Troubleshooting, Lync Wikis, Another Lync Server Update and A SQL Warning

I’ve seen a lot of updates on the Lync field lately. New documentation, software patches, and lots of information shared.

So much information in fact, that I wanted to pull some important things out from the tide. These are too good for our readers to miss!

Keeping up on Lync Server? You’ll want to know about these 4 items.

Lync will NOT work with SQL 2012 (right now).

Planning an upgrade to SQL Server 2012 in the coming year? If you use Lync Server, you may want to wait. According to the TechNet Blogs, SQL 2012 does not support Lync Server 2010.

This is due to SQL 2012 dropping support for DMO (Distributed Management Objects), an older set of objects which let programs do some SQL management. Lync Server still uses DMO. The blog’s author, Damien Caro, has provided links to explain more about DMO and SQL.

This has to change soon. Having Lync and SQL incompatible doesn’t make any sense. Either Microsoft will introduce an add-on that allows Lync to work with SQL 2012, or there will be a fix in the next version. Keep it in mind.

Lync Server Cumulative Update 5 (CU5) has been released.

The fifth Cumulative Update for Lync is out. Credit to Justin Morris at Justin-Morris.net for making the announcement (he’s on the ball with these!).

CU5 contains fixes for video in Remote Call Control (RCC). Justin has already done the work of finding the links, so I’ll send you over to his blog for the downloads.

Lync Server 2010 Cumulative Update 5 Download Links at Justin-Morris.net.

Maybe a future Cumulative Update will fix the Lync 2010/SQL 2012 issue. If so, you have yet another reason to always patch when a new Update is released!

Lync Wikis are now available.

If you’ve used Wikipedia, you know that wikis are a great way to collect information about topics. TechNet has created wikis for Lync Server and Office 365′s Lync Online. Where you, me and everyone interested in Lync can share what they know.

Lync Server Wiki Portal

Lync Online Wiki Portal

Starting out, these two use different navigation structures. The Lync Wiki starts with an Overview in the “Wiki Navigation” section of the main page. The Lync Online Wiki has organized by resource type instead.

The best thing about a wiki, however, is that it changes depending on what its community decides. DrRez has some guidelines on how to use the new Wikis, to get you going.

And yes, you’ll find me milling about in there!

Troubleshoot Lync Phone Edition Issues (and Phone Firmware) at Jeff Schertz’s blog.

Jeff Schertz (Lync Server MVP and an excellent blogger) has posted a “massive” troubleshooting article. It gives exhaustive detail on fixing problems with Lync Phone Edition, AND firmware for compatible phones.

The content is very technical (Jeff gives firmware screenshots and log analyses), and calling it massive is not an exaggeration!

Lync administrators, if you support a lot of desktop phones in your environment, this needs to go in your resource library. Grab a coffee and start reading.

Now you’re (a little more) up to date on what’s happening. Plenty more out there, too.

Next week I’m digging into Lync Mobile a little more. Join me on Wednesday for the details!

Troubleshooting, Lync Wikis, Another Lync Server Update and A SQL Warning

I’ve seen a lot of updates on the Lync field lately. New documentation, software patches, and lots of information shared.

So much information in fact, that I wanted to pull some important things out from the tide. These are too good for our readers to miss!

Keeping up on Lync Server? You’ll want to know about these 4 items.

Lync will NOT work with SQL 2012 (right now).

Planning an upgrade to SQL Server 2012 in the coming year? If you use Lync Server, you may want to wait. According to the TechNet Blogs, SQL 2012 does not support Lync Server 2010.

This is due to SQL 2012 dropping support for DMO (Distributed Management Objects), an older set of objects which let programs do some SQL management. Lync Server still uses DMO. The blog’s author, Damien Caro, has provided links to explain more about DMO and SQL.

This has to change soon. Having Lync and SQL incompatible doesn’t make any sense. Either Microsoft will introduce an add-on that allows Lync to work with SQL 2012, or there will be a fix in the next version. Keep it in mind.

Lync Server Cumulative Update 5 (CU5) has been released.

The fifth Cumulative Update for Lync is out. Credit to Justin Morris at Justin-Morris.net for making the announcement (he’s on the ball with these!).

CU5 contains fixes for video in Remote Call Control (RCC). Justin has already done the work of finding the links, so I’ll send you over to his blog for the downloads.

Lync Server 2010 Cumulative Update 5 Download Links at Justin-Morris.net.

Maybe a future Cumulative Update will fix the Lync 2010/SQL 2012 issue. If so, you have yet another reason to always patch when a new Update is released!

Lync Wikis are now available.

If you’ve used Wikipedia, you know that wikis are a great way to collect information about topics. TechNet has created wikis for Lync Server and Office 365′s Lync Online. Where you, me and everyone interested in Lync can share what they know.

Lync Server Wiki Portal

Lync Online Wiki Portal

Starting out, these two use different navigation structures. The Lync Wiki starts with an Overview in the “Wiki Navigation” section of the main page. The Lync Online Wiki has organized by resource type instead.

The best thing about a wiki, however, is that it changes depending on what its community decides. DrRez has some guidelines on how to use the new Wikis, to get you going.

And yes, you’ll find me milling about in there!

Troubleshoot Lync Phone Edition Issues (and Phone Firmware) at Jeff Schertz’s blog.

Jeff Schertz (Lync Server MVP and an excellent blogger) has posted a “massive” troubleshooting article. It gives exhaustive detail on fixing problems with Lync Phone Edition, AND firmware for compatible phones.

The content is very technical (Jeff gives firmware screenshots and log analyses), and calling it massive is not an exaggeration!

Lync administrators, if you support a lot of desktop phones in your environment, this needs to go in your resource library. Grab a coffee and start reading.

Now you’re (a little more) up to date on what’s happening. Plenty more out there, too.

Next week I’m digging into Lync Mobile a little more. Join me on Wednesday for the details!

Last week, Justin Morris wrote a post about deploying Lync Group Chat multi-server environment. He made two very important points about Group Chat that I didn’t make back in my post in May on setting up & administering Group Chat. (More on those later.)

After reading his post, I thought it was time for a Group Chat revisit!

Lync Group Chat 101: What it Is, What it Does

Group Chat is an additional role for Lync Server 2010. It provides text-based chat rooms where chats are recorded & searchable.

• Group Chat is a separate download from Lync Server
• Comes with its own client (see screenshot)
• You’re sharing knowledge in a format people can look up later
• Use Group Chat for both internal and external discussions, thanks to federation and public sharing
• Simple setup – add the server in Topology Builder, DNS configuration, push out clients
• Create chat channels organized by topic, department, etc.

Necessary Components for Group Chat

1. Group Chat Server Role download
2. DNS A Records
3. SQL Database
4. Client Software
5. License: If you’re licensed for IM/Presence, you’re licensed for Group Chat

Here’s the 2 key points Justin made (be sure to read his post too!):

A. The SQL database is the key here. It holds Group Chat’s configuration and channel data. Group Chat is basically a pair of services (Lookup Service, Channel Service) which both plug into SQL.
Make sure your SQL Server has plenty of space and solid performance. Consider deploying a separate SQL instance (you’ll have to if you run Lync Standard Edition).

B. When you obtain certificates for your Group Chat server, DO NOT USE ANY SANs! Any Subject Alternate Names listed in a Group Chat certificate causes the Channel Service to work improperly. As in, it will make some Chat users invisible to others–even if they’re in the same channel.

Uses for Group Chat

As I mentioned in my post in May, “Administer Group Chat”, Group Chat works best for project discussions and meetings.

You could also think of it like a constantly-updating FAQ. Support teams can use it to share customer solutions between themselves. Co-workers at different offices can use it to communicate.

Group Chat sits comfortably between IM and email. If you need to share information with multiple people, and you need it accessible later, then neither IM nor email are the best choice. Go with Lync’s Group Chat.

Want to try Group Chat? Head to Microsoft Downloads for the three main components (must have Lync Server installed):
Group Chat Server
Group Chat Admin Tool
Group Chat Client

Guest Post from J. Christie

Fellow geeks and ladies, we have a guest post for you today! This comes from J. Christie in Scotland. He’s talking with us on creating custom Lync Presence states. Enjoy!

I’m the Director of ICT at an independent school in Scotland. After trialling (playing with) OCS 2007, I paid serious attention when Lync was announced. Like many businesses our PBX was aging. It was underused (in terms of features – voicemail, conference calling, call forwarding, etc.) due to its complexity. And it was a right royal pain wiring new extensions in old buildings!

So – Lync’s been installed. All staff have the Lync 2010 client. Reception staff have the Attendant for fielding calls. Department heads and non-teaching staff have USB handsets (Polycom cx200, Jabra dial 520 for ‘roaming’ staff). Mobile clients are now supported.

But there’s still a few niggles.

Custom Presence States: When You Must Be Able to Interrupt

For example, Calendar integration – wouldn’t it be nice if Lync not only read the calendar’s Free/Busy info, but could also set your status depending on the category assigned? And use a custom status to indicate, for instance, teaching?

There’s also the issue of DND (Do Not Disturb). DND is easily abused. Yes the user can add in contacts who can interrupt, but wouldn’t it be nice if Lync handled this a bit better. If Reception staff has to locate a pupil, they might need to interrupt a teacher to do that. But if the teacher’s status is DND, they can’t interrupt.

We badly needed that level of detail. With all the different roles education professionals play each day, I needed a way to identify what exactly everyone was doing at that moment AND still reach them in emergencies.

(We also want the ability to break through DND if necessary. But that’s another blog post!)

So I decided to implement custom presence states. Here’s how I did it.

Step 1: Create Custom Presence Code in XML

There’s a good article on TechNet which describes the steps necessary. Link: Configuring Custom Presence States – TechNet

I’ve used the code below to set 4 additional custom status presence states.

1. Teaching
2. Department Meeting
3. Interviewing
4. Working from Home

The code reads as follows:

<?xml version=”1.0″?>

<customStates xmlns=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/09/2009/communicator/customStates“>

  <customState ID=”1″ availability=”busy”>

    <activity LCID=”1033″>Teaching</activity>

  </customState>

  <customState ID=”2″ availability=”busy”>

    <activity LCID=”1033″>Department Meeting</activity>

  </customState>

  <customState ID=”3″ availability=”do-not-disturb”>

    <activity LCID=”1033″>Interviewing</activity>

  </customState>

  <customState ID=”4″ availability=”online”>

    <activity LCID=”1033″>Working from Home</activity>

  </customState>

  </customStates>

As you see, I set “Interviewing” to Do Not Disturb level. But the others are set to either Busy or Online, so interruptions are permitted.

Name the file something easily recognizable and valid – like mine, CustomPresence.xml.

Step 2: Make the Code Available to Lync Clients using Powershell

There’s a couple ways to implement this code on clients. I could push it out via Group Policy/SCCM to copy a file locally, and set a registry entry. But that wouldn’t cover all clients.

Instead, using the client policy on the Lync server, I uploaded the custom states file to a server that’s available internally and externally. And referenced from there.

Open Lync Management Shell (Powershell) and make the new custom states available to everyone with this command (switch the URL with your own file’s location):

Set-CsClientPolicy –Identity Global –CustomStateURL “https://webserver.school.org.uk/CustomPresence.xml”

Step 3: Logout, Log Back In & Verify

Log out and back in to Lync and the new Presence states will appear (eventually). Don’t expect instant results, as the policy can take a while to kick in. Default is 3 hours according to TechNet.

At the school, the Lync windows clients are working. Mobile devices don’t yet show custom states (but we’re working on that). Here’s a screenshot of my own Lync client to show them:

Ta da! Custom Presence states, available on-click. Now we just have to encourage the teachers to use them.

Thanks for the post J! Great information.

Have you implemented custom Presence states in your organization? What was the motivation?

Guest Post from J. Christie

Fellow geeks and ladies, we have a guest post for you today! This comes from J. Christie in Scotland. He’s talking with us on creating custom Lync Presence states. Enjoy!

I’m the Director of ICT at an independent school in Scotland. After trialling (playing with) OCS 2007, I paid serious attention when Lync was announced. Like many businesses our PBX was aging. It was underused (in terms of features – voicemail, conference calling, call forwarding, etc.) due to its complexity. And it was a right royal pain wiring new extensions in old buildings!

So – Lync’s been installed. All staff have the Lync 2010 client. Reception staff have the Attendant for fielding calls. Department heads and non-teaching staff have USB handsets (Polycom cx200, Jabra dial 520 for ‘roaming’ staff). Mobile clients are now supported.

But there’s still a few niggles.

Custom Presence States: When You Must Be Able to Interrupt

For example, Calendar integration – wouldn’t it be nice if Lync not only read the calendar’s Free/Busy info, but could also set your status depending on the category assigned? And use a custom status to indicate, for instance, teaching?

There’s also the issue of DND (Do Not Disturb). DND is easily abused. Yes the user can add in contacts who can interrupt, but wouldn’t it be nice if Lync handled this a bit better. If Reception staff has to locate a pupil, they might need to interrupt a teacher to do that. But if the teacher’s status is DND, they can’t interrupt.

We badly needed that level of detail. With all the different roles education professionals play each day, I needed a way to identify what exactly everyone was doing at that moment AND still reach them in emergencies.

(We also want the ability to break through DND if necessary. But that’s another blog post!)

So I decided to implement custom presence states. Here’s how I did it.

Step 1: Create Custom Presence Code in XML

There’s a good article on TechNet which describes the steps necessary. Link: Configuring Custom Presence States – TechNet

I’ve used the code below to set 4 additional custom status presence states.

1. Teaching
2. Department Meeting
3. Interviewing
4. Working from Home

The code reads as follows:

<?xml version=”1.0″?>

<customStates xmlns=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/09/2009/communicator/customStates“>

  <customState ID=”1″ availability=”busy”>

    <activity LCID=”1033″>Teaching</activity>

  </customState>

  <customState ID=”2″ availability=”busy”>

    <activity LCID=”1033″>Department Meeting</activity>

  </customState>

  <customState ID=”3″ availability=”do-not-disturb”>

    <activity LCID=”1033″>Interviewing</activity>

  </customState>

  <customState ID=”4″ availability=”online”>

    <activity LCID=”1033″>Working from Home</activity>

  </customState>

  </customStates>

As you see, I set “Interviewing” to Do Not Disturb level. But the others are set to either Busy or Online, so interruptions are permitted.

Name the file something easily recognizable and valid – like mine, CustomPresence.xml.

Step 2: Make the Code Available to Lync Clients using Powershell

There’s a couple ways to implement this code on clients. I could push it out via Group Policy/SCCM to copy a file locally, and set a registry entry. But that wouldn’t cover all clients.

Instead, using the client policy on the Lync server, I uploaded the custom states file to a server that’s available internally and externally. And referenced from there.

Open Lync Management Shell (Powershell) and make the new custom states available to everyone with this command (switch the URL with your own file’s location):

Set-CsClientPolicy –Identity Global –CustomStateURL “https://webserver.school.org.uk/CustomPresence.xml”

Step 3: Logout, Log Back In & Verify

Log out and back in to Lync and the new Presence states will appear (eventually). Don’t expect instant results, as the policy can take a while to kick in. Default is 3 hours according to TechNet.

At the school, the Lync windows clients are working. Mobile devices don’t yet show custom states (but we’re working on that). Here’s a screenshot of my own Lync client to show them:

Ta da! Custom Presence states, available on-click. Now we just have to encourage the teachers to use them.

Thanks for the post J! Great information.

Have you implemented custom Presence states in your organization? What was the motivation?

We haven’t shown the Director very much love on this blog. Let’s change that.

In OCS 2007, the “Director” was just a chopped-down Front End server with no default configuration or definite purpose. It often caused trouble by letting users home on it!

In Lync Server 2010 it became its own dedicated server role, and took on a few important duties.

What the Director Does

I think of the Director like a sentry just inside the castle walls. A Director Server (or a Director Pool) sits between the perimeter network and the internal network. Another hop between the Edge Servers and the Front End Servers.

First, a Director authenticates traffic. SIP Requests come in from the Edge Server? The Director authenticates them before they’re allowed access to the Front End.

As a result, Directors are in the perfect position to protect against malicious traffic and DoS attacks. A Director Server can in fact be overloaded from a DoS attack, while the Front End pool keeps on working. (Mark of a good sentry – he goes down fighting.)

Internally, Directors help handle login and traffic redirects between Front End Pools.

The larger your deployment grows, the more functions a Director performs. For instance, Directors improve Lync performance by taking some of the authentication & traffic workload off Front End Servers.

Do You (Really) Need a Director?

Technically speaking, no. A Director IS optional. Most of its functions will run on Front End just fine.

However, the larger your deployment becomes, the more benefit a Director can give you. In Enterprise Edition pools, it can host the Registrar role to help with voice resiliency.

Directors even distribute information about backup registrars through the network, to help with failover.

The Director often confuses people – we get plenty of questions about it. I think that’s because its purpose isn’t any specific function, like Edge or A/V Conferencing. Instead, it assists other servers in performing their roles a little more efficiently.

And because of that, a Director can make your Lync Server deployment a lot better.

Do you use a Director? Where do you find it helps the most?

In November I posted a collection of how-to videos for Lync Server.

This month, someone has one-upped all of those.

Kevin from Macro Connect emailed me the other day to tell me about his new video series. He’s named it the “Lync Complete Training Guide” Playlist on YouTube.

After watching videos and reading his documentation, I told him I would happily blog about it. You’ll see why in just a moment.

What To Expect – Setup Videos and Documented Specs

MacroConnect.net is a Detroit IT firm. One of their specialties (like ours!) is supporting Lync Server. Where I blog about it, Kevin created a video series explaining how to setup Lync Server 2010.

Here’s the playlist URL: Lync Complete Training Guide Playlist – MacroConnectLync. It’s 31 videos, average viewing time between 3-5 minutes each.

But that’s only half the guide. Kevin has also posted documentation for each video at his website:
Lync Complete Training Guide Documentation – Macro Connect.Net

The documentation is a follow-along for the videos. Each video has a link to its documentation section in the Description. Pretty high-value stuff.

Who Should Watch – Lync Pros and Support Pros

The training videos and documentation are geared toward Lync administrators, help desk personnel, and anyone who’s looking to fill these roles.

Some technical skill is assumed for the audience. Basic knowledge of Windows Server environments for one. Understanding of Lync’s primary functions, as well.

Kevin is thorough, and gives details fast. He does use Macro Connect’s FQDNs, number extensions, and PSTN gateway. Take all this into account; your setup will obviously differ.

I recommend you use the videos as the last review stage in training. The documentation is there to refresh your memory, and the videos give you a visual reminder.

What it Covers – Step-By-Step Lync Server Setup

You start in at the very top – basic server setup, SIP connections, etc. From there, the videos run through the Lync setup process, from prerequisites to server configuration. Most of the videos are devoted to configuring Exchange Server, Lync Front End, and Lync Access Edge.

The reason for documentation becomes obvious fast: the screen is not very visible in YouTube, so you can’t always see the Lync setup options selected or numbers typed in. The documentation provides the specifics you’ll need, all laid out in bullets.

(Especially useful when you’re dealing with Management Shell commands!)

———-
Special Note: There is one section in the documentation list which does NOT have a video. “ADDING EXCHANGE UNIFIED MESSAGING ROLE TO VSERV2″ is between “Configuring AD on vserv1″ and “Install Exchange from Scratch on vserv2 – Stage 1″ in the list.

The documentation does appear correct for adding Exchange UM. But Kevin has six videos in the list for installing Exchange Server – which you need to do first, before installing Unified Messaging! So, keep that in mind.
———-

I like that he covered configuring Lync Mobile and locking down the Lync Server environment . He even ends with some ideas on custom Lync programming in Visual Studio, too.

From here of course, you’ll need to add Edge servers, Mediation, Monitoring/Archiving and so on.

Kevin’s series gives a detailed method for setting up the foundation of Lync Server. If you want a video reference for a typical Lync install, these are a great choice. Thanks for all the work Kevin!

Again, here are the links:
Lync Complete Training Guide Playlist – YouTube
Lync Complete Training Guide Documentation – Macro Connect.Net

What would YOU like to see in a Lync video?

In case you’re just joining us…we’re tackling a complex answer to a fairly simple question. How do we connect (Office 365′s) Exchange Online Service to Lync Server for voicemail?

This is the third (and final) post on the solution.

Ordinarily, we’d recommend using an internal Exchange Server over Exchange Online. But the question came from one of our readers, who already had a different setup in place.

So we’re digging through all the steps necessary to make an internal communications system (Lync) work with an external service (Exchange Online).

In Part 1, we discussed providing Lync users with voice mail on Exchange Online.
In Part 2, we walked through a Unified Messaging Dial Plan and adding a voicemail policy domain to Office 365.

Two steps remain: configuring your Edge Server to integrate with Exchange Online’s Unified Messaging, and directing Lync Server to use Exchange Online.

The hard work’s done. The rest, as you’ll see, only takes some time in the Management Shell. So it’s just a matter of entering one command after another.

How to Configure the Edge Server for Integration with Exchange UM

A) Configure the Edge Server for Federation

1. Open the Lync Server Management Shell.
2. Run the Set-CsAccessEdgeConfiguration cmdlet to configure the server for federation:

Set-CsAccessEdgeConfiguration -UseDnsSrvRouting -AllowFederatedUsers 1 -EnablePartnerDiscovery 0

UseDnsSrvRouting tells the Edge Server to use DNS SRV records for sending/receiving federation requests. (The DNS SRV records were set in Part 1.)

AllowFederatedUsers is set to 1 so that internal users can communicate with users from federated domains.

EnablePartnerDiscovery is set to 0 to make sure Lync federates only with domains in the Allowed Domains list (instead of everybody).

B) Replicate Central Management Store Data to the Edge Server

1. Replicate the Central Management store data to the Edge Server. Use this cmdlet:

Export-CsConfiguration -FileName (ConfigFile.zip)

2. Copy the config file to external media. Load it on your the Edge Server.

C) Create a Hosting Provider on the Edge Server

Still in the Management Shell, run the New-CsHostingProvider cmdlet to configure the hosting provider.

New-CsHostingProvider -Identity UMDomain.com -Enabled $True -EnabledSharedAddressSpace $True -HostsOCSUsers $False -ProxyFQDN “proxyserver.UMDomain.com” -IsLocal $False -VerificationLevel UseSourceVerification

This cmdlet uses the following parameters (you may not need all of them):

• Identity – A unique identifier for the new hosting provider. The command will fail if you’ve used this identity value for an existing provider!
• Enabled – Must be set to True to connect your domain and the hosting provider. Can’t send/receive messages otherwise.
• EnabledSharedAddressSpace – Is the new hosting provider in a shared SIP address space (split domain)? If so, set to True.
• HostsOCSUsers – Will the hosting provider host Lync Server accounts? If False, the provider hosts other account types, like Microsoft Exchange accounts.
• ProxyFQDN – The FQDN for the proxy server used by the hosting provider. Make sure this is accurate, because you can’t change it once set. If the hosting provider changes its proxy, you’ll need to recreate its entry.
• IsLocal – Is the hosting provider’s proxy within your Lync topology? If so, it’s local (True). If not, set to False.
• VerificationLevel – Indicates the verification level for messages sent to/from the hosted provider. Putting in UseSourceVerification tells the system to rely on the verification level included in sent messages. (If this isn’t specified, the message will be rejected as unverifiable.)

How to Direct a Lync Server to Exchange Online UM

Home stretch! And we don’t even have to leave the Management Shell.

1. Use the Set-CsHostedVoiceMailPolicy cmdlet to modify the hosted voicemail policy. Specify the Destination parameter as “exap.um.outlook.com” and the Organization parameter as the FQDN of your Exchange Online routing domain (YourDomain.com here):

Set-CsHostedVoiceMailPolicy -Destination exap.um.outlook.com -Organization YourDomain.com

2. Now we’ll create a Lync contact to represent the Exchange Online UM dial plan we made in Part 2. Use the New-CsExUMContact cmdlet. Remember the dialing rules you set for your numbers then? We’ll enter the full routing number here, with the DisplayNumber parameter (use E.164 format).

New-CsExUMContact -DisplayNumber +14085551122 -SipAddress sip:exchangeuser1@lync.YourDomain.com -RegistrarPool edgepool.lync.YourDomain.com -OU “OU=ExUmContacts,DC=YourDomain,DC=com”

3. Now we’ll associate a hosted voice mail policy with this new dial plan contact. If you’re using the default global hosted voice mail policy, this cmdlet will do the job:

Grant-CsHostedVoiceMailPolicy -Identity exumsa@lync.YourDomain.com

4. Associate the dial plan contact with the Exchange Online UM dial plan we created in Part 2.

And we’re done!

Take a breath, grab a drink, and relax. Thanks to this process, you should now have:

• Established routing between Lync Server 2010 and Exchange Online.
• Voice mail storage & transfer capability between the two servers.
• Consistent dial plans for all users.

And for one more reference: Here’s the checklist for this entire process, from Microsoft.
Checklist: Connect Lync Server 2010 to Exchange Online UM

Next week we’ll feature some very helpful training videos. Good change of pace from big how-to posts. Catch you then!

Before we get to Part 2 of our latest Lync how-to series, there’s a question we should ask.

Why would you WANT to connect an internal Lync Server 2010 setup to Office 365′s Exchange Online? Why not use an internal Exchange Server instead? Or go for Lync Online?

Sometimes Email Isn’t Enough – You Need a Phone!

The customer who asked the original question didn’t say. But I suspect it involves the fact that Lync Server includes VoIP. Very important difference when it comes to value.

(Maybe it’s a smaller organization, and Exchange Online works for their needs. If so, more power to them!)

Anyway, continuing on the topic. In Part 1 we provided Lync users with voice mail on Exchange Online. According to the checklist Microsoft has laid out, the next step is to configure Exchange Online’s Unified Messaging to work with Lync Server 2010.

This process will look a bit more familiar to Lync admins. It involves setting up dial plans. Yes, very similar to Lync’s standard dial plan setup – with a couple extra steps added. Let’s get into it.

How-To, Step 2 – Configure Exchange Online Unified Messaging

A) Create a new UM Dial Plan.

Quick refresher: Dial Plans are sets of rules for normalization and governance of calls. In this case, the dial plan will govern:

• How your Lync Server connects to Exchange Online UM
• Dial rules & settings for user access
• Outlook Voice Access connectivity

Creating the dial plan is itself not difficult. Follow these steps:

1. Select Manage My Organization > Phone & Voice > UM Dial Plans.
2. Under UM Dial Plans, click New.
3. Under Name, enter a name that is unique in your organization. It can be up to 49 characters long.
4. Enter the following information for the dial plan:
1. Extension Length: Enter the number of digits you’ve assigned to your Lync phone extensions.
2. Dial Plan URI Type: Because we’re connecting to Lync Server, select SIP URI here.
3. Audio Language: Select the language to use. It’ll cover the automated greetings, phone navigation prompts, Voice Mail Preview, and Outlook Voice Access.
4. Country/Region Code: Enter your country code (or regional code) so UM dials domestic and international numbers correctly. Accepts 1-4 digits.
5. Click Save to create the dial plan.

B) Configure the Dial Plan.

1.  Select the UM dial plan you just created.
2.  Click Details. We have many details to fill out, so make sure you have the following information on hand:

• General. Verify that this information matches what you just created. (If it doesn’t, you may have to go back & recreate the dial plan.) You should see Name, Extension Length, URI Type (SIP!) & Audio Language.
• Dial Codes. Specify the number formats so your outgoing calls reach their destinations.
• Outside Line Access Code – Enter the code for accessing an outside line, if needed to reach external numbers (usually 9).
• International Access Code – Enter the code needed to place international calls for your location (US is 011, Europe is 00).
• National Number Prefix – Enter the prefix required for outgoing calls in your country/region. North America’s is 1.
• Country/Region Code – Same code as the one entered when we created the dial plan earlier. Accepts 1-4 digits.
• Country/Region Number Format – Enter the number format to resolve caller ID for users dialing outside this dial plan to other dial plans in your company. If you wanted to add a 4-digit extension for caller ID (like 1234), you’d enter 1234xxxxx.
• International Number Format – Same as the point above, but for international calls. For instance, if you wanted to add 011-1234 as a prefix to an international caller extension, you’d enter 0111234xxxxx.
• Number Formats for Incoming Calls – Enter the number format to use to provide caller ID on calls placed to users of this UM dial plan. For example, you’d enter 2345xxxxx to add the 2345 prefix to a 5-digit extension for incoming calls.
• Outlook Voice Access. Select the greetings & numbers for Outlook Voice Access. Recorded greetings & announcements must be in 16-bit, 8kHz .wma or .wav file format.
• Welcome Greeting – Click “Change File” if you want to upload a custom greeting file for Outlook Voice Access callers.
• Informational Announcement – Click “Change File” to upload a custom recording to be played for callers after hours.
• Allow Announcement to Be Interrupted – Check the box if you want callers to be able to skip the announcement.
• Numbers for Users to Access Voice Mail – Enter a number for dial plan users to access their mailboxes, and click Add. Letters and numbers are supported.
• Settings. Options for name searches, operator extensions, max recording length, and more.
• Primary Way of Searching for Names – How should callers search for people in the address book? Specify it here. Could be by last name and first name, first name and last name, or an alias.
• Secondary Way of Searching for Names – You can enter a second search method here, or select None to skip the option.
• Audio Codec – Select the codec to use for recording voice mails. Available codecs are: MP3 (default), GSM, G711, and WMA.
• Operator Extension – Enter the extension you want callers to connect with when they press zero. Could be an Auto Attendant, a specific person, or an external number.
• Number of Sign-in Failures Before Disconnecting – How many sign-in attempts before disconnection? Default is 3, but you can choose from 1 to 20.
• Timeouts and Retries – Change these settings to control how long recordings can last. Also controls when to timeout after a failed option.
• Maximum Call Duration – How long should incoming calls last? Default is 30 minutes, but you can change the number (from 10 to 120) for all calls in the dial plan.
• Maximum Recording Duration – Enter the maximum time a voice mail recording can last. Default is 20 minutes. Can go from 1 to 100 minutes (must be less than the Maximum Call Duration).
• Recording Idle Timeout – Enter the number of seconds of silence to allow in a voice mail, before disconnecting the call. Anywhere from 2 to 10 seconds. (default is 5).
• Number of Input Failures Before Disconnecting – How many times should callers be able to enter incorrect information when searching the address book, before they’re disconnected? 1 attempt to 99, default is 3.
• Audio Language – Select the language to use for automated greetings, phone navigation prompts, Voice Mail Preview, and Outlook Voice Access. Same as the one you selected creating the dial plan.
• Dialing Rules. These rules define the types of calls users can make. They also change the number users dial to the number that UM dials for outgoing calls. Adding a 9 for outside lines, etc. Groups of rules are placed into dialing rule groups, which you use to authorize all the rules together. You authorize rules under Dialing Authorization (see below), UM mailbox policies, and/or UM auto attendants.
• In-Country/Region Rules – Create these dialing rules to define what kind of in-country/in-region calls your UM users can make.
• International Rules – Same thing, except for international calls.
• Dialing Authorization. Previously we created dialing rules for controlling the types of calls users can make. This is where we authorize those rule groups.
• Allow Calls in the Same UM Dial Plan – Select the check box to allow unauthenticated callers calling into the access number to call/transfer to other users of the UM dial plan.
• Allow Calls to Any Extension – Checking this box allows unauthenticated callers calling the subscriber access number to call/transfer to extensions of non-UM-enabled users.
• Allowed In-Country/Region Dialing Rule Groups – Dial plan users can dial the numbers authorized by the dialing rule groups in this list.
• Allowed International Dialing Rule Groups – Same as the previous setting, but for the international dialing rule groups.

Don’t forget to click Save!

C) Add the domain configured for your Lync voice mail policy to your Office 365 domains.

By now you already have domains set up for Lync, from Part 1. Microsoft recommends using the third-level domain assigned when you signed up for Office 365 (e.g., office365.yourdomain.com).

(Note: It can’t be the same one you use for Lync users’ SIP addresses.)

To Add the Domain:

1. On the Admin page in Office 365, under Management, click Domains
2. Click “Add a domain.”
3. Under Specify domain on the next page, type the domain name you want to add, and then click Next.
4. Follow the next steps in the wizard to verify with Office 365 that the domain name belongs to you.

Once the domain name is added, you must specify services with which you’ll use it.

1. In the Add a Domain wizard, on the Specify services page, select the services you want. In this case, Exchange Online.
2. Click Next.

Finally, you must edit your DNS records on this domain.

1. If you just completed the Add a Domain wizard, click “Configure DNS records.”
2. Otherwise, click Domains on the Admin page.
3. Click the domain name you just set up, and click the DNS Settings tab. Here are the DNS records for Office 365′s services.
4. Take these records to your domain registrar’s website, and add them into your DNS file.

For more details on this process, read this reference: Add Your Domain to Office 365.

In Part 3 we make the last connection – directing the Lync Server to Exchange Online. Check back next week, and we’ll wrap up the whole how-to.

The Lync questions keep coming! Yesterday, one came in with a request that appeared pretty simple:

“I tried to connect our Lync Server to Exchange Online. Now we can’t use voice mail. What went wrong?”

VERY good question. Let’s tackle it.

Connecting an Internal Lync Server to an External Exchange Server?

Let’s take a step back from this. What they did was try to connect a Lync Server to Office 365′s Exchange Online package. One internal system (Lync), interoperating with an external one (Exchange Online).

There are several reasons you might want to do this.

• Sharing of calendar information and Out of Office messages
• Voice mail interoperability
• IM and Presence status showing up in Outlook Web App (as in, outside the organization)

Yes, it’s possible to connect these two services. But it’s more complicated than you’d think at first. Several management steps are required for Lync and Exchange Online to see each other, THEN talk to each other.

In fact, there’s a whole checklist you need to follow to make it all work:
http://help.outlook.com/en-us/140/gg702674.aspx

Microsoft posted this late last month. Many people missed it due to the holidays. (But that’s why we have the Lync Insider blog, right?)

How-To, Step 1 – Provide Lync Users with Voice Mail on Exchange Online

(Please note, I’m starting at #2 on the checklist linked above. #1 is deploying Lync Server 2010, with Edge Servers and Enterprise Voice. If you need help with those, read our Path to Lync Server – Step 6: Install Lync Server post.)

A) Create a DNS SRV Record for integration.

1. Log on to your external DNS server (as a DnsAdmins group member!).
2. Click Start / Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.
3. In the console tree for your SIP domain, expand Forward Lookup Zones. Select the SIP domain where your Lync Server is installed (e.g. “edge1.yourdomain.com”).
4. Right-click the SIP domain, and click Other New Records.
5. Click “Service Location (SRV)” under Resource Record Type.
6. Click “Create Record.”
7. In the New Resource Record window, click Service. Enter _sipfederationtls (don’t forget the underscore).
8. Click Protocol. Enter _tcp
9. Click Port Number. Enter 5061
10. Click “Host offering this service.” Enter the FQDN of the Lync Server Edge pool that provides access to external clients.
11. Click OK. Then click Done.

Make sure the domain used in the SRV record you’re creating here matches the domain used in the DNS Host (A) record.

B) Set up external Edge Certificates.

You may already have certificates set up on the external Edge Server. If they’re set up for federation, then you’re fine here. If not, use these instructions:

• Switch to a member login with higher permissions (e.g. the RTCUniversalServerAdmins group).
• Follow the steps at this TechNet page:  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg398409.aspx
• They will guide you through creating the certificate request, submitting it, importing & assigning the certificate to your Edge Servers.

C) Configure the Edge Server for integration.

1. Configure your Edge Server for federation. Start the Lync Server Management Shell (under Start / All Programs / Microsoft Lync Server 2010). Enter this cmdlet:

Set-CsAccessEdgeConfiguration -UseDnsSrvRouting -AllowFederatedUsers 1 -EnablePartnerDiscovery 0

It indicates that Edge Servers will use DNS SRV records for federation requests, allows federated users, and specifies that Lync should use DNS records to discover a partner domain (in this case, the Exchange Online service).

2. Still in the Management Shell, we’ll create a hosting provider on the Edge Server. Do this using the New-CsHostingProvider cmdlet.

New-CsHostingProvider -Identity ExchangeOnline.com -Enabled $True -EnabledSharedAddressSpace $True -HostsOCSUsers $False -ProxyFQDN “proxy.ExchangeOnline.com” -IsLocal $False -VerficationLevel UseSourceVerification

Where I’ve inserted “ExchangeOnline.com” – for the Identity and ProxyFQDN parameters – enter the URLs for your Exchange Online setup.

3. Verify that the Central Management Store data replicates to your Edge Server. See this TechNet link if you need help.

D) Enable your users for hosted voice mail.

Still in the Management Shell, use the Set-CsUser cmdlet:

Set-CsUser -HostedVoiceMail $True -Identity “YourDomain\JoeSmith”

Identity parameter can use either the user’s SIP address, their domain\logon name (like the above), their AD-DS display name or their User-Principal-Name. Easy to do – but you’ll have to enable every user this way!

E) Create Contact Objects for Exchange UM Online.

You’ll need contact objects for each auto-attendant (AA) number and subscriber access (SA) number in your deployment. Set these in Management Shell with the New-CsExUmContact cmdlet:

New-CsExUmContact -SipAddress “sip:ExampleAddress@YourDomain.com” -RegistrarPool “LocalPool.YourDomain.com” -OU “Exchange Online Integration” -DisplayNumber “+14085551111″ -AutoAttendant $True

New-CsExUmContact -SipAddress “sip:ExampleAddress@YourDomain.com” -RegistrarPool “LocalPool.YourDomain.com” -OU “Exchange Online Integration” -DisplayNumber “+14085551111″

SipAddress should be a new address, not in use by a user or contact object in AD-DS. RegistrarPool is the FQDN for the pool where your Registrar service runs. OU specifies where your contact object will be. DisplayNumber must be a unique number for each contact object. If AutoAttendant is set to True, the contact object is set as an Auto Attendant Object. If set to False, it’s a Subscriber Access object.

This is a lot to go through, I know.  Stay sharp – that’s just Part 1 of the setup!

In Part 2 next week, I’ll go through configuring Exchange Online so its Unified Messaging works with Lync. See you then!