LyncLab

I was looking for some reference material about configuring HLB for Edge servers in Lync server. I still haven't found what I was looking for as I got side-tracked by this website.

I think this is a really useful site which provides in one place links to many Lync resources on blogs, Microsoft and so on. you can see it here: Lync Lab

Lync 2010 Licensing

Something that has become a recurrent theme in the last few weeks has been the question of how is Lync Server licenced.

Microsoft have changed the model used for licensing Lync in comparison to OCS R2. The following table shows the options available. (From the Lync website)

Lync Server 2010 Client Access Licenses

Standard CAL

Enterprise CAL

Plus CAL

1 The Lync Server 2010 Standard CAL offers instant messaging and rich presence (IM/P) features. It provides users with real-time presence and enhanced IM along with PC-to-PC audio and video communications. Additionally it provides users with authenticated attendee experience for internally hosted conferences.

2 The Lync Server 2010 Enterprise CAL offers the audio, video, and Web conferencing features. It provides users the ability to create, moderate, and join conferences for collaboration with both internal and external users.

3 The Lync Server 2010 Plus CAL offers enterprise voice telephony features. It provides high-quality voice and other related features to users anywhere with an Internet connection across IP phones, PCs, and desktop applications.

You can find the relevant licensing information here.

Microsoft have thoughtfully provided the ability to download the information as a pdf.

PowerShell Cheat Sheet

 

Hello again, I was talking to a colleague of mine and he was saying how much cool stuff there is in PowerShell! So he had done a web search and he found and downloaded a cheat sheet to get him and us started. This is stored on the Powergui website  and you can get the cheat sheet here. I would recommend that you have a look at the rest of the site as it gives some really cool software away in addition to lots of other cool stuff.

Cheers

Lync Server and Polycom Video integration

Polycom and Microsoft have been in joint collaboration for a while now. We have seen this in the Lync Phone edition client that appears on the CX 500/600/700 phones and the CX 3000 conferencing phone.

I have been delivering some training to Polycom on their HDX 4000 and RMX 1500 MCU’s and they are great pieces of hardware. To see how this works have a look at the following blog which gives a detailed explanation of the integration.

In essence the HDX and RMX provide a hardware based solution for hosting video conferences.

Lync Device update file

A while back I was looking for the device update file and struggled to find it. then I stumbled across the Lync TechCenter which solved the problem.

I downloaded the file, extracted it and then ran Powershell to import it into the Lync Control Panel.

Worked like a charm..

Powershell syntax is :

Import-CsDeviceUpdate -Identity 

"service:WebServer:atl-cs-001.litwareinc.com" 

-FileName C:\Updates\UCUpdates.cab

Substitute the variables for your values and away you go.

For more Powershell command information see:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg398861.aspx

Lync Server TechCenter

I was looking for the device update file and found this site. It is a real useful site and I would recommend it for all things Lync.

You can get it here or here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/lync

SCCM Powershell Module

Today, I found a module for use with System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM). This module contains the following functions:

• Get-SCCMCommands
• Connect-SCCMServer
• Get-SCCMObject
• Get-SCCMPackage
• Get-SCCMCollection
• Get-SCCMAdvertisement
• Get-SCCMDriver
• Get-SCCMDriverPackage
• Get-SCCMTaskSequence
• Get-SCCMSite
• Get-SCCMImagePackage
• Get-SCCMOperatingSystemInstallPackage
• Get-SCCMBootImagePackage
• Get-SCCMComputer
• Get-SCCMUser
• Get-SCCMCollectionMembers
• Get-SCCMSubCollections
• Get-SCCMParentCollection
• Get-SCCMSiteDefinition
• Get-SCCMSiteDefinitionProps
• Get-SCCMIsR2
• Get-SCCMCollectionRules
• Get-SCCMInboxes
• New-SCCMCollection
• Add-SCCMCollectionRule
• Add-SCCMDirUserCollectionRule 

To install follow instructions in the link...

Command Line user details

I was shown this by one of my delegates today. I hadnt realised that you could get login information, password information etc by running the following comand from a cmd prompt:

c:\net user username /domain
You can also use it in WIN7 as seen below

SIP Trunking and media bypass

SIP trunking has become a common term in the Microsoft worlds of OCS R2 and Lync Server 2010. Many Microsoft administrators had never heard of SIP so the learning curve has been pretty steep.

I found a reference to this animation which includes Media bypass as well, apologies but cant remember where, so thought I would include it.

Its on the techtionary website and belongs to them and the author.

Here it is
http://www.techtionary.com/lyncforum/lync-bypass/

Lync Downloads

Official download pages:
TechCenter Lync Downloads Server and Client Downloads

Deployment media:
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 180-Day Trial/Evaluation
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Group Chat
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Group Chat Admin Tool
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Planning Tool (RC)
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 PIC Provisioning Page
Unified Communications Managed API 3.0 Runtime

Desktop client installation media:
Microsoft Lync 2010 client Trial x86
Microsoft Lync 2010 client Trial x64
Microsoft Lync 2010 Group Chat Client
Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendant x86
Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendant x64
Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendee – Admin Level Install
Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendee – User Level Install
Microsoft Lync 2010 Phone Edition for Aastra 6721ip and Aastra 6725ip
Microsoft Lync 2010 Phone Edition for Polycom CX500, Polycom CX600 and Polycom CX3000
Microsoft Lync 2010 Phone Edition for Polycom CX700 and LG-Nortel IP Phone 8540

Mobile client installation media:

Testing and Training:
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 TechEd Videos fall 2010
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 On Demand Labs
Microsoft Lync 2010 Training ppt’s

Troubleshooting
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Resource Kit Tools
Microsoft Network Monitor 3.3
PortQry Port Scanner Version 2.0

White Papers and Technical Documents:
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 features and how to configure them
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Documentation for IT Pros
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Protocol Workloads Poster
Microsoft Unified Communications Open Interoperability Program
Deploying the BIG-IP LTM with Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 On Prem or wait for Lync Online?
Microsoft Lync 2010 Pricing and Licensing
Microsoft Lync 2010 Licensing Explained

PowerShell Scripts:
Official Lync Server 2010 PowerShell Blog
SCRIPT: Create new user, enable for Exchange, UM and Lync Server
SCRIPT: Set-Lync2010Windows2008R2Features.ps1

Lync Ignite with Polycom Lync certified Devices

For those who are aware of Lync one of the new really cool features is the release by Polycom and Aastra of Lync certified devices. Normally getting hold of these devices to test and show off is diffcult, but the nice people over at Poly have come to the rescue,and........

Yesterday I received a delivery of some really cool Polycom kit. Specifically the Lync certified devices. The plan is to include them in my deliveries of Lync Ignite. We will be making devices available to delegates as well to test, setup and generally play around with.

Devices that we have to show off are as follows: A roundtable, CX 600 - knowledge worker device, CX 500 Common Area phone, CX 300 USB phone, CX 3000 conference phone, CX 700 "Tanjay" and lastly the CX 100 USB desktop phone.
We will shortly add the CX 4000 and HDX 8000 as well.

So deleagtes who attend a Global Knowledge course will have the opportunity to see and test these devices.

On YouTube there is a video which demonstrates the devices very well and is available here: