Lync Server 2013

Book Review: Getting Started with Microsoft Lync Server 2013

Ståle Hansen 4 Comments

CatturaI was asked by PACKT Publishing to review a new Lync 2013 book authored by Fabrizio Volpe called Getting Started with Microsoft Lync Server 2013. I have never done a book review before and figured it was a good start doing a review on a getting started book :)

About the book

The book was written by Fabrizio Volpe and was published July 2013. Going to the official landing site you will find that it is available both in print and as an e-book and sports 122 pages. You will also find the following overview

  • Understand and deliver the top required features such as Enterprise Voice, Persistent Chat, and mobility with step-by-step guides
  • Deploy a working environment applying load balancing and fault tolerant solutions
  • Create a collaborative space around the user’s needs, containing all the information and document history using the Persistent Chat Server

The book is aimed at system administrators, IT pros, unified communication technicians, and decision makers in companies or in the consultancy business.

My thoughts on the book

I found the book very accessible. It tells you how to implement Lync and at the same time goes through

  • Best Practice configuration
  • core technology without going to deep
    • will refer you to TechNet or good blog posts on the subject if you are interested in learning more
  • the steps for installing Lync in the correct order without too much jumping back and forth

It is fast paced, straight to the point in installing the core features and it is easy to follow throughout. I reads like a well written blog post series, and I like it since I tend to find to the point blog posts more accessible than the more thorough and sometimes vague TechNet type articles.

My recommendation

I would recommend this book to an IT-administrator or someone tasked with getting to know Lync and who wants to implement it in a lab and do it correct the first time. It is as it says in the title, a good starting point in to the world of Lync 2013 core technology. I would say it is not so much for Lync professionals or decision makers since it will not go deep enough in to the technology or discuss Lync as a state of the art Unified Communications experience in detail.

I did not make any money doing this review, I only got access to the e-book for a read-through in order to write the review.

Lync client sign-in and DNS records recommendations

Ståle Hansen 9 Comments

This article was last updated 23.12.14

The Lync 2013 clients uses lyncdiscover to find the pools and url’s they need to sign in to. I have spent a couple of days trying to figure out the most restrictive way to DNS records where all clients work and here is my recommendation regarding internal DNS records and where the clients should sign in from. I will start with the conclusion, and then continue with some background information and finish with some test results. This article does not talk much about external DNS records since they are the same as for Lync 2010, mostly. Continue reading →

Announcing Microsoft UC User Group Norway (MUCUGN)

Ståle Hansen 2 Comments

I am pleased to announce that I am part of starting up a virtual Lync and Exchange User Group for the norwegian UC enthusiasts. The name of the group is Microsoft UC User Group Norway (MUCUGN).

About MUCUGN

  • The group is virtual and it will initially be hosted solely on Lync so you can join from wherever you are in Norway
  • The group is available for all UC enthusiasts
    • Focus of the presentation will be technical as well as end user features
    • We will do a topic poll before each event
  • The first event will feature a joint Lync and Event topic
    • After that we split in Lync only and Exchange only events
  • Event interval will be about one and a half month

The first event

The first event will be held the 19th of june 2030. If you are interested sign up here: http://www.meetup.com/MUCUGN/

Topic for the first event: Lync and Exchange integrations with demo

  • In the 2013 timeframe Lync and Exchange are better together. This session will dive in to how they integrate, what features you can expect and show the features in a live demo
  • Speaker: MVP Ståle Hansen 

Troubleshooting Office Web Apps Server for Lync

Ståle Hansen 4 Comments

Recently I had to troubleshoot Office Web Apps Server deployments at a couple of customer sites. I had to work through the config and sometimes the Office Web Apps server feels disconnected from the rest of the Lync configuration and can be a difficult role to troubleshoot. I have tried to collect my notes and if I have missed something, let me know.

How to check that the Office Web App Server Web farm is deployed correct

How to check that Lync detects the Office Web Apps Server correct

  • Look for Evnet ID 41034
    • Web Conferencing Server has successfully discovered Office Web Apps Server, PowerPoint content is enabled
  • Look for Event ID 41032
    • Will show that it found the URL’s correct
    • Clicking on the internal URL should result is a server error message like in this picture
  • To force rediscovery of the URL’s restart the RTCDATAMCU service
    • Run Get-CsWindowsService RTCDATAMCU to see if there is any active conferences
    • Then stop and start the service
    • Look for Event ID 41032
  • Make sure that the Topology Builder is provisioned with the correct Office Web Apps Farm
    • Event ID 41033 is logged if the Lync server is unable to resolve the Office Web Apps Farm

On a side note, you may want to lock down your Office Web Apps Farm so that others can not use it. Read more in this post by MCM Marjus Sirvinsks: http://marjuss.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/basic-security-better-than-no-security-limit-access-to-office-web-apps-server/

TEL, SIP, mailto, and Lync meeting links association

Ståle Hansen 4 Comments

On a windows 8 machine you can have several application that can open Lync and Outlook related URL’s. This can be a problem since it may not always be the application you want to use that is opening your links. This article will help you take control of your Unified Communications links.

The applications

  • Lync Rich (desktop) client – Opens TEL:, SIP: and Lync meeting links
  • Lync Windows Store App – Opens Lync meeting links
  • Skype – Opens TEL:
  • Chrome – Opens TEL: and mailto:
  • Outlook – Opens mailto:
  • Mail App – Opens mailto:

Usually I would think you would prefer Lync Rich Client and Outlook to open you links. So when the Lync Windows Store app opens meetings you are an administrator of or Skype opens TEL: links when you want to call someone with Lync this could be an issue. I will in this article talk about when you use the URL’s and how to take control over them. Continue reading →

Lync Server 2013 and Operations Manager article at NextHop

Ståle Hansen 1 Comment

LyncSCOMI am a big fan of active monitoring of Lync Server through System Center Operations Manager. In january I did a talk on this topic at the Nordic Infrastructure Conference (NIC) 2013 with an extensive demo. May 2013 I got the honour of publishing an article on this topic at the official Microsoft blog, NextHop. It is ranked in the top 1% most visited Microsoft blogs so there is a lot of activity there.

My key takeaways from the article is that Operations Manager, tuned and maintained correctly, will ensure Quality of Life for the administrators as well as the second and third tier support engineers. I strongly believe this, and I love what they have done with the Synthetic Transactions and improved them in the Watcher Node with rich error reporting.  Head over to NextHop to read more :) http://blogs.technet.com/b/nexthop/archive/2013/05/17/notes-from-the-field-lync-server-2013-and-active-monitoring-with-system-center-operations-manager.aspx

You can also view my NIC talk and download my deck from SlideShare

Lync 2010/2013 Script to find available numbers in a Lync deployment

Ståle Hansen 10 Comments

LyncPSHaving worked on a couple of Enterprise Voice deployments since the launch of Lync Server 2013 I am still missing a feature that I honestly thought would be incorporated in to Lync by now. It is the ability to find unused available numbers in a given number range assigned to the Lync Server based on Unassigned Numbers. I even hoped it would be possible to assign a teluri to users through a drop down list in the Silverlight GUI since the information is available in the server. I hope this will be available in a future Cumulative Update.

This is almost how I wrote it back in january 2011 when I created the List-UnusedNumber.ps1 script. This is still true and I have therefore revitalized the old script and upgraded it and tested it on Lync 2013. The original script was also featured on the Lync PowerShell blog, which was a huge thing for me. Continue reading →

Awarded Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) 2013

Ståle Hansen 1 Comment

Today I received the Microsoft MVP Award for my contributions in the Lync Community. This is the Third time I have received this award, the first time was in 2011. This is huge and it is really inspiring to get recognition for my contributions. Here’s an excerpt from the email I got:

MVP2013

Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2013 Microsoft® MVP Award! This award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others. We appreciate your outstanding contributions in Lync technical communities during the past year.

I feel very honored to be part of this outstanding community and I want to mention the MVP Summit as a highlight of the experience. With all the cool things happening around Lync, Office and Windows 8 I look forward to contribute to the community the coming year as well.

See this cool video about being an MVP created for the 2013 20 year anniversary

Resources

About the MVP Award Program
Lync MVP Awardees
MVPs.org community site
Microsoft MVP FAQ

Microsoft Press: Using Lync Server 2013 Calling Number Translation Rules

Ståle Hansen 2 Comments

On 25th of march I was part of the MVP monday blog series where MVPs from all the products get picked to write an article from their product field. I decided to write about Calling number translation rules in Lync Server 2013. To my surprise the article was chosen to be published over at the Microsoft Press blog as well as part of their ongoing series. This is so cool and I am honoured to be part of the group of authors at these two blogs.

Read the full article here: From the MVPs: Using Lync Server 2013 calling number translation rules to change display number

mvpbloggmspress

Lync 2013 Downloads

Ståle Hansen 10 Comments

image4A collection of important downloads, documentation and whitepapers for Lync Server 2013, will be updated continuously. Let me know if I have missed something important. I also recommend listening to The UC Architects podcast where we will discuss tools, features and news regarding Lync and Exchange
Last updated 23.12.14

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