Johann's Unified Communications : voip

Cisco UC v4/5/6 supported for Direct-SIP with OCS R2

jkruse — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 08:46:34 GMT

The UC Open Interoperability Program has been updated and Cisco Unified Communications Manager (aka Call Manager) versions 4, 5 & 6 are now supported for Direct-SIP connectivity with OCS R2.

This means that back-end integration can be configured between Cisco UC and OCS without the need for a gateway, and without requiring multiple client applications or softphones to be installed on the desktop.

Office Communicator can make/receive phonecalls using Cisco UC as a “PSTN gateway”, but without the need for client plug-ins which can cause version incompatibilities.

So mobile/remote users get the advantages of software-based wideband audio/video/conferencing with VPN-less access via the OCS Edge Server (without requiring an ASA or the associated remote-client licences), and people at their desk can still use their Cisco “hard-phones”.

IP-PBX Vendor	Tested Product	Supported Configuration	Software Versions Tested	OCS 2007 R2	OCS 2007
Cisco	Cisco Unified Communications Manager	Direct SIP	4.2(3)_SR3a
			4.2(3)_SR4b
			5.1(1b)
			5.1(3e)
			6.1(1b)
			6.1(3a)

Known Limitations:

The PRACK message sent by CUCM 4.2(3) is malformed by missing the MAXFORWARDS header. As a result, this configuration requires PRACK to be disabled. By default, PRACK is disabled in CUCM 4.2(3)

For Office Communications Server 2007, this support requires update package for Communications Server 2007 Mediation Server: August 2008 .

OCS 2007 may not appropriately normalize the PAI in the 200 OK or UPDATE, resulting in OC displaying a non RFC3966 formatted global number and in failed RNL on OC. When calling from OC 2007 to a Cisco phone number, after the caller gets connected, the name of the person on the Cisco phone may not be shown on Communicator, and instead OC may display the E.164 number (without a "+") for the person on the Cisco phone. This is resolved in OCS 2007 R2

When calling from OC 2007 to a Cisco phone number, where the Cisco extension is disconnected or out of service, the Cisco IP-PBX may not notify OC 2007 in a timely manner. This has been remediated in OCS 2007 R2.

More information and updates at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/bb735838.aspx#direct, and example configuration for Call Manager 4 at http://communicationsserverteam.com/archive/2008/09/30/302.aspx

Integrating Telephony with OCS R2

jkruse — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 07:10:47 GMT

Updated for OCS 2007 R2, this white paper covers everything you want to know about Voice Interoperability with OCS. Topics include Media Gateways, IP-PBXs, SIP Trunking, PBX integration Scenarios, Standards Compliance, Integration Features and Migration Strategies.

Download it from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=8CDE0C3A-042E-445B-A514-2D12ED5B2AC2&displaylang=en

Direct SIP connectivity with OCS and Cisco UCM v4.2, 5.1 and 6.1

jkruse — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:36:30 GMT

Cisco Unified Communications Manager (aka CallManager) version 4.2, 5.1 and 6.1 (specific version/release below) is now certified for Direct SIP connectivity with Office Communications Server.

Direct SIP allows connectivity between the OCS mediation server and the Cisco IP-PBX without the need for a gateway, meaning that Office Communicator users can be enabled for Enterprise Voice (i.e. Office Communicator is a full soft-phone, not just click-to-call or RCC) without significant upgrades or hardware replacements.

More detail at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/bb735838.aspx

IP-PBX Vendor

Tested Product

Qualification Level

Software Version Tested

Vendor’s Web site

Cisco

Cisco Unified Communications Manager

Direct SIP

4.2[3]sr3a

5.1.3.3000-5 & 5.1.3.1000-12

6.1.1.3000-2

(requires update package for Communications Server 2007 Mediation Server: August 2008)

Cisco

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Is that an analog PABX in your pocket?

jkruse — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:39:30 GMT

Sure is! (but I am also happy to see you) This beast was recently purchased on eBay and is currently sitting in Microsoft's Melbourne office.

I love seeing the old 1950s phone next to the Communicator Phone Editions (aka Tanjay). In UNC314 we will get these talking to each other.

Brendan Carius and Steve Edmonds are building out their demo environments for Tech.Ed next week, and this PABX will be used in two sessions:

UNC313: Planning Voice Architecture and Deployment in Office Communications Server 2007 and UNC314: Office Communications Server PBX Interop... in Real Time!

UNC314 in particular should be fun... it is a 100% demo-based session - in 75 minutes Brendan and I will get this PABX talking to both OCS 2007 and Exchange 2007 UM. We will have Exchange providing voicemail to analog phones, and will move live PSTN phone numbers between the PABX and OCS.

In the end it should look something like this......

See you in Auckland on Tuesday or Sydney on Friday!

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Office Communications Server 2007 VoIP Test Set

jkruse — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 03:00:00 GMT

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 VoIP Test Set enables you to simulate a SIP endpoint to test connectivity.

VoIP Test Set for Office Communications Server 2007 supports emulation of a SIP endpoint to test connectivity. Emulation options include the following:

Client emulation - To emulate a Microsoft Office Communicator client, you specify a SIP-enabled user account to register with Office Communications Server. This can be useful for troubleshooting problems with incoming or outgoing Enterprise Voice calls. For example, an Office Communications Server engineer can use the tool in client emulation mode to quickly change user location profile information and validate that outbound routing is properly configured.
Server emulation - You can use VoIP Test Set to emulate a Mediation Server or a gateway. To emulate a server, you specify the IP address, port number, and other settings of the server to be emulated. This can be useful for emulating components during the setup of the Office Communications Server 2007 infrastructure to verify the functionality of components that have already been deployed. For example, you might use the tool to receive and make calls directly from an IP/PSTN gateway to ensure that it is completely functional before deploying the complete Office Communications Server 2007 infrastructure.

Download it from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7b6ab4f3-2949-4e97-856e-9c4ae323c75a&displaylang=en

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Technorati Tags: ocs, download, testing, voip, mediation, sip, tools

OCS shines with Office Communicator 2007 front end and Exchange 2007

jkruse — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 01:53:28 GMT

A great review of OCS is available Network World...

Microsoft is getting ready to make a big splash into the VoIP pool with its OCS 2007, expected to ship this summer.

When OCS's software-based VoIP engine is coupled with Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 client software, users have access to IP telephony, instant messaging and presence awareness. Furthermore, when Microsoft Exchange 2007's unified messaging services are added to the mix, voice mail and autoattendant features also are on the table.

More at http://www.networkworld.com/reviews/2007/062507-ocs-test.html (registration required).

Technorati Tags: ocs, voip, uc

Speech codec in OCS 2007

jkruse — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 22:54:00 GMT

One of the huge improvements we're making in Office Communications Server 2007 is in the area of speech quality and Quality of Experience in VoIP phonecalls.

We have a document available for download with an overview of our RTAudio advanced VoIP codec, which has the ability to dynamically adjust to network conditions such as latency, packet loss, jitter, etc; and because it is a variable-bitrate codec, calls will not drop out if the network is not "perfect". This is a huge change from traditional Enterprise VoIP technologies, which require end-to-end management of the network. Rather than adjusting the network to fit the call, we can adjust the call to fit the network.

So what does this mean? Think better voice quality with less bandwidth, and the ability for remote/mobile users to connect to OCS and make voice/video calls across the Internet and from mobile networks, wireless hotspots, etc.

Download the document from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=5d79b584-79c9-42a8-90c4-4ab3f03d19c4&displaylang=en