MSIT’s Lync “Dogfood” Deployment

Microsoft internal IT department has released this new Whitepaper on their Lync deployment that was used to displace 7 PBX’s. It has some great lessons learned and driving reasons behind the internal deployment of Lync.

Of course Microsoft were always going to deploy Lync internally but MSIT are pretty straight forward and honest when it comes to product feedback to Microsoft product groups and customers. They had a voluntary program for people to sign up as beta users. Over 28,000 signed up to be on the “dogfood” program which shows just how popular the features of OCS R2 had been internally.

As for me I have been on the MSIT Lync “dogfood” program since they launched. Having been through a number of upgrades as they moved from Beta to RTM code it really has been a successful program with great results. I haven't experience a single service interruption and considering I am a mobile worker rarely stepping into the office this is impressive.

If you get the chance check the whitepaper out. Its in point format so it’s a quick easy read.

Comments welcomed.

VoIPNorm

Lync Work Flow Poster

Paul from NexusIS has done a great job putting together this Lync work flow poster. Well worth checking out as he has done a great job.

Clicking on the picture will take you to the larger view. Remember that this is copyright protected material and belongs to Paul Gurman and Nexus IS.

Comments welcomed.

VoIPNorm

More on Lync Inbound Normalization

A question arose from an earlier blog post around inbound normalization which I thought I would respond with a much larger post rather than just a comment.

For a great in-depth look at normalization rules check out this blog post by Jon from Time2Market here. Also the TechNet guide can be found here.For this post I am just focusing on inbound normalization configuration.

There are three options for inbound normalization in regards to granularity. Either Global, Site and Pool can be selected when creating a new dial plan. Two important points about granularity:

1 .Dial plans are not additive and neither are the normalization rules. So what I am trying to say is that inbound normalization will only happen against one dial plan and with that…

2. The most granular is the dial plan that will be used for inbound normalization. So if you create a gateway dial plan it will be used and a site or Global dial plan will be ignored for inbound normalization. Same can be said if you create a site dial plan with no gateway dial plan, in this case the global (default) dial plan will be ignored for inbound normalization and the site will be used.

Below is a diagram showing how the hierarchy works within Lync. At the pool level you have a service level dial plan specific to gateways.The service level PSTN gateway dial plan is applied to the incoming calls from a particular gateway.

Below is a great diagram that shows in detail the inbound and outbound normalization process when using a gateway service level dial plan.

Thanks to Clive for providing the diagrams used in this post.

As you can see getting inbound normalization right is pretty important and not terribly complex with Lync. There is a few important steps but once its in place it doesn’t require a lot of tending unless your inbound dialing behaviors change which means an update to your normalizations rules. At a high level it seems pretty obvious unless you have a specific need inbound normalization is best to happen at a site or global level. This simplifies your environment and centralizes your inbound normalization configuration but this may not always be possible. Infinite control of inbound normalization may be required which means gateway service level dial plans will be required.

Comments welcomed.

VoIPNorm

How to Disable IM in Communicator/Lync

Sounds strange but it can be done. This means that you will still see presence and still be able to do video, voice etc. but no longer have the option for IM. I have heard it works for Lync as well. Basically it’s a registry key setting on the PC. See below.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/954648

1. Install the Communicator 2007 update package that is dated October 24, 2008. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   957707 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/957707/ ) Description of the update for Communicator 2007: October 24, 2008

2. Configure the DisableIM registry entry. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
   2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

      HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator

   3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
   4. Type DisableIM, and then press ENTER.
   5. Right-click DisableIM, and then click Modify.
   6. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
   7. Exit Registry Editor.

VoIPNorm