Lync Common Area Phones Won’t Automatically Login

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I’ve encountered this one twice now, so I figure it’s worthy of a post.

Scenario:

  • Your new Lync deployment looks good
  • DhcpUtil.exe –EmulateClient works like a charm, reporting SUCCESS
  • You plug a new Common Area phone in and jump through the config settings on screen. It logs in OK
  • Choose either :
    • You move it to its new location and plug it in
    • You leave it alone, it sucks a firmware update and automatically reboots
  • You expect the phone will login, but instead you get this error:
    “Certificate web service cannot be found. Please contact your support team”. [Wonderful: that’s me!]
    certificate-web-service-cannot-be-found
  • BUT: if you now re-key the phone number and PIN, it will login OK.

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Lync 2010 CU8

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March 14th, 2013: Lync 2010 CU8 has landed. It takes the server to .216 and the client to .4378.

Of interest to me in this update:

Server Side

2796755 Registrar service crashes on a Lync Server 2010 server when the SBA or SBS are deployed in branch sites
2796747 Intercluster routing component does not route a call in Lync Server 2010 [after installing the October 2012 update!]

Client Side

KB2796753 An update is available to enable you to join a meeting by using Lync 2010 when a proxy authentication is required
KB2796746 You cannot use Lync 2010 to join a Lync Online meeting that was created by a user in a non-federated organization
KB2793014 Error message when you try to join a Lync Online meeting that is created by a user in a non-federated organization in Lync 2010
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Lync Call Pickup

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Those of us with a telephony background have been rejoicing of late with the release of several Call Pickup solutions for Lync. Long conspicuous by its absence from the OCS and Lync feature list, it’s been at the top of the Cisco competitive playbook for those aiming to shoot down a Lync Enterprise Voice opportunity. No more.

Several third-party vendors have plugged this hole in the past, with their software add-ons generally running server-side MSPL scripts to redirect a call that’s been “picked up”. German developer partner Colima has what I consider the best solution in the market. It’s the only one (to my knowledge) that requires no client-side plugin, and is thus also fully supported on the Aries series of handsets from Aastra, HP and Polycom. (I’ve not tested it with a SoundPoint, Snom or VVX, although Colima tells me it has been heavily tested with Snom).

Lync 2013 finally brings Call Pickup in from the cold with its inclusion in CU1, with a tweaked CallPark commandlet and an extension to SEFAUtil.

I thought I’d compare both and see how they rate.

What is Call Pickup?

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Lync PowerShell Snippets

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Here’s an ad-hoc post with a collection of snippets of PowerShell I often seem to find myself needing to refer to.

There are some more good ones here from Paul Bloem, over the pond.

How do I find (and/or count) the users homed to a given FE/pool?

Get-CsUser | Where-Object {$_.RegistrarPool -match "<POOL FQDN>"} | measure

How about the users still on OCS?

Get-CsUser -OnOfficeCommunicationServer | Measure

How can I count the number of users who are enabled for Enterprise Voice?

Get-CsUser | Where-Object {$_.EnterpriseVoiceEnabled -match "true"} | measure

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Review: Polycom SoundStation Connect

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Alas, Polycom has advised that the SoundStation Connect has been pulled. I’ve left the review here to show what might have been… – Sept 2013.

“Crystal-clear audio conferencing for your computer”

I recently found myself in possession of a Beta version of the new Polycom SoundStation Connect and an opportunity to put it through its paces.

I managed to break it (always a self-gratifying feeling, even if unfair against a Beta version – a firmware update has since deprived me of that pleasure), but not before falling in love with its look and sound.

Functionally, think of it as an upgraded version of the CX100, so it’s going to work with any UC soft-phone application. It has HD audio performance (a frequency range from 200Hz to 7kHz), and three internal microphones giving a full 360-degree pickup.

IMG_5098  IMG_5116

As you’ll see in the photos, it’s a relatively compact unit. (I’ve shown the CX100 next to it for scale). The omnidirectional pickup and 7’ (213cm) of range makes it ideal for executive offices or small meeting rooms catering for say 4 – 6 or 8 people. Polycom nominates an approximate room size of 14’ x 14’ (4.3 x 4.3m).
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Lync 2013 CU1–February 2013

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It’s here! There’s a CU1 for Lync 2013 already!!

Released separately, the client updates (two of them) were released on Feb 11th, with the server side arriving on the 26th.

Client Updates

The client updates are detailed here, and this package includes a handful of feature enhancements, as well as the expected bugfixes. One such enhancement – “Enables users to receive buddy invites from untrusted networks” – makes a lot more sense after the Lync Conference and the Skype integration session. Aha. It’s so a user can protect themselves from the SPIM that arrives via unwanted invites. This screen-grab is from the “Alerts” tab, showing the new group and the defaults:

Client-Contacts

There are two different update packages and the article linked above says “make sure that both the LyncLoc package and the Msores package are installed”. I thought this was a bit puzzling, so I had a bit of a play, and my experience so far suggests that the “Msores” version is only applicable to the full Office install. If you’re running Lync Basic, you can probably just get away with the LyncLoc version. (I haven’t been able to snaffle the free-standing full Lync client yet).

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Federating Skype and Lync

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One of the highlights of the Lync Conference in San Diego (Feb 2013) was the demonstration and revelation of much of the workings of the long-awaited Lync Federation with Skype.

Here’s a bullet-point summary of what I took from the sessions:

  • Federation will require an update to the Skype client (to v6.x – release TBD). Current ETA is now by the end of June
  • A Skype user will need to have their account associated with a Microsoft Account. Legacy Skype users whose account remains unlinked from a Microsoft ID will not be able to Federate
  • If you sign in to Skype (v6.0 or later) with an existing Microsoft Account (i.e., the same creds as your Windows Live Messenger account) your existing buddy lists will auto-populate into Skype. This will include any existing federated Lync contacts
  • Skype Federation uses the existing PIC (Public IM Connectivity) structure, so if you already have PIC access, Skype will just work. If you don’t yet have PIC access, visit https://pic.lync.com and fill out the form
  • It will be available for Lync Server 2010, Lync Server 2013 & Lync Online
  • At release you will be able to send IMs and make audio calls between platforms. Video calling and content sharing won’t be added until an update to Lync currently scheduled for 2Q2014
  • The audio codec used for Skype-to-Lync calls will be G.722 (aka WB/wideband). This will ensure a higher fidelity call, but perhaps at the expense of performance on poor networks. Other codecs are expected to be added down the track

 

Microsoft’s goal has been to bring together the richness of Lync with the reach of Skype, further re-humanising communication. Skype Federation will certainly provide a lot of exciting opportunities, and will enable us to communicate “from the living room to the boardroom”.

 

HIDnLync

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Given that by default anyone can see a user’s presence and Personal Note, I thought it’d be an interesting challenge to see if I could turn Lync into a remote indicator panel to provide distributed monitoring of a process or an application.

All we need are some sensors to interface to the real world, and a means of converting them into computer signals for Lync. I decided that the easiest way of doing this is to use a device that emulates a keyboard (a HID), saving me the hassles of trying to code a driver and at the same time binding the project to specific interfacing hardware.

Unfortunately I hit an early hurdle when I found that there are no keyboard shortcuts to change your presence. (There are LOTS of keyboard shortcuts. They’re here: Lync 2010 / Lync 2013). This then necessitated the construction of an App that would capture keys and manually (through the client API) set the appropriate values in the client.

And thus, my Client-Side API project “HIDnLync” was born. It was relatively easily enough done. I’ve taken my Elyza app, stripped most of the intelligence out of her, added a Setup GUI (largely recycled from Profiles For Lync), and now when you hit certain key-combinations, your status and/or Personal Note change. (HIDnLync and of course Lync both need to be running for this to work, but they only need to be in the background, and the machine CAN be used for other things imperceptibly).

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Hey, UM, Don’t Record Messages – I’m on Holidays!

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Coming back from holidays and finding your Inbox with hundreds of new messages is something I think we all dread, especially when you KNOW many of them are no longer relevant because the sender received your OOF message and took their issue elsewhere. (Thankfully Outlook 2010’s “MailTips” have helped to reduce that figure).

If you’re using Exchange UM as your voicemail, you’re probably going to have a stack of hangups in there as well, just adding to the noise.

Here’s how you can help remove some of the noise from the Inbox, and a variation that can provide an added service to your callers.

Play a Greeting Only – Don’t Record a Message

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Review: Lync LED Shootout

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With two USB peripherals in the market providing an external LED that mimics your Lync presence status, I thought it’d be good to compare the two.

First off: the disclaimer. My employer [when I wrote this review in 2013] is the supplier of the Blynclight. It’s always difficult to write a completely fair and impartial review in this circumstance. The usual outcome is that you’re unnecessarily harsh on your “own” product so as to offset any unintended or perceived bias. Feel free to comment below if you feel I’ve done either product wrong or overlooked a feature.

IMG_3361

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