Enriching the Microsoft Office Suite with Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications Solutions

Transcription

1 A P P L I C A T I O N N O T E Enriching the Microsoft Office Suite with Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications Solutions Integrated, enterprise-grade communications for borderless collaboration

2 Abstract This document describes Alcatel-Lucent IP communications solutions for enriching and interworking with the Microsoft desktop enterprise environment. Desktop integration of real-time communications provides accessibility to Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications (UC) services from multiple devices, reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO) and enabling borderless collaboration. Enterprise users retain the benefits of their preferred devices while experiencing a converged desktop with Microsoft Office Communicator telephony, Instant Messaging (IM) and presence capabilities. Microsoft Outlook users have voice and fax messaging capabilities. Alcatel-Lucent enterprise communications products have the broadest feature level in the marketplace. Both the analyst community and the market itself recognize Alcatel-Lucent expertise, and every day, 40 million people use our solutions for their business-critical communications.

3 Table of contents 1 1. Bringing IP communications to the Microsoft desktop 2 2. Connectivity topologies for Microsoft Office Communications Server SIP trunking Going beyond direct SIP interactions 4 3. Maximizing the Office Communicator user experience with enterprise communications solutions Empowering Office Communicator users with telephony in a multivendor communication network Empowering Microsoft users with Alcatel-Lucent UC&C User experience with Outlook User experience with Office Communicator Integrated audio conferencing with Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8660 My Teamwork 9 4. Federated IM and presence for borderless collaboration 9 5. Active Directory and converged information repositories 9 6. Alcatel-Lucent IP UC solutions: key differentiators and customer benefits Acronyms

4 1. Bringing IP communications to the Microsoft desktop While the PC is a key communication tool, voice remains the strongest medium for user interaction, with devices such as desk phones and mobile phones carrying the most communication minutes. Increasingly, these three types of communication devices the PC, the desk phone and the mobile phone must all be able to access presence information and provide IM capabilities. Interactions are increasingly going beyond enterprise borders, and a new generation of IP communications must link employees with their colleagues within the organization as well as with their partners and customers. Because the workforce is composed of multiple generations of users, the desktop must reflect this heterogeneity, offering traditional and feature-rich telephony for some users and rich multimedia and media-session communications for new, hyper-connected users. A user profile-based approach is required because communication software must also be available from a wide variety of desk phones, mobile phones and PCs. Desktop integration of real-time communications offers tremendous benefits for enterprise users. The ability to interact with contacts more easily and quick access to project team members allow enterprises to realize cost savings, improve efficiencies, and increase access to knowledge leading to higher productivity with immediate and instantaneous communication, interaction, collaboration and knowledge-sharing. A key challenge in bringing IP communications to the desktop is for IT managers to leverage and integrate best-of-breed software while optimizing investments. In addition, business line managers are looking to improve office worker productivity; for example, with a solution that integrates Alcatel-Lucent telephony, collaboration and unified messaging capabilities with Microsoft Outlook . Alcatel-Lucent is a leader in the data networking, telephony, voice mail, audio conferencing and contact center markets. The company has decades of experience in serving small-to-large organizations with scalable and reliable carrier-class communications. Alcatel-Lucent has enriched its telephony platform with a full set of UC services, including IM, presence, video, unified messaging, web conferencing and application sharing. These UC services are all accessible from multiple devices, such as the PC, desk phones and mobile phones. The company s compliance with key standards in such domains as web services, IP security, and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) simplifies the integration of best-of-breed software components. With deployment of Microsoft Office Communicator presence and IM, there is an opportunity to integrate Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise telephony as well as Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch audio conferencing. By integrating converged desktops, IT managers are able to reduce the TCO and, leveraging existing directories allows implementation of a single sign-on for all applications and directory look-ups (see Table 1). Enriching the Microsoft Office Suite with Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications Solutions Application Note 1

5 Table 1. Features, functions and benefits of Alcatel-Lucent UC products Feature Function Benefit Integration of Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise with Microsoft Office suite for real-time communications in the desktop Single sign-on for all applications and directory look-ups Advanced Alcatel-Lucent UC infrastructure components: IM, presence, video, unified messaging, web conferencing, application sharing Accessibility from multiple devices: PCs, desk phones and mobile devices Alcatel-Lucent compliance with key standards for Web services, IP security and SIP Integrates rich audio services in a converged desktop Leverages existing directories Independent infrastructure is compatible with multiple operating systems, providing powerful communications servers and features Enables anytime, anywhere, any device communications Simplifies the integration of best-of-breed software components Reduces TCO of communications infrastructure and improves productivity across the enterprise Increases return on investment (ROI) on IT and telephony infrastructure Provides flexible deployment options and maximizes communications choices Serves communication needs for users inside and outside the enterprise Maximizes opportunities for standards-based evolution 2. Connectivity topologies for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 There are two approaches to integrating the Microsoft Office Communicator environment with enterprise communication servers. The first approach is based on deployment of the Office Communications Server as a supplementary telecommunications server in the enterprise network. The second approach, which is recommended by Alcatel-Lucent, consists of the co-existence of the Office Communications Server with Alcatel-Lucent equipment, where the call control remains at the enterprise communication server level providing Office Communicator users with the benefits of both worlds. 2.1 SIP trunking With SIP trunking, the Microsoft Office Communications Server is seen as another node in the voice network, but with few features for the Office Communications Server population and without integration between the Office Communications Server and enterprise communication server populations. Office Communicator clients are able to call enterprise communication server extensions and access the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) through the enterprise communication servers, but this topology creates silos of distinct users, with different levels of service for each population and limited interactions among populations. Implementing SIP trunking, the Office Communications Server requires a Mediant 1000 Gateway from AudioCodes. It interfaces Microsoft SIP with IETF SIP, supported by Alcatel-Lucent and all other telecom vendors. This gateway also endorses CODEC conversion between the Microsoft and the telecom worlds. This topology has multiple feature restrictions and creates tromboning of all voice paths through the Gateway, not to mention the bottleneck and single-point of failure that it represents. For all the aforementioned reasons, Alcatel-Lucent does not recommend SIP trunking implementations with Microsoft. Nevertheless, our expert team is ready to evaluate requests on a case-by-case basis. 2.2 Going beyond direct SIP interactions SIP trunking does not provide consistent usage for all enterprise users. But desktop integration of real-time communications, whatever the enterprise user and whatever the communications usage, offers a tremendous benefit for end users in their day-to-day jobs. 2 Enriching the Microsoft Office Suite with Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications Solutions Application Note

6 2.2.1 Microsoft SIP trunking enhancements: dual forking To provide superior features compared to standard SIP trunking and a consistent, converged desktop experience for all enterprise users, Microsoft introduced dual forking: SIP trunking enhancements with twin-set functions in the Office Communications Server to associate the Office Communicator with the phone device. Alcatel-Lucent has never supported this integration because of potential complexities for end users and administrators due to dual call control, discrepancies between user experiences, and limitations in SIP networking. Microsoft has recognized the poor execution of such architecture and announced the phase-out of dual forking in July Integrated voice call control and service virtualization To provide real-time communications and an easy, efficient Microsoft desktop experience for all users, Alcatel-Lucent recommends Microsoft Office Communicator integration based on voice call control integration and service virtualization. Users keep their phones on the enterprise communication servers and benefit from the Office Communicator interface on the desktop for all communication activities. This integration model provides the best of both worlds, offering a coherent communication layer along with a homogeneous, feature-rich end-user service level across the enterprise. Its many benefits include: Improved ROI on IT and telephony investments with enhanced functionalities Improved productivity for all users, whatever their profiles The Alcatel-Lucent voice call control integration solution is recommended for enterprises with one of the following requirements: Users who need a converged desktop with real, enterprise-grade telephony services: the main Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise business-class features are delivered to users Users in branch offices and a centralized telephony network to lower TCO: OmniPCX Enterprise handling of telephony services, supporting heterogeneous IP phones in the small branch office without requiring deployment of a local media server for voice flow optimization OmniPCX Enterprise ability to provide service continuity, whatever the size of the enterprise, from geographic redundancy in data centers to branch office survivability Control of local area network (LAN)/wide area network (WAN) bandwidth while offering enhanced voice quality Users with different profiles and communication usage/needs: OmniPCX Enterprise delivery of services to a variety of user devices PC multimedia, desk phones and wireless handsets so that users retain the benefits of their preferred devices while experiencing a converged desktop with the Office Communicator Mobile users with a broad range of devices: wireless LAN (WLAN), Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT), cellphones, smartphones such as the RIM BlackBerry, Nokia Eseries, and the Apple iphone 1 mobile digital device and other phone brands that operate on Google Android or Windows Mobile platforms Users who need rich interactions with contact center agents, portals and attendants Users who need tight business process integration and a rich ecosystem, including voice loggers and notification servers 1 Apple and iphone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Enriching the Microsoft Office Suite with Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications Solutions Application Note 3

7 3. Maximizing the Office Communicator user experience with enterprise communications solutions For global coverage of customer needs, Alcatel-Lucent offers two options for integration with the Microsoft Office Communicator: 1. If a customer needs Microsoft presence and IM as well as enterprise telephony embedded in the Office Communicator client, and where multivendor enterprise communication servers are in place, Alcatel-Lucent recommends remote call control (RCC), supported using Genesys Enterprise Telephony Software (GETS). 2. If a customer needs Office Communicator as a converged desktop but expects to retain a high level of telephony services, Alcatel-Lucent recommends client integration with the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator (MIC). With this integration approach, users benefit from Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) real-time features such as full business telephony, advanced audio conferencing, and unified messaging using the Office Communicator desktop. 3.1 Empowering Office Communicator users with telephony in a multivendor communication network GETS delivers telephony capabilities for the Office Communications Server. Microsoft users benefit from one-click access to their desk phone or Voice over IP (VoIP) softphone from Office Communicator, with the following features: Mid-call controls such as call transfer and call waiting Pop-up notification when the phone is alerted Viewing of the telephony presence of Office Communicator contacts GETS is a middleware solution, with telephony services under enterprise communication server control to offer enterprise-grade telephony services to all users whatever their phone devices: fixed/mobile, Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) or IP. GETS delivers a multivendor gateway that aggregates telephony and presence from the multivendor telephony infrastructure, including both IP and TDM (see Figure 1). The GETS solution simplifies the handling of software release evolution for both the Office Communications Server and multivendor IP enterprise communication servers. The GETS solution is targeted at companies who have chosen a multivendor approach for their enterprise communication server infrastructure and/or Microsoft only on the desktop for their employees. 4 Enriching the Microsoft Office Suite with Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications Solutions Application Note

8 Figure 1. GETS aggregation of telephony and presence from a multivendor telephony infrastructure Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 Microsoft SIP Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 OmniPCX Enterprise GETS SIP/CSTA Gateway Avaya Cisco 3.2 Empowering Microsoft users with Alcatel-Lucent UC&C Part of the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8400 Instant Communications Suite, the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator introduces an innovative and more effective way to communicate by improving interactions with rich presence information. The OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator is targeted at companies that have chosen to deliver enterprise-class telephony for high reliability as well as in-sourced, carrier-grade conferencing for fast ROI. Until now, to initiate communication a user had to select a specific device and channel for example, a telephone to call his or her contact. However, if the line was busy or there was no answer, the user could only leave a voice message and/or try another medium another land line or mobile number or try to communicate by sending an IM or (see Figure 2). Now, within an OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator window, users can see the presence status of their contacts on each of the available media and can initiate communication using the preferred device and channel. With the media-blending capabilities of the OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator, users can initiate an IM session with one click or answer a voice call with an IM (see Figure 3). Figure 2. Communicating with sequential media selection Sequential media selection of initiator and acknowledgment/non-acknowledgment of called contact IM Voice message? Try one media after another and hope to quickly find one that gets through! Enriching the Microsoft Office Suite with Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications Solutions Application Note 5

9 Without an overlap of services, the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator is available as a full client and/or can be fully or partially integrated with the user environment for Microsoft desktop or business applications. The Alcatel-Lucent suite of UC services can enrich the Microsoft desktop on two levels. Both types of integration reduce the time to initiate and manage multimedia communications: Integrated voice features in Microsoft user interfaces Directly from familiar interfaces, the Alcatel-Lucent solution enables essential enterprise telephony and carrier-grade audio conferencing functionalities. Integration outside of Microsoft from the desktop/laptop The Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 FIgure 3. Communicating with Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator How can I reach my contact? Business phone IM Active and real-time media selection from both parties How can I answer incoming communications? My Instant Communicator plays the role of a real-time communications aggregator, endorsing voice communications and delegating and IM to Microsoft for users who may be using non-microsoft applications. 3.3 User experience with Outlook The Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator enables real-time communication for Microsoft Outlook users, as shown in Figure 4. From the Outlook interface, users have access to: Essential enterprise telephony, including call routing and filtering To handle phone calls (click-to-call from or contact list, make calls, call back senders, clear calls, transfer, conference, and consult call logs) Unified messaging To handle voice and fax messages (with flexible voice/fax message storage of the IT manager s choosing: on the voice mail/fax server or server) Conference scheduling To directly schedule OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator or Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8660 My Teamwork conferences (audio and/or web conferences within the Outlook 2007 calendar), with access to the full set of parameters, such as access code, ports reservations and invitations to participants Voice mail In one click in one view, select the best media Another phone 6 Enriching the Microsoft Office Suite with Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications Solutions Application Note

10 Figure 4. real-time communications with Microsoft Outlook and the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator The Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator contact list is enriched with Microsoft Outlook 2007 calendar presence, in addition to telephony and IM presence. With real-time contact availability information, users can improve their efficiency by initiating immediate communications or scheduling conferences. 3.4 User experience with Office Communicator 2007 The Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator enables real-time communication from within the Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 interface, with access to: Telephony presence Click-to-call from contact list and chat session Carrier-grade audio conferencing service Also available outside the Office Communicator interface, the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator provides such advanced services as: Click-to-call from any application, with presence visibility of the available media of contacts Enterprise-grade telephony, including three-party conference calls, back-and-forth, dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF) handling, call forwarding, callback requests, voice messaging, and diversion of incoming calls to voice mail Answer with an Office Communicator IM when receiving a voice call Event summary that provides consolidated views of all asynchronous events, such as call log, callbacks and voice messages Selection of the audio device of choice for mobile users: desk phone, cellphone, external phone or multimedia PC Examples of these advanced services are shown in Figure 5. Enriching the Microsoft Office Suite with Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications Solutions Application Note 7

11 Figure 5. Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator advanced services Telephony presence and click-to-call within Microsoft Office Communicator contact list and chat window Initiate outgoing communication Handle incoming communication Manage multisession Presence status (telephony and IM) is synchronized Open call log details Events notification Open Outlook to consult voice messages 3.5 Integrated audio conferencing with Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8660 My Teamwork Feature-rich audio conferencing integration eliminates service provider conferencing and guarantees a fast ROI. Support for enterprise communication servers and mixed calling environments, with both VoIP and PSTN-connected participants, allows companies to leverage their existing voice infrastructure. With the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8660 My Teamwork for Microsoft Office Communicator, users benefit from full-featured audio conferencing, with features such as: Conference scheduling and management Recording Viewing of active and scheduled conferences Ad hoc, scheduled and reservationless conferencing with dial-in and network client access Advanced call control features, such as recording and playback capabilities Advanced controls, including mute/unmute, drop, and active speech indicators In addition, the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8660 My Teamwork extends audio conferencing beyond the population of Microsoft Office Communicator users. For instance, it is the perfect solution to federate users from both the enterprise itself and users from its ecosystem customers. The OmniTouch 8660 My Teamwork is a generic solution in the enterprise and carrier business. It has unique characteristics, such as: An all-in-the-box solution, application and media server that can co-reside on a single server High scalability, high density: 30,000 users and 1200 audio legs per physical server, with the possibility to federate multiple servers Total audio infrastructure independence (enterprise communication server [PBX], Centrex, softswitch, IP or TDM) IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) interoperability to connect premises-based equipment with operator infrastructure for network-based assets such as directory and consolidated presence services 8 Enriching the Microsoft Office Suite with Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications Solutions Application Note

12 The OmniTouch 8660 My Teamwork conferencing solution is available as part of the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator or as a standalone product. Audio conferencing integration will be available in H Federated IM and presence for borderless collaboration We have seen how Alcatel-Lucent UC solutions can enhance the Microsoft Office Communicator with real-time communications. We now consider collaboration interactions IM and presence in a multivendor environment. Even when a company has chosen a collaboration tool, its employees may need to communicate with contacts who connect using different IM and presence collaboration tools. These contacts can be internal, following company acquisitions or mergers, or external, such as partners, suppliers or vendors. The Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8460 Advanced Communications Server (ACS) is the collaboration application server in the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8400 Instant Communications Suite. The OmniTouch 8460 ACS integrates an IM and presence federation gateway to enable exchanges between OmniTouch 8460 ACS users and other collaboration platform users, with support of Office Communicator 2007 IM and presence federation. Alcatel-Lucent IM and presence federation is targeted at companies that want to: Improve interactions among employees in a hybrid enterprise environment, saving on equipment replacement and user training Improve interactions with partners in a multivendor IM and presence environment, expediting communications, problem solving and collaboration while saving money and removing barriers to success 5. Active Directory and converged information repositories Alcatel-Lucent real-time communications solutions complement Microsoft communications applications and are also fully compatible with the desktop environment of enterprise users and compliant with IT policy. Companies are able to reduce their TCO by integrating converged desktops, implementing a single sign-on for all applications and directory look-ups on a unique reference directory, and leveraging existing directories. With the support of standards such as Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)/LDAP over Secure Socket Layer (LDAPS) and assignment of a unique security ID to each user, the Microsoft Active Directory can be the universal repository for administrator and user information. During the bulk provisioning of users, the Active Directory can act as the reference database for user information, allowing administrators to gain operational efficiencies. The Active Directory also provides authentication of administrators and users who are accessing UC services with a single sign-on. 6. Alcatel-Lucent IP UC solutions: key differentiators and customer benefits OmniPCX Enterprise Alcatel-Lucent provides advanced UC infrastructure components in terms of scalability, density, resiliency, topology variety and serviceability, offering a rich user feature set for any desktop. Off-the-shelf All Alcatel-Lucent enterprise-grade IP communications solutions are available off-the-shelf and require only deployment and configuration. The Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator includes Microsoft integration components in the base license. Enriching the Microsoft Office Suite with Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications Solutions Application Note 9

13 Voice infrastructure-agnostic The Alcatel-Lucent solutions address customers who have chosen a multivendor enterprise communication server infrastructure and Microsoft on the desktop for employees. These customers will experience enterprise telephony with GETS and carrier-grade conferencing with the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8660 My Teamwork. Borderless Improving interactions among employees and with partners and customers, the OmniTouch 8660 My Teamwork is a borderless solution that expands reach to external users with in-sourced, carrier-grade conferencing services as well as IM and presence federation. Deployment of Alcatel-Lucent IP communications solutions for the Microsoft Office Communicator environment and enterprise communication servers maximizes the benefits of Office Communicator for all internal and external users, regardless of their voice devices or locations (see Table 2). Table 2. Alcatel-Lucent IP communications solutions for the Microsoft Office Communicator environment Microsoft desktop Customer need Alcatel-Lucent solutions SIP trunking 5 GETS OmniTouch 8660 My Teamwork 2 OmniTouch 8600 MIC Outlook Enterprise-grade telephony Office Communicator Unified messaging UC&C for PC, desk phones and smartphones In-sourced audio conferencing, Web collaboration with HD video Voice connection with non- Microsoft Office Communicator internal and external users Addition of enterprise-grade telephony services for Office Communicator users UC&C for PC, desk phones and smartphones 1 or 3 or 3 or In-sourced audio conferencing 3, 4 or 1 AudioCodes board serves as third-party gateway of Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise, Release Available as a standalone solution or as part of the Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8600 My Instant Communicator 3 For Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise and other vendors enterprise communication servers 4 Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8660 My Teamwork for Office Communicator will be available in H SIP trunking is supported but not recommended by Alcatel-Lucent. Please contact your Alcatel-Lucent representative for information 10 Enriching the Microsoft Office Suite with Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications Solutions Application Note

14 7. Acronyms ACS CODEC CSTA DECT DTMF GETS HD IM IMS IT IVR LAN LDAP LDAPS MIC PBX PSTN RCC ROI SIP TCO TDM UC UC&C VoIP WAN WLAN Advanced Communications Server coder/decoder Computer Supported Telecommunications Applications Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications dual-tone multifrequency Genesys Enterprise Telephony Software high definition Instant Messaging IP Multimedia Subsystem information technology Interactive Voice Response local area network Lightweight Directory Access Protocol LDAP over Secure Socket Layer My Instant Communicator private branch exchange Public Switched Telephone Network remote call control return on investment Session Initiation Protocol total cost of ownership Time Division Multiplexing Unified Communications Unified Communications and Collaboration Voice over IP wide area network wireless LAN Enriching the Microsoft Office Suite with Alcatel-Lucent Unified Communications Solutions Application Note 11

15 Alcatel, Lucent, Alcatel-Lucent and the Alcatel-Lucent logo are trademarks of Alcatel-Lucent. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The information presented is subject to change without notice. Alcatel-Lucent assumes no responsibility for inaccuracies contained herein. Copyright 2010 Alcatel-Lucent. All rights reserved. EPG (02)