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!

Lots of questions coming in this month! If you’ve sent one in, don’t worry, we’ll get back to you. (I know we’re testing some changes in our local Lync Server, before we respond to one of them.)

Last week we received this question:

“Can we set up a global policy so everyone has a 5-minute idle in Lync?”

The answer to this question is yes – and no.

Right now, you can’t use a GPO (Group Policy Object) to set a Lync 2010 client’s default idle limit – when Lync switches from Available to Away.

You could go around changing each client’s idle settings, of course. But that’s way too time-consuming (and no self-respecting sysadmin would work that slow).

Don’t worry though! There IS a way to enforce a default idle for Lync users: Use a Management Shell script.

Run a Script at Startup to Set Global Idle

That’s right. One simple script will enforce global idle limits on all clients.

In a moment I’ll show you the script. But before that, a quick reminder: the Lync Server Management Shell isn’t set to run scripts by default! You’ll have to modify the execution policy so you can run scripts.

Which is easy. Just enter this command in the Management Shell prompt:
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

With that done, let’s move to the script itself. Copy the following into Notepad and save it as “set-global-idle.ps1″.

$computer = "."
$registry = [Microsoft.Win32.RegistryKey]::OpenRemoteBaseKey("CurrentUser", $computer)
$key = $registry.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Communicator", $True)
$key.SetValue("IdleThreshold",5,"DWORD")

Those of you who are familiar with PowerShell will see how this script works at a glance. Even if you aren’t, this script’s pretty easy to understand: It makes a small change to the client PC’s registry, relating to Lync’s registry keys.

In this case, we’re changing the “IdleThreshold” or idle timeout point.

You will have to run Set-Global-Idle.ps1 on everyone’s PCs at startup. It’ll act like a pseudo-GPO, making a background change during boot. We’ve tested it and had no errors.

Modify the script as you like! Setting idle isn’t all you can do with this method. But be careful; this causes a change to client PC registries. The wrong parameters could cause registry corruption…and nobody wants every single PC in the office to crash at once!

Bravely Standing In for Lync GPO

We’re sure Microsoft will release a Lync Server patch that lets you control global idle soon. Use our Set-Global-Idle.ps1 script as a stand-in/workaround for now. It works, but it’s an extra step imposed on your Lync setup.

Have you modified your Lync Server installation using Management Shell? How?

Archiving Server provides a repository for information exchanged via Lync Server. Why? Two reasons:

1. It gives you a log of Lync activity everyone can draw upon. How many times have you tried to remember what Jane said about the Michaels project? Thanks to Archiving Server, you have a saved copy of that IM conversation.
2. It helps you fulfill legal compliance requirements. Many organizations must keep track of project steps, client files, and so on to meet compliance regulations. Since Archiving Server tracks automatically, its archive database acts as a regulatory resource.

What DOES it track though? It’s important to know what is and is not archived by Archiving Server. Otherwise, you might assume it just grabs everything. It doesn’t.

What Lync Archives on the Archiving Server

• Instant messaging conversations (both person-to-person, and between multiple parties)
• Content uploaded in Web conferences
• Conference events (joins, parts, etc.)

What Lync DOES NOT Archive on Archiving Server

• File transfers
• Conferencing annotations and polls
• Audio & video for person-to-person IM and conferences
• Application sharing for IM and conferences
• Diagnostic reports for session failures (those come from Monitoring Server)

Caution – There’s a Time Limit on Archived Materials

It’s important to note: Archiving is NOT intended to work indefinitely! As you can imagine from the above lists, storing uploaded files and daily IM logs will fill up space fast.

The server will keep archives until one of two things happens:

1. You tell it to purge old archived files.
2. Its storage fills up.

Obviously, you don’t want to reach #2.

In the Lync Server 2010 Control Panel, there’s a setting that dictates when to purge old archive files. You can control the time interval for this under Archiving Configuration. How long you keep archived files depends on your legal compliance requirements. 1 year, 2? Talk to Legal.

Then head to this page for a how-to: Enable or Disable Purging for Archiving – TechNet.

Want to add Archiving Server to your Lync setup? Use this deployment guide to help you.

If you’re having trouble with Archiving Server (e.g. conversations aren’t showing up in Conversation History), use NextHop’s “Troubleshooting Archiving Server” post as a guide.

Do you use an Archiving Server? What’s the big value from it, for you?

While on Twitter yesterday, I saw a new Lync download making the rounds:

Microsoft Lync 2010 Training Download Package

From the overview:

“The Lync Training Download Package contains all of the available training and user education resources for Lync.”

All of these resources are sorted for you in an Excel workbook, & divided up by office role.  Information Worker, Early Adopters, New Hires, Admin-Receptionists, Executives, Help Desk and Lync Online.

Each list is broken up by a category, defined by Lync Server Role or communication method.  They are:

• IM and Presence
• Collaboration and Conferencing
• Voice and Video
• Devices
• Group Chat
• Attendee
• Lync Web App
• Lync for Mobile Clients
• Lync for Mac

The training material for each category is ranked, from “Optional” to “Strongly Recommended.”  Some of the material comes in the training package download.  The rest is available on Microsoft’s support websites.

Organizes Current Lync Training Material For You

Why use this new training package?  It makes Microsoft’s Lync education resources neat & easy to find.

Everything (to date!) is included:

–WorkSmart Guides
–Quick Reference Cards
–FAQs
–Training Videos
–Instructor-Led Training (registration needed)

However, it’s important to know:  This is NOT recommended as a resource for Lync certification.  There’s almost no server-side material.   The package is clearly intended to help you train to support Lync’s client-facing functions.

Training List 1:  New Hires

The “New Hires” category is a good starting point.  It lists out what I’ll call the “standard set” of training materials.  FAQs, Quick Reference Cards, introductory How-To  Videos, and Self-Paced Training.

You’ll find these in every other category, with additional resources and/or different recommendation levels depending on the role.  Pay attention to Recommendation levels…they’ll give you a path to follow.  Start with “Strongly Recommended” and work down from there.

For instance, under Collaboration & Conferencing for New Hires, a Quick Reference Card and Self-Paced Training are “Strongly Recommended.”  A How-To Video is “Recommended.”  And Instructor-Led Training is “Optional.”

Catch-All for Microsoft Lync Education

How effective will this training package be?  That depends on how you decide to use it.  The download includes a lot of information, some of it new.  (I’m putting the “Help Desk Troubleshooting” doc on our SharePoint right after this post.)

Microsoft has written the workbook as a catch-all and a starting point.  So you can build training into your office’s activities by grabbing certain elements and putting them in front of the people who need them most.

Next week I’ll go into more detail with comparisons between categories.  Until then – planning to use this download?  How?

We’re back, with another hardware review! Up for today is our newest acquisition (and already our favorite conferencing tool): the Jabra SPEAK 410-USB speakerphone.

The Duo variant of the BIZ 620 USB. Image courtesy of Jabra.com.

Didn’t we already review this headset? Well, yes and no.

I titled this a “mini-review” because I did post a review on the Jabra BIZ 620 USB headset last month.

But one thing’s different today. Last month’s review was done on the Mono (single earpiece) model.

The Jabra BIZ 620 Duo has two earpieces.

Like its Mono brother, it has an adjustable microphone arm on one earpiece. The mic swivels to either side, so you can use it on the left or right ear (I prefer the right).

In fact switching the headset around is easier to do with the Duo model, since both ears are covered anyway.

Headset controls are located in the same call control knob as the Mono model. Located on the headset’s cord, it has four buttons for adjusting volume up/down, answering a call, and ending a call.

Advantages of the Jabra 620 Duo: Better Focus on Conversations, Music Playback

As someone who’s always used one ear with their phone, the Jabra 620 Duo takes a little bit of adjustment. The good kind – with two earpieces, it’s easier to tune out background noises when you have a call.

Test calls revealed the same audio quality, in and out, as the 620 Mono. That and the dual earpieces make Lync calls easy to make, pay full attention to, and end with a button-push.

Oh, and the 620 Duo will play music through its earpieces ( the Mono wouldn’t).

Comfort Warning: Don’t Fiddle With It Too Much

The only disadvantage I note is the weight of the control knob. It can pull down on the headset if you move it too much. With the Mono headset this isn’t too big a deal.

But with the Duo headset, you’re aware of the other ear piece slipping off your ear when it pulls down. More to adjust. So you notice it more quickly.

Still, pretty small price to pay for an immersive VoIP headset with good sound quality and an adjustable mic!

What headset do you use with Lync?

Something a little different this week – two mini-posts!

One today on a Lync Server update. One tomorrow on the Jabra BIZ 620 Duo USB headset.

Mobile Clients are Coming Soon: Prepare Lync Server

Yesterday I tweeted a link to a recent Microsoft announcement: Lync clients coming soon for Windows Phone 7, the iOS platform, and Android (via Engadget).

Last week, Microsoft also released a new Cumulative Update for Lync Server 2010 – one intended to prepare Lync for use of these new mobile clients.

The update, Cumulative Update 4, consists of multiple server-side (and client-side) updates, as well as six new Cmdlets. The cmdlets are what mark this as a mobility update. Tom Arbuthnot has written thorough descriptions of the cmdlets over at the Lync’d Up blog. I’ll just give overviews on what they do here (go read his post for full information – it’s worth it!).

1. CsAutodiscoverConfiguration: Lets you change Autodiscover settings. Autodiscover helps client apps (like a mobile Lync client) find certain resources, like a user pool.
2. New-CsWebLink: Creates a Web link to Autodiscover. Handy for updating configuration with new clients.
3. Test-CsMcxPushNotification: Verifies that Push Notification’s working, so you’re able to send notifications out to mobile devices.
4. CsMobilityPolicy: Lets you control Mobility Policies. In Lync, these policies govern who can use a mobile client, as well as if you can use Call via Work (using work numbers instead of mobile numbers for calls).
5. CsMcxConfiguration: Configures Lync Server Mobility Service settings. Enabling mobile devices to use many of Lync’s services – Presence information, voicemails, conferencing, etc.
6. CsPushNotificationConfiguration: This cmdlet lets you configure Push Notification.

Lync Server Updates for Core Components, Administration and Clients: Install Them All

The Cumulative Update 4 files are available for download at Microsoft Downloads. The easiest installation method would be to use the Cumulative Update Installer (LyncServerUpdateInstaller.exe).

If that doesn’t work for you, look under “Installation Methods” on this Microsoft Support page for a manual install option.

And as Justin Morris wisely reminds us – don’t forget to backup your Lync Server setup first!

Check back tomorrow for our second Lync headset review!

Short post today, since everyone’s starting to think about turkey and traffic by now.

I received an email from Rob the other day, asking if he could create a link that would start up a Lync voice call. If so, he could then send this link via email, enabling whoever received it to make a auto-call just by clicking that link.

This IS possible to do with Lync Server. In fact, there’s a couple variations of it out there.

#1 – One-Click Dial with the Lync Internet Explorer Add-In

I mentioned this the other day – an add-in that Lync-enables every recognizable phone number on a website. You click the Lync icon next to it…and Lync auto-dials the number for you.

#2 – Auto-Contact URL for Voice Calls

As it turns out, it’s pretty easy to send a Lync-enabled phone number via email.

All you have to do is create an HTML link in this format – “tel:+12223334444“. 1 plus the area code plus the number. No spaces (and no quotation marks, of course). In HTML it’ll look like this: <a href=”tel:+12223334444″>Call 222-333-4444</a>

Outlook will even auto-create the link if you type it out in an email window.

Lync grabs onto any tel: links Outlook receives. So when the email arrives and the recipient clicks the link, it will automatically open a Lync call window.

(NOTE: Rob also asked about triggering a video call in the same way. I don’t know of a link format that will do this directly. But! Adding video to a call is just one more click in the call window. So, still within reach.)

#3 – Auto-Contact URL for Instant Messages

The same method as #2 can be used to send an IM link. Except in this case, you would use the person’s SIP address. For example:
IM:<sip:chris@PMTestEmail.com>

Thanks to Tom Kisner at TheLync.net for his blog post detailing the auto-contact URL syntax. Perfect fact-check for me on this one (our own tests matched up to his formatting lockstep). If you don’t use Outlook, or want to see the straight HTML used in these auto-contact links, check out his post.

Have you used a link like this? Within your company or outside it? I’m curious to hear what happened, & if you had any snags along the way. Please email me or comment below.

In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving! See you next week.

Joe, one of our Lync engineers, came to me the other day with a story. He’d run up against an error while moving a few users from an OCS 2007 R2 pool into a new Lync Server pool.

The error looked like this:

Lync claimed he didn’t have sufficient access rights to perform the update. Even if you try to force it, the user update won’t go through.

Turns out the solution is pretty easy. Joe found it on the ShyIT Blog.
Lync 2010 Move User – 1 Error(s) Failed While Updating Destination pool :: www.ShyIT.co.uk

The problem isn’t strictly a Lync bug. It’s more of a bug in how Lync Server communicates with Active Directory.

If a user is in a protected Active Directory group, AD removes security inheritance for its account. Lync can’t move that user into its own pools without security inheritance. It must be re-enabled.

Re-Enable Security Inheritance, and Lync Server Welcomes the User

To correct the error and have Lync allow OCS users to upgrade into its user pools, you’ll need to modify that user’s Active Directory security permissions. Here’s how.

1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers.
• Click “View” and navigate to “Advanced Features.” These must be enabled before you proceed. They probably are, but if not, enable them.
2. Locate the user you want to move. Open its Account Properties.
3. Locate the “Security” tab.
4. Click “Advanced.”
5. Check the “Allow inheritable permissions from the parent to propagate to this object and all child objects” box.
6. Click “Apply.”

Done! This re-applies the user’s security inheritance. Lync takes it as new, and lets the user on through.

Have you encountered this error? Or another error with upgrading users from OCS 2007 to Lync 2010? Email me, or leave a comment. I’d like to hear what you did!

Heads up; next week I’ll have a short Q&A post, since it’s Thanksgiving week. We had a question about sending Lync phone numbers via email. See you back here next week.

On Sunday, I received an email from a UK consulting firm. The individual (I’ll call him Mr. B) wanted to know about monitoring Lync Server.

Now, his question was more about identifying the signs of a well-functioning Lync setup. But it touched off a related question in my mind – how much monitoring does Lync Server do for itself?

Turns out, quite a lot. Lync’s Monitoring Server role keeps tabs on just about every communication in & out. It’s not a required server role for Lync to run, but it’s recommended.

Why? Simple reason – Monitoring Server reports help you figure out what’s working (and what’s not).

Reports are broken down into four categories: System Usage Reports, Call Diagnostic Reports, Call Diagnostic Reports (per user), and Media Quality Diagnostic Reports. Makes it easier to identify a specific problem, if you know what type of problem you’re looking at.

What Monitoring Server DOES Provide

Overall, reports cover pretty much everything you’d want to know about how good a job your Lync Server’s doing. For example, you can find all of this in Monitoring Server reports:

1. Information about the communication sessions in your organization. That covers VoIP phone calls, IM sessions and conferences.
2. Endpoint information about each session. IP addresses, connection speeds, which Edge Servers were used, etc.
3. Quality measurements for the different types of communications you use (SIP calls, video conferencing, etc.).
4. Activity lists for each user in the organization, by date and/or session type.
5. Reports on Call Admission Control-restricted sessions.
6. Summary of (and details on) calls made to Response Group workflows.
7. Diagnostic reports and troubleshooting information for session failures (including SIP response codes and diagnostic headers).
8. Server Performance reports:  Shows you which servers have had the most problems, using metrics like packet loss, signal degradation, noise, etc.

And a few more.

Many of the Monitoring Server reports are broken up by type, or medium. For example, one report will tell you about IM sessions, broken down by pool. Another will tell you about VoIP calls in the same pool. A third could provide a summary of all communications in that pool.

What Monitoring Server DOES NOT Provide

• The content of a phone call, IM session or conference. That’s the job of Archiving Server.
• Monitoring for the Windows Servers Lync is installed on. It doesn’t cover Windows processes. Use a standard server monitoring tool for that.
• Non-Lync Server application logging. Use a third-party tracking tool to track activity on these.

Microsoft has a Work Smart guide for Monitoring Server here: Lync Server 2010 Monitoring Server Reports Work Smart Guide – Microsoft Download Center
Plenty of information on each report, what it records, and how to make use of the data.

Have you referred to a Monitoring Server report lately? What did you find out?