Integrating Office Communications Server 2007 in an Exchange Server 2010 Environment : Exploring Office Communications Server Tools and Concepts

After OCS 2007 R2 has been installed in an organization, the job of administering the environment comes into play. Basic OCS functionality is not difficult to grasp, but it is important to have a good grasp on several key concepts in how to administer and maintain the OCS environment. Key to these concepts is a familiarity with the OCS Admin tools, as illustrated in the following sections.

Administering Office Communications Server

Administration of an OCS 2007 environment is composed of two components: user administration and server administration. Basic user administration is primarily concerned with enabling users for OCS access, giving them a SIP account, moving them from one server to another, and enabling or disabling public IM connectivity and federation.

Adding Users to OCS

The Office Communication Server 2007 Admin tool allows for both user and server administration. Enabling a user account for OCS access, however, requires the use of the Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC) tool, which can be downloaded from Microsoft as part of the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 Admin Pack (adminpak.msi). Installing it on the server that runs OCS allows for additional tabs for OCS to be displayed, and allows for new drop-down menu options that enable and disable OCS access.

To enable a user account for OCS access, perform the following steps from the ADUC tool on the OCS server:

1.	From Active Directory Users and Computers, right-click on the user to be enabled, and choose Enable Users for Communications Server.
2.	Click Next at the welcome screen.
3.	Select the server pool from the list, and click Next to continue.
4.	In the dialog box shown in Figure 1, specify how to generate the SIP address for the user. Click Next to continue. Figure 1. Enabling a user for OCS.
5.	Click Next to confirm the operation and then click Finish.

Configuring User Settings from the OCS Admin Tool

After a user account has been provisioned for OCS access using the ADUC tool, it will show up in the Users container underneath the server name icon in the console pane of the Admin tool. Right-clicking on the user and selecting Configure Users invokes a wizard with the dialog box shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Modifying user settings in OCS 2007.

Clicking on the Properties option also opens up advanced options, such as Federation and Public IM options. The OCS console allows for OCS users to be deleted or moved to other servers.

Configuring Server Settings from the OCS Admin Tool

Server-specific settings can be configured from the OCS Admin tool by right-clicking the pool name and choosing Properties, <Server Role> (where Server Role is the role that will be configured, such as Front End, Web Conferencing, A/V, or Web Component). The dialog box shown in Figure 3 displays some of the settings that can be manipulated here.

Figure 3. Changing server settings in the OCS Admin tool.

Using the Instant Messenger Filter in OCS 2007

OCS 2007 also includes a built-in instant messenger filter, shown in Figure 4, that gives organizations control over what type of traffic is being sent through IM. This allows administrators to limit the risk that IM clients can pose, particularly with spyware and other vulnerabilities. It also includes a file transfer filter that can be modified to block specific file extensions.

Figure 4. Viewing the IM filter in OCS.

Together with a Public IM Connectivity (PIC) license running on an OCS Edge Proxy server, this allows an organization to let employees use the IM client for external IM functionality, but without exposing them to unnecessary risks.

The client version can disallow legacy clients and force an update through the front-end server’s client autoupdate function.

OCS 2007 R2 Integration with Exchange Server 2010 Outlook Web Access

Exchange Server 2010 offers additional integration with OCS 2007 R2. Although users could see another user’s presence from the Outlook client, Exchange Server 2010 brings similar functionality to OWA. Just like in the full Outlook client, presence icons display for users next to their name in OWA for Exchange Server 2010.

To enable this functionality, simply run the Integration Wizard from the Exchange Server 2010 CAS server. When the wizard is complete, you need to restart IIS on the CAS server, or reboot, for the changes to take effect.