Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Published: September 2010
This document is provided “as-is”. Information and views expressed in this document, including
URL and other Internet Web site references, may change without notice. You bear the risk of
using it.
Some examples depicted herein are provided for illustration only and are fictitious. No real
association or connection is intended or should be inferred.
This document does not provide you with any legal rights to any intellectual property in any
Microsoft product. You may copy and use this document for your internal, reference purposes.
This document is confidential and proprietary to Microsoft. It is disclosed and can be used only
pursuant to a non-disclosure agreement.
Copyright © 2010 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Microsoft, Active Directory, ActiveSync, ActiveX, Excel, Forefront, Groove, Hyper-V, Internet
Explorer, Lync, MSDN, MSN, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, RoundTable, SharePoint,
Silverlight, SQL Server, Visio, Visual C++, Windows, Windows Media, Windows PowerShell,
Windows Server, and Windows Vista are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. All
other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Contents
Planning for IM and Presence.....................................................................................................1
Features and Functionality of IM and Presence.......................................................................1
Defining Requirements for IM and Presence...........................................................................1
Topologies and Components for IM and Presence...................................................................2
Requirements for IM and Presence..........................................................................................2
Planning for Conferencing...........................................................................................................5
Defining Requirements for Conferencing.................................................................................5
Web Conferencing and A/V Conferencing................................................................................9
Features and Functionality of Web Conferencing and A/V Conferencing.............................9
Topologies for Web Conferencing and A/V Conferencing...................................................10
Conferencing Topologies for Standard Edition................................................................10
Conferencing Topologies for Enterprise Edition...............................................................10
Components for Web Conferencing and A/V Conferencing................................................11
Conferencing Components for Standard Edition..............................................................11
Conferencing Components for Enterprise Edition............................................................11
Requirements for Conferencing..........................................................................................12
Dial-In Conferencing in Lync Server 2010..............................................................................13
Dial-In Conferencing Capabilities........................................................................................13
Topologies Supporting Dial-In Conferencing.......................................................................15
Components Used for Dial-In Conferencing.......................................................................15
Requirements for Dial-In Conferencing...............................................................................17
Planning for Dial-In Conferencing.......................................................................................19
Deployment Process for Dial-In Conferencing....................................................................20
Planning for IM and PresenceInstant messaging (IM) and presence are the core capabilities of Microsoft Lync Server
2010 communications software, and are automatically deployed and enabled in every Lync
Server 2010 installation. The following sections provide more details about IM and presence.
Features and Functionality of IM and Presence
Defining Requirements for IM and Presence
Topologies and Components for IM and Presence
Requirements for IM and Presence
Features and Functionality of IM and PresenceInstant messaging (IM) enables your users to communicate with each other in real time on their
computers using text-based messages. Both two-party and multi-party IM sessions are
supported. A participant in a two-party IM conversation can add a third participant to the
conversation at any time. When this happens, the conversation window changes to support
conferencing features.
If you also deploy Edge Servers, you can choose to enable your users to exchange instant
messages with users of public IM services, including any or all of the following: the Windows Live
network of Internet services, AOL, and Yahoo!, as well as providers and servers that use
Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), such as Google Talk and Jabber. Note
that a separate license might be required for public IM connectivity with Windows Live, AOL, and
Yahoo!
Presence provides information to users about the status of other on the network. A user’s
presence status provides information to help others decide whether they should try to contact the
user and whether to use instant messaging, phone, or email. Presence encourages instant
communication when possible, but it also provides information about whether a user is in a
meeting or out of the office, indicating that instant communication is not possible. This presence
status is exposed as a presence icon in Microsoft Lync 2010 communications software and other
presence-aware applications, including the Microsoft Outlook messaging and collaboration client,
Microsoft SharePoint technologies, Microsoft Word team services or portal server or services,
and Microsoft Excel spreadsheet software. The presence icon represents the user’s current
availability and willingness to communicate.
Defining Requirements for IM and PresenceThe main task of planning for instant messaging (IM) and presence is ensuring that you have
enough Front End Servers for your users. In a Front End pool, you should have one Front End
Server for every 8000 users homed in the pool.
1
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Enabling Communication with External Users
You can greatly increase the benefits of your investment in Microsoft Lync Server
2010 communications software by enabling your users to communicate with external users.
External users can include:
Remote Users Your organization’s own users, when they are working outside your firewalls
and are using their laptops or other Lync Server devices.
Federated Users Users from companies you work with who also run Lync Server. To enable
your users to easily contact these users, you create federated relationships with these
companies.
Public Users Users of public IM services, such as IM services provided by Windows Live,
Yahoo!, and AOL.
Note:
Public IM connectivity requires a separate license.
To enable any or all of these scenarios, you need to deploy an Edge Server to help enable secure
communications between your Lync Server deployment and external users. Your organization’s
remote users, as well as users at federated organizations, will be able to see each other’s
presence and communicate using IM. For details about enabling communication with external
users, see External User Access.
Archiving IM Content
Lync Server provides features you can use if your organization must follow compliance
regulations. You can use the Archiving Server to archive the content of IM messages for all users
in your organization, or only certain users. For details, see Archiving Server.
Topologies and Components for IM and PresenceThe only components required for instant messaging (IM) and presence are:
Your organization’s Front End Servers or Standard Edition servers. IM and presence
capabilities are always enabled on these servers.
A load balancer, if you have a Front End pool. You can use either a hardware load balancer
for all load-balancing traffic, or use DNS load balancing for most of your traffic. For details
about DNS load balancing, see DNS Load Balancing.
Requirements for IM and PresenceInstant messaging (IM) and presence always run on Front End Servers. This section details the
hardware and software requirements for Front End Servers and Back End Servers, and the
supported collocation scenarios for Front End Servers.
2
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Hardware Requirements for Front End Servers
The hardware requirements for Front End Server are the same as for many other server roles in
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software. The following table outlines these
requirements.
Hardware Requirements for Front End Servers
Hardware component Minimum requirement
CPU Dual processor, quad-core 2.0 gigahertz
(GHz)+
4-way processor, dual-core 2.0 GHz+
Memory 16 gigabytes (GB)
Disk 10K RPM hard disk drive (HDD) (multiple
spindles recommended)
High-performance solid state drive (SSD)
with performance equal to or better than
10K RPM HDD
Network Dual 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network
adapters (recommended)
Single 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network
adapter (supported)
Software Requirements for Front End Servers
The Front End Server role can be deployed only on servers running Lync Server 2010 Enterprise
Edition.
You can use any of the following 64-bit Windows Server operating systems for all roles of Lync
Server 2010 Enterprise Edition, including Front End Server, A/V Conferencing Server, Director,
Mediation Server, Edge Server, Archiving Server, and Monitoring Server:
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
Windows Server 2008 Standard with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise with SP2
Hardware Requirements for Back End Servers
The hardware requirements for Back End Server as follows:
3
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Hardware Requirements for Back End Servers
Hardware component Minimum requirement
CPU Dual processor, quad-core 2.33 gigahertz
(GHz)+
4-way processor, dual-core 2.33 GHz+
Memory 32 gigabytes (GB)
Disk For a direct attached system drive:
10K RPM hard disk drive (HDD) (multiple
spindles recommended)
High-performance solid state drive (SSD)
with performance equal to or better than
10K RPM HDD
For direct attached data storage:
10K or 15K RPM HDD (multiple spindles
recommended)
High-performance SSD with performance
equal to or better than 10K RPM HDD
Multiple spindles required
RAID 0 or RAID 10
Recommended minimum size per HDD: 72
GB
Network Dual 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network
adapters (recommended)
Single 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network
adapter (supported)
Software Requirements for Back End Servers
The Back End Servers must run one of the following 64-bit versions of Microsoft SQL Server
database software:
SQL Server 2008 Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (SP1) (64-bit)
SQL Server 2008 Standard with SP1 (64-bit)
SQL Server 2005 Enterprise with SP3 (64-bit)
SQL Server 2005 Standard with SP3 (64-bit)
Supported Collocation
The Front End Server role can be collocated with A/V Conferencing Server and Mediation Server.
It cannot be collocated with Edge Server, Director, Monitoring Server, or Archiving Server.
4
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Planning for ConferencingMicrosoft Lync Server 2010 communications software offers a rich set of conferencing
capabilities:
Instant messaging (IM) conferencing, in which more than two parties communicate in a single
IM session.
Web conferencing, which includes document collaboration, application sharing and desktop
sharing.
A/V conferencing, which enables users to have real-time audio and/or video conferences
without the need for external services such as the Microsoft Live Meeting service or a third-
party audio bridge.
Dial-in conferencing, which allows users to join the audio portion of a Lync Server 2010
conference by using a public switched telephone network (PSTN) phone without requiring a
third party audio conferencing provider.
Both scheduled conferences and ad-hoc conferences are supported and can easily be initiated by
users.
When you deploy Front End Servers, you can choose whether to also deploy the web
conferencing, A/V conferencing, and dial-in conferencing capabilities. IM conferencing capabilities
are always automatically deployed along with IM conversation capabilities on Front End Servers.
The following sections describe what is required to deploy the various types of conferencing
capabilities, including the planning process, components, hardware and software requirements,
and the deployment process.
Defining Requirements for Conferencing
Web Conferencing and A/V Conferencing
Dial-In Conferencing in Lync Server 2010
Defining Requirements for ConferencingDetermining which conferencing capabilities to deploy depends not only on the features you want
available to your users, but also on your network bandwidth capabilities.
The following list of questions guides you through the conferencing planning process to determine
what features of conferencing you should deploy, based on your organization’s requirements.
Do you want to enable web conferencing, which includes document collaboration and
application sharing?
If so, you must enable conferencing for your Front End pool in the Microsoft Lync Server
2010, Planning Tool or in Topology Builder. Enabling conferencing enables both web
conferencing and A/V conferencing.
Application sharing requires and uses more network bandwidth than document collaboration.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software provides a throttling mechanism to
control each application sharing session. By default, this is set to 1.5 KB/second for each
session.
5
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
If you do not want to enable application sharing but you do want document collaboration, you
can enable conferencing and use meeting policies to disable application sharing.
Do you want to enable A/V conferencing?
If so, you must enable conferencing for your Front End pool in the Lync Server 2010,
Planning Tool or in Topology Builder. Enabling conferencing enables both web conferencing
and A/V conferencing.
A/V conferencing requires and uses more network bandwidth than document collaboration. If
you do not want to enable A/V conferencing but you do want web conferencing, you can
enable conferencing and use meeting policies to disable A/V conferences.
If you do want to enable audio conferences but not video conferences, you can enable A/V
conferencing and use meeting policies to prevent video conferences. Alternatively, you can
enable A/V conferencing and enable only certain users to start or participate in A/V
conferences.
Note:
Enterprise Voice is not necessary for A/V conferencing-if you enable A/V
conferencing, your users can add audio to their conferences if they have audio
devices, even if you use a PBX for your telephone solution.
Do you want to enable users to join the audio portion of conferences when using a
PSTN phone?
If so, deploy and enable dial-in conferencing. Invited users, both inside and outside of your
organization, can then join the audio portion of conferences by using a PSTN phone.
Do you want to enable external users with Lync Server clients to join the types of
conferences that you have enabled?
If so, you should deploy Edge Servers. Allowing external participation in meetings maximizes
your investment in Lync Server. For example, users with laptops with Microsoft Lync 2010
can join conferences from wherever they are—at home, in the airport, or at customer sites.
Additionally, with Edge Servers deployed you can create federated relationships with other
organizations-such as your customers or vendors-and users from those organizations can
more easily collaborate with your users.
A/V Conferencing Network Bandwidth Requirements
To plan for A/V conferencing, you need to understand the network bandwidth required by the type
of A/V conferencing that your organization requires.
Before you enable users for A/V conferencing, you should ensure your network can handle the
resulting load. Without sufficient network bandwidth, the end-user experience may be severely
degraded.
When planning for bandwidth usage per scenario, use the following table, which describes the
average amount of bandwidth used per media type. These numbers are preliminary and will be
updated in future releases.
6
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Additionally, a new feature in Lync Server 2010, call admission control, can help you manage the
network bandwidth used by A/V Conferencing. For details, see Overview of Call Admission
Control.
Audio/Video Capacity Planning
Media Minimum bandwidth
(Kbps)
Average bandwidth
(Kbps)
Maximum bandwidth
(Kbps)
Peer-to-Peer Audio 40 60 90
Audio Conference 40 95 160
Audio Using Media
Bypass
80 95 160
Video (CIF) 50 210 250
Panoramic Video 50 280 350
Video (VGA) 350 500 600
Video (HD) 800 1200 1500
The network bandwidth numbers in this table represent one-way traffic only and take silence
suppression into account.
When you calculate the actual bandwidth usage for a certain scenario, it is important to
understand the actual media flows, which are as follows:
In a two-party scenario:
Users send audio streams only while they speak.
Both participants receive audio streams.
If video is used, both users send and receive video streams during the entire call.
In a Conferencing scenario (that is, a call with more than two participants):
Users send audio streams only while they speak.
All participants receive audio streams.
If video is used, only two participants upload a video stream at a time (that is, the active
speaker and the previous active speaker)
If video is used, all participants receive video streams.
If a Polycom CX5000 conferencing device is used, two participants upload a Polycom
CX5000 device panorama stream.
If a RoundTable device is used, all participants receive a Polycom CX5000 device panorama
stream.
7
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Client A/V Devices
If you deploy audio conferencing on your network, your users will need audio devices such as
headsets to participate. If you also deploy video conferencing, you will need to roll out video
devices, such as webcams for users and the Polycom CX5000 device for conference rooms.
We recommend that you use unified communications (UC) devices that are certified by Microsoft
for all device types, to ensure an optimal end-user experience. For details about UC-certified
devices, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=186185.
For either audio or video devices, device rollout and user training are important issues for you to
consider and plan for, to maximize your return on investment in conferencing.
Enabling External Participation in Conferences
You can greatly increase the benefits of your investment in Lync Server conferencing by enabling
external users to also participate in conferences when invited. External users can include:
Remote Users Your organization’s own users, when they are working outside your firewalls
and are using their laptops or other Lync Server devices.
Federated Users Users from companies you work with who also run Lync Server. To enable
your users to easily contact these users, you create federated relationships with these
companies.
Anonymous Users Any other external users who are invited specifically by your users to
join specific conferences. A meeting organizer in your company can send an email invitation
for a conference to an external user. The email includes a link that the outside user can click
to join the conference.
To enable any or all of these scenarios, you deploy an Edge Server to help enable secure
communications between your Lync Server deployment and external users. The Lync Server
solution using edge servers provides higher quality media than other solutions such as a virtual
private network (VPN). For details, see External User Access.
Additionally, whether or not you deploy Edge Servers, you can enable users (either inside or
outside your organization) to dial in from standard PSTN phones to join on-premise audio
conferences. This is accomplished by deploying Lync Server dial-in conferencing.
Compatibility Among Meeting Types and Client Versions
Lync Server 2010 includes many improvements and enhancements to conferencing capabilities.
For details about these changes, see New Conferencing Features.
However, these changes require you to be aware of some conferencing interoperability issues in
Lync Server 2010. If you are going to have Lync Server 2010 interoperate with previous versions
of Office Communications Server and its clients, you must be aware of the following issues:
Users using Lync 2010 cannot schedule Live Meeting online conferences, or modify any
migrated meetings of this type.
Users using Lync 2010 who need to attend Live Meeting online conferences hosted on
servers running Office Communications Server 2007 R2 must have the Live Meeting client
installed on their computer (in addition to Lync 2010) to attend these meetings.
8
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
When Live Meeting online conferences are migrated to Lync Server 2010, meeting content
does not migrate. If this content is needed, it must be uploaded again.
Users who are migrated from previous versions of Office Communications Server to Lync
Server 2010 and who use Lync 2010 will receive a new assigned dial-in conference ID the
first time they schedule an assigned dial-in conference meeting. They can use this new
assigned dial-in conference ID to both schedule and attend meetings. Their old ID will
continue to work for attending meetings, but not for scheduling new meetings.
Users in federated organizations who are using Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 or
Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 clients cannot join Lync Server 2010 meetings in your
organization if those meetings are locked by the organizer.
Web Conferencing and A/V ConferencingOn-premises conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software includes two
major capabilities:
Web conferencing, which enables users to view, share and collaborate on documents online,
and share their applications and desktops with each other.
A/V conferencing, which enables users to communicate online with real-time audio and video.
This section describes what is required to plan and deploy these conferencing features, including
the decision process, components, hardware and software requirements, and the deployment
process.
Features and Functionality of Web Conferencing and A/V Conferencing
Topologies for Web Conferencing and A/V Conferencing
Components for Web Conferencing and A/V Conferencing
Requirements for Conferencing
Features and Functionality of Web Conferencing and A/V Conferencing
With web conferencing, users can share and collaborate on documents, such as Microsoft
PowerPoint presentations, during their online conferences. Additionally, users can share all or
part of their desktop with each other in real time, making it seem as though the people in the
conference were gathered around the same table in the meeting.
A/V conferencing enables real-time audio and video communications between your users (that is,
provided they have appropriate client devices such as headsets for audio conferences, and
webcams for video conferences).
When you deploy conferencing, you can choose to enable and use both web conferencing and
A/V conferencing, or just web conferencing.
With all forms of conferencing enabled, your users can enjoy the richest possible conferencing
environment with any combination of instant messaging (IM), audio, video, desktop sharing, slide
presentations, sharing attachments, and sharing applications. Conferences can be scheduled or
unscheduled, and users can easily add forms of communication to a conference while it happens.
9
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
For example, starting with IM, adding document collaboration, and then adding voice or video.
New participants can also be added to ongoing conferences in real time.
Policies and Bandwidth Management
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software enables administrators to set policies on
the type of meetings that can be organized. This helps you enforce your organization’s policies
and control bandwidth usage.
You can define a wide variety of meeting policies, and assign them to individual users and groups
of users. You can also set policies that govern peer-to-peer conversations.
Compliance Features
Lync Server 2010 provides features you can use if your organization must follow compliance
regulations. You can use the archiving abilities to archive content presented in meetings, as well
as the content of IM conversations and IM conferences. For details, see Archiving Server.
Additionally, the Monitoring Server feature can capture call detail records, which you can use to
track which users talk to which other users using Lync Server 2010. For details, see Planning for
Monitoring.
Topologies for Web Conferencing and A/V Conferencing
The Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software topology you should choose for
conferencing depends on your network size.
Conferencing Topologies for Standard Edition
Conferencing Topologies for Enterprise Edition
Conferencing Topologies for Standard Edition
On a Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Standard Edition server, all forms of conferencing are collocated
on the Standard Edition server.
Conferencing Topologies for Enterprise Edition
When you use Topology Builder to deploy conferencing, you are asked whether to deploy the A/V
Conferencing Servers as a separate pool or to collocate this functionality on the Front End pool.
Deploying A/V Conferencing in a separate pool requires more physical servers, but improves A/V
performance and quality.
We recommend the following:
If you have fewer than 10,000 users at a site, you may collocate A/V conferencing with the
Front End Servers.
If you have more than 10,000 users at a site and you are deploying A/V conferencing, you
must deploy A/V Conferencing Servers in a separate pool. This pool should have one A/V
Conferencing Server for every 35,000 users at the site.
10
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Recommended topologies for A/V conferencing
Even if the site has multiple Front End pools, you need only one A/V Conferencing pool. There is
no limit on the number of servers in an A/V Conferencing pool.
If you are planning not to enable your users to use A/V Conferencing, then choose to collocate
the server functionality. Because there will be no such conferences, there will be no extra load on
the Front End Servers.
The server functionality for Data Conferencing is always located on the Front End Servers. The
load of data conferencing is included in the Front End Server guidelines. You can home up to
100,000 users per pool, and need to deploy one Front End Server for each 12,500 users homed
in the pool. A Front End pool can include up to 10 servers.
Components for Web Conferencing and A/V Conferencing
The Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software components required for conferencing
depend on your network size.
Conferencing Components for Standard Edition
Conferencing Components for Enterprise Edition
Conferencing Components for Standard Edition
On a Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Standard Edition server, the server is the only component
necessary for web conferencing and A/V conferencing.
Conferencing Components for Enterprise Edition
Front End Servers, and A/V Conferencing Servers in larger sites, are the only components
required for web conferencing.
Data Conferencing capabilities are provided entirely by Enterprise Edition Front End Servers, and
Standard Edition servers.
11
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
A/V Conferencing capabilities are provided by the A/V Conferencing Server, which is either
collocated with your Front End Server pool (for sites with fewer than 10,000 users) or separated
into its own A/V Conferencing pool (for sites with more than 10,000 users).
A/V Conferencing pools do not need to be load balanced.
Requirements for Conferencing
For Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software, instant messaging (IM) conferencing
and web conferencing capabilities always run on Front End Servers. A/V conferencing runs either
on Front End Servers or on separate A/V Conferencing Servers. The hardware and software
requirements for Front End Servers and A/V Conferencing Servers are identical.
This section details the hardware and software requirements for these servers, along with the
supported collocation.
Hardware Requirements for Front End Servers and A/V Conferencing Servers
The hardware requirements for Front End Server are the same as for many other server roles in
Lync Server 2010 are outlined in the following table.
Hardware Requirements for Front End Servers and A/V Conferencing Servers
Hardware component Minimum requirement
CPU Dual processor, quad-core 2.0 gigahertz
(GHz)+
4-way processor, dual-core 2.0 GHz+
Memory 16 gigabytes (GB)
Disk 10K RPM hard disk drive (HDD) (multiple
spindles recommended)
High-performance solid state drive (SSD)
with performance equal to or better than
10K RPM HDD
Network Dual 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) network
adapters (recommended)
Single 1 Gbps network adapter (supported)
Software Requirements for Front End Servers and A/V Conferencing Servers
The Front End Server role can be deployed only on servers running Lync Server 2010 Enterprise
Edition.
Any of the following 64-bit Windows Server operating systems is required for all roles of Lync
Server 2010 Enterprise Edition, including Front End Server, A/V Conferencing Server, Director,
Mediation Server, Edge Server, Archiving Server, and Monitoring Server:
12
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
Windows Server 2008 Standard with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise with SP2
Supported Collocation
The Front End Server role can be collocated with A/V Conferencing Server and Mediation Server.
It cannot be collocated with Edge Server, Director, Monitoring Server, or Archiving Server.
If A/V Conferencing Server is separated into its own server pool, no other server roles can be
collocated in that pool.
Dial-In Conferencing in Lync Server 2010Dial-in conferencing is an optional component that you can set up when you deploy Microsoft
Lync Server 2010 communications software. You can deploy dial-in conferencing even if you do
not deploy Enterprise Voice, but you must deploy some Enterprise Voice components and
perform some Enterprise Voice configuration tasks. This section describes what is required to
deploy dial-in conferencing, including the components, hardware and software, and major steps
in the deployment process.
In This Section
Dial-In Conferencing Capabilities
Topologies Supporting Dial-In Conferencing
Components Used for Dial-In Conferencing
Requirements for Dial-In Conferencing
Planning for Dial-In Conferencing
Deployment Process for Dial-In Conferencing
Dial-In Conferencing Capabilities
If your organization has users who need to attend Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications
software on-premises conferences when they are out of the office or do not have access to a
computer, you can deploy dial-in conferencing so that they can join the conference by using a
public switched telephone network (PSTN) phone.
Dial-in conferencing is an optional feature when you deploy Lync Server 2010 Conferencing.
Although dial-in conferencing uses some of the same Lync Server components that Enterprise
Voice uses, you can deploy dial-in conferencing even if you do not deploy Enterprise Voice.
Note:
If you deploy dial-in conferencing, you must deploy it in every pool where you deploy
Lync Server 2010 Conferencing. You do not need to assign access numbers in every
pool, but you must deploy the dial-in feature in every pool. This requirement supports the
recorded name feature when a user calls an access number from one pool to join a Lync
Server 2010 conference in a different pool.
13
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Conferences must be enabled for dial-in access in meeting policy. By default, conferences that
are enabled for dial-in access include the following information in the conference invitation:
A numeric conference ID. The ID identifies the conference.
One or more PSTN access numbers.
A link to a Dial-in Conferencing Settings Web page, which contains a complete list of access
numbers with their associated languages; a place to create, reset, or unblock personal
identification numbers (PINs); and other information, such as dual-tone multi-frequency
(DTMF) controls.
Dial-in conferencing supports both enterprise and anonymous users. Enterprise users have
Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) credentials and Lync Server accounts within their
organization. Anonymous users do not have enterprise credentials within your organization. In the
dial-in conferencing context, a user in a federated partner’s organization who uses the PSTN to
connect to a conference is treated like an anonymous user.
Enterprise users or conference leaders who join a conference that is enabled for dial-in access
dial one of the conference access numbers and then are prompted to enter the conference ID. If
a leader has not yet joined the meeting, users can either enter their unified communications (UC)
extension (or full phone number) and PIN or wait to be admitted by a leader. Meeting organizers
can join the meeting as a leader by entering just their PIN. The Front End Server uses the
combination of full phone number or extension, and PIN, to uniquely map enterprise users to their
Active Directory credentials. As a result, enterprise users are authenticated and identified by
name in the conference. Enterprise users can also assume a conference role predefined by the
organizer.
Note:
Enterprise users who dial in from an office IP phone or from Lync 2010 or Lync 2010
Attendant are not prompted for their phone number because they are already
authenticated.
Anonymous users who want to join a dial-in conference dial one of the conference access
numbers and then they are prompted to enter the conference ID. Unauthenticated anonymous
users are also prompted to record their name. The recorded name identifies unauthenticated
users in the conference. Anonymous users are not admitted to the conference until at least one
leader or authenticated user has joined, and they cannot be assigned a predefined role.
Note:
Enterprise users who choose not to enter their phone number and PIN are not
authenticated and, thus, are prompted to record their name.
At schedule time, the meeting organizer can choose to restrict access to the meeting by making
the meeting closed or locked. In this case, dial-in users are requested to authenticate. If they fail
or choose not to authenticate, they are transferred to the lobby, where they wait until a leader
accepts or rejects them or they time out and are disconnected. Dial-in users hear music if they
are waiting to be admitted to the conference. After they are admitted to a conference, dial-in users
can participate in the audio portion of the conference and can exercise dual-tone multi-frequency
(DTMF) commands by using the phone keypad. Dial-in leaders can exercise DTMF commands to
14
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
turn participants' ability to unmute on or off, lock or unlock the conference, admit people from the
lobby, and turn entry and exit announcements on or off. Leaders can also use a DTMF command
to admit everyone from the lobby, which changes the permissions of the meeting to allow anyone
who subsequently joins. All dial-in participants can exercise DTMF commands to hear Help, listen
to the conference roster, and mute themselves.
Dial-in participants (that is, whether or not they dial from the PSTN), hear personal
announcements during the conference, such as whether they have been muted or unmuted, the
meeting is being recorded, or someone is waiting in the lobby.
Note:
Participants who join the conference by clicking a link instead of dialing in do not hear
personal announcements.
Topologies Supporting Dial-In Conferencing
You can deploy dial-in conferencing in the following topologies and configurations:
On Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Standard Edition
On Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Enterprise Edition
In a separate A/V Conferencing pool
With or without Enterprise Voice
You can deploy Application service, Conference Attendant, and Conference Announcement in a
central site, but not in a branch site.
Note:
If you deploy dial-in conferencing, you must deploy it in every pool where you deploy
Lync Server 2010 Conferencing. You do not need to assign access numbers in every
pool, but you must deploy the dial-in conferencing feature in every pool. This requirement
supports the recorded name feature when a user calls an access number from one pool
to join a Lync Server 2010 conference in a different pool.
Components Used for Dial-In Conferencing
The following Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software components are used for
dial-in conferencing:
Application service Application service provides a platform for deploying, hosting, and
managing unified communications (UC) applications. Dial-in conferencing uses two UC
applications that require Application service: Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing
Announcement. Application service is installed and activated by default on every Front End
Server in a Front End pool and on every Standard Edition server when you deploy a
conferencing workload and select the dial-in conferencing option.
Conferencing Attendant application Conferencing Attendant is a unified communications
application that accepts public switched telephone network (PSTN) calls, plays prompts, and
joins the calls to an A/V conference. Conferencing Attendant is installed and activated by
default when you deploy a Conferencing workload and select the dial-in conferencing option.
15
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Conferencing Announcement application Conferencing Announcement is a unified
communications application that plays tones and prompts to PSTN participants on certain
actions, such as when participants join or leave a conference, participants are muted or
unmuted, someone enters the conference lobby, or the conference is locked or unlocked.
Conferencing Announcement also supports dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF) commands
from the phone keypad. Conferencing Announcement is automatically installed and activated
by default when you deploy a Conferencing workload and select the dial-in conferencing
option.
Dial-in Conferencing Settings Web page The Dial-in Conferencing Settings Web page
displays conference dial-in numbers with their available languages, assigned conference
information (that is, for meetings that do not need to be scheduled), and in-conference DTMF
controls, and supports management of personal identification number (PIN) and assigned
conferencing information. The Dial-in Conferencing Settings Web page is automatically
installed as part of Web Services.
Lync Server 2010 Mediation Server and PSTN gateway Dial-in conferencing requires a
Mediation Server to translate signaling (and media, in some configurations) between Lync
Server and the PSTN gateway, and a PSTN gateway to translate signaling and media
between the Mediation Server and the PSTN. For dial-in conferencing, you must deploy at
least one Mediation Server and at least one of the following:
An IP-PSTN gateway
An IP-PBX
A Session Border Controller (SBC) for an Internet telephony service provider to which
you connect by configuring a SIP trunk
Note:
If you are also deploying Enterprise Voice, Mediation Servers and PSTN gateways
are part of the Enterprise Voice deployment. If you are not deploying Enterprise
Voice, you need to deploy at least one Mediation Server and at least one PSTN
gateway for dial-in conferencing.
File store File store is used for recorded name audio files. File Store is a standard
component in every Enterprise Edition or Standard Edition deployment.
User store User store is used to store user Lync Server 2010 PINs. PINs are encrypted.
The User store is a standard component in every Enterprise Edition or Standard Edition
deployment.
Lync Server Control Panel Some dial-in settings can be configured by using Lync Server
Control Panel.
Lync Server 2010 Management Shell All dial-in settings can be configured by using Lync
Server 2010 Management Shell cmdlets. Lync Server 2010 Management Shell cmdlets are
available for deploying, configuring, running, monitoring, and troubleshooting Conferencing
Attendant and Conferencing Announcement. For details about specific cmdlets, see Lync
Server 2010 Management Shell documentation.
16
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Requirements for Dial-In Conferencing
Dial-in conferencing is a feature that comprises a variety of components. Some of the
components are specific to dial-in conferencing and some are Enterprise Voice components. This
section describes the requirements for the components that are specific to dial-in conferencing.
For details about Mediation Server and media gateway requirements, see "Mediation Server
Component" and "Components and Topologies for Mediation Server".
Hardware Requirements
Application service, Conferencing Attendant, and Conferencing Announcement have the same
server hardware requirements as Front End Servers. For details about hardware requirements,
see "Server Hardware Platforms" in the Supportability documentation.
Software Requirements
Application service, Conferencing Attendant, and Conferencing Announcement have the same
operating system requirements as Front End Servers. For details about software requirements,
see "Server and Tools Operating System Support" in the Supportability documentation.
Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement require that Windows Media Format
Runtime is installed on Front End Servers running Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server
2008. The Windows Media Format Runtime is required to play Windows Media audio (WMA) files
that are used for music on hold, recorded names, and prompts. The Windows Media Format
Runtime is installed automatically when you run Setup, but you might need to restart the
computer. Therefore, it is recommended that you install Windows Media Format Runtime before
you run Setup.
Port Requirements
The following table describes the ports that are used by dial-in conferencing. If you use a load
balancer, ensure that the load balancer is configured for the ports used by any applications that
will run in the pool.
Note:
All instances of the same application in a pool use the same SIP listening port.
Ports used by dial-in conferencing
Port number Description
5072 Used by Conferencing Attendant for SIP
listening requests
5073 Used by Conferencing Announcement for SIP
listening requests
Supported Clients for Dial-In Conferencing
You can use the following client to schedule on-premises conferences that support dial-in access:
17
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Outlook 2010 (installed automatically when you install
Microsoft Lync 2010 or Lync 2010 Attendant)
Dial-in Conferencing Settings Web Page Requirements
The Dial-in Conferencing Settings Web page supports the combinations of operating systems and
Web browsers described in the following table.
Note:
32-bit and 64-bit versions of the operating systems are supported.
Supported Operating Systems and Web Browsers
Operating system Web browser
Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3) Microsoft nternet Explorer 6
Windows Internet Explorer 7
Windows Internet Explorer 8
Mozilla Firefox 3.x
Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 (SP2) Internet Explorer 7
Internet Explorer 8
Firefox 3.x
Windows 7 Internet Explorer 8
Firefox 3.x
Windows Server 2008 Internet Explorer 8
Firefox 3.x
Audio File Requirements
Lync Server 2010 does not support customization of voice prompts and music for dial-in
conferencing. However, if you have a strong business need that requires you to change the
default audio files, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 961177, "How to customize voice
prompts or music files for dial-in audio conferencing in Microsoft Office Communications Server
2007 R2," available at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=179684.
Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement have the following requirements for
music on hold, recorded name, and audio prompt files:
Windows Media Audio (WMA) file format
16-bit mono
48 kbps 2-pass CBR (constant bit rate)
Speech level at -24DB
18
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
User Requirements
Dial-in conferencing users must have a unique phone number or extension assigned to their
account. This requirement supports authentication during dial-in. Enterprise users (that is, users
who have Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) credentials and Lync Server accounts within
your organization) enter their phone number (or extension) and a PIN to dial in to conferences as
an authenticated user.
Planning for Dial-In Conferencing
Before you start the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software deployment process
you need to plan for the following:
The configuration to use for connecting to the public switched telephone network (PSTN)
Your strategy for assigning dial-in conferencing regions to dial-in access numbers
Planning for Dial-in PSTN Connectivity
Dial-in conferencing requires at least one Mediation Server and at least one PSTN gateway.
You can deploy a Mediation Server in a central site or in a branch site. In a central site, you can
collocate a Mediation Server on a Front End pool or Standard Edition server, or you can deploy it
on a stand-alone server or pool. In a branch site, you can deploy a Mediation Server on a stand-
alone server or as a component of the Survivable Branch Appliance.
You can deploy a PSTN gateway in a central site or in a branch site. In a branch site, the PSTN
gateway can be stand-alone or a component of the Survivable Branch Appliance.
Note:
We recommend that you deploy a PSTN gateway that supports media bypass because
media bypass reduces resource utilization on the Mediation Server. PSTN gateways that
support media bypass handle only signaling, and not the media traffic.
For details about planning your configuration for Mediation Servers and PSTN gateways for dial-
in conferencing, see "Components and Topologies for Mediation Server".
Planning for Dial-in Conferencing Regions
During dial-in configuration, you create dial plans and dial-in conferencing access numbers. Dial
plans are sets of normalization rules that specify the number and pattern of digits in a phone
number and translate the phone number into the standard E.164 format for call routing. Dial-in
conferencing access numbers are the numbers participants call to join a conference.
Every dial-in conferencing access number must be associated with at least one dial plan. Dial-in
conferencing regions associate a dial-in conferencing access number with its dial plans. When
you set up a dial plan, you specify the dial-in conferencing region that applies to the dial plan.
Then when you create the dial-in access number, you select the regions that associate the
access number with the appropriate dial plans.
When you create a dial plan, you specify the scope of the dial plan: user scope, pool scope, or
site scope. Every user is assigned the dial plan from the narrowest scope that applies to the user.
For example, a user is assigned a user-level dial plan, if one applies. If a user-level dial plan does
not apply, the user is assigned a pool-level dial plan. If a pool-level dial plan does not apply, the
19
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
user is assigned a site-level dial plan. If a site-level dial plan does not apply, the user is assigned
the global dial plan.
Before you configure the dial plans, is it important to plan how you want to name and use regions.
The following considerations apply to dial-in conferencing regions:
A region is typically a geographical area that is associated with an office or group of offices.
Languages are associated with dial-in access numbers. If you support geographical areas
that have multiple languages, you should decide how you want to define regions to support
the multiple languages. For example, you might define multiple regions based on a
combination of geography and language, or you might define a single region based on
geography and have a different dial-in access numbers for each language.
When a user schedules a meeting, by default the meeting uses the region specified by that
user's dial plan.
By default, the first three dial-in access numbers for the region are included in the meeting
invitation.
It is important to name regions so that they are clearly recognizable. The user can use the
names of the regions to change a meeting's region so that different access numbers are
included in the invitation. (The user uses the Online Meeting Add-in for Microsoft Lync 2010
to change the region).
Regions should be designed so that any invitee who wants to dial into a conference can see
a local access number in the conference invitation.
You can configure the order in which access numbers within a region appear on the Dial-in
Conferencing Settings Web page (and, therefore, the order in which they appear in the
conference invitation) by using Lync Server 2010 Management Shell cmdlets.
Any user from any location can call any dial-in access number to join a conference.
See Also
Mediation Server Component
Dial Plans and Normalization Rules
Deployment Process for Dial-In Conferencing
The components required for dial-in conferencing are deployed when you deploy the
Conferencing workload. Before you can configure dial-in conferencing, you need to deploy either
Enterprise Voice or a Mediation Server and a public switched telephone network (PSTN)
gateway.
All the steps in the following table must be performed before users can dial in from the PSTN to
join an audio/video conference.
Note:
If you are migrating from Office Communications Server 2007 R2, you must apply at least
Cumulative Update 5 (CU5) to your Office Communications Server 2007 R2 environment
before deploying dial-in conferencing. CU5 supports participants dialing Office
Communications Server 2007 R2 access numbers to join Lync Server 2010 conferences.
20
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Dial-in Conferencing Deployment Process
Phase Steps Permissions Documentation
Create a topology
that includes the
Conferencing
workload,
including a
Mediation Server
and PSTN
gateway, and
deploy the Front
End pool or
Standard Edition
server.
1. Run the Planning Tool to
configure your topology, and
export the topology into
Topology Builder. While
configuring the topology, select
the dial-in conferencing option.
2. Publish the topology and deploy
the Front End pool or Standard
Edition server.
3. If necessary, create a stand-
alone Mediation Server and
associate it with a PSTN
gateway.
Note:
This step is required
only if you do not deploy
Enterprise Voice and do
not collocate the
Mediation Server with
the Enterprise Edition
Front End Server or
Standard Edition server.
If you deploy Enterprise
Voice, you install and
configure Mediation
Servers and PSTN
gateways as part of the
Enterprise Voice
deployment. If you
collocate the Mediation
Server, you install and
configure the Mediation
Server as part of the
Front End pool or
Standard Edition server
deployment.
Domain Admins
group
RTCUniversalServe
rAdmins group
CsVoiceAdministrat
or
CsAdministrator
"Using the
Planning Tool
to Design the
Topology
(Optional) in
the
Deployment
documentation
"Deploying
Lync Server
2010 (Release
Candidate)" in
the
Deployment
documentation
To create a
stand-alone
Mediation
Server pool,
see
"Deploying
Mediation
Servers and
Defining
Gateway
Peers" in the
Deployment
documentation
Configure dial
plans
A dial plan is a set of phone number
normalization rules that translate
phone numbers dialed from a
specific location to a single standard
CsVoiceAdministrat
or
CsAdministrator
"Configure Dial
Plans for Dial-in
Conferencing"
in the
21
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Phase Steps Permissions Documentation
(E.164) format for purposes of
phone authorization and call routing.
The same phone number dialed
from different locations can, based
on the respective dial plans, resolve
to different E.164 numbers, as
appropriate to each location. If you
deploy Enterprise Voice, you set up
dial plans as part of that
deployment, and you need to ensure
that the dial plans also
accommodate dial-in conferencing.
If you do not deploy Enterprise
Voice, you need to set up dial plans
for dial-in conferencing.
Use the Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Control Panel or Lync Server 2010
Management Shell to set up dial
plans as follows:
1. Create one or more dial plans
for routing dial-in access phone
numbers.
2. Assign a default dial plan to
each pool. Set the Dial-in
conferencing region to the
geographic location to which the
dial plan applies. The region
associates the dial plan with
dial-in access numbers.
Deployment
documentation
Ensure that dial
plans are
assigned regions
Run the Get-CsDialPlan and Set-
CsDialPlan cmdlets to ensure that
all dial plans have a region
assigned.
CsVoiceAdministrat
or
CsAdministrator
"Ensure Dial
Plans Have
Assigned
Regions" in the
Deployment
documentation
(Optional) Verify
or modify user
personal
identification
number (PIN)
requirements.
Use Lync Server 2010 Control Panel
or Lync Server 2010 Management
Shell to view or modify the
Conferencing PIN Policy. You can
specify minimum PIN length,
maximum number of logon attempts,
CsAdministrator "(Optional)
Verify PIN
Policy Settings"
in the
Deployment
22
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Phase Steps Permissions Documentation
PIN expiration, and whether
common patterns are allowable.
documentation
Configure
conferencing
policy to support
dial-in
conferencing.
Use Lync Server 2010 Control Panel
or Lync Server 2010 Management
Shell to configure Conferencing
Policy settings. Specify whether:
PSTN conference dial-in is
enabled.
Users can invite anonymous
participants.
Unauthenticated users can join
a conference by using dial-out
phoning. With dial-out phoning,
the conference server calls the
user, and the user answers the
phone to join the conference.
CsAdministrator "Configure
Conferencing
Policy for Dial-
in" in the
Deployment
documentation
Configure dial-in
access numbers
Use Lync Server 2010 Control Panel
or Lync Server 2010 Management
Shell to set up dial-in access
numbers that users call to dial in to
a conference, and specify the
regions that associate the access
number with the appropriate dial
plans. The first three access
numbers for the region specified by
the organizer's dial plan are
included in the conference invitation.
All access numbers are available on
the Dial-in Conferencing Settings
Web page.
Note:
After you create dial-in
access numbers, you can
use the Set-
CsDialInConferencingAcc
essNumber cmdlet to
modify the display name of
the Active Directory contact
objects so that users can
more easily identify the
CsAdministrator "Configure Dial-
in Conferencing
Access
Numbers" in the
Deployment
documentation
23
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Phase Steps Permissions Documentation
correct access number.
(Optional) Verify
dial-in
conferencing
settings
Use the Get-
CsDialinConferencingAccessNum
ber cmdlet to search for dial plans
that have a dial-in conferencing
region that is not used by any
access number and for access
numbers that have no region
assigned.
CsAdministrator
CsViewOnlyAdminis
trator
CsServerAdministra
tor
CsHelpDesk
"(Optional)
Verify Dial-in
Conferencing
Settings" in the
Deployment
documentation
(Optional) Modify
key mapping of
DTMF commands
Use the Set-
CsDialinConferencingDtmfConfig
uration cmdlet to modify the keys
used for dual-tone multifrequency
(DTMF) commands, which
participants can use to control
conference settings (such as mute
and unmute or lock and unlock).
CsAdministrator "(Optional)
Modify Key
Mapping for
DTMF
Commands" in
the Deployment
documentation
(Optional) Modify
conference join
and leave
announcement
behavior
Use the Set-
CsDialinConferencingConfigurati
on to change how announcements
work when participants join and
leave conferences.
CsAdministrator "(Optional)
Enable and
Disable
Conference
Join and Leave
Announcement
s" in the
Deployment
documentation
(Optional) Test
dial-in
conferencing
Use the Test-
CsDialInConferencing cmdlet to
test that the access numbers for the
specified pool work correctly.
CsAdministrator "(Optional) Test
Dial-in
Conferencing"
in the
Deployment
documentation
Configure user
account settings
Use Lync Server 2010 Control Panel
or Lync Server 2010 Management
Shell to configure the telephony
Line URI as a unique, normalized
phone number (for example, tel:
+14255550200).
CsAdministrator
CsUserAdministrato
r
"Configure User
Account
Settings" in the
Deployment
documentation
Deploy Online Deploy the Online Meeting Add-in Administrators
24
Planning for Instant Messaging and Conferencing in Microsoft Lync Server 2010
Phase Steps Permissions Documentation
Meeting Add-in for
Microsoft Lync
2010
for Microsoft Lync 2010 so that
users can schedule conferences
that support dial-in conferencing.
The Online Meeting Add-in for
Microsoft Lync 2010 is installed
automatically when you install
Microsoft Lync 2010.
group
(Optional)
Welcome users to
dial-in
conferencing and
set the initial PIN
Use the Set-
CsPinSendCAWelcomeMail script
to set users' initial PINs and send a
welcome email that contains the
initial PIN and a link to the Dial-in
Conferencing Settings Web page.
CsAdministrator
CsUserAdministrato
r
"(Optional)
Welcome Users
to Dial-in
Conferencing"
in the
Deployment
documentation
25