leedesmond’s blog

This downloadable poster (PDF format) provides a visual look into the different Office Communications Server 2007 R2 workloads, protocol traffic flows and port usage, including how certificate requirements and DNS and firewall configuration come into play in the planning, design, deployment and support of your OCS 2007 R2 infrastructure.

Thanks Iyaz (Microsoft) for sharing this with the community!

Technorati tags: LCS/OCS, OCS 2007 R2

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- Introducing Office Communicator
This is a level 100 instructor-led course for end users and may also be used by IT Pros as a tool for rolling out Communicator to encourage user adoption. You can choose to attend the session live on a number of available dates or view it on-demand.

- Live Meeting for End Users / Administrators
Free on-line, instructor-led training on various topics for the LM service categorized into Core, Supplemental and LM Administrators.

- Live Meeting Self-Guided Online Adoption Resource
This resource is designed for Live Meeting Administrators or project champions tasked with deploying Live Meeting across their organization. Follow the Live Meeting on-boarding strategy using the 5 different steps sprinkled with tips and links to additional resources.

Technorati tags: LCS/OCS, OCS 2007 R2, Training

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Users with supported versions of Internet Explorer on Windows 2000/2003/2008/R2*, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 should check out the very important information described in the Security Bulletin MS10-002 (some had it name MS01-002).

Details and download of this cumulative security update is documented in KB978207. Alternatively, run a manual check, download and install the patch via Windows Update from Control Panel. As always, plan, test, (backup before) deployment of any security fixes on critical infrastructure should not be overlooked for any sizable deployments.

This out-of-band security update is rated critical**, supersedes MS09-072 and affects Internet Explorer version 5.01 through IE 8. Severe vulnerabilities in the browser could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page.

Some recommended best practices:

• activate host-based firewall
• running, up-to-date anti-malware / spyware / anti-virus application
• use an account that does not have local administrative rights for day-to-day tasks (browsing, email, etc.)
• refrain from visiting, opening or clicking links from suspicious sources
• enable Automatic Windows Update (see KB294871)
• scan and clean your machine to identify and remove malicious software
• subscribe and keep up to date with security bulletins

* Server Core editions not affected
** rated moderate for IE 6 on supported editions of Windows Server 2003 as of this writing

References:
- Microsoft Security Response Center blog
- TechNet: Security Bulletin Search
- Vulnerability in Internet Explorer could allow remote code execution (KB979352)
- Security update for Internet Explorer, January 2010
- Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for January 2010

Technorati tags: Security

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- OCS 2007 R2 Hotfix KB968802
This January 2010 hotfix applies to a number of OCS 2007 R2 server roles as well as administration tools, bringing the version up to 6907.83. You can manually install them following closely the instructions or rely on the Cumulative Server Update Installer (ServerUpdateInstaller.exe) to automate the process. More details and download here.

In addition, you must deploy the newer, corresponding cumulative update for the Back-end database (KB977349). This applies to both Enterprise and Standard Edition server. For both cases, OCS2009-DBUpgrade.msi is applicable only if the server is installed with the OCS 2007 R2 Administration Tools and/or Microsoft SQL Client Tools. For SQL 2008 Client Tools, the SQL 2005 Service Pack 2 (SP2) Backward Compatibility must also be installed. Failure to fulfill this requirement may cause this error to surface:

There is a problem with this windows installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor.

- Office Communicator 2007 R2 Hotfix (KB976135)*
This particular update brings the version of MOC to 6907.83 and supersedes KB972884 released in Oct 2009. You may have to apply 969695, 969696 and 969821 separately to fix the issue described in KB971628.

- OCS 2007 R2 Group Chat Hotfix (KB977338)
KB 969817, 969818, and 977338 provide details of this hotfix package for Group Chat feature.

- Unified Communications Enhanced Presence Schemas for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 (link)

-  Office Communicator Phone Edition (2007 R2 - link)

See also:
KB969696 “Description of the update for Live Meeting Conferencing Add-in for Outlook: July 2009″ updates the Live Meeting Conferencing Add-in for Outlook to version 8.0.6362.140.

KB961553 “Description of the Windows-based Live Meeting 2007 client update package: March 2009” (version 8.0.6362.128)

* update #6 for MOC R2
Keywords: patch, hotfix, update, rollup package, moc, ocs, 2007, r2

Technorati tags: LCS/OCS, OCS 2007 R2, Mobile

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A double pack to start off the year indeed! Come join me for this level 300 TechNet Webcast of the Office Communication Server Series lined up for the coming month in February 2010. Details and registration here.

Tuesday, February 02, 2010
11:00 AM-12:30PM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) / 2000 hrs - 2130 hrs (CET+1) Central European Time
What is my local time?

TechNet Webcast: Network Considerations for Deploying Communications Server 2007 R2 (Level 300)
Event ID: 1032439126

Deploying and scaling Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 in your enterprise network requires thoughtful consideration to ensure the quality of experience for end users. In this webcast, we discuss the features of Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 R2 that are relevant to the network administrator, including codecs, quality monitoring, quality of service (QoS), and virtual local area network (VLAN) support. Discover how large enterprises have used these features, along with network right-provisioning and bandwidth planning, for their own successful OCS deployments, and learn how to apply these techniques to your enterprise network.

Keywords: TechNet, online, ocs, webcast, learn

Technorati tags: Community/User Group, Events, LCS/OCS, OCS 2007 R2, Webcast

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A great piece of news to start off a brand new year in 2010! I am super excited to announce that I shall be delivering the very first Microsoft TechNet Webcast for the Office Communication Server Series of the year. An excerpt of this event is summarized below; surf right over here for more details and sign up today for this event!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
11:00 AM-12:30 PM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) / 2000 hrs - 2130 hrs (CET+1) Central European Time
What is my local time?

TechNet Webcast: Ten Ways to Become a Hero with Microsoft Office Communications Server (Level 200)
Event ID: 1032439117

Do you have a Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) infrastructure deployed, or are you in the midst of a pilot project and want to know how you can have a real impact? Attend this webcast and learn ten ways OCS can help you become a hero to your organization. We discuss how you can positively impact your organization from the receptionist (using attendant console to address pain points for managing inbound communications) to the CFO (saving money with conferencing and increasing worker productivity by reaching the right people at the right time).

Keywords: TechNet, online, ocs, webcast, learn

Technorati tags: Community/User Group, Events, LCS/OCS, OCS 2007 R2, Webcast

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