Ram Ojha's Blog

Script - to create users in AD and enable it for Office Communications server

Ram — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:20:00 GMT

I wrote a simple script to automate the process of user account creation in AD and to enable them for OCS with EV, which I am sharing at this blog... Before I start talking about the script further, I'd request everyone to read the following disclaimer...(read more)

OCS VOIP call gets dropped when caller ID is blocked

Ram — Sun, 31 May 2009 02:33:00 GMT

In an OCS VOIP deployment, call routing works fine. But it breaks down when the caller ID is blocked in certain circumstances.

I was working with one of the customers, everything was working just fine when caller ID was not blocked at the gateway end. When caller ID was blocked at the gateway end, the call routing was failing for the caller, whose ID was blocked.

Took mediation server log and could see following SIP log...

05/01/2009|15:42:42.693 19C:958 INFO :: Sending Packet - 10.129.3.43:5061 (From Local Address: 10.128.99.40:1165) 1271 bytes:

05/01/2009|15:42:42.693 19C:958 INFO :: SIP/2.0 488 Not Acceptable Here

Via: SIP/2.0/TLS 10.129.3.34:5061;branch=z9hG4bK348BF8E1.9C327907F0A24A00;branched=TRUE;ms-internal-info="cvrvQTOYB3PPrJyrA8PyG00ZaDTm0HeTKck0nEAgAA"

Via: SIP/2.0/TLS 10.129.2.57:52753;branch=z9hG4bKb35a8c7f;received=10.129.3.4;ms-received-port=52753;ms-received-cid=7E55B00

From: <sip:+1anonymous@contoso.com;user=phone>;epid=D879D48995;tag=c7e98f73c2

To: <sip:14083250000;phone-context=LocProf.contoso.com@contoso.com;user=phone>;epid=d3b7ada48f;tag=b26f9e40aa

Call-ID: 0546352d-011d-410b-9f80-ea5af6594146

CSeq: 37918 INVITE

Record-Route: <sip:Pool1.contoso.com:5061;transport=tls;ms-fe=BOS1FE02.contoso.com;opaque=state:F:Ci.R7e55800:Ieh.DOx_ldQyXFPaMlxTby7XcZtPI4-TcXqAeNynRKY7-a2rsHeTKcCGjeHwAA;lr;ms-route-sig=byiG0-l6h58Elb5oFW_pmBGtmCE_sHeTKcCGjeHwAA>;tag=35891F36E65216F9F7278C395DE32773

User-Agent: UCCAPI/3.5.6907.9 OC/3.5.6907.9 (Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2)

Ms-client-diagnostics: 52001; reason="General processing error"

Proxy-Authorization: Kerberos qop="auth", realm="SIP Communications Service", opaque="A2019AEB", targetname="sip/BOS1FE02.contoso.com", crand="89df02b3", cnum="19", response="602306092a864886f71201020201011100ffffffff46902b6f0190b95825dfcf471ad19783"

Content-Length: 0

05/01/2009|15:42:42.693 19C:958 INFO :: End of Sending Packet - 10.129.3.43:5061 (From Local Address: 10.128.99.40:1165) 1271 bytes

Everything in the above log was just fine except following line...

From: <sip:+1anonymous@contoso.com;user=phone>;epid=D879D48995;tag=c7e98f73c2

Actually when the Gateway was blocking the caller ID, it was adding "+1" to the From field. "+1anonymous" is not acceptable for MOC. And thats why OCS was dropping this call, saying that the SIP Method is not acceptable here.

When we got rid of +1 from from field, problem got resolved.

PSTN user cant join dial-in conferencing

Ram — Sat, 09 May 2009 03:22:00 GMT

Recently I worked on an issue where internal users could dial into conferencing atendant, but PSTN users cant. Dial-In conferencing was configured properly.

When a PSTN user tries to join the conference, OCS does provide option to dial the conference ID but it will never listen it. OCS 2007 R2 was configured with CISCO call manager for Enterprise Voice. CISCO Call manager either couldn't learn DTMF or pass it to the OCS mediation server.

I could see following mediation server log...

TL_INFO(TF_PROTOCOL) [10]154C.0684::05/07/2009-15:20:30.636.00000a91 (MediationServer,GatewayCall.GatewayParticipateComplete:gatewaycall.cs(949))( 0000000003D2EFF0 )$$START-MEDIATIONSERVER
MediationCall: fe0263c95f8147e8b869ce8ab84741d3
CallId: ba5d3b00-a021fc77-69-16246c0a@1.1.1.2
From: sip:XXXXXXXXXX@1.1.1.2
To: sip:AAAAA@1.1.1.1
Direction: Inbound
Start-Line: Gateway side invite dialog established successful. Remote Participant Uri: sip:XXXXXXXXXX@1.1.1.2, Local Participant Uri: sip:AAAAA@1.1.1.1
$$END-MEDIATIONSERVER

TL_INFO(TF_PROTOCOL) [10]154C.0684::05/07/2009-15:20:30.641.00000a99 (MediationServer,GatewayCall.GatewayParticipateComplete:gatewaycall.cs(961))( 0000000003D2EFF0 )$$START-MEDIATIONSERVER
MediationCall: fe0263c95f8147e8b869ce8ab84741d3
CallId: ba5d3b00-a021fc77-69-16246c0a@1.1.1.2
From: sip:XXXXXXXXXX@1.1.1.2
To: sip:AAAAA@1.1.1.1
Direction: Inbound
Start-Line: GatewayCall ID is ba5d3b00-a021fc77-69-16246c0a@1.1.1.2, From Tag is 83d98ea5-6a32-4f7e-927e-eae47c44a90f-116351926, To Tag b14fb1c879.
$$END-MEDIATIONSERVER

TL_INFO(TF_PROTOCOL) [8]154C.16CC::05/07/2009-15:21:00.841.00001e3e (S4,SipMessage.DataLoggingHelper:sipmessage.cs(581))
<<<<<<<<<<<<Incoming SipMessage c=[<SipTcpConnection_310339F>], 1.1.1.1:5060<-1.1.1.2:40027
BYE sip:nbc-tst-ocsmds1.ocs.com:5060;maddr=1.1.1.1;transport=Tcp SIP/2.0
FROM: <sip:XXXXXXXXXX@1.1.1.2>;tag=83d98ea5-6a32-4f7e-927e-eae47c44a90f-116351926
TO: <sip:AAAAA@1.1.1.1>;tag=b14fb1c879;epid=3E375620E6
CSEQ: 102 BYE
CALL-ID: ba5d3b00-a021fc77-69-16246c0a@1.1.1.2
MAX-FORWARDS: 70
VIA: SIP/2.0/TCP 1.1.1.2:5060;branch=z9hG4bK10a141b38a1
CONTENT-LENGTH: 0
DATE: Thu, 07 May 2009 15:21:27 GMT
USER-AGENT: Cisco-CUCM6.1
------------EndOfIncoming SipMessage

TL_INFO(TF_PROTOCOL) [10]154C.1574::05/07/2009-15:21:00.846.00001eba (MediationServer,GatewayCall.OnGatewayStateChanged:gatewaycall.cs(1328))( 0000000003D2EFF0 )$$START-MEDIATIONSERVER
MediationCall: fe0263c95f8147e8b869ce8ab84741d3
CallId: ba5d3b00-a021fc77-69-16246c0a@1.1.1.2
From: sip:XXXXXXXXXX@1.1.1.2
To: sip:AAAAA@1.1.1.1
Direction: Inbound
Start-Line: GatewayCall SignalingState is disconnected, reason is: TerminatedRemotely
$$END-MEDIATIONSERVER

TL_INFO(TF_COMPONENT) [10]154C.1574::05/07/2009-15:21:00.866.00001f26 (MediationServer,MediationCall.Terminate:mediationcall.cs(216))( 000000000038DC1B )$$START-MEDIATIONSERVER
MediationCall: fe0263c95f8147e8b869ce8ab84741d3
CallId: ba5d3b00-a021fc77-69-16246c0a@1.1.1.2
From: sip:XXXXXXXXXX@1.1.1.2
To: sip:AAAAA@1.1.1.1:5060
Direction: Inbound
Start-Line: Mediation Call Terminate successfull.
$$END-MEDIATIONSERVER

TL_INFO(TF_COMPONENT) [10]154C.1574::05/07/2009-15:21:00.916.00001fcc (MediationServer,MediationCall.DisposeConference:mediationcall.cs(258))( 000000000038DC1B )$$START-MEDIATIONSERVER
MediationCall: fe0263c95f8147e8b869ce8ab84741d3
CallId: ba5d3b00-a021fc77-69-16246c0a@1.1.1.2
From: sip:XXXXXXXXXX@1.1.1.2
To: sip:AAAAA@1.1.1.1:5060
Direction: Inbound
Start-Line: Conference Disposed.
$$END-MEDIATIONSERVER

Couldn't see CISCO call manager passing DTMF signal to the Mediation server. I thought its better time to engage CISCO support professional... She could figure out the problem at Call Manager end. everything worked fine after she fixed the DTMF issue at Call Manager end.

The Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Capacity Planning Toolkit

Ram — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:37:00 GMT

The Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Capacity Planning Toolkit provides a set of tools and documentation to simplify capacity planning for Office Communications Server 2007 R2. The Capacity Planning Toolkit can be used as a complement to the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Planning Guide.

This release of the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Capacity Planning Toolkit contains tools and documentation to simplify your hardware planning, provide you with increased knowledge and best practices for performance tuning, and improve your ability to verify the performance of your intended Office Communications Server 2007 R2 deployments.

The Capacity Planning Toolkit is intended for use by IT professionals in a test environment prior to production deployment. These tools should never be used against a live production environment.

You can download this toolkit from following location....

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f8cbddd6-7608-4bbe-9246-16e96c62bef4&displaylang=en

Explore OCS 2007 R2 - Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Dial-in Conferencing

Ram — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 23:24:00 GMT

This is one of the best features in the new release of Office Communications Server. There was Audio conferencing in OCS 2007 but the concept of bridge was missing. You couldn't create an audio room to invite the conference participants. One had to initiate the conference and invite others to let them join.

Office Communications Server admins missed this feature and often they integrated third party conferencing applications to enable this feature.

But now with the release of OCS 2007 R2... users would be able to create the conference room and share the details with others to join a conference. It means a user can join the conference if he\she does have proper details of conference.

An OCS user will have option to create both types of room - A conference for only AD authenticated participants and a conference which would allow anonymous users as well.

An OCS user will have option to create these conferences through Outlook.

Schedule a conference with advanced options

By default, anyone with the conference calling number and your conference ID can join your conference. If you want to restrict who can join your dial-in conference, configure the following advanced Access options when scheduling the conference:

· Open Authenticated. Allow only participants that are in your organization to join the meeting.

· Closed Authenticated. Allow only invited participants within your organization to join the meeting.

A sample conference entry information...

Install the Conferencing Add-In
Before you can schedule a conference that includes support for dial-in conferencing, you must install the Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Outlook that was included with the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 installation media. Remove any earlier versions of the Microsoft Office Live Meeting client and Live Meeting add-in. Also ensure that Outlook is not running, and then install the more recent version of the add-in.

Explore OCS 2007 R2 - New Attendant console

Ram — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 23:07:00 GMT

Microsoft Communicator 2007 R2 Attendant

================================

Microsoft Communicator 2007 R2 Attendant is an intuitive, integrated, call management application that facilitates accurate & rapid call handling and routing for front-line business professionals.

With Microsoft Communicator 2007 R2 Attendant you can handle large call volumes, accept, manage and place calls on behalf of other contacts, and use consultative, search and note-taking functionality to increase the effectiveness of your daily collaboration.

This application is quite useful for the Enterprise voice enabled users. It gives much flexibility to manage the calls at the client end. After having Microsoft Communicator 2007 R2 Attendant as a client application, you wont miss your any phone device.It's a standalone call management client and alternative to Office Communicator 2007 R2. Its an optimized version for call management.

As a unified communication professional I have had some customers saying that the MOC 2007 is not sufficient to provide call management facilities to the users. These customers will definitely wear a smily after using this application. This is a smart application for a UC enabled user and it will make life of a UC enabled user much more easier.

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 Attendant Features

Single-screen UI for multi-call handling
Rich presence in contact list and groups
Integrated conversation history & rapid-reply
Confirmed blind transfer & call recovery
Conversation & contact categories, subject line
Templates for rapid conversation creation
Client-side Music on Hold
Repeat caller notification

Message when attempting to manage OCS 2007 R2 users through the OCS 2007 Admin tools

Ram — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:57:00 GMT

Summary
=============================
Enterprises can have mixed deployment of OCS 2007 and OCS 2007 R2 in which they install the OCS 2007 Admin Tools to manage servers/users for OCS 2007. If they attempt to use the OCS 2007 Admin Tools to manage users who are on an OCS 2007 R2 pool they will get the following misleading error:

"This user is enabled on a previous version of the product, and cannot be administered with this version of the Office Communications Server User Property Page. Please use the appropriate version of LCS MMC to administer the user. You may use the Office Communications Server Move User Wizard to move LCS 2005 SP1 users to Office Communications Server."

The OCS 2007 Admin Tools are only for managing users on an OCS 2007 pool.
The OCS 2007 R2 Admin Tools are only for managing users on an OCS 2007 R2 pool.

Outlook Integration Error - Microsoft office Communicator 2007!

Ram — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:11:00 GMT

During my job as unified communications engineer, one of the frequent problems I encounter is "Outlook Integration Error" warning alert, appearing in Microsoft Office Communicator 2007.

Assuming that you have outlook 2007 and Microsoft office Communicator 2007 installed on the client, I follow the following steps to ensure that the issue gets resolved.

1. I ensure that MOC 2007 and Outlook 2007 are properly patched.

2. Check if the SIP Address and Primary email address are same. If they aren't same, follow the following kb.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951644

3. Ensure that the Exchange 2007 web services are configured and behaving properly. The Autodiscover service should be configured on https in order to ensure that the Microsoft Office Communicator gets free\busy information properly.

=========================================================================================================

Anish K Pandey (Exchange Support Engineer - anishp@microsoft.com) talks further about how to resolve the "Outlook Integration Error" if it is caused by the Exchange Web services.

Before we begin, we should understand how Autodiscover in Exchange 2007 works. Here is the whitepaper link for Autodiscover: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb332063.aspx and to understand Availability Service here is the link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb232134.aspx.

Note: Autodiscover should be working over HTTPS for the Office Communicator to get the Free/Busy information via Availability service.

Scenario 1:

In the case where an Internal MS Certificate OR Self Signed Certificate is configured on Client Access Server. There are few things which we should keep in mind.

As the Internal MS Certificate is not trusted publicly, we have to install the ROOT CA on every client where we are using Outlook 2007 SP1 & Office Communicator. Outlook clients can get the AVAILABILITY service on HTTP, I mean if Autodiscover fails on HTTPS then it would fall back to HTTP and find the SCP (Service Connection Point), however Office Communicator will not fall back on HTTP as it only works on HTTPS to get the Availability service which in-turn updates the free/busy information. (as mentioned earlier, in absence of free\busy information the MOC 2007 will report "Outlook Integration Error"). Self Signed Certificate is not supported for Communicator EWS access. If EWS is configured with self-signed certificate, MOC will keep reporting "Outlook integration error" or "Exchange integration error".

Secondly we should have the Autodiscover & EWS virtual directories in IIS on Windows Integrated Authentication method.

We should also make sure that URLs for ClientAccessServer, EWS are set properly. Please refer kb article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940726 (I have fixed many cases with this article).

Scenario 2:

In the case where a 3^rd Party Certificate is being used (like VeriSign, Go Daddy etc) then we just have to follow the above step 2 & 3 as the 3^rd Party certificates (no need to install the ROOT CA on each and every Windows based client machines, as Windows CE does have these certs by default) are publicly trusted.

=========================================================================================================

Outlook DLLs used by Microsoft Office Communicator

Maximum supported users for different topologies!

Ram — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Following table talks about the supported number of connections in different topologies defined in the planning guide of OCS 2007.

You can find the planning guide here... http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=723347c6-fa1f-44d8-a7fa-8974c3b596f4&displaylang=en

Topology	Supported Performance
Stand-alone Access Edge Server	15,000 client connections
Stand-alone Web Conferencing Edge Server	3,000 client connections
Stand-alone A/V Edge Server	1,500 concurrent audio/video sessions
Collocated Access Edge & Web Conferencing Edge Server	Access Edge Server: 5,000 client connections Web Conferencing Edge Server: 1,500 client connections
Collocated Access Edge, Web Conferencing Edge & A/V Edge Servers (Consolidated Edge Topology)	Access Edge Server: 5,000 client connections Web Conferencing Edge Server: 1,000 client connections A/V Edge Server 500 concurrent audio/video sessions Note A/V experience may be degraded if sessions approach the maximum limit. We recommend that you deploy a separate A/V Edge Server for the optimal A/V experience

Here we assume that the topologies consists of servers as per following table:

Topology	Servers Required	Maximum Users Supported
Standard Edition Server	1 Standard Edition server (Optional) Archiving Server collocated	5,000
Enterprise pool: Consolidated Configuration	4 Enterprise Edition Front-End servers running all server roles 1 Backend SQL Server (Optional) 1 Archiving Server	30,000
Enterprise pool: Expanded configuration With Mid-Range Performance SQL Backend	4 Front-End Servers 2 Web Conferencing Servers 2 A/V Conferencing Servers 2 IIS Servers 1 Backend SQL Server (Optional) 1 Archiving Server	50,000
Enterprise pool: Expanded configuration With High Performance SQL Backend	8 Front-End Servers 4 Web Conferencing Servers 4 A/V Conferencing Servers 2 IIS Servers 1 Backend SQL Server (Optional)2 Archiving Servers	125,000

How does OCS select Exchange UM Server...

Ram — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:18:00 GMT

When any external or Internal user calls a user in OCS-UM enabled environement, The OCS Server selects the UM server for Voice mail facility. Following steps explain how does this happen -

OCS will determine SIP Address of the dialed number
It will check if the user is enabled for Unified Messaging. The attribute it will query is "MSExchUMEnabledFlag"
If the user is enabled for UM, It will query proxyAddress (EUM type) of the user.
OCS Server will find out the dial plan name from EUM Proxy Address
OCS Server will query Dial Plan object to find out the list of Exchange UM servers assigned to it.
OCS Server will select the Exchange UM Server based on routing logic
If it doesn't get response from the first Exchange UM Server it selected, It will select the second Exchange UM Server

Routing to UM server involves determining which UM server is able to service the request of the user and how to route the call to that particular UM server

The routing feature has following characteristics:

Determine the UM server to route the call.
If more than one UM server is linked to the dial plan then try a different server if the first server does not respond.
Generate request that UM can understand and process.
Establish media session between UM server and UC client.