The first “RTM” version of the Lync Server 2010 documentation has been Released To The Web.
The easiest way to get it, is to to download the compiled help file containing all the documentation from here. This file also contains download links for Word versions (Good for printing) of the documentation.
The Links for online (always up-to-date) versions of the documentation can be found here.
Happy reading
I find it hard to get F# (like other functional languages) under the nails as we say in Denmark. Here is 4 short and funny articles by Ivan Towlson that shed some more light on it. The first starts here: F# and first-class functions, part 1: the composition operator
When Microsoft announced they would begin providing official support for jQuery, few of us realized how profoundly that announcement would eventually impact client-side development on the ASP.NET platform. Since that announcement, using jQuery with ASP.NET has moved from the obscure, to a central role in ASP.NET MVC’s client-side story, and now to the point of potentially superseding ASP.NET AJAX itself.
Get the full picture and read the rest at: http://visitmix.com/Articles/Javascript-Libraries-and-ASPNET
Our NDA has been lifted and we can now reveal the new name for the Communications Server '14 '.
The child has been named Lync, which is a combination of the words Link and Sync. Microsoft describes the name as more in line with the experience you get with a true unified communications product.
The forthcoming Communications Server "14" will thus be called "Lync Server 2010 and clients:
Lync Server is available as a download in Release Candidate version on Microsoft's website. This version will work until February 2011th. There is also a Planning Tool ready, and Attendee console, see the Microsoft Download all Lync downloads.
In addition to downloads, you can take a look at www.microsoft.com/lync or the press release.
I’ve always been annoyed by my home server backup. It always starts when I start the PC and then it eats a lot of resources. I often either postpone the backup or change its priority to low which more importantly reduces the IO priority to low as well.
But why not automate the latter?
And that is easy:
Have fun – working *during* the backup
Hi everyone,
Fellow MVP and Exchange MCM Peter Schmidt and I have recently founded a Danish User Group focusing on UC (OCS/CS and Exchange) called CoLabora. It is run on a non-profit basis and the goal is to establish a Danish independent forum for professionals working with Microsoft Unified Communications.
We are now announcing our first User Group meeting for CoLabora, which is taking place on June 29th from 14.00 – 17.00 (followed by a Sandwich / networking) and the agenda will be focusing on Communications Server ‘14’' and the news in Exchange Server 2010 SP1 (Seen from a Danish/Nordic perspective).
For more information (In Danish) and registration go to http://www.colabora.dk/.
We hope to see some of our Danish readers at the event !
Dick Hardt has written a interesting, reflective article. Is your product or our consulting service a vitamin, a painkiller or viagra? Read the definitions in http://dickhardt.org/2010/01/vitamins-painkillers-and-viagra/
Hi. It has been a while as I have been busy with my new job. I’m now working LEGO as Senior Solution Architect for www.lego.com. Visit a great web site and any feedback is welcome.
Consequently, I’m not using PowerShell as much as I used – to at least not for so complicated solution. On the other hand I’m using it almost daily as is it so useful for test web related things.
But my new colleagues know that I know PowerShell so today Michael asked about how to get a few lines from a text file. This is easy, but if it was easy, Michael would have figured it out himself. The problem is that the file is huge (E.G. 1.5GB), so using Get-Content with Select-Object or similar would be very memory intensive and thus slow. I said that I would either call .Net directly or embed some C# code in a script.
Well, now it is evening and I’m watching the Italian-Paraguay match and – hey – why not do a little blogging while and again!
As thought, so done. Here’s my solution. It took as little more than an hour including help and validation. For newcomers, use Get-Line –? for displaying the help nicely formatted.
The script -
<#
.Synopsis
Get line or lines from a text file
.Description
Get one of more lines from the specified file. Line numbers are positive and the first line is number 1.
.Inputs
Path
.Outputs
Array of strings
.Example
Get-Line $env:temp\lines.txt 23,897,45
Get lines 23, 45 and 897. Lines are returned in increasing order. E.g. line 23 is returned first, then line 45 and finally, line 897
#>
param(
[parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[alias("file")]
[alias("fullname")]
[alias("name")]
[string]
[ValidateScript({Test-Path $_})]
# The path of the file to get the lines from
$path,
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
[alias("numbers")]
[int64[]]
[ValidateScript({$_ -gt 0})]
# One or more line numbers (e.g. first line is 1) to retrieve from the file
$lines
)
add-type -TypeDefinition @'
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
namespace Per
{
public class FileFunctions
{
public List<string> GetLines(string file, System.Collections.Generic.Queue<long> lines)
{
FileStream fs;
StreamReader sr;
List<string> linesFound = new List<string>();
using (fs = new System.IO.FileStream(file, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Read, 10 * 1024 * 1024))
{
using (sr = new System.IO.StreamReader(fs))
{
int lineCounter = 0;
int linesIndex = 0;
if (lines.Count == 0)
{
return new List<string>();
}
long findLine = lines.Dequeue();
while (!sr.EndOfStream)
{
string line = sr.ReadLine();
lineCounter++;
if (lineCounter == findLine)
{
linesFound.Add(line);
linesIndex++;
if (lines.Count == 0)
{
break;
}
findLine = lines.Dequeue();
}
}
}
sr.Close();
}
fs.Close();
return linesFound;
}
}
}
'@
$c=new-object Per.FileFunctions
[int64[]]$sortedLines=$lines | sort -unique | where {$_ -gt 0}
$c.GetLines((Resolve-Path $path),$sortedLines)
As always: Have fun!
Just a quick notice, I just reinstalled my X301 yesterday (Due to SSD slowdown) and was planning on using OWA until the RTM release of Office 2010 (I have enough Beta software on my machine as it is).
Turns out that I didn’t have to wait that long ;-)
Interesting bit of news from Microsoft Online included in the post Expanded Global Availability. SIP trunking is now supported but only for customers in US
US-based BPOS Dedicated customers can now enjoy a more complete unified communications (UC) experience in the cloud with Office Communications Online. Optimized for highly mobile information workers, the new voice capabilities enable people to make and receive phone calls anywhere using their PC and any broadband connection. The new service helps people be more productive by providing a simple UC experience, the ability to reach the right person at the right time, and improved mobility. BPOS-D can reduce the load on customers’ existing PBX (private branch exchange) investments by moving some workers onto a cloud based solution, but is not intended to replace all PBX functionality at this time.
Initially, the new voice service is offered in the US only, and it is important to note that connectivity from a qualified SIP (session initiation protocol) trunking provider is required for customers to connect to the PSTN (public switched telephone network). Currently, these services are available from Global Crossing (www.globalcrossing.com).
We look forward to this for all non-dedicated customers and also in Europe (But we probably shouldn’t be holding our breath while waiting ;-)
Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Cumulative Update 5 has been released to the web (At least the downloads – KB links may not be ready yet).
| Product | Update | KB | Download |
| Office Communications Server 2007 R2 | OCS_2007R2_CU5 | ||
| Office Communication Server 2007 R2 Database upgrade | OCSDU_2007R2_CU5 | ||
| Attendant Console 2007 R2 | AC_2007R2_CU5 | ||
| Office Communicator 2007 R2 | OC_2007R2_CU5 | ||
| Office Communicator Phone Edition 2007 R2 | OCPE_2007R2_CU5 |
As always look for the ServerUpdateInstaller.exe for easy installation on your OCS servers (But do remember to read all the related KB articles for any additional information regarding the updates – e.g. the Response Group KB has a gotcha regarding SPN’s).
The update includes some interesting changes to UCMA that starts to provide support for DNS load balancing, inband fax tone detection, retrieval of additional diversion header information etc. for Exchange 2010 UM.
According to Microsoft there will be additional release of updates for Group Chat and all the updates will be available through Microsoft Update the fourth Tuesday of April.
Happy updating.
Found this http://www.pretentiousname.com/adobe_pdf_x64_fix/index.html fixer – and it simply works!
Now I can preview the PDF documents in Windows Explorer (Alt+P if you do not know the feature) without having to fire up Adobe Reader and needing one more window :)
So news on Wave 14 starts coming in from VoiceCon in Orlando. Here is a set of partner related news including the new Microsoft solution for Survivable Branch Appliances (SBA) and not least a new range of IP phones from Aastra and Polycom (With a much better price point than the current Tanjay).
PARTNERS ANNOUNCE SOLUTIONS TO COMPLEMENT MICROSOFT COMMUNICATIONS SERVER “14”
It will be even more interesting to see how much information on Wave 14 that Gurdeep Singh Pall (Vice President of UCG) announces at his Keynote presentation today at 11:15 AM – 12:00 PM EST ;-)
You can register for a Live WebCast directly from Orlando at VoiceConTV.
FYI - I’m presenting an Audio Conferencing Deep Dive tonight (March 2nd 20.00 CET and 11:00 AM Pacific )
http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032441774&Culture=en-US
Event Overview
Are you familiar with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 dial-in conferencing and want to go deeper into the technical details? Or, are you thinking about deploying dial-in conferencing but have not yet done so? Attend this webcast for a demonstration of how Communications Server 2007 R2 works in practice, and get a detailed look at component interactions and call flows.
Presenter: Dennis Lundtoft Thomsen, Technical Evangelist, Inceptio Learning Solutions ApS
Dennis Thomsen works for Inceptio Learning ApS as a technical evangelist, educating Microsoft partners worldwide on bleeding edge technologies. He blogs, twitters, and writes articles on unified communications (UC), and he is writing a book on Microsoft UC to be published in the third or fourth quarter of 2010. Dennis's work focuses on large-scale enterprise and hosted Microsoft Unified Communications projects. He holds several Microsoft certifications and an Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree with specialization in management of technology. Dennis was awarded a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
View other sessions from Unified Communications: Control Your Infrastructure
It’s a level 2-300 presentation and it’s my first webcast, so don’t expect to much ;-)
Due to extreme winter weather conditions, Microsoft is extending Beta Exam 71-404, OCS 2007 R2 Voice Specialization for another two weeks.
Register for FREE with code OCR2J for BETA Exam 71-404 Prometric sites http://www.prometric.com/Microsoft/default.htm.
Candidates should plan for up to four hours to take the Beta exam and provide feedback on every question (versus the typical two hours to take Released version exams.)
It is highly recommended that candidates for Exam 74-404 (Beta 71-404) have experience with OCS 2007 R2 and have completed the Unified Communications Voice Ignite v 2.0 (R2) Workshop. A preparation guide for the exam is available at http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=74-404&locale=en-us
I’ve heard good feedback from people who have taken the Beta exam – so go ahead and try (Last available date is February 26th ;-)
You can always learn more about Active Directory replication!
Read on from the Ask the Directory Services Team blog -
Michael J. Killian has created a 3-series post on his view on Unified Communications, Information Overload, the Social Behavior Impacts and Social Networking in The Enterprise.
Interesting and well written perspectives for anyone interested in the non-technical side of working with Unified Communications!
Good news for users of NET Gateways for their OCS implementations (and future customers ;-) NET has acquired the smartSIP product from Evangelyze -
The SmartSIP product line includes both the SmartSIP and SmartVoIP products. SmartSIP enables UC presence and interoperability for SIP phones while providing integration for Microsoft's Office Communications Server with IP-PBXs and integration for ITSP voice providers. SmartVoIP, a 2008 Internet Telephony Product of the Year, is an extension of SmartSIP that provides branch office integration with Microsoft Office Communications Server.
Read the full press release here.
With PowerShell v2, a new and much improved command line debugger was introduced. The old one is still around though. Anyway, more information can be found in the help subject about_Debuggers.
The strange part is that Set-PsDebug –Step invokes the old debugger and there does not seem to be a way of invoking the new one. You can only invoke the new one by setting a breakpoint. Even though, breakpoints are a very useful feature which I use a lot, I would also like to do it from inside a script.
I have played around with some ways of doing this.
First, a self-contained function
Function Invoke-Debugger{
function debug{}
$bp=Set-PSBreakPoint -Command debug
debug
$bp | Remove-PSBreakpoint
}
function test{
write-host 1
Invoke-Debugger
write-host 2
}
testIt works great, but has the downside, that the current execution pointer is inside the Invoke-Debugger function -
1
Entering debug mode. Use h or ? for help.
Hit Command breakpoint on 'debug'
x.ps1:4 debug
7 $docs>>> l
1: Function Invoke-Debugger{
2: function debug{}
3: $bp=Set-PSBreakPoint -Command debug
4:* debug
5: $bp | Remove-PSBreakpoint
6: }
7:
8: function test{
9: write-host 1
10: Invoke-Debugger
11: write-host 2
12: }
13:
14: test
No matter how I try to tweak it, I end up in the same way.
Next, lets try using a two part approach (setting the breakpoint and doing some action to invoke it) -
$null=Set-PSBreakpoint -Variable InvokeDebugger
function test{
write-host 1
$InvokeDebugger=1
write-host 2
}
test
1
Hit Variable breakpoint on '$InvokeDebugger' (Write access)
x.ps1:5 $InvokeDebugger=1
9 $docs>>> l
1: $null=Set-PSBreakpoint -Variable InvokeDebugger
2:
3: function test{
4: write-host 1
5:* $InvokeDebugger=1
6: write-host 2
7: }
8:
9: test
10:
Eventually, this led me to this piece of code. It is easier to write than the variable assignment and you can also define an easy-writeable alias for it -
function Invoke-Debugger{}
New-Alias id Invoke-Debugger
$null=Set-PSBreakPoint –Command Invoke-Debugger
function test{
write-host 1
id
write-host 2
}
test
1
Hit Command breakpoint on 'Invoke-Debugger'
x.ps1:9 id
13 $docs>>> l
4: New-Alias id Invoke-Debugger
5: $null=Set-PSBreakPoint –Command Invoke-Debugger
6:
7: function test{
8: write-host 1
9:* id
10: write-host 2
11: }
12:
13: test
14:
This method also enables you to make conditional break using straight, normal code (compared to making the logic in the –action argument of Set-PSBreakPoint) -
filter test{
write-host "got $_"
if ($_ -eq 3) {id}
}
1..5 | test
and the output -
got 1
got 2
got 3
Hit Command breakpoint on 'Invoke-Debugger'
x.ps1:9 if ($_ -eq 3) {id}
14 $docs>>> l
4: New-Alias id Invoke-Debugger
5: $null=Set-PSBreakPoint –Command Invoke-Debugger
6:
7: filter test{
8: write-host "got $_"
9:* if ($_ -eq 3) {id}
10: }
11:
12: 1..5 | test
13:
You can include the Invoke-Debugger function and the Set-PSBreakPoint in your profile, so they are available in all our scripts.
Happy debugging..
Microsoft has created a really useful Updates Resource Center with all the latest and greatest patches listed for both Office Communications Server and the clients.
You can also find the updates at this RSS feed.
Note this is meant as a One Stop Shop, it is NOT the place where you’ll be notified first on a new OCS/OC patch.
Good work Microsoft ;-)
Besides not being totally honest on what “other vendors” can do (E.g. NET and others provides most of these features and more on top), there were a lot of different interesting news -
They spoke about Direct Connect (Formerly known as “Advanced Gateway” functionality) that apparently is supported in all their gateways from MP11x series to the Mediant (Se their Application Note that doesn’t detail QoE / ICE support however). The good thing about direct connect is that you get rid of the need to buy and deploy Mediation Server’s (Bad news are that it’s officially unsupported – so AudioCodes / NET has to support these configurations directly)
Other more interesting functionality was support for third party PBX handsets (Again like NET VX1200 series) on remote locations and survivability for these (If they support it). Also their own AudioCodes endpoints support registration to OCS, by proxying through their gateways to OCS (Which then handles call control). This includes support for Wideband and future support for presence.
Also Still time to see the #AudioCodes US prez running today at 12:00 noon (EST) / 09:00am (PST) - register here http://bit.ly/8LrYlL. And a recorded webcast should also become available soon (I will update link to it).
The recently RTW’ed Architecture Poster provides a very good overview of port and certificate requirements in the different OCS workloads.
This poster of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 describes the traffic flow of protocols and ports used in each workload. Communications Server 2007 R2 supports the following workloads: IM and Presence, Conferencing, Application Sharing, and Enterprise Voice. These filtered views can assist you in architecting your deployment of Communications Server 2007 R2. The different server roles are described along with server certificate requirements. Firewall and DNS configuration requirements are also described.
I like this Poster and the idea/work put in to it and will certainly print one out for the walls in my home office. It provides a visually good overview of the Port usage and signaling/media flows used in OCS.
I have a few comments to the drawing though -
Application Sharing Workload
Enterprise Voice Workload
A/V and Web Conferencing Workload
The Voice Specialization exam for OCS 2007 R2 is finally getting closer to release with the launch of the Beta Exam.
Exam 74-404 (Beta Exam 71-404) is designed to validate the skills and experience of technical professional to design, deploy, and administer Microsoft Voice solutions in production based on Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 Release 2 (OCS 2007 R2) and including interoperability with OCS 2007, Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging, Microsoft® Windows Server Active Directory, gateways and Private Branch Exchanges (PBX’s).
It is highly recommended that candidates for Exam 74-404 have experience with OCS 2007 R2 and have completed the Unified Communications Voice Ignite v 2.0 (R2) Workshop. A preparation guide for the exam will be available soon. Click here for more details.
Do remember that Inceptio Learning Solutions provide fully qualified UC Voice Ignite Workshops on-site at your company/training provider (almost) anywhere in the world (Contact my.initials@inceptio.dk for further info).
Happy testing ;-)
I have now been working with Office 2010 x64 a week or so as per my post Office 2010 x64 now fully working with OC and LiveMeeting Add-in. I have some intermittent problems though – when I log-in everything works fine, then on occassion I get an -
The problem appears after a while and then disappears again later. Integration seems to work fine except that this problem appears from time to time – did anyone get the same error or no error at all? (Perhaps with only one Exchange mailbox – I have two Exchange mailboxes which has other issues – so it may be part of this problem).
If you want to change a value inside a function, you have to use reference variables. They do not work the same way as they do in C, C# or VbScript.
This is a simple example -
function a([ref]$v) {
"a1 v=$($v.value)"
$v.value++
"a2 v=$($v.value)"
}
$x=0
"begin x=$x"
a ([ref]$x)
"end x=$x"
Note that must use [ref] when declaring the argument and also when calling. Note also that you must use ([ref]$x) in the call. Finally, you can see that [ref] actually converts the variable into a PSReference object and that you must use .Value to set/get the value.
But what if you want to transfer the reference variable across multiple function calls? Well, the logical approach is this -
function b([ref]$v) {
"b1 v=$($v.value)"
$v.value++
"b2 v=$($v.value)"
}
function a([ref]$v) {
"a1 v=$($v.value)"
$v.value+=10
b ([ref]$v)
"a2 v=$($v.value)"
}
$x=0
"begin x=$x"
a ([ref]$x)
"end x=$x"
The pattern is simply repeated. Just like you would in other languages. But THIS WILL NOT WORK. As the first call creates a PSReference object, using ([ref]$v) creates another level of redirection and things will fail. The correct solution is -
function b([ref]$v) {
"b1 v=$($v.value)"
$v.value++
"b2 v=$($v.value)"
}
function a([ref]$v) {
"a1 v=$($v.value)"
$v.value+=10
b $v
"a2 v=$($v.value)"
}
$x=0
"begin x=$x"
a ([ref]$x)
"end x=$x"
Note that in the second call, $v – a PSReference object – is simply transferred.
Bottom line: Avoid [ref] when you can. Return values or use scoped variables when possible. Remember that it is very easy to return multiple values from a function and assign them to different variables -
function c{
"Per"
"Denmark"
44
}
$Name,$Country,$ShoeSize=c
Andre Blumberg created instructions and a small script for extracting CDR records for outbound calls. Find it here and do remember to provide your feedback for him (So we all can benefit from your/Andre’s enhancements to the script ;-)
First part of the solution was the January Office Communicator Update to 6907.83 that solved the Outlook integration issues/error (Which forced me to “downgrade” to 32 bit Office).
The last part of this solution was the release of the 64-bit LiveMeeting add-in which can be found here and while you’re at it the update to the LiveMeeting console can be found here.
Before upgrading do remember that there is a problem with file uploading in LiveMeeting – only supported file format is native PowerPoint files. Also remember the workaround to make updating OC running 64 bit OS work correctly.
Happy installing/upgrading to 64 bit ;-)
My colleague Claus-Ole also found and fixed the problem, but Michael Sneeringer (A OCS MCM) was kind enough (hint, hint) to describe the problem and solution in Client Version Filtering on Windows x64.
FYI - Curtis Johnstone has revealed some of the essential OCS Wave 14 features – find them in his post OCS in 2010 - The UC 14 Wave.
As an MVP I’m under NDA so I can’t add to the above, but what I can say is that the future for OCS looks promising ;-)