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Evaluation Guide

Summary: Designed especially for technology reviewers and new users, this guideprovides evaluation materials for the release of Microsoft Office Communication Server2007.


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Office Communications Server 2007 Evaluation Guide 2

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COPYRIGHT

This is a preliminary document and may be changed substantially priorto final commercial release of the software described herein.

The information contained in this document represents the currentview of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date ofpublication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing marketconditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on thepart of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of anyinformation presented after the date of publication.

This document is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKESNO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THEINFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT.

Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of theuser. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of thisdocument may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for anypurpose, without the express written permission of MicrosoftCorporation.

Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks,copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subjectmatter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any writtenlicense agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document

does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights,or other intellectual property.

Unless otherwise noted, the example companies, organizations,products, domain names, email addresses, logos, people, places, andevents depicted herein are fictitious, and no association with any realcompany, organization, product, domain name, email address, logo,person, place, or event is intended or should be inferred.

2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft, Windows Server, Windows Server System, and Active

Directory are either registered trademarks or trademarks of MicrosoftCorporation in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein maybe the trademarks of their respective owners.


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MicrosoftOffice Communications Server 2007 Evaluation Guide

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 4Welcome ........................................................................................................................................................................... 4Whats New ....................................................................................................................................................................... 6Key Benefits .................................................................................................................................................................... 12

Software-powered VoIP Foundation ............................................................................................................... 15Streamlined Communications ......................................................................................................................... 17Operational Control ........................................................................................................................................ 19

Features at a Glance ....................................................................................................................................................................... 22Enterprise IM & Contact Management ........................................................................................................................... 22Presence .......................................................................................................................................................................... 23Multi-Party on Premise Conferencing ............................................................................................................................. 24Enhanced VoIP ................................................................................................................................................................ 27Office Integration ............................................................................................................................................................ 29Development, Management, and Administration .......................................................................................................... 30Communicator Web Access Comparative Table ............................................................................................................. 32Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile 2007 ................................................................................................................ 33Extensibility and APIs ...................................................................................................................................................... 33

Reviewing Office Communication Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007............................................................................ 35Enhanced Enterprise IM & Contact Management .......................................................................................................... 35Presence .......................................................................................................................................................................... 40Multi-Party on Premise Conferencing ............................................................................................................................. 47Enhanced VoIP ................................................................................................................................................................ 54Office Integration ............................................................................................................................................................ 60Development, Management, and Administration .......................................................................................................... 64Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile 2007 ................................................................................................................ 68Communicator Web Access ............................................................................................................................................ 69Communicator Extensibility ............................................................................................................................................ 69

Appendix ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 72Index ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 85


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INTRODUCTION

WELCOME

Welcome to the Evaluation Guide for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007. This document is designed to help you understand the

features and capabilities of this solutionan enterprise-grade server and client which provides

the backbone for seamless, real-time communications and serves as a foundation for future

communications needs within an organization.

Over the last two decades, technology innovation has brought the world closer together and

has given people more ways to communicate with each other. These changes have brought

new heights in productivity and created a more mobile, global, and always-on world of work.

With this rapid transformation in the business environment, people need to manage more

communications in more, different places than ever before. Information workers (IW) and IT

professionals are each struggling to manage multiple systems for communications desktop

and mobile phones, email and voice mail, voice over internet protocol (VoIP), instant

messaging, and web- and videoconferencing. Todays communications technologies work well

independently, but we at Microsoft also feel that they should work together as a team so much

more effectively.

OCS 2007 is a unified communications server that

delivers enterprise instant messaging; audio, video- andweb-conferencing; and enhanced voice over IP. Office

Communicator (OC) is a unified client that delivers a

familiar, intuitive interface to users. Together these two

products streamline communications by giving people

the ability to click-to-communicate within Microsoft

Office system applications, such as Outlook, SharePoint,

and other applications, devices, and networks they know

and use today. Using a highly available, scalable architecture and familiar administration tools, OCS

2007 makes deployment, administration, and monitoring of real-time communications moreefficient. Moreover, OCS 2007 facilitates real-time communication across multiple geographies,

time zones and organizational boundaries, so that people throughout the organization can work

together more easily and make informed decisions more quickly.

OCS 2007 and Office Communicator 2007 allow people to quickly find and communicate with

other individuals and groups using a variety of methods. Since a persons availability and

Through 2010, 80% of business who

have deployed communications

enabled business processes will have

acquired significant competitive and

revenue differentiation because of

them.

(Gartner, May 2006)

Through 2010, 80% of business whohave deployed communications

enabled business processes will have

acquired significant competitive and

revenue differentiation because of

them.

(Gartner, May 2006)


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communications experience are tightly integrated with the Microsoft Office desktop, users can

communicate directly from within everyday desktop and business applications, workflows, and

processes. Therefore, an individual can easily communicate from anywhere, using tools that

share the same look and feel, user experience and work environment with the Microsoft Office

desktop.

To facilitate the use of this reference document, this guide is organized into the following

different sections:


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WHATS NEW

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 is the first Microsoft product to combine

Enhanced Voice over IP (VoIP), enterprise Instant Messaging (IM), presence, and Web

conferencing capabilities within a single offering.

Building on the success of Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005s rich presence and

instant messaging capabilities, the OCS 2007 offering delivers new functionalities in two major

areas:

Office Communications Server 2007 also offers some additional improvements, such as

enhanced presence capabilities, improved ability to interoperate with partner networks

(federation), and improved deployment and administration. At a glance, Office Communication

Server 2007 delivers:

KEY:= Feature Included

= Improved

= New

Live Communication

Server 2005

Office Communications

Server 2007

Enterprise-wide Presence

Enterprise Instant Messaging with

Enhanced Security

Enhanced VoiceConferencing


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ENHANCED VOIP

Microsofts Enhanced VoIP is a software-based solution that provides streamlined

communications to information workers, enabling them to initiate voice communications from

the context of the application they are working in (such as Microsoft Outlook), as well as make

and receive calls when traveling or away from the office by connecting to any network without

a VPN. For IT departments, this provides the future-ready foundation for evolving

communications needs.

Using Communicator 2007 as the preferred client

application, the solution provides a rich, integrated

communications experience for enterprise users.

Enhanced VoIP supports voice mail and auto-

attendant capabilities through integration with

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging.OCS 2007 also works with existing enterprise

telephony systems (PBX) either natively over SIP (session initiation protocolthe most popular

VoIP standard that enables two or more users to communicate to each other using a network

or the Internet), or via a media gateway and public switched telephone networks (PSTN).

Unlike existing corporate phone systems, OCS

2007s Enhanced VoIP functionality makes it

possible for remote workers at home or on the

road to make and answer voice calls using their

office extension without the need to set up a virtual

private network (VPN). Moreover, such voice

sessions are protected by the same encryption and

authentication technologies as OCS 2007 IM

sessions.

Gartner Research expects that by 2010,

80% of companies will have integrated

communications such as voice and

messaging into some business

applications or processes.

The corporate IM market is in the early

stages of deployment, but will reach 90

percent penetration (of those users with

commercial email accounts) by 2010,

with Microsoft having the largest

proportion of active users.

Gartner, Ma 2006


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Leveraging Office Communications Server 2007s Enhanced VoIPcapabilities enables users to:

Place calls from PC to PC, PC to phone, or phone to PC, simplifying the communications

experience.

Participate in IP voice sessions that traverse NATs and firewalls.

Place calls to other enterprise voice users, coworkers who are still hosted on a PBX, or

PSTN numbers.

Call the enterprise from anywhere an Internet connection is available, without incurring

long-distance charges or resorting to a VPN (virtual private network).

Keep their legacy telephone numbers.

Enjoy the benefits of voice mail and call forwarding on your PC

For the business customer, Enhanced VoIP provides benefits over and above user productivity

enhancements:

Businesses can leverage their existing server infrastructure reducing the requirements and

costs of additional hardware.

Least cost routing over PSTN gateways results in lower telephony costs.

Familiar tools allow central administration of VoIP and data systems, reducing

administrative overhead and complexity.

Integration with existing PBX solutions, networks, existing numbering plans, and

traditional desktop phones allows businesses to extend the life of the existing telephonysystems while improving its functionality.


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MULTI-PARTY ON PREMISE WEB CONFERENCING

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 introduces a new capability for enterprise users

both inside and outside the corporate firewall to create and join real-time conferences hosted

on internal corporate servers.

These on-premise conferences and meetingsincrease the flexibility of the organization to

collaborate more spontaneously, and can be scheduled or initiated on an ad-hoc basis. This new

functionality allows an organization to host Microsoft Office Live Meeting-style services as an

on-premise, server-based solution, which enables the enterprise user to host meetings,

presentations, training classes and similar gatherings using its own corporate network. These

conferences can include IM, audio, video, slide

presentations, and other forms of datacollaboration.

In addition, the in-house solution provides a flexible,

more secure, and productive conferencing for

Information Workers by offering:

Simplified scheduling tools.Tight integration via add-ins with Microsoft Office Outlook

gives users greater flexibility and more options when initiating, accepting and managingattendance for scheduled meetings.

Ad-hoc meeting support.Users can initiate an impromptu web conference directly from

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 and Microsoft Office System applications such as

PowerPoint, Excel

, Word, Project, Visio

and

Outlook.

Two-way VoIP audio support.Full-duplex

audio technology helps mediate the

conversation when several people talk at the

same time during an audio conference, so thatno persons voice is lost or overridden.

Microsoft RoundTable support.When

combined with Microsoft Office

Communications Server 2007, Microsoft

RoundTable delivers an immersive

By 2008, Web conferencing will beavailable to the majority of corporate

users as a standard facility, alongside

email, presence, calendaring, instant

messaging and other collaborative

facilities.

(Gartner, Web Conferencing Magic

Quadrant, September 2006)

Siemens: Companies may be able to

save U.S. $100 or more in a four-person

conference call through the elimination

of audio conferencing fees, document

collaboration session fees, and the time

saved in setting up.

(Tim Miller, Director of Product

Planning and OpenScape)


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conferencing experience with a 360 degree panoramic video display that extends the

meeting room across multiple locations with high quality video and audio.

External access. On-premise Web conferencing also can support a combination of

internal and external participants, with an edge server deployed for users outside the

organizations firewall.

Consistent meeting environment.On-premise Web conferencing uses the same

meeting console as the Microsoft Office Live Meeting service, providing a familiar

experience for participants and enabling IT departments to deploy only one console.

Multi-party audio conferencing and video conferencing. OfficeCommunications Server

2007 allows more than two people to simultaneously interact through voice and video

using the Office Communicator client.

Server to Service Continuum.Users employ

the Live Meeting client to meet online and

the Conferencing Add-in for Outlook to

schedule meetings on either the Office

Communications Server 2007 Web

Conferencing capability or the Office Live

Meeting service without having to learn

separate applications.

By 2008, Web-conferencing products willbe widely available and frequently used

by more than 40 percent of the

worldwide business user community.

(Gartner, Predicts 2006: Collaboration

Comes of Age, November 2006)


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INSTANT MESSAGING AND PRESENCE

The new Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

builds on the solid instant messaging and presence

solution of Live Communications Server 2005,incorporating enterprise-ready instant messaging and

presence features including the following improveduser-

focusedcapabilities:

Send group IMs to a Microsoft Exchange Server distribution group

Include Active Directory Service distribution lists in IM contact list.

Seamlessly transition from peer to peer 1:1 audio & video conversations to multiparty, server-

based conferences.

Integrate presence into Client and custom line of business (LOB) applications

User-level control of presence visibility by assigning contacts to one of several pre-defined

access levels, allowing them to decide how much information is made available to the

contacts.

Administrator control of custom presence states for the organization.

User-level sharing of rich presence information automatically based on the content of their

Exchange calendar or whether they have an Our of Office (OOF) message set.

Office Communications Server 2007 supports federation between organizations using OCS2007, with partner presence systems, and with public IM systems (AOL, Yahoo and Windows

Live). In addition, a specification has been published to allow any presence server to federate

with Office Communications Server.

The corporate IM market is in the early

stages of deployment, but will reach 90

percent penetration (of those users with

commercial email accounts) by 2010,with Microsoft having the largest

proportion of active users.

(Gartner, May 2006)


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KEY BENEFITS

The business world has changed substantially in only a few short years. The use of varied

communication methods has led to communication chaos. Phone tag with landlines, cell

phones, voice mail jail, and email overload have created a disconnected communicationssystem, where the information worker is often

frustrated and unable to keep track of all the

information received and needed and the act of

communicating with other people is too often an

interruption rather than a progression of the work

process.

The way in which business people communicate and

collaborate has seen rapid changes recently, with new demands and capabilities today that a

few short years ago were hardly a consideration. Communicating right from the context of the

work the information worker is doing and contacting the right person using the right method

streamlines communications, increases productivity, and reduces time-to-decision.

Delivering these benefits today, rather than waiting for long, staged rollouts of communications

technologies (such as forklift replacements of PBX systems) is required to gain business

advantage while organizations cant afford to invest in technologies that will become obsolete

as communications moves towards a software-based infrastructure.

As part of people-driven business success, Microsoft is looking to help people communicate and

collaborate with their co-workers, partners and customers more effectively. This is especiallytrue in a New World of Work. Microsoft software is built to help simplify collaboration in One

World of Business, help ensure systems and people are Always On and Always Connected, and

help streamline processes and create Transparent Organizations.

Microsofts Office Communications Server 2007 solution enables an integrated user experience

through communications convergence. Office Communication Server 2007 with its main client

Office Communicator 2007 combines voice capabilities, multiparty video, audio and Web

conferencing, presence status and control, enterprise instant messaging, and speech-enabled

interactive voice response application development into one familiar experience within the

applications, devices and networks already known and used.

The average Information

Worker gets 51 messages a day

in up to 7 different places.

Harris Interactive Online Survey

June 2006


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Office Communication Server 2007 delivers the end-to-end software solution and tools to help

the IT Administrator bring to life the work style for the New World of Work, providing

employees with the necessary communications tools and access to the information and

resources they need, while helping the organization build a strong foundation for the future.

Weyerhaeuser Company: We can use instant messaging whether were buried in a

pricing spreadsheet or working on a presentation. Its a tremendous time saverto be able to

keep our focus on a particular topic while sharing that information in real time.

BDM/IW - Tracey Reuck, Senior Infrastructure Consultant


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Office Communications Server 2007 Key Benefits:


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SOFTWARE-POWERED VOIP FOUNDATION

Organizations must adapt to the changing nature of business communications and technology

to remain competitive. Unfortunately, managing new functionalities requires forklift upgrades,

new tools, unfamiliar desktop software, and high resource costs.

Office Communications Server 2007 delivers enhanced VoIP on a software-powered platform

that works with the existing messaging and telephony infrastructure. Because of this,

customers can realize both a faster deployment than other PBX implementations and the

addition of new, innovative VoIP and Video/Web Conferencing Capabilities at a lower cost,

while enjoying a fully integrated experience with other applications.

Build on Your Existing Telephony Infrastructure

Office Communications Server 2007 uses standards and published interfaces to interoperate and

integrate with the existing telephony infrastructure

- Published and supported interfaces enable software-powered VoIP to be implemented

alongside the existing PBX infrastructure

- Enables software-powered VoIP capabilities to communicate with users on PBX, PSTN,

and mobile endpoints

- Call Management capabilities (forwarding, simultaneous ring, etc.) can be used with

PBX/PSTN/mobile endpoints

- Remote call control (RCC or 3rd

Party Call Control) enables users to access telephony

capabilities from their desktop

Deliver VoIP, Conferencing, and IM Infrastructure on The Active Directory service

Office Communications Server 2007 is built on The Active Directory service, leveraging a single

directory for communications management

- Minimizes deployment and management costs by consolidating directory management

- Built on a common Microsoft Windows infrastructure to leverage the organizations

existing investments and skills

- Familiar user interfaces and administration promote faster user adoption and IT rollout

of new capabilities

- Provides a foundation for the organizations communicationstrategy that integrates

with collaboration and productivity tool investments


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Implement an Extensible Infrastructure

Office Communications Server 2007 provides an extensible infrastructure for integrating with

business process and user needs of today and tomorrow

-Published and supported developer interfaces for extensibility and interoperabilityenable integration into existing applications and business processes

- Broad device support enabled by published protocols enabling customer choice, value

and optimal end user experience

- Software driven innovation enables high value capabilities today and ensures greater

innovation and flexibility for future extensibility


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STREAMLINED COMMUNICATIONS

Managers today want flexibility to be productive at work, home, and while traveling. However,

in order to achieve increased productivity, the individual worker must be able to access all of

his/her communications in a familiar environment across a range of devices and on the Web.

Office Communications Server 2007 integrates with business applications like Microsoft

Outlook to provide streamlined communications experience, bringing email, instant messaging,

conferencing, and voice communications together. Moreover, with OCS 2007s integrated

presence technology, a user can easily find the right person he/she wants to contact and

communicate according to the availability and communication media preferred by the

participants.

Find the Right People, Right Now

With Office Communications Server 2007, users can find the right person, right now

- Allows for immediate, visual representation of Presence

- Presence status can be controlled directly by the user or automatically based on Outlook

calendar, login status, or other sources of information

- Users can individualize access levels for different contacts

-Saves time and improves productivity by ensuring you can reach the right person, rightnow using the optimal method of communication

Click to Communicate within Office Outlook and the Applications You Use Most

Office Communications Server 2007 helps improve users productivity by enabling streamlined

communications from within the applications they use most

- Whether making a phone call right from Outlook or identifying the availability of a

business documents author, users can find who they need and communicate using the

best method- Context and content can be shared right from within the communications experience

- LOB applications can also be extended to access the streamlined, rich communications

capabilities for your users


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Work Together in Real-Time in the Office and on the Road

Office Communications Server 2007 improves users ability to communicatefrom multiple

devices when needed.

- Allows for security enhanced VoIP, IM, and Conferencing on any network without

requiring a secure tunnel (VPN connection) into the corporate network

- Provides access to rich presence and communications capabilities from various devices,

whether your PC, a Windows Mobile device, or via a Web browser.

Deliver VoIP Capabilities That Users Actually Use

Office Communications Server 2007 can deliver software-powered VoIP to the users today.

-Provides high quality VoIP right from within Microsoft Office applications so users cancommunicate with a single click from their PC

- Enables rich communications with other Communicator 2007 users by enhancing a

phone call with IM, video and a subject and other information

- Call management capabilities such as call forwarding, hold, dynamic routing, and

simultaneous ringing on all commonly used phones are easily configured by users

Deliver Advanced Web/Audio/Video Conferencing

Office Communications Server 2007, users get rich Web based conferencing with integrated

audio and video

- Provides a rich experience for ad-hoc collaboration and meetings

- Enables the real-time sharing of documents, applications, and media with integrated

voice and audio

- Meetings easily scheduled from within Outlook and Communicator right from an

active conversation or a meeting request

- Enables external participant access

- Uses the same client as the Office Live Meeting Service for a consistent experience


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OPERATIONAL CONTROL

IT pros face a proportionate increase in security and compliance requirements with the addition

of new vehicles for communication. Both the implementation and ongoing management of

these systems and policies add complexity and support costs.

Office Communications Server 2007 allows for the implementation, management, and

integration of enhanced VoIP, Web conferencing, and IM within a single solution, to provide IT

professionals with the operational control they need to contain costs while delivering valuable

communications services to the business.

Enterprise Class Compliance and Security

Office Communications Server 2007 helps simplify compliance with internal and regulatory

controls by allowing you archive and manage all forms of communications

- Provides a platform for supporting retention policies and to adapt to rapidly changing

communications policies and regulations

- AD-based user authentication

- HTTPS external access with complete media encryption for a more secure

communications from all endpoints across managed and unmanaged networks

- Built in archiving for IM text

-Meeting content archival for Web conferences

- Call detail records stored for VoIP communications

- Ability to restrict user functions, link and document exchange, and external access

according to corporate policy

- Built-in filtering and SPIM control

Professional Grade Reliability and Scale

Office Communications Server 2007 allows the implementation of Enhanced VoIP, presence, IM,

and Web/audio/video conferencing on a platform built for professional use

-Built on a platform with proven scale for enterprise communications on the PC

- Provides IT control over failover, redundancy, and scalability across your organization

- Adaptive audio and video codecs (RTAudio, RTVideo) enable quality of experience on

LANs, WANs, and the Internet without requiring complete network overhauls


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Centralize Provisioning and Simplify Management

Office Communications Server 2007 enables more efficient deployment of innovative

communications technologies

- Built on the Active Directory service for a single user directory for all communications

- Enables provisioning of Presence, software-powered VoIP, Web conferencing, and IM

from a single infrastructure

- Managed and monitored with familiar IT tools like MMC and MOM

- Features can be added together or individual based on the needs and preferences of

your users and organization

- Communications can be federated with other organizations using Office

Communications Server 2007 and public services


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PARTNER ECOSYSTEM

Creating a partner ecosystem for voice endpoints and network infrastructure is a key

component of Microsofts goal to bring software economics to business communications.

Microsoft has created a partner ecosystem that leverages SIP standards and published

interfaces, which provides an open architecture that the worlds leading communications

companies, including Nortel, LG-Nortel, Polycom, Alcatel, Mitel, NEC Philips, and Siemens can

integrate and interoperate with.

The strong ecosystem for IP phones, headsets, USB handsets, voice gateways and other PC

peripherals creates the opportunity for thousands of companies worldwide to integrate VoIP

into their existing infrastructure, and provides the flexibility to work with preferred products

and vendors.


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FEATURES AT A GLANCE

ENTERPRISE IM & CONTACT MANAGEMENT

Feature New /

Improved

Description Page

Contact Card New Users can easily view detailed information about

their contacts, including a link to their SharePoint

My Site, and immediately start conversations with

them through any of the available communication

options (e.g. IM, call, email).

35

Contact Grouping Improved Users can group their contacts based on the

contacts availability, the contacts presence level,

whether the contact is tagged, or by group.

35

Contact Search-

Users can search for anyone in the global address

list of an organization or their Outlook contacts,

view the results, and continue typing to narrow

the results while viewing the contacts presence.

35

Corporate

Distribution List

Integration

New Users can search corporate distribution lists

alongside individual contacts and can add them to

contact lists, view and converse with list

members.

36

Customized

Contact Groups-

Users can create personal groups to better

organize their contacts.

36

Drag and Drop Improved Users can easily modify their contact lists, initiate

conversations and add additional contacts to

conversations, all using a comprehensive and

intuitive drag-and-drop capability.

37

Emoticons-

Users can convey emotions in IM conversations

using special, expressive characters.

37

File Transfer-

Users can send and receive files from within IM

conversations.

37

Group IM Improved Users can initiate and hold IM conversations with

up to 100 other people, including individuals,user-defined groups, and corporate distribution

groups.

37

Ink IMs-

Users can use a Tablet PC to send handwritten

ink IMs.

38

Integration with

Web ConferencingImproved Users can escalate from an IM conversation to a

web conference.

38


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Missed IM

IndicatorNew Users are notified via an icon when they have

missed IM conversations.

38

Most Recently

Used (MRU)

Contacts

New Users can quickly view the 10 most recent

contacts with which the user has held IM

conversations in a separate, dynamic list.

38

Rich Content inInstant Messages

New Users can choose the font, style, and color of theirIMs and can paste formatted text and pictures

from other applications into their IM

conversations without losing the formatting (e.g.

paste an Excel spreadsheet, bullets from a

PowerPoint slide).

39

Roaming Contact

List-

As contact lists are stored on the server, a user

can log onto different PCs and avoid the effort of

recreating contact lists.

39

Typing

Notification

-

Users can see when a contact in an IM

conversation is currently typing a response.

39

PRESENCE

Feature New /

Improved

Description Page

Automatic

Presence StatesImproved A users presence state is automatically updated

to In a Meeting based on his personal calendar

stored in Exchange. Users can also choose to

expose additional details about each meeting to

their contacts. A users OOF message is

automatically updated based on his personalcalendar stored in Exchange to contacts that view

the users status additional details about each

meeting to their contacts.

40

Contact Tagging Improved Users can tag contacts to receive a notification

whenever the tagged contacts presence changes.

Tagged contacts have a special indicator and

when the resultant notification appears, the tag

can be removed.

41

Customized

Presence States

New Users can publish presence states that are custom

defined, usually by administrators in anorganization.

42

Do Not Disturb Improved Users can set a Do Not Disturb state that stops

all notifications and incoming communications,

except for those from designated users.

42


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Federated

Presence Indicator

- Users can easily see which of their contacts are

from a federated relationship with another

organization, or with a Public IM network.

42

Rich Presence

States

Improved Users can publish states beyond the usual Online,

Busy, Away, or Offline. They can select Do Not

Disturb, Be Right Back, and customize their notesto provide additional information.

43

Location Display New Users can publish details of their current physical

location.

45

Presence Levels New Users can control what information about

themselves is exposed to their contacts by setting

presence levels (logical groupings of the users

information) for each contact which range from

sharing a lot of information about the user and

their state to blocking contacts.

45

Presence Note New Users can create a custom text note in addition totheir presence to provide contacts with more

details about their current activity and view the

presence notes of other contacts.

46

MULTI-PARTY ON PREMISE CONFERENCING

Feature New /

Improved

Description Page

Web Conferencing

1:1 Chat New Users can send and receive text messages to each

other.

47

Active Speaker

DetectionNew Users can see the active speaker through an

indicator; if a video stream is also present in the

conference, they can see the active speaker.

47

Alternate

Participation

Location

New Users can choose an alternate location from

which to join a call, e.g. home phone, mobile

phone, SIP phone, or another number.

47

Annotation Users can annotate slides and share themultimedia changes automatically. 48

Anonymous

ParticipantsNew Conferences can be conducted with users who

are inside or outside the firewall, across federated

links or are anonymous.

48

Application

SharingNew Users can share the display and control of an

application with other users.

48


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Audience Polling New Presenters can poll the audience for responses to

specific questions, and instantly share the results.

48

Audio

Conferencing

Provider

Integration

New The audio portion of a web conference can be

conducted using the conferencing services of an

audio conferencing provider and the bridge can

be controlled from the meeting console.

47

Client Side

RecordingNew Using the Live Meeting client, users can create

recordings of meetings as they take place,

including audio and video that may have been

part of the meeting.

49

Dynamic Content

SharingNew Users can share dynamic content such as a

Windows Media file or a Flash resource with

other attendees.

49

Handouts New Participants can share files in their native formats

among meeting participants.

49

Invite AdditionalParticipants

New Conference participants can easily inviteadditional users to an existing conference.

50

Presenter

Conference

Controls

New Conference leaders can lock the conference,

selectively mute or eject participants, or end the

conference.

50

Meeting Security New Meeting organizers can restrict the attendance of

web conferences based on Active Directory

authentication.

50

Multi-Party

Audio/Video

Conferencing in aWeb Conference

New Users can hold 1:1 or multi-party IP audio and

video conversations whilst in a web conference.

50

Questioning New Audience members can add questions to a queue,

and the presenter can respond to them in an

orderly manner.

50

Rich Conference

RosterNew Users can see details about participants, such as

active modes, leader status, and the active

speaker.

51

Microsoft

RoundTable

Integration

New Users can create an immersive meeting

experience with panoramic video and active

speaker detection for meetings with remote

participants by using the Microsoft RoundTable

device in conjunction with the Live Meeting client.

51

Shared Notes New Attendees can share notes with other meeting

participants.

51

Snapshot New Users can share static images of their Desktops. 51


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Static Content

SharingNew Users can share such static content such as a

Word document or a PowerPoint presentation

during a web conference.

51

Web Slide New URLs can be shared with participants in the

meeting and viewed via a browser embedded in

the console.

52

Whiteboard New Users can start a whiteboard session during a web

conference to share ideas or diagrams.

52

Multiparty Audio/Video Conferencing (using Communicator client)

Dial-Out New Users can be dialed out at any PSTN phone

number to join a conference.

52

Escalation to Web

ConferenceNew Users can easily escalate from an IM/audio/video

conversation or conference to a web conference.

53

Leader Conference

Controls

New Conference leaders can selectively mute or eject

participants, and lock or end the conference.

53

Rich Conference

RosterNew Users can see details about participants including

active modes, leader status, and who is the active

speaker.

53

Transition from

1:1 to MultiParty

Conversation

New Users can add participants to a 1:1 conversation

(IM, Voice, Video), automatically transitioning

from a peer-to-peer session to a server based

conference without further configuration.

53

Single-Click

ConferencingNew Users can select a range or group of contacts and

easily initiate an IM, audio, or video conference.

53


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ENHANCED VOIP

Feature New /

Improved

Description Page

Call Authorization New Only allow authorized users to initiate certain calls

(e.g. international calls).

54

Call Context New Voice calls can be given an importance or a subject

that would be displayed to another Office

Communicator user.

54

Call DeflectNew

Users can deflect (dynamically forward) incoming

voice calls to another device such as a cellular

phone or voicemail.

54

Call EncryptionsNew

Calls can be encrypted to help ensure privacy

(SRTP).

54

Call Forwarding New Users can forward calls using rules (e.g. all calls, iftheres no answer, based on presence, based on

Outlook working hours).

55

Call HoldNew

Users can put calls on hold and then retrieve them

from hold.

55

Call LogsNew

Maintain call logs for incoming, outgoing or recent

calls.

55

Call Sensitivity

ControlNew

Users can control the sensitivity of calls, preventing

others from being added to the call.

55

Call TransferNew

Users can transfer calls either using single-step or

consultative transfer.

56

Call WaitingNew

When on a call, users are notified of any waiting

calls.

56

Click to CallNew

Users can initiate calls directly from existing address

lists or other applications where presence

information is shown.

56

Conference CallNew

Users can initiate multi-party calls or dial out from

an existing call to include other contacts. Thesecalls can be initiated on ad-hoc basis or can be

scheduled using an Outlook add-in.

57

DTMF Digit

GenerationNew

Users can use a dial pad to generate DTMF digits

whilst on a call (for example, to navigate touch tone

interfaces).

57


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28

Inbound and

Outbound CallingNew

Users can make and receive voice calls from their PC

to another PC or to and from a regular PSTN

telephone number.

58

Multiple CallNew

Whilst on one call, a user can initiate a second call

and the first is automatically put on hold.

58

Reverse Number

LookupNew

When an incoming call is received from the PSTN,

the number is compared with those in the corporate

address list and the users Outlook contacts. If a

match is found, the contacts name is displayed.

58

Simultaneous Ring

(aka Call Forking)New

A call can simultaneously ring all registered

endpoints plus an internal, external, or mobile

phone number.

59

Unified Messaging

IntegrationNew

Unified messaging capability from Exchange Server

2007 can be integrated.

59

USB Device

Integration for

Voice Calls

NewCommunicator is designed to integrate with USB

devices to provide a rich calling experience. This

includes interacting with the state of hook-switches,

advanced audio configuration options and

displaying call information on devices with a display.

59


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OFFICE INTEGRATION

Feature New /

Improved

Description Page

Conference

Scheduling via

Outlook

New Users can create a meeting request in Outlook,

and choose to make it an audio, video, web, or

PSTN conference

60

Contextual Integrated

PresenceImproved Throughout the 2007 Office System, information

about users presence is displayed using icons

consistent with those found in the Communicator

client. Whenever these icons are displayed a drop

down menu can be accessed which provide a

variety of communications options including the

ability to initiate an Instant Message or a Voice

call.

61

Conversation History

Stored in OutlookNew Users can save and view a history of all their

conversations, through any communication

method, in Outlook. If a user made notes in

OneNote related to a particular conversation, a

link to those notes is also stored in the

conversation history.

61

Missed Conversations

Search Folder in

Exchange/Outlook

New Users can see all their missed conversations from

any communication method in Outlook

61

OneNote Integration New Users can initiate OneNote during a phone call tomake notes, and automatically populate the page

with the names of the contacts in the call.

Conversation histories stored in Outlook can link

to OneNote pages.

62

Reply to Email with

Real Time

Communication

New Users can easily initiate conversations with

contacts from the Outlook 2007 ribbon and from

within emails. If a conversation is initiated from an

email, the subject of the email is automatically

applied as the subject of the conversation

63

Reply to Email withVoice Call

New Users can easily reply to email messages with avoice call (to a PC or to a phone) directly from

Outlook.

63


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DEVELOPMENT, MANAGEMENT, AND ADMINISTRATION

Feature New /

Improved

Description Page

Anywhere Access New Protocols under the ICE framework and edge

server roles allow the deployment of OfficeCommunications Server to enable users to access

all forms of rich media no matter where they are

(e.g. hotel, office) without having to establish a

VPN connection.

64

Archiving-

Archive IM conversations for regulatory

compliance, legal discovery rules, and internal

records

64

Automatic Server

Location-

Users home server can be automatically located

with the sign-in name.

64

Call Authorization New Controls to restrict access to certain numbers, e.g.

international calls.

64

CDR New Call Detail Records (CDRs) provide a way to collect

both IM and meeting data, and generate reports

on usage characteristics.

65

Client GPO Support Improved Configure OCS client using Group Policy Objects

(GPO).

65

Client Version Check New Control and restrict which OCS client versions can

connect to the server.

65

Communicator Web

AccessImproved Access the features of OCS remotely via an AJAX

client on a web browser.

69

Customize Action

MenuNew Administrators can extend Action Menu to include

custom actions such as launching a user-specific

application.

65

Customize Help Menu-

Administrators can define custom help links for

users.

66

Administrative

DelegationNew Administrators can set permissions at various

hierarchical levels inside the OCS administrative

interface to allow for delegation of control.

64

In-Band Provisioning Improved Distribute settings to OC clients centrally and

synchronously.

66


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Intelligent IM Filtering Improved Specific content can be filtered from IM messages,

such as blocking file transfers of certain

extensions.

66

Least Cost Routing New Automatically route calls to the optimal gateway

to avoid call tolls.

66

Local Dial Plans New Calls will take local dial plans into account, and

integrate with PBX dial plans for calls routed

through the PBX.

66

Microsoft

Management Console

(MMC)

Improved Manage users, servers, and global settings easily

using MMC.

67

MOM-Based

Management (MOM

Pack)

Improved OCS-specific MOM pack for robust and central

performance monitoring.

67

Multiple Points of

Presence-

Users can be logged into multiple devices

simultaneously.

67

Redundancy and

FailoverImproved The different roles of OCS can be deployed on

multiple servers at the same time: if one server

fails, another one can take over. This helps to

eliminate single points of failure. When used with

SQL Server to provide the back-end database,

clustering can be used to ensure that in the event

of a hardware or software failure, service to usersis not interrupted.

67

Roaming

Configuration OptionsImproved User settings are automatically migrated from the

desktop to other endpoints.

67

Scalable Deployment

OptionsImproved Via a range of different configuration options,

Communications Server allows for more servers to

be added to a deployment to meet the needs

customers have for scale.

68

Secure Federated

CommunicationImproved Communicate more securely and share presence

with users in other organizations and on public IM

networks.

68


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COMMUNICATOR WEB ACC ESS COMPARATIVE TABLE

Feature Communicator

2007

Communicator

Web Access

Zero-Download

Browser based Ajax

application

Non-Windows

Compatible

Web AJAX API

Rich presence

IM

IM Conferencing

Federation

PIC

Call Forwarding Rules

Notification Alerts

Toast Call Deflection

Web UI Controls

Audio/Video

Conferencing

VoIP Soft-Phone

Windows-Based API

For more information on the web access interface of Office Communicator, please see page69.


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MICROSOFT OFFICE COMMUNICATOR MOBILE 2007

Core capabilities of Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile 2007

Rich Presence

Instant Messaging, multi-party IM

Enterprise address book search

Similar call handling control functionality to Office Communicator

Optimized on-the-wire traffic for mobile environments

Works with OCS 2007 with no infrastructure changes

EXTENSIBILITY AND APIS

OFFICE COMMUNICATION SERVER

Feature New /

Improved

Description Page

Unified

CommunicationsManaged API

New Managed API for creating and deploying highly

scalable real time communications applications.

-

COMMUNICATOR WEB ACCESS

Feature New /

Improved

Description Page

Communicator

Web Access AJAX

Service

Improved An AJAX service on the Web Server that can be used

to build cross platform Web clients or

Communicator functionality into web basedapplications.

-

CWA JavaScript

LibrariesImproved Libraries that allow developers to integrate

Communicator Web Access functionality into their

Web apps

-


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OFFICE COMMUNICATOR

Feature New /

Improved

Description Page

ActiveX Controls in

TabsNew Tabs can be extended with ActiveX controls -

Tabs for Call Data New Tabs can be extended to include data and

information related to the current call (e.g. for

billing applications).

69

Customize Help

ContentImproved Surfacing custom help menu on OC UI (restricted to

intranet of secure zone URLs)

-

Customize

PresenceNew APIs to define, set and access granular presence

states with admin level control

-

Tabs in

Conversation

Windows

NewExtensible conversation window, which can host

applications as well as controls whereby the URL to

host is sent in a SIP INFO message

70

Extensible Actions

MenuNew Allows to plugging in LOB applications menu items

that can be invoked depending on the context of

the task on which the employee is collaborating.

70

Automation API New Allows other Windows applications access to all

capabilities of Communicator from within those

other applications. An employee does not need to

leave the application to invoke Communicator

functionality.

71


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REVIEWING OFFICE COMMUNICATION SERVER 2007 AND OFFICE COMMUNICATOR

2007

ENHANCED ENTERPRISE IM & CONTACT MANAGEMENT

CONTACT CARD

In Office Communicator 2007, the contact card replaces the Communicator 2005 details pane.

The contact card provides important information about a contact and acts as a launch point for

key tasks, such as sending an email message to the contact or viewing the persons SharePoint

mysite.

A persons contact card provides details about thecontacts availability and activity. Depending on the

access level that a contact has granted a particular

user, he/she can see details of the contacts schedule

as well as any personal note the contact has written.

The contact card also provides a launch point for

connecting with another contact, including the ability to start an instant messaging session, call

the contact, schedule a meeting, email the contact, or share a SharePoint link.

CONTACT GROUPING

Users can choose to group their contacts in a variety of ways. This includes having them

organized into groups (user-defined or from the corporate directory) or by the contacts

availability, presence level or whether or not they are tagged.

CONTACT SEARCH

Communicator provides a search text box that you can use to locate contacts or distribution

lists searching a variety of fields in the directory. Communicator searches Active Directory and

Outlook contacts if Outlook is configured as the personal information manager for

Communicator. It searches the Windows Address Book if the Address Book is configured as the

personal information manager. While searching, the user can view the effects and continue

typing to narrow the results, speeding up the process. Once a contact or group is found in the

search, the user can view the presence and choose to add the contact or group to their own

contact list, or start a conversation with the group or individual contact.


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CORPORATE DISTRIBUTION LIST INTEGRATION

The feature allows the users to search for corporate

distribution lists along with individual contacts and

then add them to their contact lists, view their

members, and start conversations with one or more

of their members.

Corporate Distribution integration provides:

Integration with company distribution lists

(Exchange DG in the corporate directory)

Elimination of the need to create groups

manually to mirror DGs

The ability to either add the group to the

contact list or use it in real-time to start

communications.

CUSTOMIZED CONTACT GROUPS

As well as being able to use corporate distribution lists inside Office Communicator, users can

continue to create their own personal groupings of contacts. This might be for ad-hoc groups

of people across an organization, or perhaps for federated contacts from other organizations or

public IM providers.


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DRAG AND DROP

Drag and Drop capabilities are provided through a number of different Office Communicator

scenarios. Drag and Drop can be used to manage contact lists, initiate conversations and add

people to conferences, for instance, when users want to go from a 1:1 IM, Voice or Video

conversation to a multiparty conference. The user only has to drag the additional participants

into the conversation window, and a multi-party session is automatically initiated.

EMOTICONS

In Office Communicator 2007 users can use

smiley, frowning faces and other expressive

images to represent an emotion. These

symbols are called emoticons, and can be

inserted to add a more personal touch to the

instant message and convey more emotion

than text alone

FILE TRANSFER

Within an IM conversation, users can transfer documents by simply right-clicking on the

contacts username and selecting Send a File. The recipient can accept the transfer to save

the file locally, and either user can cancel the file transfer at any time.

GROUP IM

In the latest version of Office Communications Server 2007, the users can initiate and hold IM

conversations with up to 100 other people, including individuals, user-defined groups, and

corporate distribution groups.


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This allows users to easily start a conversation with multiple people or to add people to an

existing conversation.

With the new Distribution List integration feature, users can add Microsoft Exchange Server

distribution lists as contacts. Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 client allows expansion of

distribution lists through a Web service exposed on the server. This expansion allows users to

invite one or more individual members of the group to an IM session. Although groups of up to

1000 members can be expanded, IM sessions can include no more than 100 members.

INK IMS

Tablet PC users can use ink for Instant Messages, without having to change to a different

input method for this type of communication.

INTEGRATION WITH WEB CONFERENCING

When in a conversation, users can escalate to a web conference (hosted either by the web

conferencing capabilities of Office Communications Server 2007 or by the Office Live Meeting

service) at the click of a button. All participants in the conversation can then be automatically

added to the web conference, where they can take advantage of web conferencing capabilities

to continue their communication.

MISSED IM INDICATOR

If users receive an IM when they are not at their PC, they are notified of this by an icon in Office

Communicator, and if configured, by a copy of the missed IM in their Outlook mailbox.

MOST RECENTLY USED (MRU) CONTACTS

The Office Communicator contact list has a special group called recent contacts, which is

dynamically constructed out of the last ten users with whom the user has had a conversation.


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RICH CONTENT IN INSTANT MESSAGES

Users can choose the font, style, and color of their IMs and

paste formatted text and pictures from other applications

into their IM conversations without losing the formatting(e.g. paste an Excel spreadsheet, bullets from a PowerPoint

slide).

In addition, users can specify font type and font

characteristics, such as bold, underline, italics, and color.

Users can also insert emoticons, or information copied

from other Microsoft Office applications. Material copied

from applications such as Word and Excel retains

formatting, making it easier to share information.

ROAMING CONTACT LIST

When a user connects using Office Communicator, using any PC, their contact list will

automatically roam around with them, avoiding the user needing to recreate the contact list.

TYPING NOTIFICATION

Users can see when a contact in an IM conversation is currently typing an IM, lending a more

natural flow to the interaction.


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PRESENCE

AUTOMATIC PRESENCE STATES

Office Communicator 2007 automatically updates the

presence state of a user to accurately reflect what that

user is doing. This is done by aggregating information from

various sources which include the users calendar, their Out

of Office OOF message, and status of their PBX phone(if

integrated) or whether or not they are involved in a voice

or video conversation. These states are fairly granular,

making distinctions between, for instance, whether a user

has just blocked off time in their calendar to work on

something (shown as Busy), or whether the calendar

entry is a meeting with invited attendees (shown as In a

Meeting). This approach is also applied to voice

conversations, differentiating between a 1:1 conversation

(In a Call) and a conversation with more than two people

(In a Conference). Additional information about the

details of a meeting can be revealed to contacts assigned

to the appropriate presence level (specifically Team for this case).

The detail and amount of presence information displayed are dependent on the access level

setting of each contact. When a user adds a new contact to the contact list, an alert appears on

the new contacts desktop. The person being added can then set the level of presence

information he/she would like to make available to other users, and can also add the person to

their own contact list.


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CONTACT TAGGING

Tagging allows the users to tag contacts so they will receive a notification whenever the

tagged contact becomes available or signs out. Contacts that a user has tagged have an icon

displayed next to them in the contact list. When the resultant alert appears, this shows details

about the contact including the contacts name and title and presencestatus. By clicking on the

alert, the user can start communicating with the person and edit the tag.

This feature provides easy communications management, enabling the user to receive instant

notifications on status changes instead of requiring the user to repeatedly monitor the status

his/herself.

It is also possible to tag inside other Office applications wherever the users presence is shown,

without having to go into Communicator 2007.


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CUSTOMIZED PRESENCE STATES

Administrators can now define customized presence states in Communicator

2007which are specific to their organization, such as In a Client Consultation

or In Court. This allows users to provide more relevant information about

their state to others.

DO NOT DISTURB

Users can set a Do Not Disturb state that stops all notifications

and incoming communications except for those from users assigned

to the Team presence level. This presence state allows the user to

communicate that they are in their least interruptible state and will

actually block messages from being received from all contacts

except those assigned to the team presence state.

FEDERATED PRESENCE INDICATOR

Office Communications Server 2007 provides support for working with contacts that are

located outside your enterprise. This connection between organizations is called federation.

Federated contacts can be any of the following:

Individuals within one organization that has a federated relationship with another

enterprise.

Individuals connected to a public instant messaging service (e.g. AOL, Windows Live, and

Yahoo).

In all these cases, an indicator shows that the contact is form a federatedrelationship with another

organization, or with a Public IM network.


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RICH PRESENCE STATES

With Flexible Presence States the enterprise users can publish states beyond the usual

Online, Busy, Away, or Offline. They can select Do Not Disturb, Be Right Back, and

customize their notes to provide additional information.

Presence status is indicated graphically by an indicator to the left and a text string to the right

of the contactsname. Some presence states can be set either by the user or by Office

Communicator; other presence states can only be set by Office Communicator (such as

indicating that a user is in a voice conversation). This release of Office Communicator also

introduces the concept of releasing information about a contacts ability to communicate; thus

if a contact is in a meeting but not interacting with their PC, that will be indicated via the

presence indicator. Further details on these states are displayed below.

Table 1 describes each presence indicator and the accompanying status text.


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Table 1 Presence states set by the user or by Communicator

Icon Status Text Description

AvailableThe contact is online and can participate in conversations. Can be set manually by

the user.

Busy

In a Call

In aConference

In aMeeting

The contact is available but engaged in another activity. Activities include:

In a Call The contact is in a phone, voice, or video conversation.

In a Conference The contact is in a multiparty conversation using phone, voice,video, or application sharing.

In a Meeting The Office Outlook calendar shows that the contact has ascheduled meeting.

This presence level can also be set manually by the user.

Do NotDisturb

The contact is available but does not want to be interrupted. This status is displayedfor the following reasons:

The contact has manually set his or her presence status to Do Not Disturb.

The contact is displaying a Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentation or isrunning another program in full-screen mode.

Away The contact is probably not available. This status is displayed for the followingreasons:

The contacts computer has been idle for more than the idle time period setting15 minutes by default.

The contacts Office Outlook calendar or Out of Office Assistant indicates that heor she is out of the office.

The contact is temporarily unavailable. As soon as activity is detected on thecontacts computer, Communicator 2007 automatically resets the presence statusto the appropriate state.

The contact has manually set his or her presence status to Away.

Inactive This contact may be available, but their computer has been idle for more than theidle time period setting five minutes by default. Status set by Communicator.

Inactive This contact is engaged in another activity, but their computer has been inactive forthe idle time period setting 15 minutes by default. Status set by Communicator.

Offline The contact is not available. This status is displayed for the following reasons:

The contact has manually set his or her presence status to Appear Offline.

Communicator 2007 is not running on the contacts computer, or the contact hasnot signed in.

The contact has blocked you from seeing his or her presence status.

Presenceunknown

Communicator 2007 cannot determine the status of the contact. This status is usuallydisplayed because the contacts presence status is stored in another computersystem, such as that of an organization that is not a federated partner.

Offline This indicator is displayed in your contact list next to the name you have blocked. Tothe person you have blocked, you appear to be offline.


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LOCATION DISPLAY

Users can now set a location (such as Office, Home or

a custom defined location) to inform other contacts of

their location. This information is only shared with

contacts with the appropriate presence level.

PRESENCE LEVELS

Office Communicator exposes the concept of

presence levels to users. This allows a user to

control how much information about their current

state another user can see, whether by blocking

contacts or exposing detailed information. The

screenshot shown here describes these different

levels. Each

presence

level is bydesign

associated

with a

particular

amount of

informatio

n about a user. Contacts assigned to one level might

see only the users name, job title, company, and

email address, while contacts assigned to anothermight see the users home and mobile phone numbers.

Users control this by assigning people on their contact list to one of the different levels. The

assigned level can be changed at any time. When a user adds a contact to their contact list, this

contact receives a prompt (shown in the screenshot) allowing them to choose that presence

level at that time.


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PRESENCE NOTE

A user can create a custom text note to provide contacts with more details about their current

activity and view the presence notes of other contacts.

The user simply has to click under his/her name and type a note that other users can see by

hovering over the users name in their contact list.

The user can remove the note by simply deleting the message.


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MULTI-PARTY ON PREMISE CONFERENCING

WEB CONFERENCING

1:1 CHAT

When participating in a Web Conference, users have the ability to have a 1:1 chat with any

other individual who is in the meeting allowing them to clarify information or ask a relevant

question without disturbing the flow of the meeting.

ACTIVE SPEAKER DETECTION

When video is integrated into a web conferencing session, users will see an image of the person

who is actively speaking displayed in the video window. The A/V MCU detects who is

speaking and then sends the appropriate video stream to all participants with video enabled.

ALTERNATE PARTICIPATION LOCATION

When participating in the audio portion of a web conference, users can choose an alternate

location from which to join a call, i.e. home phone, mobile phone, or another phone number.

AUDIO CONFERENCING PROVIDER INTEGRATION

The audio portion of a web conference can be conducted using the conferencing services of an

audio conferencing provider. This audio bridge can then be controlled from the meeting

console allowing the leader to mute or eject people.


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AUDIENCE POLLING

Presenters can display a poll to the attendees in a web conference, see the results of that poll in

real-time and share those results with the attendees.

Polls allow presenters to receive instant feedback from their audience in real-time. Polls can becreated in advance using Microsoft PowerPoint or during the meeting by clicking the poll

button. The poll will be instantly displayed or hidden (based on the presenters preference) and

audience votes are tallied dynamically. At the end of the session a polling report can show how

specific individuals voted as well as aggregate totals.

CONFERENCE SCHEDULING VIA OUTLOOK

As well as being able to initiate a web conference on an ad-hoc basis, users can also schedule a

conference directly from Outlook using an add-in. When other users can join the conference by

clicking the link inside the emailed conference invitation.

CLIENT SIDE RECORDING

Using the Live Meeting client, users can create recordings of meetings as they take place.

These recordings include all content shared inside the meeting, including audio and video

streams.

DYNAMIC CONTENT SHARING

Attendees of a web meeting can also share dynamic content, such as a Windows Media files or

a Flash resources, with a very simple upload and play process.

HANDOUTS

A meeting presenter can upload and share files between meeting participants. These files can

then be easily viewed in their native format.


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INVITE ADDITIONAL PARTICIPANTS

When a web conference is in progress, more attendees can easily be invited to join unless the

leader has locked the conference.

PRESENTER CONFERENCE CONTROLS

Conference leaders have a set of additional controls for the conference in progress. They can

lock the conference, selectively mute or eject participants, or end the conference, thus

removing all participants from the meeting.

MEETING SECURITY

Meeting organizers can restrict the attendance of web conferences based on Active Directory

authentication. All messaging and media are encrypted.

MULTI-PARTY AUDIO/VIDEO CONFERENCING IN A WEB CONFERENCE

During a web conference, multi-party audio and video can be provided, using the Audio/Video

MCU supplied with Office Communications Server or potentially an MCU from an independentsoftware vendor (ISV). When using the Communications Server MCU, Active Speaker

Detection ensures that all participants can hear each other speak: the MCU detects which

participant is speaking and then sends an image of this participant to all others in the

conference. Alternative layouts may be available if an alternate MCU is used.

QUESTIONING

Audience members can add questions to a queue, and a presenter can respond to them in an

orderly manner using the Question Manager. Presenter can answer the questions in private

(just to the person who asks the question) or publicly (to everyone).


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RICH CONFERENCE ROSTER

The conference roster provides information about who is participating in the conference, how

each user is participating (connection method, audio/video capabilities), and identifies the

leader and active speaker.

MICROSOFT ROUNDTABLE INTEGRATION

Users can create an immersive meeting experience with 360 panoramic video for meetings

with remote participants by using the Microsoft RoundTable device in conjunction with the Live

Meeting client. When this device is used, remote participants see a rectangular panoramic

video display showing all of the participants in the room where the Microsoft RoundTable

device is located, and an enlarged view of the individual currently speaking. The participants in

the room with the Microsoft RoundTable will see the image of the remote participant if they

are the active speaker and have a webcam. If another Microsoft RoundTable device is part of

the meeting, then the panoramic video from that room will also be displayed. These panoramic

video displays will also be included in any recordings.

SHARED NOTES

During a meeting, attendees have the ability to share notes with other participants, noteswhich can be used to make meeting notes or to record action items.

SNAPSHOT

If a presenter wanted to share a particular part of an application on their PC, they can take a

snapshot of the area and display this to all other meeting participants.

STATIC CONTENT SHARING

When in a meeting, users can share static content such as a Word document or a PowerPoint

presentation. If a PowerPoint presentation is being shared, full support is provided for any

animations included in the presentation.


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WHITEBOARDING

Users can start a whiteboard session during a web conference to share ideas or diagrams.

Changes to the whiteboard are automatically displayed and the contributor identified.

A whiteboard is a blank page that allows presenters to draw, add text, and highlightinformation by using the annotation tools. For example, organizers can quickly create a flow

chart to illustrate a point, insert a whiteboard and then use the annotation tools to draw

squares, lines, and a host of other figures. The slide can be saved for future reference. In

addition, new enhancements will add the ability to cut and paste, modify line or object

attributes, employ right-click menus, customize with advanced text tools, use smarter selection

model and grouping, and will allow the use of flow chart tools.

WEB SLIDES

The URL for a website can be shared with participants in the meeting which they can view via a

browser embedded in the console.

Web slides lets presenters take their audience to any live Web site on the Internet to give tours,

point attendees toward surveys or online information. Each attendee can independently click

on links, fill out forms, or use interactive media. Organizers can preview and add web slides to

presentations quickly and easily, just by entering the address of the Web site (URL).

MULTI-PARTY AUDIO/VIDEO CONFERENCING

This section refers to features available when conducting an audio or video conference from

the Office Communicator client.

DIAL OUT

If a user wants to join an audio conference using a telephone rather than their PC, they can

choose to be reached at a convenient number using the dial out capability.


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SINGLE-CLICK CONFERENCING

Users can select a range of contacts, or a group from

their contact list or another Office application. audio

conference with those users which could easily havevideo included too.

TRANSITION FORM 1:1 TO MULTI-PARTY

CONVERSATION

Users enjoy seamless transition from 1:1

conversation to multi-party conversation.

When users are in a 1:1 conversation (IM, voice,

video) and add one or more additional participants,the conversation is automatically transitioned from a

peer-to-peer session to a server-based conference.

This is done seamlessly from the perspective of the

user, leaving them with a consistent experience.

RICH CONFERENCE ROSTER

Users can see details about participants in a conference, includin

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Documents