Thread: Office Communication Server 2007

Office Communication Server 2007 is a unified messaging solution that allows you to manage VoIP. instant messaging, presence, audio and video conferencing all from a single box. It is the next version of MS Live Communications server that provides Presence and 1M capabilities.

Installing OCS is a pretty complex task due to its long list of pre-requisites. The components that you require before
you can install OCS 2 00 7 are as follows:
2.SIP server
3.MS SQLSERVER 2005 SPl or above
4.Certification Server.
5.MS Exchange 2007
6.Active Directory Services

To begin with, let's first see how you can quickly deploy a SIP server for your OCS. We used Asterisk/Trixbox, which is a free Linux based solution for creating the SIP /VoIP server. You can download the ISO file from trixbox CE, an Asterisk-based PBX Phone System (formerly Asterisk@Home) | trixbox or from the PCQuest Xtreme DVD, June 2007 (if you can get hold of a copy). Installation of Trixbox is similar to that of any avail¬able Linux distro, which means all you have to do is hit a couple of enters and provide details such as the password, do¬main name, etc. If you plan to deploy the SIP server just for making and receiving VoIP calls then you can easily install it on a virtual machine. But if you are plan¬ning to add your phone lines to the system then you have to install it on a physical machine, along with an FXO card.



Once the installation is complete, open the configuration page using a browser from a machine which is on the same subnet. The IP address required to open the link will flash on the first screen when trixbox boots up. Click on the 'switch user' link provided on the top right side of the page and give the user¬name as 'maint' and password as 'pass¬word.'

Now the first thing you have to do is to create a couple of extensions by click¬ing on the 'Setup' tab and then navigat¬ing to the 'Extension' option found on the left panel. Now select the device as 'Generic SIP Device' and click on Submit. Provide the user extension and display name, and in the secret text box which can be found under 'Device Options' sec¬tion, provide the passcode. Finally click on the submit button to complete the process. If you are looking for a detailed installation and configuration process of Trixbox, you can refer to our previous ar¬ticle on the same at the URL /content! hand¬son/2007/l07040304.asp.

While installing MS SQL SERVER 2005 SPI, we faced issues with its in¬stance name. We came to the conclusion that while installing it, make sure you choose the named instance instead of a default instance. You just need to install MS SQL Server and no further configura¬tion is required. Also make sure that the SQL Server machine is a member of the domain and also the user that's logged in has all administrative rights. If you plan to install MS SQL Server on a remote ma¬chine then make sure that the SQL Server is configured to allow connections, be¬cause by default it blocks all remote con¬nections.

To allow remote connections,option to go with either a third party cer¬tificate vendor such as Verisign or you can create your own Certificate Server. For in¬stalling Certificate Server on Windows Server 2003. go to l\dd/Remove Pro¬grams and then click on the l\dd/Remove Windows Component.' Check the 'Certificate Server' component inside the components list box and click on Next. Follow onscreen instructions and your certificate will be created. If you still want to have a detailed look on how to create a certificate, than you can refer to /content! en¬terprise/2007/107100202.asp.

For installing and configuring ADS on Windows Server 2008, please refer to our article at PC Quest Magazine India | Online Computer Magazine | PC Magazine India | Indian Computer magazine - PC Quest con¬tent/ enterprise/2008/ I 080 I 0302 .asp.