoring Server each reside on separate servers and the databases are part of a two node active – passive cluster. This topology might be appropriate for an organization in which archiving and monitoring are mission critical. Being deemed mission critical, the related databases must be available in the event of a disaster. This is accomplished by using an active-passive cluster to help ensure that the database remains available if a Back End Server node becomes unresponsive or unavailable.

Figure 8. Archiving Server and Monitoring Server running on separate servers with a SQL Server cluster.

5. Monitoring Server or Archiving Server collocated with the databases. Figure 9 shows a topology in which the Archiving Server runs on a separate server and the Monitoring Server is collocated on the server running the databases. The server roles could also be reversed, with the Monitoring Server running on a separate server and the Archiving Server collocated with the databases. This topology might be appropriate for an organization that anticipates significantly lower volume for either Monitoring Server or Archiving Server. In this case the server role with the highest anticipated traffic is on the separate server.

Figure 9. Archiving Sever running on a separate server and Monitoring Server collocated with the databases.

Summary

When creating or upgrading a Lync Server 2010 environment to include an Archiving Server, Monitoring Server, or both, consider using one of the collocation topologies. Collocation of server roles and databases takes advantage of the Lync Server 2010 collocation capabilities to meet the needs of your organization and maximize your hardware resources. For more information about collocation support in Lync Server 201, see Supported Server Collocation in the Supportability documentation.

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Updates Available for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Group Chat

NextHop — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:57:00 GMT

The Communications Server Products team has released updates for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Group Chat.

Updates Resource Center for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Clients

Updates for Communications Server 2007 R2

Description of the cumulative update package for Communicator 2007 R2: January 2012

Description of the cumulative update for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat server: January, 2012

Description of the cumulative update for the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat Administration Tool: January, 2012

Description of the update for the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat client: January, 2012

Office Communications Developer Center

Lync Developer Center

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Update: Installing the Mobility and Autodiscover Services

NextHop — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:03:00 GMT

When configuring the cumulative update for Lync Server 2010: November 2011 for Mobility on Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 1, you must perform additional steps to configure IIS 7.0 ASP.NET settings. The Lync Server 2010 deployment documentation for Mobility in the Lync Server 2010 Technical library has been updated to indicate these additional steps and their proper sequence.

Author: Ellen Zehr

Publication date: January 19, 2012

Product version: Lync Server 2010

The steps are as follows:

Install a hotfix that allows you to configure the CLRConfigFile parameter in the applicationHost.config file.
Install the Mobility Service.
Modify some ASP.NET settings in the applicationHost.config file.
Restart IIS.

Details are available at Installing the Mobility and Autodiscover Services.

When configuring the cumulative update for Lync Server 2010: November 2011 for Mobility on Windows Server 2008 R2, you do not need to perform these additional steps to configure IIS 7.5 ASP.NET settings. The Mobility installer automatically configures the ASP.NET settings for you.

Announcing Microsoft Lync Server Top Solutions RSS Feed

NextHop — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:16:00 GMT

The Microsoft Lync Server Top Solutions RSS feed contains the answers our engineers use to resolve many top support calls. The Top Solutions feed pairs the latest top customer issues with the best Microsoft resolutions from KB articles, blogs, TechNet and MSDN. The RSS feed also keep you ahead of the curve by alerting you to potential problems and linking you directly to resolutions that can help avoid them.

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Lync Online Web Scheduler Now Available

NextHop — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:49:00 GMT

The Microsoft Lync Online Web Scheduler is a web-based meeting scheduling and management tool for users who don’t have access to Microsoft Outlook, or are on an operating system not based on Windows. With Lync Online Web Scheduler, you can create new meetings, modify your existing meetings, and send invitations using your favorite email program. For details see: Lync Online Web Scheduler.

Author: Brian Crum

Publication date: January 13, 2012

Product: Lync Online

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Interview with a Lync Pro: Randy Wintle

NextHop — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:00:00 GMT

The Microsoft Lync Server technical community is full of knowledgeable IT professionals who work tirelessly to share their wealth of experience and expertise with the world. They blog, tweet, deliver presentations, and answer questions in the forums to help foster expert knowledge for administrators and IT Pros in every corner of the globe.

In mid-2011, I decided to use my own blog, Justin Morris on UC, to interview and learn from these noteworthy individuals who consistently go the extra mile to help all of us better understand Microsoft Lync Server. The series has now moved to the NextHop blog, and for my first post on NextHop, I interviewed Lync MVP, Randy Wintle, from Unify Square to find out how he got into IT and why he loves Microsoft Lync.

Author: Justin Morris

Publication date: January 11, 2012

Product version: Lync Server 2010

What's your technical background? How did you end up where you are today?

I grew up around technology. My father was a network engineer with a CCNP, so networking and other technology was always a big part of my life. Funny enough, when I was younger, I actually swore I would never get involved in IT, because of all the on-call hours and long days my dad had to work. Funny how that worked out! I went to college to study information technology. Then I picked up a job doing help desk and server administration, and things just kind of took off from there. I started out consulting doing SCOM work, and working with a data center environment. I used to spend hours crimping cat 5 cable in a cold, noisy data center.

Randy Wintle delivering a video presentation on cable modems in middle school.

Can you tell us what your position at Unify Square entails?

At Unify Square, my job is to design and implement Microsoft Unified Communications (UC) Solutions for large enterprises. A lot of this lately has been PBX replacement planning with Lync. We typically play a role that focuses on design and guidance, but I still get my hands dirty most days installing servers and troubleshooting occasional big issues.

What made you get into UC and a specialization in Lync Server?

Funny you should ask. Back at my old job doing SCOM work, my boss asked me one day if I wanted to get involved with this Microsoft Office Communications Server stuff. I remember reading the CHM files and playing around with it on my own time trying to understand it. The technology was completely foreign to me at the time. My first implementations were very basic IM/P implementations of Office Communications Server R1 and migrations from Live Communications Server to Office Communications Server. From there, I progressed to voice and larger implementations, until I had the opportunity to join Unify Square.

What's your favorite thing about Lync?

The best thing about Lync is that it is a true UC platform. To provide users a true UC platform, you must use software, and Microsoft does that very well.

What was the most challenging Live Communications Server/Office Communications Server/Lync Server problem you ever solved?

There are a couple of issues I solved in the past that stand out as particularly complex.

The first issue that pops into my head was during a Live Communications Server to Office Communications Server 2007 R2 migration. With these earlier migrations, some customers had previously installed Live Communications Server data in the System container of the Active Directory Schema. This was how it was meant to be back with Live Communications Server. However, with Office Communications Server and Office Communications Server R2, the configuration container was recommended. This resulted in a migration of configuration data to the configuration container in the Active Directory schema.

Microsoft documented the process, and provided a series of scripts to migrate this data prior to installing Communications Server or Communications Server 2007 R2 in the environment. However, a couple of bugs were discovered, which essentially took down a 40K user pool that was live in production.

Through some troubleshooting, we identified two problem areas:

To begin with, the scripts, although they had completed successfully would not confirm that the migration was successful. You had to run them a second time to get a confirmation. This was scary to do with migration scripts in production.

Secondly, the documentation required you to manually delete the old data from the Systems container in Active Directory. The problem was that Live Communications Server services would not start if the data existed in both places, resulting in an outage.

So we solved the issue through some trial and error, and finally by deleting the data from the system container. In the process, we were able to help Microsoft correct the documented process. More on that here: LCS 2005 SP1 Migrating Global Settings from System Container to Configuration Container.

Then there was another issue, more recent and involving Lync. We had a strange situation at a customer site, in which some users were not able to make external audio calls. When analyzing the logs, we saw media allocation to the A/V Edge Server was not happening. It was weird because they were going through the MRAS process as expected and able to connect to the A/V Edge on the required ports for allocation.

In the end, this turned out to be a configuration issue. Someone mistakenly configured the wrong A/V Edge association, resulting in some bizarre behavior where a user would get authentication credentials from one server, but try to allocate at another. Additional details on that issue can be found here: What happens when you’re A/V Edge Is Misconfigured: STUN/TURN.

If you could think of one feature you'd like included in the next version of Lync, what would it be?

I’ll have to go with a full-featured mobile platform. I know it will come when the time is right. J

What do you feel is your area of expertise, where you consider yourself a bit of a rock star?

Lately, especially since I wrote the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Resource Kit chapter, External User Access, which focused on Edge Server, I have a greater understanding of Edge. Edge Server is a complicated beast, and I am proud to say I understand most of it, or at least I think I do.

Your blog covers everything from mobility, to SBAs, to reverse proxies. When did you start it and what direction has it taken?

My blog started out as a place to put information for my peers at my previous job. When I was doing implementations, I would just write about everything I ran into. Eventually, I moved this to my own personal platform and started promoting myself as a blogger. Lately, I have reduced the number of posts, as I am focusing on producing quality posts for real world issues. My mission has always been to provide guidance for issues that are not documented, or issues with which admins are struggling. My most popular post to date is my guide on publishing Lync through Microsoft Threat Management Gateway 2010, I actually posted this when Communications Server 2010 was in beta, but it still drives the largest number of hits to my blog each day.

Where are you from and what do you think makes your hometown/city great?

I currently live in Standish, Maine. I grew up in Portland, Maine and just bought my first house in Standish. Standish sits along Sebago Lake in Maine--it’s a beautiful area. Maine’s tagline is “vacation land” and it truly is. The summers in Maine are amazing. As long as you avoid the big tourist crowds, you can really have some fun here. Portland is quite an amazing city. It’s very small, but has a so much packed into it, tons of foodie restaurants, unlimited bars, and a great place for the arts.

When you're not dishing out quality technical know-how, what do you do for fun?

Well, I am a proud father of a 16-month-old boy, so that really is what I do now on the weekends. I wouldn’t have it any other way though! Having a kid is a great way to never be bored. The only other thing I dare mention as a hobby of mine is watching the Boston Bruins.

Proud father, Randy Wintle, with his young son. Check out those matching shirts!

Summary

Thanks a lot for participating and being our first Lync Pro to be interviewed on NextHop, Randy!

Additional Information

Randy Wintle’s blog, UC Made Easy.
Randy Wintle on Twitter.
Justin Morris’s blog, Justin Morris on UC.
Justin Morris on Twitter.
Additional Interview with a UC Pro articles.

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Keywords: Lync MVP, interview, Randy Wintle, IT Pro, Lync Server

Lync and Learn, Session 6 - Office 365 Administration

NextHop — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:55:00 GMT

On Thursday, January 12, at 3:00 PST, there will be a one hour Lync and Learn session entitled Lync and Learn - Office 365 Administration. The session will include the following topics:

Small business administration
Exchange Online administration
Manage Lync Online
Basic tasks in SharePoint Online
Basic tasks in Windows PowerShell

You must register to participate in the live presentation. Visit Lync and Learn - Office 365 Administration for additional information.

Lync and Learn is an online session led by Office 365 Product Managers and Community Grid members. Lync and Learn sessions address different Office 365 subjects and scenarios and are beneficial to anyone who wants to learn more and expand their knowledge of the Office 365 suite. View past Lync and Learn sessions here.

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Lync and Learn, Session 5 - Lync for Mac 2011

NextHop — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:49:00 GMT

Check out this video by Dave Kong, product manager on the Lync marketing team, that covers Lync support for the Mac platform: Lync and Learn - Lync for Mac 2011. The session covers the basic features for Mac 2011, differences in support between Lync Server and Lync Online, and differences in features between Lync 2010 and Lync for Mac 2011.

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Video: Troubleshoot Lync for Mac Issues in Lync Online for Office 365

NextHop — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:11:00 GMT

Check out this new technical support video on Office 365: Troubleshoot Lync for Mac Issues in Lync Online for Office 365.

Author: Rob Latino

Publication date: January 3, 2012

Product: Lync Online

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Script to Delete Galcontacts.db for Multiple Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 and Lync 2010 Users

NextHop — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:45:00 GMT

When a Communicator 2007 R2 or Lync 2010 client is unable to synchronize address book files, manually deleting the Galcontacts.db and Galcontacts.idx helps resolve the problem. However, manually deleting the files is not a scalable solution for an organization that has more than 25 users. This article describes a script that can help you automatically delete Galcontacts.db and Galcontacts.idx files.

Author: Edwin Joseph

Publication date: December 22, 2011

Product versions: Microsoft Lync 2010 and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2

Introduction

In Microsoft Office Communication Server 2007 R2 and Microsoft Lync server 2010, the Address Book Service (ABServer.exe) generates two sets of files which are used by two groups of clients. For clients with sufficient local storage space, ABServer.exe generates a full address book file that contains a large set of user and contact object attributes.

This file is downloaded from server and is stored in GalContact.db file on the client by Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2. Sometimes, due to possible corruption in the GalContacts.db or GalContacts.Idx file, the client looks for an address book file that does not exist. This usually occurs when the Address Book Server is unable to generate an address book file for more than 3 days.

This article helps administrators delete the SIP profile on a user’s computer which in turn deletes the Galcontacts.db and Galcontacts.idx file. This may be necessary when a user has corruption issues with the Galcontacts.db and Galcontacts.idx file. The script that can be deployed using automatically applied group policy. The script can be placed on a file share so that user can execute the script on their workstation. This automated process deletes the Galcontacts.db and Galcontacts.idx files for multiple users.

Address Book Service Background

As previous discussed, in Office Communication Server 2007 R2 and Lync Server 2010, the Address Book Service (ABServer.exe) generates two sets of files used by two groups of clients. For clients with sufficient local storage space, the ABServer.exe generates a file that contains a full address book that contains a large set of user and contact object attributes. To optimize download efficiency, it also generates up to 29 delta files that contain incremental updates containing the last one day, two days, and up to 29 days’ worth of changes. These files have the *.lsabs file extension.

When Communicator and Lync clients access and successfully connect to the Address Book Service URL for the first time, the client attempts to download the latest complete address book file. On subsequent days, the client attempts to download a delta file based on the last full synchronization date. During daily client usage, this delta file is based on the previous day’s changes. If the client is offline for a day or more, it determines which delta file it must download to get up to date. For example, if the client is offline from Friday afternoon to Monday morning, it will attempt to download a delta file containing 3 days of changes. If the client is offline for more than 30 days, it must download the full address book file. The client stores this information in the local database, called GalContacts.db.

If the GalContacts.db or the GalContacts.Idx file becomes corrupted, a client may keep looking for address book file that does not exist. This may occur when the Address Book Server is unable to generate the address book file for more than three days. There are several reasons why the Address Book Service is not able to generate an address book file, ranging from Backend SQL Server connectivity issues to network share issues.

In situations when Communicator or Lync is unable to synchronize the address book files, manually deleting the Galcontacts.db and Galcontacts.idx from the users workstation helps solve the problem. However, this is not a scalable solution for large organizations. To solve this problem, I have written a script that deletes the SIP profile folder on the user’s computer which in turn deletes the Galcontacts.db and Galcontacts.idx file.

Note: When restarting Communicator or Lync after deleting the SIP profile folder, the client will attempt to download the address book file resulting in heavy bandwidth consumption.

For more information see: Address Book Server: Address Book File Download Service.

The Script

'==========================================================================

' NAME: Delete sip profile

' BY Edwin Joseph

' COMMENT: this script delete the sip profile for the user from machine

' the purpose here is delete the galcontact.db file so that communicator can download a new one

'==========================================================================

Option Explicit

Dim objShell12

Dim objUserEnv

Dim strUserPro

Dim userProfile,SipProfile

Dim OSType

Set objShell12=CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

Set objUserEnv=objShell12.Environment("User")

strUserPro= objShell12.ExpandEnvironmentStrings(objUserEnv("TEMP"))

userProfile = objShell12.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%userprofile%")

DeleteSip strUserPro 'delete user sip profile

'delete sip Profile

'the sip profile path is diffrent according to OS Type

OSType=FindOSType

If OSType="Windows 7" Or OSType="Windows Vista" Then

SipProfile=userProfile & "\AppData\Local\Microsoft\communicator"

ElseIf OSType="Windows 2003" Or OSType="Windows XP" Then

SipProfile=userProfile & "\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\communicator"

End If

DeleteSip SipProfile

'this is also to delete user sip profile

SipProfile=SipProfile & "\Sip_*"

DeleteSip SipProfile

WScript.Quit

Sub DeleteSip (strSipPath)

On Error Resume Next

Dim objFSO

Dim objFolder,objDir

Dim i

Set objFSO=CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

Set objFolder=objFSO.GetFolder(strSipPath)

'delete folder

For i=0 To 10

For Each objDir In objFolder.SubFolders

objDir.Delete True

'clear all objects

Set objFSO=Nothing

Set objFolder=Nothing

Set objDir=Nothing

End Sub

Function FindOSType

'Defining Variables

Dim objWMI, objItem, colItems

Dim OSVersion, OSName

Dim ComputerName

ComputerName="."

'Get the WMI object and query results

Set objWMI = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & ComputerName & "\root\cimv2")

Set colItems = objWMI.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_OperatingSystem",,48)

'Get the OS version number (first two) and OS product type (server or desktop)

For Each objItem in colItems

OSVersion = Left(objItem.Version,3)

Select Case OSVersion

Case "6.1"

OSName = "Windows 7"

Case "6.0"

OSName = "Windows Vista"

Case "5.2"

OSName = "Windows 2003"

Case "5.1"

OSName = "Windows XP"

End Select

'Return the OS name

FindOSType = OSName

'Clear the memory

Set colItems = Nothing

Set objWMI = Nothing

End Function

'==========================================================================

How to Use This Script

Copy the highlighted section and paste into Notepad.
Save the Notepad file as DeleteSipProfile.vbs.

This VBS file can be executed in multiple ways.

Method 1: Network share

This method requires end user assistance and awareness. This is, however, the fastest way to achieve the end result.

Copy the DeleteSipProfile.vbs to a network share that all users can access.
Train end users to exit Communicator or Lync, then double click DeleteSipProfile.vbs.
When the user receives the message: Open File – Security Warning Click Run.
Re-start Communicator.

Method 2: Group policy

To use the group policy method, deploy the VBS file as a logon policy. All end users need to do is log off, then log on to their Windows workstation.

Copy the DeleteSipProfile.vbs from the \\domain\Sysvol\domain\scripts folder.

Create a new Group Policy Object.

A.) Suppress the Open File – Security Warning

Open the new Group Policy Object. In the left pane, expand User Configuration, and then expand Administrative Templates.
Expand Windows Components, and then click Attachment Manager.
In the right pane, double-click Default risk level for file attachments.
Click the Setting tab, and then click Enabled.
In the Set the default risk level drop down list, select High Risk.
Click Apply, and then click OK.
Double-click Inclusion list for low file types.
Click the Setting tab, and then click Enabled.
Enter the file types you don't want to be warned about in the box (for example: .vbs) in the Specify low risk extensions box.
Click OK.

B.) Deploying logon script

Open the new GPO In the left pane, expand User Configuration, and then expand Windows Settings.
Click Script (logon\logoff).
In the right pane, double-click Logon.
In the Logon Properties windows Click Add.
In the Script Name field type in \\domain\Sysvol\domain\scripts\DeleteSipProfile.vbs.
Then click OK.
In the Logon Properties windows click Apply and then click OK.
Link this new GPO to Users OU and if possible enforce it.
Run GPupdate /force on the Domain Controller.

Note: Do not forget to unlink the policy after confirming that all users have logged out and logged in.

Summary

In this article we have examined how to delete corrupted GalContacts.db or GalContacts.Idx files from multiple workstations using a script. This script has been tested for both Windows XP and Windows 7 client operating systems. This script is handy tool for an administrator to automate the deletion of GalContacts.db or GalContacts.Idx files by deploying it as a group policy.

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Troubleshooting Lync Mobile Device Sign-in

NextHop — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 01:07:00 GMT

Questions about signing in to Lync 2010 on a mobile device? Check out the Office 365 Technical Blog and see this late breaking update: Update: Lync Mobile Device Sign-in and Troubleshooting.

Author: Patrick Kelley

Publication date: December 19, 2011

Product version: Microsoft Lync 2010

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Deploying the Survivable Branch Appliance in Lync Server 2010 for Cisco Integrated Services Router/Service Ready Engine White Paper

NextHop — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:45:00 GMT

The Deploying the Survivable Branch Appliance in Lync Server 2010 for Cisco Integrated Services Router/Service Ready Engine white paper is now available from the Microsoft Download Center. This white paper describes how to use a Cisco 3925 ISR G2 configured with a SRE-900 Service Module (Cisco Service Ready Engine Virtualization (SRE-V) support platform) to be deployed as a Survivable Branch Appliance (SBA) in a Lync Server 2010 environment. In this configuration, Lync Server exists on a virtual installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 that is hosted on VMware ESXi. This white paper also includes instructions about how to install the SBA software, configure the device, and integrate it into your Lync Server deployment.

Authors: Karl Good and Jack Wight

Publication date: December 14, 2011

Product version: Microsoft Lync Server 2010

Summary

The Survivable Branch Appliance (SBA) is a purpose-built appliance to increase voice resiliency in branch office scenarios. Built by Microsoft unified communications (UC) partners, this appliance is a blade server running the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system and Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software. The SBA is built with an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) card and comes pre-installed with Lync Server 2010 Registrar and Mediation Server components with a public switched telephone network (PSTN) gateway in a single appliance chassis. The SBA is targeted for branch office scenarios to provide high availability to the majority of Lync Server services (particularly Enterprise Voice) in the face of network connectivity failures in the primary site where Lync Server is deployed.

Successfully deploying the SBA with Cisco ISR/SRE helps you ensure that you can keep important communication links open with this specific combination of services. The introduction of the SBA role deployed on a Cisco 3925 ISR G2 configured with a 900 Series SRE module also helps ensure voice only between branch office sites can be maintained in the event of a network connectivity failure.

This white paper includes the following sections.

Planning to Deploy a Generic SBA

Planning for a successful generic SBA deployment includes:

Defining a static IP address for an SBA
Defining an Active Directory name for an SBA
Defining a central office site
Adding a branch office site by using Topology Builder
Creating an SBA in a Cisco ISR/SRE environment
Special Active Directory user accounts
Setting up client computers running Lync 2010

Setting up a Cisco ISR/SRE
Configuring the Cisco Router – Network
Creating a Virtual Windows Image on the Cisco ISR/SRE
Configuring the Cisco Router – Telephony

Configuring the Cisco router for telephony includes:

Establishing PSTN Connections

Installing an SBA on a Cisco ISR/SRE

Successfully installing an SBA on a previously installed virtual Windows Server 2008 R2 image requires following these manual steps:

Setting the SBA registry key
Installing the SBA software

Homing users in the SBA
Testing your new SBA deployment
Troubleshooting your SBA and Cisco ISR/SRE deployment

Resources

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Group Chat 2010 Support for SQL 2008 R2

NextHop — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:57:51 GMT

Today we are pleased to announce support for SQL Server 2008 R2 for Group Chat 2010 Server databases.

Author: Terry Adams

Publication date: 12/09/11

Product version: Group Chat Server 2010

Keywords: Group Chat 2010 supportability; SQL 2008 R2

The Lync Server product team has completed testing of Group Chat Server 2010 and SQL Server 2008 R2. The product now fully supports SQL Server 2008 R2 for all Group Chat Server 2010 databases.

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Useful Tips for Testing Your Lync Server 2010 Edge Server

NextHop — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:45:00 GMT

Deploying Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Edge Server can be a daunting task. Installing the software is straightforward, but getting every functional element of all the ancillary components configured properly is a challenge. Before the deployment is fully functional you need to solve issues such as firewalls, network capacities, reverse proxy, DNS, routes, certificates, and so forth. This troubleshooting checklist was developed to facilitate a smooth deployment of Edge Server.

Authors: Patrick Kelley with Sebastiaan Poels

Publication date: December 7, 2011

Product version: Microsoft Lync Server 2010

In creating this checklist the following assumptions were made:

Lync Server 2010 is fully functional.
Edge Server is part of a workgroup and is located in a firewalled DMZ.
Lync Server 2010 is in a consolidated configuration.
VPN is not being utilized from a client perspective.
Lync Server 2010 is deployed with all roles (IM, Conferencing, and AV).
Edge Server is deployed and the Lync Server 2010 topology reflects all proper settings.

Note: For an overview of the supported Lync Server 2010 Edge Server deployment strategy please see the following: Edge Deployment Overview.

Step 1: DNS

Table 1 below shows all the DNS entries required for a Consolidated Edge Server.

Note: All names and IP addresses are assumptive.

Table 1. DNS Entries

Because these DNS entries are public, they need to resolve externally for all users. To test this functionality, run a simple NSLookup from any machine on a public network. As an example, Figure 1 is a lookup of Microsoft’s external SRV. Figure 2 shows the A records. All the DNS entries from Table 1 should succeed with the expected IP addresses. Table 1 is a reference table that can be used to check all the required DNS records. When you have verified that all DNS entries are correct, you can move on to Step 2.

Figure 1. NSLookup SRV Records

Figure 2. NSLookup A Records

Table 2 is a list of all required DNS records for a typical Edge Server environment. Verifying that these records exist and resolve publicly, is a critical step for a proper DNS deployment.

Table 2. DNS Records Reference Table

Task	Behavior	Function
Nslookup from the External client
Nslookup for Access Edge (sip.domain.com)	Reply with the external IP of your Access Edge interface	IM/Presence
Nslookup your Web Conferencing Edge (WebCon.domain.com)	Reply with the external IP of your Web Conferencing interface	Conferencing
Nslookup for AV edge (av.domain.com)	Reply with the external IP of your AV Edge interface	Audio/Visual
Nslookup for Meet Simple URL (meet.domain.name)	Reply with the external IP of your Reverse Proxy interface	Simple URL
Nslookup for Dial-In Conferencing Simple URL (dailin.domain.com)	Reply with the external IP of your Reverse Proxy interface	Simple URL
Nslookup for Lync External Web Farm (WebFarm.domain.com)	Reply with the external IP of your Reverse Proxy interface	Lync Web Services
Nslookup for Open Federation Discovery (_sipfederationtls._tcp. domain.name)	Reply with a SRV record pointing to the Access Edge interface on port 5061	Federation
Nslookup for Automatic sign-on (_sip._tls. domain.name)	Reply with a SRV record pointing to the Access Edge interface on port 443
Nslookup from the Lync 2010 Edge Server
Nslookup the Internal Lync 2010 Pool (Pool.domain.com)	Reply with the Internal Pool IP address	Next Hop to internal Lync 2010 Pool
Nslookup from the Lync 2010 Pool
Nslookup the Lync 2010 Internal Edge interface (LyncEdge.domain.com)	Reply from the internal interface of the Lync Edge server	Edge Server functions

Step 2: Ports

When all DNS entries from Step 1 are valid and working, the next step to verify that all ports are open and functional. To accomplish this task perform run a series of simple Telnet tests to verify that the firewall ports are open and accepting connections. To build off the examples above, test connectivity to your Edge Servers external interfaces from any public network. The results should look like Figure 3 below. When the Telnet session connects the screen goes blank. This verifies that the port is open and properly connected.

Figure 3. C:\>Telnet FQDN Port

Table 3 is a list of all required network ports in a typical Edge Server environment. Verifying that all ports are open is a essential step when building a network architecture.

Table 3. Firewall Ports Reference Table

Task	Port/Protocol
Telnet from External Client
Test to SIP.domain.com	443/SIP
Test to SIP.domain.com	5061/SIP
Test to WebConf.domain.com	443/PSOM
Test to AV.domain.com	443/STUN
Test to WebFarm.domain.com	443/SSL
Telnet from Lync 2010 Edge
Telnet to Pool.domain.com	5061/SIP
Telnet from Lync 2010 Pool
Telnet to LyncEdge.domain.com	5061
Telnet to LyncEdge.domain.com	443
Telnet to LyncEdge.domain.com	5062
Telnet to LyncEdge.domain.com	4443
Telnet to LyncEdge.domain.com	8057

Step 3: Certificates

When your DNS resolves perfectly and ports are open and communicating — you are ready to address certificates.

The Lync Server 2010 Deployment Wizard facilitates the certificate setup process, but multiple issues need to be clarified to ensure a successful deployment.

Note: For assistance with setting up certificates please see the following TechNet URL: Set Up Edge Certificates.

External Interface Certificates

All Public facing certificates must be issued by an approved Public CA that supports Unified Communications: see Unified Communications Certificate Partners for Exchange Server and for Communications Server for detailed information.
If Public IM Connectivity (PIC) with AOL is required, the certificate must contain an Enhanced Key Usage (EKU) for the server and the client. The Lync Deployment Wizard does not request the client EKU by default. Use the following Windows PowerShell cmdlet to accomplish this task:

Request-CsCertificate -New -Type AccessEdgeExternal -Output C:\ <certfilename.txt or certfilename.csr> -ClientEku $true -Template <template name>

When deploying an Edge Server array, the certificate must have an exportable private key and the same certificate must be used on all Edge Servers. (A/V authentication requires this regardless of the number of servers).
The Certificate Name (CN) must match the FQDN of the Lync Server 2010 Access Edge external interface.
The Subject Alternate Names (SAN) attributes must contain the following:

FQDN for Access Edge (same as CN).
Web Conferencing FQDN.
All supported SIP domains beyond the primary (sip.contoso.com, sip.fabrikam.com).
The A/V authentication service FQDN does not need to be listed.
The order of the SAN’s is not important.

The reverse proxy also needs a public certificate for web farm publishing. This is the FQDN configured from the internal Lync Server 2010 pool (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. FQDN

Internal Interface Certificate

The internal certificate can be issued by an internal PKI infrastructure or by a Public CA from the approved CA list. Utilizing an internal CA can save the expense & administrative overhead of utilizing a public entity.
The CN is typically the Edge Server internal interface FQDN; however a wildcard certificate is supported.
No SAN is required.

Reverse Proxy Certificate

It must be a Public CA certificate.
The CN is the external web farm FQDN from the Lync Server 2010 pool.
The SAN’s is the simple URLs configured from the Lync Server 2010 pool (meet.domain.com & dialin.domain.com).
The CN must be a SAN.

Summary

Deploying an Edge Server can be the most challenging aspect of your deployment. It requires an understanding the application layer and many ancillary components such as the network layer and the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). Because so many components must work in unison, it is easy to miss important architectural details. This document provides an easy reference for DNS, Firewall, and Certificates. We hope it will help you pinpoint issues and successfully deploy the Lync Server 2010 Edge Server.

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Got Telephony Skills? Add Lync to Your Résumé. Learn, Share, Win Prizes.

NextHop — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:35:00 GMT

Voice and Data networking professionals can add a valuable new Microsoft Lync skillset to their résumé and help their companies on the journey to unified communications by participating in The Ultimate Voice Career Promotion. Learn, share win; by participating you’ll be eligible to win prizes that include $150 Best Buy vouchers and a $5,000 Kinect entertainment system (prizes US only, Dec 2011 through June 2012).

Author: Matthew Woodget

Publication date: December 5, 2011

Product version: Microsoft Lync Server 2010

As a Voice or Data Networking professional responsible for telephony you may have heard the buzz about Lync and wondered how to build the knowledge you need to assess and introduce it at your company. Recently Lync turned One, here’s an article about the first year. We’ve created a set of easy to access resources (videos available to get started here) to help you ramp fast. But instead of leaving it at that, we want to encourage you to share what you’ve learned with others through The Ultimate Voice Career Promotion.

Through The Ultimate Voice Career Promotion, you can add a valuable new skillset to your resume and increase the productivity of your entire office. At the same time, you’ll be eligible to win prizes that include $150 Best Buy vouchers and a $5,000 Kinect entertainment system!

There are lots of ways to earn points to be eligible to win:

Bite Sized Training Videos—Watch Lync training videos on-demand.
Deeper Learning—Attend monthly web clinics.
Blog—Post a blog review about Lync.
Your Lync Story—Post a video about your experience with Lync.
Twitter—Tweet about your Lync experience.

There are also lots of ways to win. Use your points to unlock chances to win prizes every month. Your points won’t expire until the end of June 2012. Also, any month you earn points results in an entry for that period’s grand prize – a pretty sweet Home Entertainment System make over and learning vouchers for even deeper training.

The Ultimate Voice Career Promotion sweepstakes launched November 23rd and the first 500 people to participate and earn points will receive a cool (pun intended) insulated lunch tote—so get started now.

How is this different?

We already have some awesome, comprehensive, deep, multi day training. The resources I’m sharing with you today are as easy and quick to jump into as watching a mere five minute long video and as deep as hour long monthly clinics you can join online at times convenient to you. Sign up to learn, share and win at The Ultimate Voice Career Promotion.

Why did we do this?

Enterprises around the world are adopting Lync’s telephony capabilities with millions of people already relying on Lync instead of a traditional IP PBX phone, and a staggering 250% growth rate in Lync’s first year in market. Lync changes how telephony is delivered in enterprises, but it doesn’t change the need for your skills and knowledge.

Next, improved access to Microsoft Lync telephony knowledge

Respecting the journey is critical and giving you a low friction, easy access way to learn how to transfer your skills into a software powered enterprise voice component of a Unified Communications system was required. The reality is that you as a voice professional bring with you an enormous amount of experience and the skill set required to make Enterprise Voice work, be it TDM, IP or Software based. If "IT apps folks" were to pick up the responsibility they'd have to build those skills, but you already have them. Of course, we know the future of productivity requires Unified Communications and not siloed, disconnected systems. And because the telephony workload is a vital component of UC we knew it was important to address this topic and help those with the experience and skills make the leap to Lync.

What about job security?

As it happens the role of the voice person arguably isn't any more at risk than any of us in technology, let alone with the current economy. In fact, as telephony skills are transferable into the software based telephony system components of Lync it gives voice professionals who learn it an opportunity to have a more beefy resume than those who don’t. We wanted to make sure you had the resources to be the best and have the most robust résumé. And the best bit? The efficiencies of software powered communications will free some of your bandwidth up to focus on value added initiatives within your organization; be they cost savings, enabling remote teams, or providing your company with a competitive edge in a decade that will be marked by the need for business to focus on growth.

Summary

If you manage a TDP or IP PBX today and either your company is deploying Lync or you want to be ahead of the curve for when they do this is a great set of resources for you. Either way you now have an improved path to learn about Lync’s telephony capabilities and more. Start with some low friction, low time commitment videos, and then participate in monthly web clinics. Share your knowledge to beef up your online reputation and further enhance your résumé and if you are in the US get ready to win big!

Additional Information

So what are you waiting for? Go to The Ultimate Voice Career Promotionand start learning, sharing and winning. Make sure you check out the T&Cs, whilst many of the resources are available ‘cross geography’ online the sweepstakes component is for United States residents only at this time. Follow the action on Twitter: #lync #lyncsweeps.

Register at The Ultimate Voice Career Promotion

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Keywords: Lync, Telephony, Voice, UC, Unified Communications, Networking, Voice Professional, Voice Expert, Cisco, Avaya, Nortel

Assigning Telephone Numbers to Lync Enterprise Voice Users

NextHop — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:10:00 GMT

To provide the best user experience and prepare for future growth, it is important to use the correct numbering format when assigning phone numbers to users. This article describes how to effectively assign phone numbers to Lync Server 2010 Enterprise Voice users.

Author: Thomas Binder and Doug Lawty

Publication date: November 30, 2011

Product version: Lync Server 2010

When rolling out Enterprise Voice in your organization, use the following best practice recommendations to define your numbering plan and to assign telephone numbers to Enterprise Voice users. Defining the correct numbering plan is a crucial factor in the success of your Enterprise Voice deployment. To provide the best user experience, allow room for future growth opportunities, such as expansion to other countries or merger and acquisitions (M&A).

Telephone Numbering Goals

Design your phone number plan for Lync to take into consideration the following objectives:

Compliance with Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards.
Specify a valid caller ID. This enables a callee to quickly return a missed call.
Define phone numbers with extensions.
Leverage telephone numbers configured in Active Directory.
Plan for future growth.
Avoid common mistakes.

Let’s consider each of these objectives in more detail and provide recommendations for assigning phone numbers in different situations.

Standards-compliance

Lync Server 2010 follows RFC 3966. RFC 3966 prescribes the format of TEL URIs in SIP. The RFC also defines additional parameters – such as extension, phone context, and so forth – to add to the TEL URI. Phone numbers can be either local or global. Global phone numbers must start with a + sign followed by digits that represent an E.164 number. E.164 is the standard for PSTN numbers and specifies country codes. Local numbers – those that are not globally unique – must provide the context in which they are unique. To specify this context, the phone-context parameter is added to the TEL URI. The combination of the phone number and phone context creates a number unique.

The following are valid RFC 3966 TEL URI examples:

tel:+12125550135.
tel:+12125550135;ext=135 where the extension is part of the phone number.
tel:+12125550100;ext=863 where the extension is not part of the phone number.
tel:135;phone-context=HQ.

All these formats comply with RFC 3966. It is not recommended, however, to assign all formats to users. A phone number is assigned to a Lync user when the Line URI property of the user’s Active Directory account is populated with a string similar to the listed examples. The following sections explain the recommended number format for each Line URI.

Specify valid caller ID

When a private number format (such as tel:135), is used in Lync and an employee places outbound calls, the correct caller ID is not displayed. When a Lync user makes an outbound call, we want the called party to see a valid number so she can return the call. When the user does not have a public telephone number, we want to display the company’s receptionist or auto attendant caller ID, so that the called party can return the call. To accomplish this, we have the following options:

Direct inward dialing (DID) – sometimes called direct dial-in (DDI) – these numbers are globally unique phone numbers that can be called directly from the PSTN. If the user has a DID assigned, it will be presented as the caller ID for all outgoing calls and no additional configuration is necessary. Use one of the formats where the user’s DID is specified as a global number – for example tel:+12125550135 or tel:+12125550135;ext=135. (The next section encourages the use of the second format.)
If a user does not have a DID number and can only be reached through an internal extension, configure a DID number as the caller ID so that the callee can return the call. Usually, this number is the company’s receptionist or auto attendant number. Use the format where the call back number is specified as a global number and the user’s internal extension is added – for example tel:+12125550100;ext=863.

Note. Lync Server also provides the ability to suppress the caller’s ID by replacing it with another number (for more information read Voice Routes in the Technical Library).

As a best practice make sure to always provide a caller ID that can be called back when calling outside the enterprise. Specify a Line URI that contains a DID number.

Define Phone Numbers with an Extension

Phone number extensions are used in multiple ways in Lync. If you dial in to a conference and you want to join as an authenticated user, you must provide your extension and PIN. Also if you want to authenticate with your PIN on a Lync qualified phone, your extension and PIN numbers are required. For more information read Device Connection Process in the Technical Library. Users without an extension receive a warning message on the dial-in conferencing page (see Figure 1). This may lead to support calls.

Figure 1. A warning is displayed for users that do not have an extension configured

The user experience is improved when users can authenticate with a short extension instead of a 10-digit phone number. If a user does not have an extension configured, instead of requiring the user to enter their full phone number, Lync attempts to normalize the entered digits to the full E.164 phone number. If it finds a matching normalization rule to map the entered digits into a valid internal phone number, Lync Server is able to authenticate the user. However, the more complex the deployment the more likely it is that this approach will not work. For example, if users are travelling and dial in to conference numbers in other countries with different normalization rules, their extension may not be recognized.

Best practice is to always assign extensions to all users using one of the formats with the ext parameter.

Leverage Telephone Numbers Configured in Active Directory

Phone numbers within a PBX deployment must be unique. In an enterprise with multiple PBXs deployed, it is possible that some of these local numbers may overlap. If a user, whose PBX phone is hosted on one PBX, calls another internal user whose PBX phone is hosted on a PBX with an overlapping number range, the caller needs to use a prefix to differentiate the call and dial out to the other PBX.

By contrast Lync relies on Active Directory services to provide a companywide directory service. Using local extensions or regional number formats in one of the telephone number fields of a global directory does not work. Users from one location are not able to call users in a different location using their local phone number.

As a best practice, populate Active Directory with phone numbers that are globally unique.

Allow for growth

A deployment may begin with a single integrated PBX or gateway. Superficially, it makes sense to build a Lync dial plan that accommodates the dial plan of the PBX. This works when all your users are in a single region. It may also work if you use local extensions in Lync.

However, building a plan based on a local extension limits future growth. When you integrate additional locations, a numbering plan based on a local extension no longer works. This occurs because the expanded deployment is not local to only one location. When you federate with other companies or when you deploy SIP Trunking be sure that all numbers provided are globally unique and routable.

Even when you start with a limited scenario, plan for future growth. Always use globally unique numbers.

Avoid Common Mistakes

There are a number of different configurations that may initially seem like a good idea due to their simplicity. Later they may turn out to be poor decisions that block future growth.

Common mistakes include, but are not limited, to the following:

Do not include an outside line access code as part of the phone number.
In a U.S. based company users often have to dial a 9 as the common outside line code, some administrators mistakenly configure phone numbers to be normalized to +912125550135, instead of the actual E.164 number, +12125550135.
Do not treat private extensions as global numbers.
When the company does not use DIDs, some administrators mistakenly decide to populate the Line URI with the extension and prefixes a plus, for example +863 instead of the correct +12125550100;ext=863.
Failure to include the country code.
Since the company is only active in a single country some administrators mistakenly decide not to include the country code in the phone numbers, for example +2125550135 instead of +12125550135.

This can lead to the following problems in the following situations:

People cannot dial E.164 numbers using Outlook contacts or through the Lync Browser Helper if normalization rules only allow for your dial plan.
Federated partners receive the phone number through the Lync contact card but are not able to call the number, because their configuration correctly expects E.164 numbers.

Because +91 is the international dialing code for India, +912125550135 is routed to India.
Because +86 is the international dialing code for China, +863 is routed to China.
Because +212 is the international dialing code for Morocco, +2125550135 is routed to Morocco.

The company expands to international locations, which requires it to change all existing locally defined phone numbers to globally unique numbers.
The company wants to integrate SIP Trunking. Because most SIP Trunk providers do not support private numbers, you need to use globally unique numbers.

Using global numbers simplifies your Lync Server dial plan more than is possible with a typical PBX deployment. One could say this is another reason why Lync isn’t an IP-PBX. It’s not a private branch exchange. It’s an enterprise-wide Unified Communications system.

Summary

After defining the goals and best practices for assigning a user’s phone number in the enterprise, the following summarizes how to configure phone numbers for users with DIDs and for those with only internal extensions.

Configuring Users with DIDs

For users with a DID phone number, specify the global number and the extension in the user’s Line URI. After deciding how many digits to use for the extension, append the last number of digits from the user’s DID to the Line URI with the extension parameter. As an example, if the PSTN phone number for a user is +12125550135, specify the Line URI as, tel:+12125550135;ext=135, assuming a 3 digit extension.

Configuring Users with Internal Extensions

For users with private extensions that can only be dialed from within the organization, you must specify the call back phone number displayed as the caller ID and append the user’s extension. For example the Line URI of tel:+12125550100;ext=863 presents as caller ID the number of an auto attendant (+12125550100) while 863 represents the extension of the user.

Note. When you use this format, no other phone number in your Lync deployment can be assigned the number, +12125550100, without an extension. You must configure the auto attendant with an extension (for example tel:+12125551000;ext=0), and create a normalization rule to normalize incoming call for +12125550100 to tel:+12125551000;ext=0. This can be accomplished by creating a pool level dial plan for the gateway receiving the inbound call.

RFC 3966 is flexible in terms of defining phone numbers. It is recommended to use the ext format for all users – those with DIDs and those with private numbers. This provides users with the best PIN authentication experience and always provides a valid caller ID for outbound calls.

Using an E.164 global number in the Line URI at the initial deployment, provides the most flexibility for future growth of your Lync Server environment – whether you deploy additional PSTN gateways in the same or new locations, introduce SIP Trunking, or expand to new locations.

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Keywords: Lync, Enterprise Voice, phone number plan, E.164, extensions, Line URI