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.

*** 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.

Lately, I have found myself having to do the math for the time offset for DHCP Option 002. I decided it was worth just documenting them so I could look them up quickly and what better way to come up with all of them than with Powershell?

*** 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. This is 122 pages including the index and everything else.

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.  First, you need to install SoundeXchange.  You can download it from here: http://sox.sourceforge.net.  My script is based on version 14.4.0 and I believe there is a newer version out so change the script below to fit the version you install.

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!

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.  This should make sense as a backup registrar must be on the same platform as the Front-end it is backing up (i.e. 2010 and 2010 or 2013 and 2013).  Sadly, I battled this way longer than I should have before this realization hit me.

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!

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.

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.
* Accessing the Microsoft Lync Web App client.
* Accessing the Dial-in Conferencing Settings webpage.
* Accessing the Location Information service.
* Enabling external devices to connect to Device Update web service and obtain updates.
* Enabling mobile applications to automatically discover mobility URLs from the Internet.

One thing to note here is the last one. Just a week or so ago, the Lync Mobility Service was released. The Lync Mobility Service is published via the Reverse Proxy as well as the other pieces.

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