office communications server 2007

[browolf]

anyone use it?, what's it good for?

I was going to try it out on a spare server, cos I wanted to see what office communicator did. but according to the docs, u cant install the server in a mixed mode domain.

[apearce]

i really like OCS - its your msn basically.

 

With the communicator client you can do you instant communications, voip, webcam, open a onenote document together.

 

There is also a web version known as Communicator Web Access (CWA) which makes the chat available.

 

You can make the communicator client available over the internet so you can still have your video/chat while out of the office.

 

It can also intergrate with your exchange server and your internal phone system (depending on your system).

 

Theres a OCS 2007 R2 coming out soon as well

 

The new live messenger beta is built on OCS

[Gatt]

We use it here too - works really well too

Well, when the staff bother to use it!!

 

Also trialling Groove server too but this hasn't really got off the ground yet...

[browolf]

how much does it cost?

[zag]

I think its part of the top Microsoft Office package browolf so free if you have that.

 

I've wondered about this for a while. Are there any advantages over using normal MSN messenger?

[CyberNerd]

as an alternative, moodle has an IM messaging system that is integrated with email. It is designed specifically for education, so has good logging/filtering options. It enables teachers to easily message their entire class.

[browolf]

I think its part of the top Microsoft Office package browolf so free if you have that.

 

I've wondered about this for a while. Are there any advantages over using normal MSN messenger?

 

 

we seem to have office professional plus 2007. there's only a disk with the communicator client on

[Divaldo]

We use OCS at our place too and with the web access you don't need to worry about installing Communicator.

 

It's great for students who are out of school for whatever reason to be able to contact their teachers. We publish it using a page viewer web part in our portal so everything is in one place.

[Gatt]

Just been looking at OCS R2 - its x64 only - so thats scuppers it for staff.. though they can use Communicator R2

 

Just installed R2 on the pupil end but not given the pupils access to it just yet till we have a look at locking it down using GP and the Resource Kit so that they only have a set number of contacts that cant be changed

[Nick_Parker]

I've been trying to setup OCS 2007 R2, holy hell it's complicated! And all I really want from it is a basic IM server

[Gatt]

It used to be dead easy when it was integrated into Exchange (2000?)

[Nick_Parker]

No ways, you have to jump through 15 hoops before it'll even start installing...

which failed anyway

[UKDarkstar]

There is a free clinic entitled "Clinic 10052: Introduction to Enhancements in Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2" available at the MS e-learning site :

 

https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/courseDetail.aspx?courseId=112782&tab=overview

 

Might be worth a read

[Domino]

It'd be far easier for most schools to run openfire and spark as IM

 

OCS R2 is billed as a full VOIP infrastructure as well as IM, it's what we're rolling out here AWS, but I it's overkill for most people.

 

Bear in mind, we're running it on 4 servers in Boston and 4 in London.

 

I think you get a CAL with the office pro licence - but you'll still need a server licence and a enterprise CAL (which is a top up so both are needed) if you want to use voice or desktop sharing.

[torledo]

It'd be far easier for most schools to run openfire and spark as IM

 

OCS R2 is billed as a full VOIP infrastructure as well as IM, it's what we're rolling out here AWS, but I it's overkill for most people.

 

Bear in mind, we're running it on 4 servers in Boston and 4 in London.

 

I think you get a CAL with the office pro licence - but you'll still need a server licence and a enterprise CAL (which is a top up so both are needed) if you want to use voice or desktop sharing.

 

AWS ???

[jamesb]

AWS ???

 

I'm guessing its As We Speak, could easily be wrong though.

[Ric_]

I thought I'd drag up this thread again because I've been having a think about the viability of using OCS.

 

Am I right in thinking that I could use something like Grandstream GXW-4024 Analog FXS Gateway to interface analogue extensions with OCS and then I could use handsets like Polycom CX700 OCS IP Phone and Polycom CX200 OCS IP Phone to avoid the need for a dedicated IP PBX?

 

Or can OCS replace an IP PBX too? (Allowing for any old SIP handset to be connected to it?)

[Domino]

No, as far as I've seen OCS won't work as a IP PBX, you'll need a bridge or gateway of some sort to tie it to your exisiting, or connect phones to peoples computers (which is what we're doing, I've already chucked my desk phone, and the extension rings OCS)

 

also, sorry I didn't check back at this thread, but it was indeed As We Speak I meant...

[Domino]

Although those Polycom phones include a client, so no reason why they should need anything else.

 

ALthough standalone you'll need to log into the phone everytime to get it working - so maybe the USB version would be smarter?

[Ric_]

@Domino: So to clarify, the incoming lines come into your PBX which is in turn connected to OCS (how?) and then some magical logic goes on to decide whether an extension is real or OCS?

 

This seems overly complicated... wouldn't it have been easier to make OCS an IP PBX in its own right?

 

In theory though, the Polycom endpoints (which connect via USB using the users' PCs ot ethernet for a standalone endpoint) could be used to create a system if some form of gateway could be used to get the ISDN lines into OCS.

[Domino]

yeah, in theory what you're proposing would work.

 

There's a SIP connection between the OCS mediation server and the PBX on our system, and all users have an OCS extension (internal only) as well as a phone one at the moment, those going full OCS will just have one.

 

It may seem complicated, but thats cause we've 5 offices with SIP connections and different (alcatel, cisco, etc) PBX's in each. It was by far easier to just plug OCS into the exisiting setup than try and change everything - especially as I don't get 6 weeks of downtime to play with

 

Another thing you might wanna consider - the recommended setup requires at least 3 physical servers (not virtual, they only support virtualisation on second versions of each role) - one for OCS control, one for mediation and one for edge.

 

You'll also need a licence for the client per pc, a cal per user, and to get the full enterprise voice, a enterprise CAL (which is additive). It made sense for us, cause we spent about 2 grand per month on conferencing per office, but now OCS handles it all at no charge to us.

[Domino]

Also, Ric? do you use exchange?

[Ric_]

I'm currently re-thinking how we license and OCS CALs (Enterprise ones) can be bundled into the subscription licensing so it would be a minimal chanrge on top and it may save money when replacing the PBX. Again, I stopped using Exchange due to licensing costs but that may change again for the same reason.

 

From the further reading that I've done, it seems that I may be able to use Quintum BX Tenor BX408 4 port BRI VoIP MultiPath Switch to connect in my ISDN lines and Quintum AX Tenor AXG2400 24 FXS port VoIP Station Gateway to connect in the analogue extensions. I would then just use Polycom endpoints. Those particular Quintum units arent specifically mentioned on teh MS website but the DX model is (which is basically the same but PRI rather than BRI/analogue).

 

From the little pictures at Download details: Integrating Telephony with Office Communications Server 2007 and 2007 R2 I would then just need a mediation server and a OCS server. We aren't heavy telephony users so the load should be acceptable.

[Domino]

The calendar, address book and free/busy stuff just doesn't work without exchange, outlook as well for preference.

 

If you're putting all this in, you may as well put an edge in too, to get CWA, which is really quite cool. It also gets you Livemeeting if its any use.

[Soulfish]

I'm currently looking at OCS as well. We're just looking at a new IP PBX and while we're at it I thought I may as well see about integrating it into OCS and our new Exchange 2007 setup.

 

I'm currently leaning towards a Avaya IP PBX, which I've been assured by a couple of people integrates "seamlessly" into OCS. Does anyone have any experience of using IP PBX's with OCS and have any recomendations?

 

Since we're upgrading from an ancient BT Rhapsody analogue system we're starting from scratch with our phone system so anything goes really