Hotfix for Lync for Mac 2011 14.0.10

Published at February 25, 2015 ·  1 min read

This is a hotfix that you can apply to your Mac if you are running 14.0.10. From the folks I have helped deploy this to, it makes a significant improvement. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/3019983 The funny part about this is that the hotfix comes as a .exe file which is not native to Mac’s. In order to extract it, open a command window and use the Unzip command, i.e. “unzip hotfix.exe”. One of the first things I noticed that was fixed in this is that screen shares are much faster and smoother....

Lync and Site specific Simple URL's

Published at June 10, 2014 ·  2 min read

We recently had a requirement when deploying a new Lync 2013 pool to give a Site/Region their own Simple URL’s. I knew this could be done and it’s always easier when doing it during the deployment but this was the first time I had ever had to do it when the site had been running for awhile on Lync 2010 and using the Global Simple URL’s. Our requirement was to go from using the Global Simple URL (meet....

Reflections on Best of #Lync Conf Denver #COUCUG

Published at April 25, 2014 ·  3 min read

Yesterday, (April 24th), was the Best of Lync Conference Denver. As a leader of the Colorado Unified Communications User Group, I was involved in the planning, setup and execution of putting this event on. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on what we accomplished. First, we had a goal of 40 attendees. We ended up with 48 or 49 plus the sponsors and leaders of the user group for a grand total of 58....

Jabra Motion UC [Initial Thoughts]

Published at February 5, 2014 ·  4 min read

The good folks at Jabra sent me a stack of devices that I will be working my way through. This is my first impressions with the Jabra Motion UC device. My day job requires me to be on the phone a lot. I work from home most days and use a headset or speaker phone for an average of 4-5 hours per day. A good headset and a speaker phone are a must....

Find #Lync Versions

Published at January 21, 2014 ·  2 min read

Awhile back, a tool called Find Lync Versions was released. This tool was pretty helpful in finding out what versions of Lync were registering to a server. For me specifically, it helped me find a bunch of old CX700 phones that were connecting with OCS versions of Lync Phone Edition. I recently went to find it again and the site that it was hosted on was gone. I used the Way Back Machine and an old copy I had to use it again recently....

#Lync Conferencing Anonymous User Time-out

Published at January 16, 2014 ·  2 min read

Ran into this awhile back and documented it in my “To Blog” note pile. Client wanted to know how long someone who isn’t the meeting owner (i.e. a guest from another company) could stay in a meeting before they were kicked out if the meeting owner (aka Presenter) dropped. I found this article on Technet: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg398340.aspx and it explained the following: AnonymousUserGracePeriod: Represents the amount of time an anonymous (unauthenticated) user can remain in a meeting without an authenticated user being present in that same meeting....

Lync Debugging Tools updated

Published at January 14, 2014 ·  1 min read

My good friend Jonathan McKinney originally posted this article about the Lync Debugging tools: http://blog.lyncdialog.com/2013/03/inboundrouting-and-outboundrouting-does.html In the article he notes that you should copy the default.tmx file from C:\Common Files\Microsoft Lync Server 2013\Tracing to the folder where the Debugging tools are installed as the default.tmx file that shipped with the Debugging Tools was only ~5Mb in size. Well, I was following this advice as I always do and when I noticed that on this fresh install of the Debug tools, the default....

COUCUG January Meeting (1/30)

Published at January 13, 2014 ·  1 min read

The January meeting of the Colorado Unified Communications User Group (COUCUG) will be held on January 30th from 4-6pm at the Microsoft offices in the DTC. Plantronics will be sponsoring the meeting and will be providing food and drinks. Our topics this month are: * Lync Meeting Etiquette * Deploying Lync Voice Please RSVP at www.coucug.org so we can bring in the right amount of food. We’re looking forward to a great year with lots of great topics and hope you will join us....

#Lync for Mac 14.0.7 Bug

Published at December 18, 2013 ·  1 min read

Just a quick heads up, if you are running Lync for Mac 14.0.7 and you unplug a USB Audio Device (i.e. Plantronics headset, etc), Lync will crash. Found this at a client and had a few co-workers confirm. Hopefully Microsoft will get that fixed quickly but I’m guessing we will have to wait until 14.0.8 in three months. UPDATE: It has been confirmed as a bug and should be fixed when 14....

#Lync 2013 and Display Photo from Website

Published at December 3, 2013 ·  1 min read

This was a feature that was removed in the Lync 2013 client that many people had used in Lync 2010. Well, with the November 2013 Update, it’s back! One thing though, you have to enable it via policy (source: http://masteringlync.com/2013/11/11/lync-client-cu3-november-update-show-a-picture-from-a-website/): $PolicyEntry=New-CsClientPolicyEntry -Name EnablePresencePhotoOptions -Value true $currentClientPolicy=Get-CsClientPolicy -Identity Global $currentClientPolicy.PolicyEntry.Add($PolicyEntry) Set-CsClientPolicy -Instance $currentClientPolicy Before you run this, here is what you will see: After you run the code snippet: I know many people have been clamoring for this since the release of Lync 2013....

August/September COUCUG Meeting Content

Published at November 11, 2013 ·  1 min read

This has been posted for a bit but I forgot to blog it. If you are interested in SIP Tracing or Lync as a PBX, you’ll want to go grab these slide decks. Mike Stacy did an awesome job explaining SIP messages and I did the Lync as a PBX discussion. You can download them directly here: https://skydrive.live.com/?mkt=en-US#cid=5C11935A4B9961BF&id=5C11935A4B9961BF%21107 Or you can go to www.coucug.org and access all of the past presentations there....

DHCP Option 002 (Time-offset) for #Lync and #Polycom Phones

Published at November 1, 2013 ·  2 min read

*** Update 11/27/2014 - It was asked in the comments if this applies to the Lync Phone Edition devices (LPE). LPE is created/maintained by Microsoft but various companies manufacture the devices, including Polycom. The Polycom LPE’s are the CX series phones. This article does not apply to the LPE devices. It only applies to the Polycom phones that run Polycom’s own software such as the VVX line of phones....

Review - Getting Started with Microsoft Lync 2013

Published at August 8, 2013 ·  3 min read

*** DISCLAIMER - I was approached by Packt Publishing to review this book. I was given access to the book for free. All opinions are mine. Like a few other bloggers, I was asked to read through “Getting Started with Microsoft Lync Server” by Fabrizio Volpe. I had never read a Packt Publishing book before so I may have had poor understanding of how the book was constructed. It seems Packt Publishing books tend to be shorter and a bit more to the point than a traditional book, so be aware, this is not a massive tome like other computer books out there....

Using SoundeXchange to convert MP3 to WAV for #Lync and #MSExchange

Published at May 7, 2013 ·  2 min read

When working with Lync and Exchange I regularly find myself needing to convert MP3 files to WAV files for the specific need of UM. Typically, this involves finding the right bit rate, etc. After finding a command line tool (SoundeXchange) to do this, I naturally wanted it even easier so I created a function in PowerShell to do just that. In order to run this script, you do need a few pre-reqs....

Lync Server 2013 and the #Lync 2010 Client (Cross-post)

Published at February 25, 2013 ·  1 min read

The latest published article I wrote for my employer: http://pei.com/2013/02/lync-server-2013-and-the-lync-2010-client-2/ It is important to note that you should upgrade your Lync 2010 clients to the September 2012 update prior to moving the users over to the 2013 server. Thanks!...

#AudioCodes Mediant 800 SBA and #Lync 2013

Published at February 15, 2013 ·  2 min read

A week or so ago, I was in the middle of deploying an AudioCodes Mediant 800 at a remote site. The device had the Lync SBA installed as well. We were trying to get the SBA to work with our Lync 2013 deployment. This is just to document the issues we ran into. ***NOTE: The gateway must be updated to version 6.6 prior to upgrading the SBA. First, an SBA that is based on Lync 2010 cannot be an SBA for a Lync 2013 Front-end....

Lync 2013: What's new in Persistent Chat (Cross-post)

Published at January 22, 2013 ·  1 min read

One of the reasons I don’t post very often here anymore is because I write blog posts for my employer (PEI). Here is a Lync 2013 post I did on Persistent Chat: Lync 2013: What’s New in Persistent Chat I’m trying to post up new articles here but figure I can point folks back to some good articles over there as well. Thanks!...

Lync 2013 Refer Support

Published at January 16, 2013 ·  1 min read

This isn’t a major change, merely just a “if you aren’t paying attention it might just slide past you” type of thing. In Lync 2013, the option for Refer Support has changed from a Check-box to a Drop-down menu. Here is what it looks like in Lync Server 2010: And here is what it looks like in Lync Server 2013: Not really such a big deal but if you are just comparing check boxes between the two system, it can easily be over-looked....

Lync Web Services through the Reverse Proxy

Published at December 22, 2011 ·  2 min read

As a Lync consultant, I get asked about what the Reverse Proxy does in the Lync Architecture frequently. I can always recite the basics off the top of my head such as Address Book download and Meeting Content but here is what actually is tied to it: * Enabling external users to download meeting content for your meetings. * Enabling external users to expand distribution groups. * Enabling remote users to download files from the Address Book service....

Lync CU4 and Mobility

Published at December 9, 2011 ·  1 min read

Microsoft has released the CU4 and Mobility updates. Get the goodness here: CU4: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2493736 Mobility: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=28356 Mobility Doc: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=28355...