Lync 2013 Can it be your next PBX?

Transcription

1 Lync 2013 Can it be your next PBX?

2 You ve already purchased your last PBX -Jim Burton Founder, UCStrategies

3 About the Presenter Alex Lewis Alex Lewis, MCITP, CISSP has a mixed background in telecommunications, IT, and consulting with more than 15 years experience. He has worked with a wide range of environments from small organizations to large enterprises requiring complex or custom communications solutions and is responsible for architecting and implementing some of the largest Lync deployments in the world. Alex is a strong believer in the power of business and technology alignment using technological solutions to reduce costs and drive revenue and leveraging communications enabled business processes (CEBP) to accelerate business success. Including titles on Active Directory and Exchange, and two on Lync, Alex has participated in writing 8 books from 2004 to present. He is currently principal consultant at Modality Systems, a boutique international consulting firm focused on Microsoft unified communications and CEBP solutions. In his spare time Alex enjoys scuba diving, motorcycle riding and beach volleyball.

4 Free Stuff!! Two signed copies of Lync Server Unleashed The top two questions asked during the Q&A session will win their choice of a signed copy of either Lync Server 2010 Unleashed or Lync Server 2013 Unleashed Winners will be chosen at the end of the Q&A session

5 Basic Lync Architecture Remote office 1 Internet Internet Headquarters DMZ Lync SE Front End Edge Server Firewall TMG Internal VPN Remote Office 2 Internet PSTN EE Front End w/ Monitoring & Archiving SQL 2012 w/ SRS Persistent Chat (optional) UX1000 w/ SBA SIP SIP Sonus UX1000 Cisco CM 8.6.2

6 Design Challenges Determine requirements before you touch Visio Define your users Information workers, Road warriors, Desk jockeys? Engage with business stakeholders not just IT Engage with ALL of IT Network Security, Information Security, Networking, Databases, Telecom, etc Lync touches everything. Get everyone involved early ALWAYS start with a PoC/Pilot but plan for production Plan for more capacity than you think you need you ll need it! Lync tends to go viral and grow in large spurts Use existing audio/web conference metrics as a guide but assume Lync usage will be significantly higher due to convenience and integration

7 Design Challenges (cont) Have a user deployment, adoption and training plan before you exit the Pilot phase Do a network assessment to determine appropriate CAC policies Often planning for your 10 most important sites will be sufficient and allow for extrapolation Plan all failover scenarios in advance Login, voice paths, etc Enterprise Voice or bust!

8 Implementation Challenges Where to start? Start where your pilot users are or close to your main HQ data center Ensure connection points to voice/video hubs are available and reasonable Physical or Virtual? Often both Use physical and virtual resources strategically and where appropriate. Even if you think all the ports are open on the firewall, double check! Matt Landis - Keep it real on the project plan What? You don t have a project plan? Keep realistic deadlines/milestones and plan for delays and changes ie. Certificates aren t an instant process Most problems with Lync aren t Lync DNS, Firewalls, Load Balancers and Certificates account for more than 80% of Lync issues

9 Administrative Support Challenges Choose a strong PSLP-certified partner for support All voice-related support is now routed through certified partners instead of Microsoft directly Ensure your tier 1/2 helpdesk understands Lync and has a knowledge base available for common problems and known issues Admins, a little work now will save you a ton of work later! Expectation for voice is like electricity, it needs to just work all the time Unfamiliar concept to many windows administrators Support must be 24x7 including on call escalation The better job you do at user education/training, the fewer issues you ll have in support

10 User Adoption and Education Challenges Dedicate a person to championing user adoption It s a full time job! A service delivery manager is often a good choice Leverage multiple methods of training Live Training in person and via Lync Recorded training through web or SharePoint Self-Service Training multiple methods Reinforce the power of video communications The importance of endpoints They re the face of Lync to the user. Make sure to plan for quality Lync-optimized endpoints

11 User Adoption and Education Challenges Microsoft Lync simplifies the process of information delivery Available videos are listed on the top right-hand side of the extension window Videos are displayed in the IM extension window

12 Summary Be the conduit that connects ALL of IT Lync touches so many areas coordination and collaboration across functional areas is key Partner with others in IT Don t give them tasks, make them part of the process and the success! Spend an appropriate amount of time planning 2-3 weeks isn t at all unreasonable for a larger or complex implementation Never assume any network can handle Lync Regionalize pools and perform a network assessment to ensure an optimal, consistent user experience Don t neglect user training and adoption It can be the difference between the success and failure of your Lync deployment Endpoints can often be the most expensive part of the project. Make sure they re in the budget from the beginning

13 DEMO

14 Lync Voice scenarios There are a number of ways to deploy voice functionality for Lync. Let s talk about a few of the more common ones: Pure Lync Enterprise Voice Various flavors of PBX integration

15 Pure Lync Enterprise Voice Best of all worlds but not always possible Implementation Challenges Political Challenges Migration complexity Even if it s an end goal, a long coexistence period is often still needed

16 Lync PBX Integration - RCC The story of RCC Remote Call Control Limits on functionality & usability Remote access & roaming Added complexity to what end? Benefits? Call center integration

17 Lync PBX Integration - Plugins Popular plugins Avaya ACE Cisco CUCILync The multiple dialplan argument Remote Access (or lack thereof) Worst of both worlds? RTAudio Codec comparison Covered in great detail by Chris Norman -

18 Lync PBX Integration SIP Integration Applies to PRI integration as well Two common options Direct SIP Using a gateway or SBC Simultaneous ring scenarios Basic how to Options for audio conferencing Does everyone need to be on Lync? Need for seamless interop Short coexistence strategies vs. long term coexistence

19 Lync SIP Integration Best Practices & Caveats Not all SIP is created equal Case for an SBC Does everyone need to be on Lync? Short coexistence strategies vs. long term coexistence Try to duplicate existing processes and behaviors If a user dials 4 digits today, make it so in Lync Ensure all calls hit all endpoints Often means hairpinning & funky normalization decide where call control lives Involve the right resources A PBX integration project requires a wide range of people

20 Overall Best Practices & Caveats Pilot with users who have the most to gain Often road warriors & information workers Communicate & educate changing a very basic function with something more complex can be confusing Dogfood showcase the solution in IT

21 Summary A lot of different ways to integrate with existing PBXs All of the options have pros and cons Ensure the end user experience is as simple and familiar as possible Determine your desired end state and coexistence timeline before choosing an integration strategy Manage expectations around functionality Provide multiple methods of training to users

22 Q & A More on Microsoft Lync at More on Modality Systems at

23 Giveaway If you have questions, /im me at