Hello Readers,

I have been recently devoting my efforts to learning more about what SCOM has to offer to Lync Deployments and in the process. I have decided to break and test a few things, I ran into this error today and wanted to put up a quick reference to the cause and fix. This error is occuring between my Lync Standard Edition Front End and Lync Watcher Node

Error [Lync] Failed to replicate to some of the machines in the topology.

This error is pretty simple enough to understand as Replication between Lync Servers uses a TCP Port. You can use Get-CsManagementStoreReplicationStatus and this will confirm the error generated in SCOM.

The first simple test is to use PortQryUI to ensure the port is open between to Central Management Database. Flinchbot Blog Post has everything you need to be able to test this, head over to https://flinchbot.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/portqueryui-config-xml-file-for-lync/

In my case I had a issues with my GPO that managed the Windows Firewall. As soon as I disabled the GPO and the Windows Firewall on both the Lync Front End Server and Lync Watcher Node I was able to replicate the Central Management Database by using Invoke-CsManagementStoreReplication or you could let the databases replicate naturally.

You need to ensure that all the required ports are open when deploying Lync. You can find out what ports need opening by downloading the Lync Protocol Poster available here https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=39968

Regards

Andrew Price

Hello

Recently we held our 2 event of 2015 at our usual venue The Priory Meeting and Conference Rooms in Birmingham City Centre. We was luckily enough to have two awesome sessions from two of The UC Architects Steve Goodman (Resident Speaker) and Tom Arbuthnot (Guest Speaker).

If you was unable to make it but would like to see the slide decks you can go to our website www.ucbug.co.uk and view all the slides from previous event are take a look the two sides from Steve and Tom below

Tom Arbuthnot – Modality Systems – Lync MVP – Skype for Business Voice, Server and Deployment Enhancements

Tom will cover Microsoft’s investments within voice, server and deployment enhancements and new features in Skype for Business. Everything you need to know about the changes and improvements from Lync Server to Skype for Business.

Steve Goodman – Ciber – Exchange MVP – Using the free KEMP Loadmasters for multi-site AD FS geo load balancing

Hello Readers

A very simple blog but I always end up googling for this information so why not store it on my blog

Skype for Business 2015 Server cumulative updates

• Base SfB Cumulative Update (x.x.x.x)

Skype for Business 2015 Server Management Pack

• June 2015 Management Pack (9317.0)

Lync 2013 Server Cumulative Updates

• February 2015 Cumulative Update (5.0.8308.871)
• December 31, 2014 Cumulative Update (5.0.8308.866)
• December 2014, Cumulative Update (5.0.8308.857)
• November 2014, cumulative update (5.0.8308.834)
• October 2014, cumulative update (5.0.8308.831)
• September 2014, cumulative update (5.0.8308.815)
• August 2014, cumulative update (5.0.8308.738)
• January 2014, cumulative update (5.0.8308.577)
• October 2013, cumulative update (5.0.8308.556)
• July 2013, cumulative updates (5.0.8308.420)
• February 2013, cumulative updates (5.0.8308.291)

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2809243

Lync 2010 Server Cumulative Updates

• January 2011 cumulative updates (4.0.7577.108)
• April 2011 cumulative updates (4.0.7577.137)
• July 2011 cumulative updates (4.0.7577.166)
• November 2011 cumulative updates (4.0.7577.183)
• February 2012 cumulative updates (4.0.7577.190)
• June 2012 cumulative updates (4.0.7577.199)
• October 2012 cumulative updates (4.0.7577.203)
• March 2013  cumulative updates (4.0.7577.216)
• July 2013 cumulative updates (4.0.7577.217)
• October 2013  cumulative updates (4.0.7577.223)
• January 2014 cumulative updates (4.0.7577.225)

Hello Readers

I am happy to say that Skype for Business 2015 Management Pack is here and as a avid fan of SCOM Monitoring for you “Skype for Business” deployments. I will soon be doing updated blog posts about Monitoring your SfB with the new pack and WatcherNodes.

You can grab the new management pack by head over to http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=47364

With this new management pack it is only supported on the following;

Supported Operating System

• Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 R2

System Center Operations Manager:

• System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2
• System Center Operations Manager 2012; 64-bit agents only

For the details of what the management pack offers are as followed;

Skype for Business Server 2015, Management Pack contain comprehensive monitoring tools including:

• End-to-End scenario availability from various locations.
• Call reliability and quality perceived by real users.
• Component health and performance.

Active Monitoring Management pack

• Geographically distributable end-to-end scenario validation for Skype for Business Server 2015 deployments. This includes coverage for internal, remote and branch office users.
• Increased scenario coverage in areas like AV Edge Connectivity and Exchange Unified Message Connectivity.
• Enhanced troubleshooting logs to streamline root cause analysis of failures.

Component and User Management Pack

• Increased reliability monitoring of real end user calls and conferences.
• Integrated media quality alerts driven from Quality of Experience (QoE) data reported by client applications.
• Full event and performance monitoring for all Skype for Business Server 2015 roles

The current version number of the management pack is 9319.0

Currently there is no installation instructions at the time of right this post as the link to the Technet documentation is broken.

Hello Readers

I have been recently configuring the Skype for Business Watcher Nodes within my labs and notice there is some new transactions that have been released in Skype for Business.

Lync Watcher Node Transitions

Skype for Business Transactions

The new transactions are;

• LyncSkypeIM
• LyncSkypeMedia
• TenantPowershell
• UCWAConference
• ASConference
• DialinConferencing
• P2PVideoInteropServerSipTrunkAV

Currently there is no information on most of the new cmdlets but you can find out information about P2PVideoInteropServerSipTrunk at the following url. https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn985894.aspx

As soon as there is information about the new transactions I will be updating this post

Hello Readers

With the release of the Skype for Business 2015 Management Pack its time to release an updated blog post which looks at the following

• Part 1 – Installation and Configuration
• Part 2 – Configuring Video Interop Server Synthetic Transaction

First of all dependencies;

• Skype for Business 2015 Deployment
• System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 or Higher
• Windows Server 2008 R2 or Higher for your Watcher Node
• Skype for Business 2015 Management Packs installed
• SCOM Agents deployed to the Watcher Nodes
• 2 Skype for Business enabled Accounts
• Windows PowerShell Module for Lync Online installed on Watcher Node

In this blog post I will presume you have installed the SfB Management Pack and deployed agent(s) to your Watcher Node.

First thing to note is that you require the following specification for the Watcher Node(s)

CPU

One of the following:

• 64-bit processor, quad-core, 2.33 GHz or higher
• 64-bit 2-way processor, dual-core, 2.33 GHz or higher

Memory

• 8 GB

Network operating system

• 1 network adapter 1 Gbps
• Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, or
  Windows Server 2012 R2

Windows Features

• The full version of .NET Framework 4.5.
• Windows Identity Foundation.
• Windows PowerShell 3.0.
• Windows Server Desktop Experience (This is a new requirement for the Watcher Node and will be explained later in this two post)
• Unified Communications Managed API (UCMA) (This is a new requirement for the Watcher Node and will be explained later in this two post)

Once you have met the specification above, insert your Skype for Business 2015 Server ISO.

Tick Don’t check for updates right now (At time of this blog no updates was available) –> Press Install

Tick I accept the terms in the license agreement –> Press OK

You should now receive the above window. We now need to move to the Front End Server or any Server that has the Skype for Business Management Shell as we need to make a New Trusted Application Pool for the Watcher Node.

Enter New-CsTrustedApplicationPool -Identity “Your Watcher Node Name” -Registrar “Your Lync Pool Name” -ThrottleAsServer $True -TreatAsAuthenticated $True -OutboundOnly $False -RequiresReplication $True -ComputerFqdn “Your Watcher Node Name” -Site “Your Lync Site Name”

We now need to enter New-CsTrustedApplication –ApplicationID “must match Idenitity” –TrustedApplicationPoolFqdn “Your Watcher Node Name” –Port 5061

Type Enable-CSTopology

We now need to go back to the Watcher Node and Skype for Business 2015 Deployment Wizard

Click Install or Update Skype for Business System

Click Run and Press Next

Press Finish

Click Run and Press Next

Press Finish

Click Run and Press Request

Type

• Friendly Name
• Organisation
• Organisation Unit

Select

• Country/Region

Type

• State/Province
• City/Locality

Press Next

Press Next

Press Next –> Press Finish

Press Next

Press Next –> Press Finish –> Press Close

Press Run

Check your service have started if not launch Powershell and type Start-CsWindowsService -verbose

We now need to install the WatcherNode.msi which comes with the Skype for Business 2015 Management Pack. If you have got this to hand you can download from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=47364

Once you have the .msi file we need to install Ive Command Prompt or Powershell then enter the following commands

use the CD / command to go to the folder with the WatcherNode.msi we then need to type

.\WatcherNode.msi Authentication=TrustedServer

Please Note: Command Authentication=TrustedServer is case-sensitive as shown below

Press Enter

Tick I accept the terms in the Licence Agreement –> Press Install

Press Finish

This completed the installation side of the Skype for Business Watcher Node

Configure Synthetic Transactions

From the Watcher Node you need to launch Skype for Business Management Shell or Windows Powershell will do. Enter the following command

Set-CsTestUserCredential -SipAddress “sip:svc.watch1@lyncme.co.uk” -UserName “lyncme\svc.watch1″ -Password “Welcome1″
Set-CsTestUserCredential -SipAddress “sip:svc.watch2@lyncme.co.uk” -UserName “lyncme\svc.watch2″ -Password “Welcome1″

New-CsWatcherNodeConfiguration -TargetFqdn “fe01.lyncme.local” -PortNumber 5061 -TestUsers @{Add= “sip:svc.watch1@lyncme.co.uk”,”sip:svc.watch2@lyncme.co.uk”}

TargetFqdn needs to be you Lync Pool and you will need a minimum of two test users

As you can see from below Watcher has now been enabled for all the services that are available in my Lync.

Its worth noting that Microsoft have implemented a few new transactions you can compare the Skype Transaction to the Lync Transactions below

This post was based on Trusted Server Authentication there are more additional commands for Credential Authentication

Hello Readers

As mentioned in my previous blog post I noticed that their was a few new tests introduced to the Skype for Business Watcher Node and as promised here is the information about each one.

What does the test do?

Hello Readers

As mentioned in my previous blog post I noticed that their was a few new tests introduced to the Skype for Business Watcher Node and as promised here is the information about each one.

What does this mean?

Hello Readers

As mentioned in my previous blog post I noticed that their was a few new tests introduced to the Skype for Business Watcher Node and as promised here is the information about each one.

What does this mean?

Hello Readers

As mentioned in my previous blog post I noticed that their was a few new tests introduced to the Skype for Business Watcher Node and as promised here is the information about each one.

What does this mean?

Hello Readers

With the release of the Skype for Business 2015 Management Pack its time to release an updated blog post which looks at the following

• Part 1 – Installation and Configuration
• Part 2 – Configuring Video Interop Server Synthetic Transaction

First of all install dependencies on the Watcher Node for Video Interop;

• Microsoft .Net Framework 4.5
• Skype for Business 2015, Core Installation files (OCSCore.msi) and Unified Communications Managed API (UCMA)
• Skype for Business 2015, Watcher Node (WatcherNode.msi) Versions must match VISSTSupportPackage.msi
• Also requires Windows Server Desktop Experience feature to be enabled

In this blog post I will presume you have installed the your Watcher Node by either following Part 1 or another source.

If you followed my previous post I will be using my wn01.lyncme.local host machine which meets the dependencies discussed above.

Once you have met the dependencies we need to launch Powershell or Skype Management Shell and enter the following command

Set-CsWatcherNodeConfiguration -Identity “fe01.lyncme.local” -Tests @{Add=”P2PVideoInteropServerSipTrunkAV”}

Depending on how quick your environment is and if you have issues with the Transaction you may see a message Operations Manager Console

With only 90 days to go until our event on 28th September at the National Motorcycle Museum we have already seen over 1/3 of the ticket allocation been snapped up.

UC Day is a one-day Skype for Business & Exchange conference. We will have leading experts and well known IT Professionals speaking at our event, so why not come and learn from the people that live and breath their specialist field. We will be adding many more speakers to this list once all sessions have been submitted by the closing day.

You can see a full speaker list over on our website http://www.ucday.co.uk/speakers

We will also have an Expo Hall full of knowledge and expertise in the UC Field. All our exhibitors are sponsoring UC Day and commited to bringing the every best to the market. So why not come along and pick up new contacts for your future UC requirements.

You can see a full list of sponsors over on our website http://www.ucday.co.uk/sponsors

Now does this sound interesting and would you like to attend?

We head over to our website http://www.ucday.co.uk/ucticket-registration and grab your FREE ticket today

Regards
Andrew Price
Event Host

Hello

So today on Monday 6th July we are welcomed by Skype for Business for Windows Phone so what the Key Features are included in this application

• View shared content during a meeting, on your mobile device
• Initiate a group conversation (IM or Video) or invite additional participants
• Join, rejoin, and initiate a Skype for Business meeting to communicate and collaborate amazing ideas
• Control the meeting (mute and remove attendees)
• Transfer calls to another phone number or another contact
• Pickup  your conversations from the point where you ended them last
• Join (and enjoy) a Skype for Business Meeting even if you dont have a Skype for Business account
• Enhanced security with Skype for Business certificate and passive authentication

So now a few screen shots from the Application

Hello Readers

I have recently been assisting a colleague on a customer site with a Lync 2010 to Lync 2013 Migration and run into some strange behaviour issues after migration of the Mediation Servers from 2010 to 2013.

A large amount of alerts was being generated into SCOM with the event ID 46046

Event 46046, LS Outbound Routing

Call Number: +44xxxxxxxxx
Phone Usage: Long Distance
Route: ToVoIPGateway

Cause: All gateways available for this call are marked as down.
Verify that these gateways are up and can respond to calls.

This alert is generated by an unsuccessful call from the Lync Client to the destination number. The behaviour of the outbound call was noticeable different but going back through the logs we could see this issue has been happening for a while with the 2010 Mediation Server but with EnableFastFailoverTimer enabled on the Lync 2013 Mediation Trunk. A lot more calls was getting dropped.

As a temporary solution we have reverted back to the 2010 Mediation Servers and looking at a different SIP Trunk with a 2013 qualified SBA.

Hello Readers

Over the best 10 months myself and the UC Day Team;

• Steve Goodman
• Jason Wynn
• Adam Gent
• Iain Smith
• Tom Arbuthnot
• Ben Lee
• Brian Reid

have been working hard on securing sponsorship from major players within the UC and Exchange field. So far we have secured 20 Sponsors out of the 30 I wanted for this event. I am really chuffed and proud to have all the guys below sponsoring Unified Communications Day as without them this event wouldn’t be able to happen.

Unified Communications Day is sponsored by:

Are you Attending UC Day and joining us for free “awesome” day of networking, learning and contact building?

If not head over to www.ucday.co.uk to grab your ticket now!!!

Hello,

With the 1st August of just around the corner, I wanted to ensure everyone who thought of submitting a session for UC Day does so NOW!! As the window for submissions closes on 1st August. We will be having an internal meeting on the 4th August to discuss the sessions we have received and I will contact all the speakers to discuss arrangements straight afterwards.

We have had a very good response from the community and a lot of awesome sessions to chose from. I am hoping to release all the session titles at the end of next week 7th August.

http://www.ucday.co.uk/session-submissions/

Next year I will be looking at increasing the number of breakout rooms to be able to put on more sessions for everyone and maybe even a 2nd day. I am looking forward to announcing our speakers for this event, as I aim for it to be truly a successful event for everyone.

Hello

I have been working really hard recently updating the Unified Communications Day website with all the sessions and speakers that have been picked.  It has been a lot of hard work to get UC Day to this point and I am really happy to announce the full list of speakers.

We will have;

You are able to see all the sessions briefs on the UC Day Website, so head over to http://www.ucday.co.uk/session-list/ to see what sessions you would like to attend on the 28th September.

If the above sounds right up your street and you haven’t got a ticket yet, Grab one today at http://www.ucday.co.uk/ucticket-registration/

Regards

Andrew J. Price

Hello Reader

This morning I noticed that my Skype for Business Mobile Application has been update to version 6.1 and in good old fashion there no real information what’s included with this update apart the phrase

“Bug Fixes”

I am a believe that bug fixes are always good to receive but a bit more information on what fixes have been applied would be nice but heyho.

Everyone get updating your App today.

Regards

Andrew J. Price

via WordPress for Phone app.

UC Day Quiz with The UC Architects

This is a pre-event to Unified Communications Day happening on the 28th September at the National Motorcycle Museum, this event will be held at the Windmill Village Hotel where we will have all the UC Day Team and Speakers staying before the big event.

The UC Day Quiz Night will be hosted by members of the UC Architects Podcast. As we have quite a few of the European based members speaking and attending UC Day. We will have;

Steve Goodman
Tom Arbuthnot
Stale Hansen
Michael Van Hybrid
Dave Stork
and Andrew Price

Who knows we might even try and record the night as publish as a podcast.

We have managed to get a discounted room rate for those attending the UC Day Quiz Night. For your discounted room rate please contact the Best Western Plus Windmill Village Hotel directly on;

+44 (0)2476 404040
or
via email reservations@windmillvillagehotel.co.uk
and quote “Unified Communications” in order to obtain the discount

We have introduced a small cost for this event of £14.00 plus Eventbrite fee £1.49 to help cover the costs of this small event but this cost will cover your Curry Buffet on the night.

To obtain a ticket click here and depending on interest we may increase ticket allocation.

Hello Readers

Yesterday Microsoft announce a new website called Skype Preview which allows us geeks at heart to be able to take part in a new program where we can test a couple of new features for Skype for Business. This is very worth while for any one working with Skype for Business.

Skype Meeting Broadcast

Skype Meeting Broadcast enables organizations to broadcast a Skype for Business meeting on the Internet to up to 10,000 people, who can attend from a browser on nearly any device. Meeting broadcast makes it easy to host large virtual meetings like internal “Town Hall” style meetings and public webinars. The preview includes integration with Bing Pulse, for real-time polling and sentiment tracking, and Yammer, to enable attendee dialogue during the broadcast.

In order to participate in this preview, you must:

• Have a Skype for Business online tenant. If you are an on-premises customer, a hybrid deployment with an online tenant using ADFS & DirSync must be established.

Below is a list of features that are available today – please note this is subject to change as we work through the preview and add additional features:

• Organize and produce a new broadcast style meeting for up to 10,000 attendees
• Attendees are able to join and watch the broadcast via any modern browser, on any device
• Attendees are able to rewind, pause and resume playback based on their own schedule without affecting the broadcast
• Attendees can participate in a Bing Pulse and Yammer conversation about the event

To learn more click here.

PSTN Conferencing (U.S. Only)

PSTN Conferencing will be available in preview to Office 365 customers in the U.S. PSTN Conferencing allows people invited to a Skype for Business meeting in Office 365 to join the meeting by dialing-in using a landline or mobile phone. This traditional dial-in capability is in addition to simple, single touch join options on PC, smartphone and browser, and allows people to join an online meeting even in places with no Internet access. PSTN conferencing in Office 365 will also allow people to add others to a meeting by dialing-out.

Here are the requirements you will need in order to participate in this preview:

• In order to test the solution, you need to have a Skype for Business online tenant and end-users both based in the US.
• Only end users homed on Skype for Business Online can be enabled for the first version of the services. While “Hybrid” organizations are supported, the service is available only to online-homed users.
• Users who will be enabled for PSTN Conferencing must have Skype for Business Online Plan 2 Office 365 license either as a standalone offer or as part of another Enterprise offering such as E1 or E3 or E4 etc.
• If you are an EDU, GOV or Non-Profit tenant, this service will not be available for you during Preview.

Below is a list of features that are available today – please note this is subject to change as we work through the preview and add additional features:

• Enabled Skype for Business Online users will be able to schedule meetings with dial-in coordinates automatically embedded within the meeting invite.
• Participants will be able to join meetings of users hosted in Skype for Business Online via PSTN Conferencing.
• Organizers and participants will be able to dial-out to others from within a meeting.
• Organizers and participants will be able to join the audio portion of a meeting via the “Call me at” functionality.
• Organizers and participants joining via PSTN conferencing will be announced to other phone users when they join and leave the meeting.
• A tenant administrator will be able to enable or disable playing entry and exit announcements or name recording.
• A tenant administrator will be able to change the language of the messages that are played to the users when they call the PSTN conferencing numbers to join a meeting.
• A tenant administrator will be able to reset the conference ID and/or PIN of an organizer or specify which of the available numbers will show up on his or her meeting invites.
• Initially only a limited set of numbers will be provided for dial-in. Our team will work to add additional numbers throughout the Preview.

To learn more click here.

Cloud PBX with PSTN Calling (U.S. Only)

Cloud PBX with PSTN Calling gives Office 365 customers in the U.S. the ability to make and receive traditional phone calls directly from their Skype for Business client, and to manage these calls with features like hold, resume, forward and transfer. This preview is built on the already proven enterprise voice technology available in Lync Server and Skype for Business Server. In the fall, we will ship Cloud PBX for customers worldwide, with a configuration option for customers to use existing on-premises phone lines for inbound and outbound calling.

Please note: During the Preview program, the Cloud PBX with PSTN Calling technologies will not provide a reliable method of making 911 calls or 911 texts. By signing up for the program, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this critical limitation.

Here are the requirements you will need in order to participate in this preview:

• In order to test the solution, you need to have a Skype for Business online tenant and end-users both based in the US.
• Only end users homed Online can be enabled for the first version of the services. While “Hybrid” organizations are supported, the service is available only to online-homed users.
• We will not support 911 services. End users should use other phone systems to make emergency calls.
• Users who will be enabled for the Cloud PBX with PSTN Calling service must have Skype for Business Online Plan 2 Office 365 license either as a standalone offer or as part of another Enterprise offer such as E1 or E3 or E4 etc.
  Note: Skype for Business Online Plan 3 and Skype for Business Domestic and International Calling cannot coexist. So if you would like to sign up for Cloud PBX with PSTN calling service, you need to first uncheck Skype for Business Online Plan 3.
• If you are an EDU, GOV or Non-Profit tenant, this service will not be available for you during Preview

Below is a list of features that are available today – please note this is subject to change as we work through the preview and add additional features:

• We will provide inbound calling with telephone numbers (subject to availability) for:
  • Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Denver, Austin, Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, Washington DC, Boston, New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Columbus, Indianapolis, Memphis, and Kansas.
• All users will receive new numbers
• Free US Domestic outbound calling
• Free International outbound calling to all countries, except for the following (which is subject to change throughout the program):
  • Antarctica, Burundi, Chad, Cook Islands, Cuba, East Timor, Falkland Islands (Malivnas), Gabon, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Kiribati, Democratic People’s Republic of (North) Korea, Liberia, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritania, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, St. Helena, Tokelau, Tonga, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
• Supported features: Call hold/resume, Call forwarding, Call transfer, Simul-Ring, Team ring, Delegation

To learn more click here.

Skype for Business iOS/Android Preview

As with the Skype for Business desktop client, we are updating our mobile clients to Skype for Business.  These rebranded mobile clients bring not only Skype branding but a simpler, more modern experience.

Through this preview, customers will get an early view of the iOS and Android apps.  Windows Phone users can already download the Skype for Business Windows Phone App today.

In order to participate in this preview, you must:

• Be the IT/Tenant Administrator for your organization.
• You will be asked to nominate up to 4 users for each platform you choose to preview.
• Your organization must have Lync 2013 mobile deployed today.

To learn more click here.

So if the above sounds up your street

SIGN UP NOW