Rui Silva - UCspotting : OCS 2007 R2

The OCPhone Update Wars: The Return of the LG-Nortel 1.0.199

ucspotting — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:51:01 GMT

In a previous post, How to upgrade Polycom CX700 1.0.452.0 using the OCS 2007 R2 Device Update Service, I asked if someone could lend me an Office Communicator Phone Edition (OCPhone) with firmware version 1.0.199. Well, Minsoo Park from LG-Nortel (kudos for him) was kind enough to lend me one IP Phone 8540 with this old firmware version, so that I could test the OCS 2007 R2 Device Update Service is capable of upgrading it.

My first step was to provision the Device Updater with an appropriate firmware version (3.5.6907.9) for the LG-Nortel IP Phone 8540, which I immediately approved.

There was no need to modify the Client Version Filter, since I was already allowing OCPhone software version 1.0.199 and higher to connect to my OCS pool.

As soon as I plugged the device in and signed in with valid credentials, I noticed it was requesting the Address Book files, but there was no sign of it willing to contact the update service.

#Software: Microsoft Internet Information Services 7.0
#Version: 1.0
#Date: 2009-05-22 16:05:55
#Fields: date time s-ip cs-method cs-uri-stem cs-uri-query s-port cs-username c-ip cs(User-Agent) sc-status sc-substatus sc-win32-status time-taken
2009-05-22 16:51:13 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0bf7.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 2 5 0
2009-05-22 16:51:15 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0bf7.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 1 2148074254 0
2009-05-22 16:51:15 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0bf7.dabs - 443 DEMO\ocphone 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 200 0 0 15
2009-05-22 17:05:50 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/D-0bf7-0d8b.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 2 5 15
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/D-0bf7-0d8b.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 1 2148074254 0
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/D-0bf7-0d8b.dabs - 443 DEMO\ocphone 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 404 0 0 15
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0d8b.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 2 5 0
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0d8b.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 1 2148074254 0
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0d8b.dabs - 443 DEMO\ocphone 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 404 0 0 0
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/D-0bf7-0d8a.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 2 5 0
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/D-0bf7-0d8a.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 1 2148074254 15
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/D-0bf7-0d8a.dabs - 443 DEMO\ocphone 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 404 0 0 0
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0d8a.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 2 5 0
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0d8a.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 1 2148074254 0
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0d8a.dabs - 443 DEMO\ocphone 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 404 0 0 0
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/D-0bf7-0d89.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 2 5 0
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/D-0bf7-0d89.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 1 2148074254 0
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/D-0bf7-0d89.dabs - 443 DEMO\ocphone 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 404 0 0 15
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0d89.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 2 5 0
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0d89.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 1 2148074254 0
2009-05-22 17:05:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0d89.dabs - 443 DEMO\ocphone 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 404 0 0 0
2009-05-22 17:06:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/D-0bf7-0d8b.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 2 5 0
2009-05-22 17:06:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/D-0bf7-0d8b.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 1 2148074254 0
2009-05-22 17:06:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/D-0bf7-0d8b.dabs - 443 DEMO\ocphone 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 404 0 0 0
2009-05-22 17:06:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0d8b.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 2 5 0
2009-05-22 17:06:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0d8b.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 401 1 2148074254 0
2009-05-22 17:06:53 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0d8b.dabs - 443 DEMO\ocphone 192.168.20.115 Mozilla/4.0+(compatible;+MSIE+6.0;+Windows+CE) 404 0 0 0

The solution

The solution to this particular problem is at the very end of the Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 Phone Edition Release Notes:

If the ExternalUpdatesDownloadURL and ExternalUpdatesStoreURL properties of the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) class MSFT_SIPUpdatesServerSetting are set to NULL, you need to use the following procedure to change the settings to update the device.

Click Start, click Run, and then type wbemtest to open Window Management Instrumentation Tester.
Click Connect. In Namespace, type root\cimv2, and then click Enter. This enables all the buttons on the wbemtest user interface.
Click Query, and type the following query, where $poolbackend$ is the back-end database for the pool (use '(local)\\rtc' for the OCS Standard Edition):
select * from MSFT_SIPUpdatesServerSetting where backend='$poolbackend$'
This query opens one instance of this class. Double-click the instance.
Double-click the ExternalUpdatesDownloadURL and ExternalUpdatesStoreURL properties to edit them, and type the values for each property as follows:
For ExternalUpdatesDownloadURL, type:
https://**POOL_FQDN**/RequestHandlerExt/ucdevice.upx
For ExternalUpdatesStoreURL, type:
https:// **POOL_FQDN**/DeviceUpdateFiles_Ext
Click Save Property and Save Object to save the instance.
Verify that the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) values are updated by querying the class as described in step 3. The ExternalUpdatesDownloadURL and ExternalUpdatesStoreURL properties should be set to a non-NULL value.

Updating older firmware versions fails because the devices are expecting both the internal and external download URLs to be populated in the inband provisioning data received from the pool. With a clean R2 install, those fields are not populated, and as a result, the device rejects the inband provisioning data (thanks Thijs).

After making these changes and restarting the OCS Frontend Service, I rebooted once again the IP Phone 8540 and it was magic! The device got the inband provisioning and the expected 2-step upgrade process (update first to the interim version 1.0.522.103 and afterwards to the R2 version 3.5.6907.9) ran really smoothly, as you can see from the IIS logs below…

#Software: Microsoft Internet Information Services 7.0
#Version: 1.0
#Date: 2009-05-22 17:38:28
#Fields: date time s-ip cs-method cs-uri-stem cs-uri-query s-port cs-username c-ip cs(User-Agent) sc-status sc-substatus sc-win32-status time-taken
2009-05-22 17:40:13 192.168.200.101 POST /RequestHandler/ucdevice.upx - 80 - 192.168.20.115 Microsoft+UCPhone+Device 200 0 0 6563
2009-05-22 17:42:27 192.168.200.101 GET /DeviceUpdateFiles_Int/OCInterim/ENU/CPE.nbt - 80 - 192.168.20.115 Microsoft+UCPhone+Device 200 0 0 134262
2009-05-22 17:42:27 192.168.200.101 GET /DeviceUpdateFiles_Int/OCInterim/ENU/CPE.cat - 80 - 192.168.20.115 Microsoft+UCPhone+Device 200 0 0 31
2009-05-22 18:10:09 192.168.200.101 POST /RequestHandler/ucdevice.upx - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Microsoft+UCPhone+Device 200 0 0 171
2009-05-22 18:13:02 192.168.200.101 GET /DeviceUpdateFiles_Int/UCPhone/LG-Nortel/IP8540/A/ENU/3.5.6907.9/CPE/CPE.nbt - 80 - 192.168.20.115 Microsoft+UCPhone+Device 200 0 0 172705
2009-05-22 18:13:02 192.168.200.101 GET /DeviceUpdateFiles_Int/UCPhone/LG-Nortel/IP8540/A/ENU/3.5.6907.9/CPE/CPE.cat - 80 - 192.168.20.115 Microsoft+UCPhone+Device 200 0 0 31
2009-05-22 18:15:14 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0bf7.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Microsoft+UCPhone+Device 401 2 5 15
2009-05-22 18:15:14 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0bf7.dabs - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Microsoft+UCPhone+Device 401 1 2148074254 0
2009-05-22 18:15:14 192.168.200.101 GET /Abs/Int/Handler/F-0bf7.dabs - 443 DEMO\ocphone 192.168.20.115 Microsoft+UCPhone+Device 200 0 0 0
2009-05-22 18:19:17 192.168.200.101 POST /requestHandler/ucdevice.upx - 80 - 192.168.20.115 Microsoft+UCPhone+Device 200 0 0 125
2009-05-22 18:21:48 192.168.200.101 POST /RequestHandler/ucdevice.upx - 443 - 192.168.20.115 Microsoft+UCPhone+Device 200 0 0 171

…and also from the Device Update Audit logs:

Logging DateTime,User Name,User Host Address,Device Type,Request DateTime,Mac Address,Serial Number,Vendor,Model,Revision,Locale,Requested<FileName;Version;TimeStamp>[# Seperated for Multiple],Response<FileName;Version;TimeStamp>[# Seperated for Multiple]
05-22-2009 18:40:12,,192.168.20.115,UCPhone,22-05-2009 10:40:06,"001B9E2CCD9A","1108006386","LG-Nortel","IP8540","A","ENU",cpe.nbt;0.0.0.0;01-01-1601 00:00:00,http://PTSTU-OCS01.demo.local/DeviceUpdateFiles_Int/OCInterim/ENU/CPE.nbt;1.0.522.103;05-04-2009 20:09:14
05-22-2009 19:10:09,ocphone@demo.local,192.168.20.115,UCPhone,22-05-2009 11:10:10,"001B9E2CCD9A","1108006386","LG-Nortel","IP8540","A","ENU",cpe.nbt;1.0.522.103;05-04-2009 20:09:14,http://PTSTU-OCS01.demo.local/DeviceUpdateFiles_Int/UCPhone/LG-Nortel/IP8540/A/ENU/3.5.6907.9/CPE/CPE.nbt;3.5.6907.9;05-04-2009 20:09:14
05-22-2009 19:19:17,,192.168.20.115,UCPhone,22-05-2009 11:18:00,"001B9E2CCD9A","1108006386","LG-Nortel","IP8540","A","ENU",cpe.nbt;3.5.6907.9;05-04-2009 20:09:14,
05-22-2009 19:21:48,ocphone@demo.local,192.168.20.115,UCPhone,22-05-2009 11:21:47,"001B9E2CCD9A","1108006386","LG-Nortel","IP8540","A","ENU",cpe.nbt;3.5.6907.9;05-04-2009 20:09:14,

With this post I conclude the OCS 2007 R2 Device Update Service Troubleshooting trilogy:

QED, quod erat demonstrandum, the Device Update Service from Office Communications Server 2007 R2 can successfully upgrade any Communicator Phone Device that has firmware version 1.0.199 or later.

A final note, there are some very, very old pre-production devices that have firmware version 1.0.111.0, which cannot be updated neither by OCS 2007 R2 nor by OCS 2007 “R1”. The pre-production devices can be updated to newer R1 firmware using the Beta3 Update Server of OCS 2007 (good luck trying to find the Beta 3 version!). However, you cannot use them against an RTM 2007 or 2007 R2 Update Server. The problem is that devices must report their brand, firmware, version, model, etc to the Update Server. The pre-production devices report an empty string for brand, model and revision, which the Update Server doesn’t understand or accept (thanks again Thijs).

The case of the disappearing tabs

ucspotting — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:28:00 GMT

One of the coolest features of Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 R2 is the Response Group Service (also known as Automatic Call Distribution – ACD – in telephony world), a technology that’s mostly used in Contact Centers, but that can be applied in many different scenarios…

But the purpose of this post is not to describe the Response Group Service, instead is to discuss some problems I faced when configuring custom tabs in Communicator (custom tabs are the preferred method to sign in to formal groups in Response Group Service).

The problem

I followed the detailed instruction to configure the Response Group Tab. Basically there are 2 steps involved:

Create the custom tab definition file;
Configure Group Policy to apply that file to clients.

Regarding the first step, my XML file consists of the definition of 2 tabs: one for the Response Group, and other for displaying a Live Search box.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<tabdata>
  <tab>
    <image>https://ptstu-ocs01.demo.local/Rgs/Clients/RgsOcTab.png</image>
    <name>Response Group Tab</name>
    <tooltip>Response Group Tab</tooltip>
    <contenturl>https://ptstu-ocs01.demo.local/Rgs/clients/Tab.aspx</contenturl>
    <siteid>1</siteid>
  </tab>
  <tab>
    <image>https://ptstu-ocs01/images/windows-live.png</image>
    <name>Microsoft Mobile</name>
    <tooltip>Microsoft Mobile Tab</tooltip>
    <contenturl>http://mobile.microsoft.com</contenturl>
    <siteid>2</siteid>
  </tab>
</tabdata>

The second step is also very simple: importing the Communicator R2 Group Policy extension (communicator.adm), and then configuring the setting “Tab URL” (in my case, the value was https://ptstu-ocs01.demo.local/OCTabs.xml).

The problem was that, although all the necessary configuration was in place, there was no sign at all of the 2 custom tabs I had defined previously!

The solution (and troubleshooting process)

In order to solve the problem, I had to change 4 settings.

According to Configuring Custom Tabs in Communicator 2007 R2, the site defined by contenturl must “be located on the intranet, or on a secure or trusted site on the internet” .(particularly if you’re using integrated authentication). The first step to solve my problem was adding http://*.demo.local to Internet Explorer Trusted Sites.
After modifying the Trusted Sites setting there was still no sign of the custom tabs. After a little research on the Internet, I found out that the <contactid> behavior changed in OCS 2007 R2:
“The Communicator R2 client tab functionality has changed from what it was in Communicator 2007. In OC 2007 you could pass the contactID parameter to tabs that were listed at the bottom of the Communicator contacts display. Microsoft has changed the use of tabs in OC 2007 R2 such that you can only display static tabs at the bottom of the Communicator contacts display area. The previous functionality has been moved to the tabs at the bottom of the contact card for each user.”
Since I had <contactid>true</contactid> in my XML file (I omitted the <contactid> element on purpose from my previous listing), this was preventing the Response Group tab from displaying correctly. So, where was the missing tab, you may ask… Again, according to Configuring Custom Tabs in Communicator 2007 R2:
!ELEMENT contactid (“true” | “false”) - Determines whether the tab appears in the contact card. Tabs defined without contactid or with contactid=false will appear only in the Communicator window.Tabs defined with contactid=true will appear in the contact card, and Communicator will pass the selected contact to the defined page. The default value is “false.”
And you know what? Opening the contact card from my user (see the picture below) revealed the link to the tab.
Once I modified the Trusted Sites setting and removed the <contactid> element, the tabs appeared in Communicator, but the content wasn’t being shown:

This kind of error is most often related with proxy settings. Changing the list of exceptions in Internet Explorer advanced proxy settings usually solves the problem.
The last configuration setting I had to change was only affecting a small subset of users that already were using Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8. This small group still didn’t have the tabs displayed in Communicator. After a long troubleshooting process I finally spotted the problem: in the Tab URL Group Policy I typed a backslash “\” instead of the usual “/” (picture below):
This was the very last issue preventing the tabs from displaying correctly. I guess this is somehow related with stronger security settings in Windows 7 and IE 8.

What are those pesky files in my root folder?

ucspotting — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:47:35 GMT

Have you noticed that after you install an OCS server, there are some additional files dropped in the root folder (C:\)? These are the temporary files of the VC++ 2008 Redistributable package, which extracts them to the root of the drive where the installation was run from.

This is the complete list of those pesky files:

11/07/2007  08:00 AM            17,734 eula.1028.txt
11/07/2007  08:00 AM            17,734 eula.1031.txt
11/07/2007  08:00 AM            10,134 eula.1033.txt
11/07/2007  08:00 AM            17,734 eula.1036.txt
11/07/2007  08:00 AM            17,734 eula.1040.txt
11/07/2007  08:00 AM               118 eula.1041.txt
11/07/2007  08:00 AM            17,734 eula.1042.txt
11/07/2007  08:00 AM            17,734 eula.2052.txt
11/07/2007  08:00 AM            17,734 eula.3082.txt
11/07/2007  08:00 AM             1,110 globdata.ini
11/07/2007  08:44 AM           855,040 install.exe
11/07/2007  08:00 AM               843 install.ini
11/07/2007  08:44 AM            75,280 install.res.1028.dll
11/07/2007  08:44 AM            95,248 install.res.1031.dll
11/07/2007  08:44 AM            90,128 install.res.1033.dll
11/07/2007  08:44 AM            96,272 install.res.1036.dll
11/07/2007  08:44 AM            94,224 install.res.1040.dll
11/07/2007  08:44 AM            80,400 install.res.1041.dll
11/07/2007  08:44 AM            78,864 install.res.1042.dll
11/07/2007  08:44 AM            74,768 install.res.2052.dll
11/07/2007  08:44 AM            95,248 install.res.3082.dll
11/07/2007  08:00 AM             5,686 vcredist.bmp
11/07/2007  08:50 AM         1,927,956 VC_RED.cab
11/07/2007  08:53 AM           242,176 VC_RED.MSI

The good news is that you can safely delete those files if they are really bothering you. But be careful! Be sure you don’t delete any other file necessary to the smooth operation of the server.

Hey dude, where’s my OCS 2007 R2 Management Console?

ucspotting — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 15:51:13 GMT

As you probably know by now, the setup process for Office Communications Server 2007 R2 has changed a little bit. One of the changes is that now you must manually install the Administrative Tools in a separate step (before, they were automatically installed with the product).

Whether you’re installing them on an OCS server or on any other x64 server you use for administration purposes, just kick the Setup Deployment Wizard and select Administrative Tools.

What about the Edge?

By now, you are wondering if the process for the OCS Edge server role is the same. The answer is YES! As you know, the administration of the Edge server is made through the Computer Management snap-in, rather than through the OCS R2 Management Console available in the Administrative Tools folder.

You only get the extended Computer Management snap-in *after* you manually install the OCS Administrative Tools.

Can I install the OCS R2 Admin Tools on a 32-bit machine?

Yes, you can. The supported platforms to deploy the OCS R2 Administrative Tools are: Windows Server 2003 with SP2 (x86, x64), Windows Server 2008 (x86, x64) and Windows Vista Business or Enterprise with SP1 (x86, x64).

Although OCS 2007 R2 is only supported on a 64-bit platform, the 32-bit Administrative Tools are available as part of the 64-bit installation media. You can find them under \SUPPORT\I386. In this folder there are a couple of files that are required as pre-requisites. Install them in the following order:

sqlncli.msi – SQL Server Native Client
vcredist_x86.exe – VC++ 2008 Redistributable
.NET Framework 3.5 SP1 – Download from web or use \Setup\amd64\dotnetfx35.exe
OCSCore.msi – Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Core Components
AdminTools.msi – Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Administrative Tools

The 64-bit experience is much better, because the Setup Wizard will install all the pre-requisites automatically. Just for fun, if you didn’t know the correct order for the x86 installation process, this is the pop-up you’d get when running the AdminTools.msi file:

OK, i see there’s a file OCSCore.msi, so let’s double click it. Damn! Another pop-up:

Hummm, the SQL Server Native Client must be this file: sqlncli.msi. Success, it’s installing! So, let’s try again the OCSCore.msi… Another pop-up, what else is new???!!

Running vcredist_x86.exe… Success! I’m pretty sure this was the last pre-requisite, let’s try again the OCSCore.msi. Ah, the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, of course!!!

Did you have fun? I sure did :-)

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Announced

ucspotting — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 18:40:02 GMT

Microsoft announced this week the next version of Office Communications Server 2007, codename Wave 13, but that will be officially named as Office Communications Server 2007 Release 2 (R2).

New Capabilities on a Strong, Unified Foundation

Key new features of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 include the following:

Next-Generation Collaboration

Dial-in audioconferencing. Office Communications Server 2007 R2 enables businesses to eliminate costly audioconferencing services with an on-premise audioconferencing bridge that is managed by IT as part of the overall communications infrastructure.
Desktop sharing. This feature enables users to seamlessly share their desktop, initiate audio communications and collaborate with others outside the organization on PC, Macintosh or Linux platforms through a Web-based interface.
Persistent group chat. This enables geographically dispersed teams to collaborate with each other by participating in topic-based discussions that persist over time. This application provides users with a list of all available chat rooms and topics, periodically archives discussions in an XML file format that meets compliance regulations, provides tools to search the entire history of discussion on a given topic, and offers filters and alerts to notify someone of new posts or topics on a particular topic.

Enhanced Voice and Mobility

Attendant console and delegation. This allows receptionists, team secretaries and others to manage calls and conferences on behalf of other users, set up workflows to route calls, and manage higher volumes of incoming communications through a software-based interface.
Session Initiation Protocol trunking. This feature enables businesses to reduce costs by setting up a direct VoIP connection between an Internet telephony service provider and Office Communicator 2007 without requiring on-premise gateways.
Response group.A workflow design application manages incoming calls based on user-configured rules (e.g., round-robin, longest idle, simultaneous), providing a simple-to-use basic engine for call treatment, routing and queuing.
Mobility and single-number reach. This extends Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile functionality to Nokia S40, Motorola RAZR, Blackberry and Windows Mobile platforms, allowing users to communicate using presence, IM and voice as an extension of their PBX from a unified client (Blackberry client does not include Single Number Reach).

New Developer Tools for Business Applications

APIs and Visual Studio integration. This improves the efficiency of everyday business processes by enabling businesses to build communications-enabled applications and embed communications into business applications.

Other Cool Features

Music on hold for Attendant and Response Groups.
Click to call between Communicator and Communicator Phone Edition.
Expanded presence - now showing unique entries when someone is logged in on the IP phone or Mobile clients exclusively.
Team Calling: Team-based simultaneous ringing that's configured by users.
Auto-updates: Administrators can directly push out updates for new versions of Communicator.
Voice Memos: Sending the call directly to Exchange Unified Messaging.
A/V Edge requirements: private IP address supported, required ports limited to STUN UDP 3478 and TCP 443.
High Definition video support (1280 x 720 pixels, 16:9 ratio). Peer to peer sessions will use VGA as the default standard (640 x 480 pixels, 4:3 ratio).

Join Us for Launch

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 will launch in a worldwide online event Feb. 3, 2009. People can register to participate in the launch at http://www.microsoft.com/communicationsserver.

FAQ

Q: What is Microsoft announcing today?
A: We are unveiling OCS 2007 R2, an update to the award-winning OCS 2007. OCS 2007 R2 will deliver a variety of new capabilities including:

Next-generation collaboration including full-featured audio conferencing to reduce service provider bridge costs and persistent group chat
New voice features to enhance OCS voice for teams and mobile/remote workers
New tools to speed business processes by integrating communications within applications

Q: What is Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2?
A: Office Communications Server 2007 R2 delivers streamlined communications for users so they can find and communicate with the right person, right now, from the applications they use most. Without expensive infrastructure and network upgrades, you can deliver streamlined communications, including software-powered VoIP (voice over IP), conferencing, and enterprise instant messaging, while maintaining operational control.

Q: When will Office Communications Server R2 be available?
A: OCS R2 will launch via a worldwide online event on Feb 3, 2009. People can register to participate in the launch at http://www.microsoft.com/communicationsserver/.

We are seeing tremendous market momentum for Microsoft’s unified communications and collaboration solutions, including Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, and Office Communications Server. Just a year after it launched, OCS 2007 is licensed by more than 50% of Fortune 500 companies.
The debut of OCS R2 and its new voice features highlights the pace of innovation that is possible with software-powered communications, and it validates that we are on a fast track to a day when software does everything that a network PBX can do, but in a better, more cost effective way.

Q: Is OCS 2007 R2 available in public beta for customers and partners?
A: Due to the compressed development cycle, we don’t have a public beta program for this release. The product will be broadly available for download in February.

Q: Why is this announcement significant?
A: This announcement is significant for two reasons:

It is a proof point of the amazing transformation that is happening in enterprise communications. As communications systems, including telephony, move to software, rapid innovation is becoming the norm. OCS 2007 R2, debuting just one year after the launch of OCS 2007, demonstrates this rapid pace of innovation.
Seamless communications between offices and employees are imperative for any cutting-edge business to be competitive in today’s global market. Office Communications Server 2007 R2 provides enhanced communications services that allow users to collaborate like never before, offering full-featured audio and video conferencing, enhanced voice capabilities that integrate with existing messaging and telephony structures, and mobile communications technologies that work together to deliver services to remote workers for secure access to important company information.