The Exchange PG has declared RTM, so Exchange 2010 has been signed off and is now officially completed.

This is an exciting release and provides great value to business of all sizes.

Read more at the Exchange Team Blog.

Woohoo!

Some great news announced overnight…

• Starting October 1, 2009, a PIC License will no longer be required for federation with American Online (AOL).  Customers qualify for federation with AOL if they have Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard CAL or active Software Assurance on their current LCS/OCS license.
• Microsoft is  also releasing the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 XMPP Gateway at no additional licensing cost that allows basic Presence sharing and instant messaging (IM) with XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) networks Jabber and Google Talk. For Office Communications Server customers, this means Jabber and GoogleTalk users can now be part of Office Communications Server IM contacts.

Starting today, the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 XMPP Gateway can be downloaded here, while a video that explains how the Gateway works can be viewed here.

Read the press release and an interview with Eric Swift at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2009/oct09/10-01ucinterop.mspx

@themolk will be interviewing me on Tweeterview at 8pm AEST tonight (Thursday September 3rd) about all things UC at TechEd Australia.

Hope to see you there!

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) has been designed specifically to help meet the challenges of any business and the needs of all the different groups with a stake in the messaging system.

Exchange Server 2007 SP2 is a mission-critical communications tool that enables employees to be more productive and access their information anywhere and anytime while providing a messaging system that enables rich, efficient access to e-mail, calendar items, voice mail, and contacts.

For the administrator, Exchange Server 2007 SP2 provides advanced protection options against e-mail security threats, such as spam and viruses, as well as the tools to help manage internal compliance and high availability needs.

For an overview of the new features that are available in Exchange Server 2007 SP2, see "What's New in Exchange Server 2007 SP2".

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=4c4bd2a3-5e50-42b0-8bbb-2cc9afe3216a

This is huge… Microsoft and Nokia will begin collaborating immediately on the design, development and marketing of productivity solutions for the mobile professional, bringing Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft business communications, collaboration and device management software to Nokia’s Symbian devices.

This announcement builds on the existing work Nokia is doing by optimizing access to e-mail and other personal information with Exchange ActiveSync. Next year, Nokia intends to start shipping Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile on its smartphones, followed by other Office applications and related software and services in the future. These will include:

•  The ability to view, edit, create and share Office documents on more devices in more places with mobile-optimized versions of Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft OneNote

•  Enterprise instant messaging and presence, and optimized conferencing and collaboration experience with Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile

•  Mobile access to intranet and extranet portals built on Microsoft SharePoint Server

•  Enterprise device management with Microsoft System Center

Read the press release at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/aug09/08-12pixipr.mspx

A great tool for testing remote connectivity to your OCS Edge Server is now available from the UC Team.

Check it out at https://www.testocsconnectivity.com/

Using backup and restoration procedures for site disaster recovery as described in the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 documentation library topic Backup and Restoration, can entail some downtime for users.

This white paper describes a site resiliency solution for Office Communications Server 2007 R2. The solution includes an Enterprise pool that spans two geographically separate sites. The solution provides a failover mechanism between the two sites to ensure that Office Communications Server functionality such as instant messaging, presence, and conferencing remains available even if one of the sites becomes unavailable.

This white paper is divided into three main sections:

• The Solution section provides an overview of the tested and supported site resiliency solution described in this paper.
• The Test Methodology section describes the testing topology, expected behavior, and test results.
• The Findings and Recommendations section provides practical guidance for deploying your own failover solution.

To successfully follow this paper, you should have a thorough understanding of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering.

Download it from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=c930febb-3a44-4bf3-969d-1c52675a7063

We have released an update to Communicator Mobile that introduces some new capabilities, the best of which IMHO is “click-to-join” for OCS R2 conferencing (i.e. audio conferences and LiveMeetings).  There is no longer any need to dial the # and look up & enter conference IDs and PINs – now you can just choose “Join Conference” from your mobile calendar and OCS will call you back and sign you into the conference.

Issues that this hotfix package fixes

• Homescreen support for new homescreens in Windows Mobile 6.5+ phones.
• Integration within the phone dialer for Windows Mobile 6.5+ phones.
• Communicator Mobile 2007 R2 now recognizes when the phone is roaming, and by default does not sign in to roaming networks.
• Additional support for joining conference calls from a Windows Mobile appointment. To do this, press Menu, and then press Join Conference.
• Enables users to log on with a username of the format user@example.com, in addition to domain\user.
• When placing Call via Work calls, callbacks are now automatically accepted.
• Microsoft Installer (MSI) installation on Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) fails. In this situation, users should install Communicator Mobile 2007 R2 by using a .Cab installation.
• AT&T FUZE devices set for High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) connection cannot handle voice and data at the same time. This causes Call via Work calls to fail unless the device is reverted to 3rd Generation (3G) by disabling HSDPA.

More information and download at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/969816

From the OCS Team Blog….

Federation is an important goal for the Office Communications Server team and we are excited to announce several changes to public IM federation between Office Communications Server and public IM networks, effective July 1, 2009:

• The Live Communications Sever Public IM Connectivity (LCS PIC) license will be renamed Office Communications Server Public IM Connectivity (OCS PIC) license.
• Customers with Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard CAL or Office Communications Server 2007/Live Communications Server 2005 SP1 Standard CAL with Software Assurance will no longer require an additional license to federate with Windows Live. (A license will still be required for federation with AOL & Yahoo!.)
• With Windows Live federation, customers will be able to add Windows Live contacts to their Office Communicator contact list, view presence and send and receive instant messages.

We will continue to work with our partners to enable more options that allow you to communicate seamlessly with customers, partners, friends and family on different networks. For more information on public IM connectivity with Office Communications Server, please go to http://www.microsoft.com/communicationsserver/en/us/public-im-connectivity.aspx

In case you missed the story, check it out over at IT News….

Delegates attending Microsoft's premier conference this year will take home more than an insight into new technology - the software giant will give them each a netbook.

Microsoft Australia said that as many as 2300 delegates to its annual TechEd conference on the Gold Coast will get a HP Mini 2140

…and a heap more at JeffA’s blog.

Even more reason to attend… see you there!

For the next few days you can download free copies of some MS Press e-books on OCS 2007 R2.  Simply sign up for the Microsoft Press Book Connection Newsletter for notification of offers, register, and download the selection of the month.

Programming for Unified Communications with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2

Step-by-step programming scenarios show you how to deliver high-quality VoIP, presence, click-to-communicate, and  contextual collaboration across the enterprise and across time zones.

Click here to download

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Resource Kit

Get the definitive resource for deploying, configuring, and supporting Office Communications Server 2007—now fully updated.

Click here to download

Jamie Ryan, CIO at Aspect, has written a great post about the benefits of replacing your legacy PBX or IP-PBX with Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

When I tell people that Aspect is the in the midst of a Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 rollout, they often ask me if we are really able to live without our PBX’s. Believe it or not, many times they look wistful when they ask the question. It’s almost like they equate PBXs with an old friend who is moving to a far off land and will be sorely missed. My answer is always the same. I’m actually happy to be rid of my PBXs. We had too many - from too many different vendors. They were not integrated. And, they were expensive to manage. Plus, technology has come so far in recent years – why would I stay with the old, when the new is here and better?

Read it at http://blogs.aspect.com/2009/06/21/getting-rid-of-your-pbx-can-be-liberating/

Download my slides from today’s Exchange 2010 webcast below…

The full documentation pack for OCS R2 is now available for download.

The full set of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 documentation is contained in the download file named Communications_Server_2007_R2_Documentation.chm.  Selected, high-value sections of the documentation are also provided as separate Word documents.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=e9f86f96-aa09-4dca-9088-f64b4f01c703

Download this fully configured virtual machine of the latest release of Exchange Server 2010 Beta. Evaluate the new capabilities of Exchange Server 2010 Beta, which helps you achieve new levels of reliability and performance by delivering features that help to simplify your administration, protect your communications, and delight your users by meeting their demands for greater business mobility.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=53f7382a-3664-4de3-8303-31e514d69f02&displaylang=en