Communications Server 14 News

Communications Server 14 is nearly here, the new presence and office collaboration tool from Microsoft. Doubtless some people will get in at tangle trying to work out how to deploy it so here are some handy tips from the senior IT consultant for PointBridge, Jeff Schertz.

Central Management Store

The server configuration data for Communications Server 14 is now in a Central Management Store. This simplifies Edge Server deployment so that configuration data is pushed to workgroup Edge servers.

Operating systems

The main Operating Systems for Communications server 14 are the Server 2008 R2 64-bit and the Server 2008 SP2 64-bit

Collocation

For A/V conferencing on Communications Server 14 you can either use a single consolidated server for SMEs or a
consolidated Front-End servers for large companies. The front end server can also be used for archiving.
If you are using Direct SIP or SIP Trunking, SIP traffic will instead work on DNS load balancing.

Director

The Communications Server 14 Director uses SQL Express instead of a Pool server. No SQL back end database, is required.

PowerShell

PowerShell is a new management tool for the Communication Server Management Shell. The Communication Server Management Shell has replaced the The MMC-based management shell (LCSCMD).

Maintenance

If you are taking the Communications Server 14 server offline it can be drained and moved to another node in the pool.

If you need more information check out the full blog.

Microsoft has revealed the features we can expect in Communications Server "14"
during the recent TechEd 2010 conference in New Orleans, USA.
These include Office document and application sharing, expert search, and one-click meeting access from SharePoint, Outlook and smartphones. Microsoft says that the main benefits of Communications Server 14 are instant messaging, complete presence, enterprise and conference voice capabilities through an easy-to-use interface.
Microsoft expects to deliver Communications Server 14 by the end of the year.
Microsoft Server and Tools President, Bob Muglia, said: "We give customers the tools to take advantage of cloud computing on their own terms.
"Although some competitors would have you believe that you must move everything into the cloud now, don't be misled. All the investments you have already made can help to enable the full promise of cloud computing."
He added: “We are providing the most comprehensive set of choices available to customers."
Microsoft has also updated its Windows Azure software development kit which will support NET Framework 4, IntelliTrace and the final version of Visual Studio 2010.

Microsoft is giving a Unified Communications seminar where the company explains the benefits of the soon-to-be-released Communications Server 14 product.
Communications Server 14 can either enhance or replace your existing PBX, adding to the many capabilities it offers. These include video-web-audio conferencing, low-cost/high quality VoIP calls and instant messaging.
One of the main advantages of using Communications Server 14 is that it incorporates location awareness so that you always know where your colleagues are and what they are working on, enabling easy collaboration.
The interactive session will take place on Monday, July 12, between 4-5pm at the Business Productivity track at the Walter E Washington Convention Center in Washington DC.
There will also be breakout sessions which give more information about the Exchange online and Exchange Server 2010 products.
The main speakers will be the Senior Vice President of the Information Worker Product Management Group, Chris Capossela, and the President of the Microsoft Business Division, Stephen Elop.

The new Microsoft Communications Server 14 product can replace your Phone Branch Exchange (PBX), but if you don’t want to upgrade it can also enhance the existing system.
In fact the Communications Server 14 benefits of audio/video web conferencing, instant messaging and VoIP telephony can all be added as unified communications solutions to your current infrastructure.
With its special interoperability, Communications Server 14 is easy to integrate into Microsoft Office and simple to deploy.
One option is for Communications Server 14 to be connected directly to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) via SIP Trunking or through a gateway. To do this your phone number is simply transferred to Communications Server 14.
Alternatively Communications Server 14 can be connected to your existing PBX. Using Communicator your system will then ring whenever the PBX rings. This is ideal for mobile or remote workers.
There is also a new Join From” feature where the user’s PBX phone is automatically rung to invite then to join a conference call.
However Microsoft has just seen some 70,000 customers use Communications Server 14 in place of their PBX. With its partners Aastra and Polycom Microsoft is also starting to roll out IP desktop phones as well as optimised USB devices.

Operating systems impresario Microsoft has this week shelled out $200 million for patent infringement.
The lawsuit against Microsoft was brought by the VirnetX Holding Corp, which makes real time communications security technology.
VirnetX Holding Corp alleged in a 2007 lawsuit that Microsoft had infringed upon two US patents in its Microsoft's Office Communication Server and Microsoft's Windows products. The patents were for virtual private network (VPN) technology, among other things.
Although Microsoft dragged out the proceedings by requested a re-examination last year (2009), a jury recently found that they must pay the VirnetX Holding Corp $105.8million. That breaks down as $71.75m for infringing the VPN patent and $34m for infringing a patent for using a secure domain name service to set up a VPN.
When VirnetX also pushed through patent infringement claims for Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7 that figure hit the magic $200 million mark.
Since its big win VirnetX Holding Corp shares have doubled.
Microsoft deputy general and counsel corporate vice president Tom Burt said: "We’re pleased to work with VirnetX to settle these cases successfully. Microsoft looks forward to VirnetX's continued progress as it develops more technologies."
Microsoft will soon be releasing the new Communications Server 14 technology.