Office Communications Server 2007 R2 conferences provide rich multimedia experiences. The following sections discuss the four main types of multimedia conferencing: multiparty instant messaging, data collaboration, audio/video (A/V), and audio conferencing provider support.
Multiparty instant messaging, or Group IM, refers to an IM conversation among three or more parties. The Microsoft Windows Messenger 5.x and Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 clients, along with Live Communications Server 2005 SP1, already support Group IM based on establishing a separate connection between each two-user pair engaged in the conversation. In Office Communications Server 2007 R2, a Group IM session is implemented as a server-hosted conference with IM modality. This approach is more scalable and offers greater flexibility to participants than a group conversation that is based on a large number of linked peer-to-peer conversations.
The main client for multiparty IM conferences is Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2. A Group IM session can be created in one of the following ways:
By sending an instant message to multiple parties
By inviting additional parties to a two-person IM conversation
By sending an instant message to a Microsoft Exchange Server distribution list
Data collaboration conferences are often referred to as Web conferences. Office Communications Server 2007 R2 supports a rich mix of data collaboration possibilities, including the following:
PowerPoint presentations. Office Communications Server 2007 R2 provides native Microsoft Office PowerPoint support, which includes uploading and sharing slide decks that are created by using Office PowerPoint and that include animations and other rich features.
Application and desktop sharing. Office Communications Server 2007 R2 enables sharing of applications among multiple participants and giving other participants control of the desktop or application. Administrators can customize the level of sharing or control that is allowed in their organization or disable this feature completely through Meeting policy.
Microsoft Office Document Imaging (MODI) support. Office Communications Server 2007 R2 also supports uploading and sharing of any document format that supports the MODI print driver. This support provides conference users the ability to share in read-only mode virtually any kind of documents that can be printed to MODI file format, including all Microsoft Office document formats, Adobe PDF format, and HTML file format.
Web slides. Sharing URLs to Web pages that can be viewed and navigated independently by all meeting participants.
Multimedia content. Office Communications Server supports uploading and sharing media files (such as Flash or Microsoft Windows Media technology files). The viewing of the media files by all meeting participants can be synchronous (controlled by the presenter) or asynchronous (participants view files independently).
Handouts. Exchanging files in their native formats among meeting participants.
Snapshot slides. Capturing and displaying a static view of (an area of) the user’s desktop.
Whiteboards. Free-form drawing and writing in a common shared space.
Text slides. Writing and sharing text on a virtual whiteboard (separate from the graphical whiteboard features).
Annotations. Annotating many types of slides, including PowerPoint slides and
MODI document slides.
Polling. The ability to create questions and answers and compile and share responses from participants.
Q&A. Asking and answering questions during a meeting.
In-meeting chat. Peer-to-peer IM within the context of a meeting.
Shared notes. The ability to edit and share meeting notes with other participants.
The main client for data collaboration conferences is Office Communicator 2007 R2. Microsoft Live Meeting 2007 is deprecated with the functionality built into the Office Communicator client. A data collaboration session can be created in one of the following ways:
By scheduling a data collaboration conference in Microsoft Office Outlook with the Outlook Conferencing Add-in
By selecting Meet Now in Office Live Meeting 2007
By adding data collaboration to an existing IM and A/V session in Office Communicator 2007 R2
Office Communications Server 2007 R2 supports multiparty A/V conferencing. Through advanced wideband codecs such as Real-Time Audio (RTAudio) and Real-Time Video (RTVideo), Office Communications Server (through the A/V Conferencing Server role) delivers high-quality audio and video in a conference.
The audio streams from all participants are mixed at the server and broadcasted to all participants. For video, the video stream of the most active speaker is sent to all participants. When deployed on a separate computer, the A/V Conferencing Server can support up to 250 participants within a single session.
The main clients for A/V conferences are Office Communicator 2007 R2 and Office Live Meeting 2007. An A/V conference session can be initiated in the following ways:
By scheduling a data collaboration conference with audio and video in Office Outlook with the Outlook Conferencing Add-in
By scheduling a conference call with audio and video in Outlook with the Outlook Conferencing Add-in
By starting an A/V conversation with two or more other participants in Office Communicator
External audio conference participants who have not deployed Office Communications Server can participate through the services of a third-party Audio Conferencing Provider (ACP). The provider enables conferencing over an external Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) bridge.
Office Live Meeting 2007 is the main client that supports ACP conferences. It provides user interfaces to control various aspects of the audio conference hosted on an external PSTN bridge, such as mute self, unmute self, mute all, and so on.
ACP integration is managed by the Telephony Conferencing Server, which always runs as a separate process on either an Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard Edition Server or Enterprise Edition front-end server. Integration with the ACP occurs by configuring a federated connection with the external service provider, as you would with any other federated partner.
There are several new and enhanced features in Communicator Web Access Server R2. The features that have a direct effect on conferencing include the following:
Support for distribution groups. The client can add distribution groups to contact lists and use these distribution groups for exchanging instant messages with groups rather than individual contacts.
Audio conferencing. Communicator Web Access can receive, initiate, and manage audio conference calls.
Desktop sharing. A client can initiate desktop sharing with another user by using the Communicator Web Access browser interface.
Hosting for dial-in audio conferencing Web page. Office Communications Server R2 functionality for dial-in conferencing is extended by means of a Web page that is hosted by Communicator Web Access R2.
The Communicator Web Access Server enables users to add distribution lists to their contact lists. A distribution group in the contact list enables a Web client to initiate an instant message session with multiple users by using the distribution group membership.
Administratively, this is an easy feature to implement and manage because the functionality is built in and is active when the Conferencing Web Access Server is brought up. The main dependency is Active Directory, which will already be in place in your environment.
Audio conferencing in Communicator Web Access R2 is a multiparty audio conference in which there are at least two other participants. The user provides Communicator Web Access Web with his local telephone number, such as a cell phone or home phone, as shown in Figure 6-1. Communicator Web Access will then connect the user’s phone to the PSTN and initiate calls to the other attendees by using the A/V Conferencing Server.
Figure 6-1. Start an audio conference by requesting that Communicator Web Access Server contact you at the phone number you want.
Communicator Web Access Servers can also control and manage incoming calls. The requirement for managing incoming calls is that you already have a deployed voice environment with Office Communications Server 2007 R2 that is prepared to receive calls from the PSTN. No additional configuration is necessary to implement audio conferencing with Communicator Web Access R2.
Ad hoc desktop sharing (the ability to share a desktop with another user) has been a consistent feature of Communicator Web Access. With Communicator Web Access R2, users can share their desktops through Web browsers when connected through a Communicator Web Access R2 server. There are additional requirements to enable this functionality at the client side. Users must install plug-ins for their browsers, as shown in Figure 6-2.
After this plug-in is installed, a Windows user can initiate sharing, view, or take control of a desktop sharing session. Users that have computers based on Apple Macintosh or Linux can view or take control, but will not be able to initiate a desktop sharing session.
When the new desktop sharing session is initiated, a meeting URL is created for new participants, as shown in Figure 6-3. When you use Distribution Group support, you can use a group contact to invite all members of the group. If a user is configured and enabled for outside access (remote access), they can join the sharing session. IM to any other user in the session is available to all participants.
After the session is started, all participants will be able to see everything on the presenter’s screen as shown in Figure 6-4. Caution the presenter that items and information that should not be disclosed to participants should be minimized or ended before sharing the desktop,
Audio conferencing, discussed previously, is also available with desktop sharing by using the call feature described.
Users who are not able to get to a computer to use Office Communicator, but who still want to attend a conference, can call in to the call by using a mobile, desk, or home phone. When arranging the conference call, the conference organizer adds a conference call-in number. The caller then enters a conference identification number and a personal identification number (PIN) when prompted. The attendee would have received the conference ID and PIN in an e-mail inviting him to the conference. After the caller joins the conference, he will appear in the conference roster.
The Communicator Web Access Server enables remote users to participate in IM, conferencing, application sharing, audio conferences, and more. Of course, before being able to allow users to access the server, it has to be implemented and configured.
Installing Communicator web Access by using the deployment tools As you might expect, Communicator Web Access R2 can be deployed only after you have installed Office Communications Server 2007 R2. As soon as Office Communications Server 2007 R2 is running, you can install Communicator Web Access on any server that is a member of a domain within the Office Communications Server forest. Note that you must either be a member of the Domain Admins group or have been delegated the required permissions to install Communicator Web Access. Refer to Figure 6-5 for an architectural overview of a deployed Communicator Web Access R2 installation.
Figure 6-5. Reference architecture of Communicator Web Access as deployed for both internal and external access
The installation of Communicator Web Access is a straightforward process once you have the base server set up and configured. There are four main steps to follow to successfully set up the server.
Install Communicator Web Access.
Activate the Communicator Web Access server.
Create the virtual server.
Publish the Communicator Web Access URLs to Active Directory.
Each of the main procedures in the preceding list is detailed in the following sections. Completing the four main steps will result in a functional Communicator Web Access server for your Office Communications Server infrastructure.
To install Communicator Web Access, follow these steps.
Log on to the computer where Communicator Web Access is to be installed.
From the Office Communications Server 2007 installation media, double-click the appropriate setup file. This will be SetupEE.exe if you are running the Enterprise Edition of Office Communications Server, or SetupSE.exe if you are running the Standard Edition. This will start the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Deployment Wizard.
On the wizard’s home page, click Deploy Other Server Roles.
On the Deploy Other Server Roles page, click Deploy Communicator Web Access.
On the Deploy Office Communications Server 2007, Communicator Web Access page, under Step 1: Install Communicator Web Access, click Install.
On the Welcome page, click Next.
On the License Agreement page, click I Accept The Terms Of This License Agreement and then click Next. If you do not accept these terms, setup will terminate.
On the Install Location page, type in the local path where you want Communicator Web Access to be installed (or accept the default location) and then click Next.
On the Confirm Installation page, click Next. Setup will proceed to copy the files and install Communicator Web Access.
On the Installation Complete page, click Finish.
Do not close the Deployment Wizard window. Instead, continue directly with the next procedure, activating the Communicator Web Access Server.
To activate the Communicator Web Access Server, follow these steps in the Deployment Wizard.
Under Step 2: Activate Communicator Web Access, click Run.
On the Welcome page, click Next.
On the Select Domain Service Account page, in the Account Name text box, either type a name for the service account under which Communicator Web Access will run or accept the default service name (CWAService). In the Password text box, type a password to be used for the account. (Passwords must meet the password strength and complexity requirements used in your domain.) In the Confirm Password text box, retype the password and then click Next.
On the Select Server Certificate page, click Select Certificate.
In the Select Certificate dialog box, in the Issued To column, click the certificate issued to the Communicator Web Access server. Note that servers will be listed by their fully qualified domain name (FQDN). For example, the server cwaserver1 in the domain litwareinc.com would be listed by using the following FQDN: cwaserver1.litwareinc.com. After selecting the proper certificate, click OK.
On the Select Server Certificate page, verify that the Issued To text box contains the value CN= followed by the FQDN of the server (for example, CN=cwaserver1.litwareinc.com). Click Next.
On the Confirm Installation page, click Next.
On the Activation Complete page, click Close. If you want to review the tasks the Activation Wizard completed, click View Log before clicking Close.
Do not close the Deployment Wizard window. Instead, continue directly to the next procedure, creating the virtual server.
To create the virtual server, follow these steps in the Deployment Wizard.
Under Step 3: Create Virtual Server, click Run.
On the Welcome page, click Next.
On the Select Virtual Server Type page, select the server type that you want to use, either internal or external. An internal server is designed for users who log on to Communicator Web Access from within an organization’s firewall. An external server is designed for users who log on to Communicator Web Access from outside the firewall. Make the selection and then click Next.
On the Select Authentication Type page, select either Use Built-in Authentication (the default) or Use Custom Authentication and then click Next. Support for Integrated Windows authentication and for forms-based authentication are included in Communicator Web Access; if you plan to use either of these authentication methods, you should choose built-in authentication. If you will be using a third-party authentication method (such as two-factor authentication or single sign-on), select the custom authentication option. (Note that custom authentication methods typically require a reverse proxy server or other authentication server located somewhere in the perimeter network.) If you select custom authentication, you will also have the option of specifying the URL of a Web page that users will be directed to when they sign out. Simply type that address in the Sign-Out URL (Optional) text box.
If you are configuring the Communicator Web Access Server for internal users, on the Select Authentication page, select one or both of the check boxes to indicate whether you will use forms-based authentication, Integrated Windows authentication (NTLM and Kerberos), or both. Integrated Windows authentication is the most secure authentication method and is also the simplest for users. After making the required configuration changes to Internet Explorer, a user logged on to a computer with domain credentials can be connected to Communicator Web Access without having to log on to the service as well. However, integrated Windows authentication can be used only by users running Microsoft Windows and a browser that supports Kerberos Version 5 network authentication. In addition, this type of authentication is accessible only behind the organization’s firewall.
Forms-based authentication is less secure than Integrated Windows authentication because user credentials (user name, domain, and password) are entered using plain text. (To ensure that credentials are passed to the server in encrypted format, configure your server to use HTTPS.) With forms-based authentication, users trying to connect to Communicator Web Access will be presented with a dialog box requiring them to enter their domain credentials. These credentials must be validated before the user can access the service.
This page appears only if you are configuring the server for internal users. If you are configuring the server for external users, you will not see the Select Authentication page because only forms-based authentication (or a custom authentication method) is supported for users outside the firewall.
Note that it is possible to change the authentication type after the virtual server has been created. To do this, open the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Communicator Web Access snap-in, right-click the virtual server name, and then click Properties. In the Communicator Web Access Properties dialog box, on the Authentication tab, change the authentication type as needed. If you are using forms-based authentication, this dialog box also enables you to specify timeout values (in minutes) for both public and private computer access.
On the Select Browser Connection Type page, accept the default of HTTPS (recommended) and then click Select Certificate. For security reasons, it is highly recommended that you use HTTPS, even if your deployment does not require it. If you do select HTTP, the option for selecting a certificate will be unavailable to you. In that case, simply click Next. The following message will appear:
You have selected HTTP connectivity. This is an insecure form of connectivity. Without proper network safeguards, you may incur security risks.
If you click Yes, the connection type will be set to HTTP. If you click No, you will have the opportunity to select HTTPS as the connection type.
If, as recommended, you select HTTPS (and click Select Certificate) in the Select Certificate dialog box, select a certificate with the FQDN of your Communicator Web Access Server (or load balancer, as appropriate) and then click OK. On the Select Browser Connection Type page, click Next.
Note that it is possible to change the connection type after the virtual server has been created. To do this, open the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Communicator Web Access snap-in, right-click the virtual server name, and then click Properties. In the Communicator Web Access Properties dialog box, on the Connectivity tab, change the connection type as needed. This dialog box also enables you to change the virtual server IP address and port number.
On the Select IP Address and Port Aetting page, select an IP address from the drop-down list or keep the default value (All Unassigned). In the Port box, type the port setting for Communicator Web Access or accept the default value (443 for HTTPS and 80 for HTTP). Click Next. If the selected port is already in use, the following message will appear:
A port conflict has been detected. If you continue without changing the port number the virtual server will be created in stopped mode.
If you click Yes, the port value will be retained and the virtual server will be created but will not be started. If you click No, you will have the opportunity to enter a new port number. Keep in mind that virtual servers cannot be used until they have been started.
On the Name The Virtual Server page, type a name to be given to the virtual server or accept the default name Communicator Web Access. (This is the name used to identify the virtual server in the Communicator Web Access snap-in and in the Internet Information Services Manager snap-in.) Click Next.
On the Specify A Listening Port page, type in a port number and then click Next. The virtual server will use this port to monitor for SIP messages.
On the Select A Pool page, type the FQDN of the server to be used as the "next hop" server. Enter a port number in the Port text box and then click Next.
In Communicator Web Access R2, anonymous users are allowed to take part in audio conferences or desktop sharing sessions. However, that presents Communicator Web Access with a challenge. When an authenticated users joins a conference or desktop sharing session, Communicator Web Access automatically proxies messages to the user’s home server. By definition, anonymous users do not have a home server. Therefore, you must designate a server to function as a home server so that Communicator Web Access has a location to which to proxy messages.
Note that it is possible to change the next hop server after the virtual server has been created. To do this, open the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Communicator Web Access snap-in, locate the virtual server, right-click it, and then click Properties. In the Communicator Web Access Properties dialog box, on the Next Hop tab, change the server name and port as needed.
On the Automatically Start Virtual Server page, select the default Start The Virtual Server After The Create Virtual Server Finishes and then click Next. If you clear this value, the virtual server will be created but not started. If you choose not to start the virtual server right away, you can manually start the server by right-clicking the server name in the Communicator Web Access snap-in and clicking Start.
On the Review Virtual Server Settings page, click Next.
On the Create Virtual Server Complete page, click Close. If you want to review the tasks the Activation Wizard has completed, click View Log before clicking Close.
Note that virtual servers can also be created by using the Communicator Web Access snap-in. To do this, right-click the Communicator Web Access Server in the snap-in and then click Create Virtual Web Server. Doing so will start the virtual server Setup Wizard.
Do not close the Deployment Wizard window. Instead, continue with the next procedure, publishing the Communicator Web Access URLs in Active Directory.
Under Step 4 in the Deployment Wizard: Publish Communicator Web Access URLs, click Run.
In the Publish Web Addresses dialog box, enter the URL for the new server in the appropriate box (Internal Web Address for an internal server; External Web Address for an external server) and then click Publish. Make sure you reference the correct protocol when entering the URL. For example, if you selected HTTPS as the connection type, the URL might look like this: https://im.litwareinc.com. If you chose HTTP as the connection type, the URL might look like this: http://im.litwareinc.com.
In the subsequent message box, click OK. Note that you can also publish URLs by using the Communicator Web Access snap-in. To do so, right-click the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Communicator Web Access node and then click Publish Web Addresses.
Close the Deployment Wizard window.