Swiss IT Professional and TechNet Blog : Unified Communications

Invitation to IT Pro Momentum

mepprecht — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:24:02 GMT

Wanting to do Projects with New Technologies? It sounds exciting, but does have an element of risk.

Why does one want to be an Early-Adopter of new Technology?

Generally, new technologies have new, and marked improvements in features. In most cases, real-world problems and requirements are solved by a new version of software, and sometimes things are just easier and faster than in the past.

How and we (Microsoft) help you?

The IT Pro Momentum Program was designed with that in mind. By Invite, you get access the the Project Portal where you can profile your projects, and have access to Exclusive Information, Training, Product Downloads and Support.

Is such a program for me?

It depends on how many of the following questions you can answer to your satisfaction:

Does new Technology Interest me?
Do I want, and need Support during the Evaluation of the various Products?
Am I not scared to try out the Products and Solutions (in a test environment at least) with Beta Products?
Do I want to give feedback about the Products to the Development Teams (bugs, features and new ideas), and also my experiences in deploying the product?

Target Audience

Targeted with this program are Small and Medium Sized Business (SME) and Microsoft Partners that do not have regular and dedicated contact/support from Microsoft. For Large Enterprises, other programs like TAP (Technology Adoption Program) and RDP (Rapid Deployment Program) are more suitable, but do not exclude you from IT Pro Momentum.

What will I as a participant get?

It depends on the stage of you Project.

Evaluation Phase
You get access to technical content and dedicated forums. You also have access to Online Trainings.
Planning Phase
You receive a 1 year subscription to TechNet Plus and access to the product setups.
Pilot Phase
You have the opportunity to request free help from Microsoft Support up to a a maximum of 1 year for the product you are Piloting to help you quickly solve issues that you have.
Deployment Phase
You project is virtually complete and here comes our ask of you.

What do we (Microsoft) gain from this?

Firstly, we want to hear from and about you and your Projects you are planning to, or currently working on, and help you where possible. For some, it may be very interesting to be profiled, either on a Blog or a Case Study, to show the world and your colleagues what you achieved. At the same time, share your experiences with the community and prove your competency.
Secondly, we have customers who have deployed, and are happily using our Products!

Products and Technologies for the Year 2009 in IT Pro Momentum (Not product shipping dates and is subject to change)

How do I get invited (or have questions)?

Contact Michael Epprecht, IT Pro Evangelist, Microsoft Switzerland via e-mail or the Contact Form.
If you are not based in Switzerland or Lichtenstein, we will pass your request onto the responsible IT Pro Evangelist in your region if IT Pro Momentum is offered in your region.

Exchange Server 2010 Beta Available Now

mepprecht — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:45:11 GMT

Exchange Server 2010 Beta is now available for download on TechNet Subscriber Downloads and as a Public Beta here

You can also try it as an Online Trial here. In the Online Trial version, you do not have to install anything on your machines. The Trial in run on Virtualized Servers at Microsoft.

To see what is new in Exchange Server 2010, visit the Exchange Web Site

Exchange Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer – Beta is out

mepprecht — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:00:00 GMT

The Installation and Administration of Microsoft Exchange solutions, due to their ever growing complexities, require more time and resources. Quite often, mistakes happen.

The Microsoft Exchange Server Team have developed a tool (Exchange Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer), that helps you diagnose problems. The idea came out of customer feedback and support calls placed with the Microsoft Support Hotline. You can use this tool directly over the Web.

In the current version, you can test:

Exchange ActiveSync
Outlook Anywhere
Inbound SMTP

Coming features:

OWA
IMAP
POP
Exchange Web Services

Here is a 6 minute Demo-Video that describes and shows the most important functionality:

http://blogs.technet.com/chitpro-de/archive/2009/03/27/exchange-server-remote-connectivity-analyzer-beta-is-out-now.aspx

Multilingual User Interface Package for Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2

mepprecht — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:02:00 GMT

The MUI package for Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 is available as a free download and supports 38 languages. The installation is language-independent, so you do not need to first install the English version as a base, before you can install a MUI pack.

After installation, the user can change the language on demand (Tools—> Options –> General).

http://blogs.technet.com/chitpro-de/archive/2009/03/30/multilingual-user-interface-package-f-r-microsoft-office-communicator-2007-r2.aspx

Exchange 2007 Architecture – The Poster

mepprecht — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:00:00 GMT

If you are based in Switzerland, you can order the Exchange 2007 Architecture Poster. Like they say….A picture is worth a thousand words.

http://www.ms-infoservice.ch/business

Unified Communications – Useful Information for Customers and Partners

mepprecht — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:00:00 GMT

On this web site is some really useful information covering Unified Communications.

You can get summaries on the new features, Tips and Tricks, plus web-based trainings. It has something for everyone. There are no 100-page documents, rather, all the topics are each covered on one page, right to the point.

Test Microsoft Online Services for Free for 30 days

mepprecht — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:46:27 GMT

On the 19th March, at x.Days, Microsoft Online was officially launched in Switzerland. Microsoft Business Productivity Online suite (BPOS) is this offering’s name which encompasses Services like SharePoint, Exchange and Unified Communications (IM, Presence and Live Meeting). Planned future enhancements are Online Versions of CRM.

BPOS is hosted in Microsoft Data Centers, under Microsoft Control. Currently for Europe, the data centers are in Dublin, Ireland and Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The whole suite costs about CHF 22.- per month, per user.

You have the opportunity to test the services for free for 30 days, and have a chance to win a HTC Touch Phone.

To test the service, following the following procedure:

Create a Live ID if you don't have one yet https://signup.live.com
Subscribe to the free 30 days Test Suite of Microsoft Online (“Sign up for a trial”) at https://mocp.microsoftonline.com
Wait for the confirmation e-mail. During this time, your Microsoft Online account will be provisioned.
Visit the Customer Portal to retrieve the Administrator Account Information.
Login to the Administration Center with the Administrator Account https://admin.emea.microsoftonline.com
Create your first user accounts, configure Outlook and create your SharePoint site.

Further Technical Information can be found on TechNet (English / German / French). If you want to continue to use the service after the trial 30 days, you may wish to have a Qualified BPOS partner guide you further. These Partners are capable of helping you with Migrations, further Setup and can answer questions relating to your specific needs.

Originally posted on http://blogs.technet.com/chitpro-de/archive/2009/03/20/microsoft-online-services-30-tage-gratis-testen.aspx

Optimized Devices for Microsoft Office Communicator

mepprecht — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:25:00 GMT

Through the regular use of Mobile and Fixed-line telephones, we have become accustomed to a very high level of audio quality.

For software-based telephony, the exact same high expectations exist. For you to achieve the Quality levels when using Microsoft's Unified Communications solution, we recommend that use implement Microsoft Certified devices. You can find the devices under the following link:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd441162(office.13).aspx

Unified Communications Ignite Trainings in Switzerland again

mepprecht — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:02:38 GMT

For Microsoft Partners, our CPLS Partner AddOn, is offering between March and June 2009 diverse Ignite Trainings (Level 300), covering Unified Communications.

Learn about the possibilities that OCS und Unified Messaging can present, from Planning to Installation and Maintenance. A bootcamp, that will prepare you for the Microsoft Test 70-638 will also be held. It is recommended you first attend the OCS 2007 R2 Ignite training, and then the UC Voice Ignite training.

Training will be in German.

The dates and information to the events:

OCS 2007 R2 Ignite (2 Days)
23 March 2009
25 May 2009

UC Voice Ignite (3 Days)
25 March 2009
27 May 2009

UC Competency Kit – Bootcamp (2 Days)
23 April 2009
8 June 2009

http://blogs.technet.com/chitpro-de/archive/2009/02/26/endlich-unified-communications-ignite-trainings-wieder-in-der-schweiz.aspx

Big OCS Roadshow with People from Microsoft

mepprecht — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:33:00 GMT

Unified. Now.

Increase productivity and unleash the true potential of your mobile workforce.

You and your colleagues are cordially invited to join us at the

Voice of Unified Communications Roadshow

Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 R2 delivers the unified communications (UC) experience companies have been seeking. It empowers your distributed workforce with the flexibility necessary to access the people they need — when, where, and how they need them. Microsoft unified communications solutions help:

· Streamline communications.

· Enhance team collaboration and productivity.

· Reduce costs of audio conferencing.

· Decrease environmental impact by reducing unnecessary travel.

· Integrate with Exchange Voice Mail.

· Ensure compliance with data mandates.

With enterprise telephony (VoIP) and the integration of your telephony, voice mail, and e-mail infrastructures, your people can quickly and easily find the right person—and click to communicate from within everyday software applications and businesses processes. Please join us for this briefing on the business value, and costs savings realization for UC using the recent R2 release of Microsoft Office Communication Server 2007.

Zürich, March 9th, 2009, 9:00 – 16:30

Microsoft Schweiz GmbH
Richtistrasse 3
8304 Wallisellen
How to find

Geneva, March 10th, 2009, 9:00 – 16:30

Ramada Park Hôtel Genève Suisse
Avenue Louis-Casaï 75-77
CH - 1216 Geneve - Cointrin – Suisse
How to find

New TechNet Event Calendar Web Page

mepprecht — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:20:40 GMT

Microsoft Switzerland now has a new page to show the TechNet Events/Seminars.

http://www.microsoft.com/switzerland/server/de/events/default.mspx

You now have an overview all off the Swiss TechNet events, including the Content, Session Description, Date and Venue. On each link from this page, you can get detailed information about each event, including detailed information and the Live-ID enabled registration link.

I hope to meet you are more of the TechNet events.