Voice Administration & Monitoring for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2

Paul DuffyDirectorAngorvaSession Code: UNC303

Agenda

Architectural ReviewRoutine Voice AdministrationMonitoring & QoEComplementary Monitoring toolsIntegrating with System CenterQ&A

Architectural Review

FederatedCompany

Exchange2007 SP1

Email, UnifiedMessaging

OCS 2007 R2 Roles

ActiveDirectory

Information Worker (UC endpoints)

RemoteUsers

MediationServer

Front End Back End

SQL DatabaseRegistrar, Proxy, PresenceResponse Group

Management

A/VMCU

Audio, Video

A/V Edge

Access Edge

SIP/MediaTranslation

Web ConfMCU

Slide/MeetingContent

Web Edge

CWAServer

CommunicatorWeb Access

Reverse Proxy

ABS,DL,Content

Archiving

Monitoring

Group Chat

CommunicatorPhone Edition

Meeting Console Communicator

App ShareMCU

DesktopSharingIP PBX

TDMPBX

PSTNGW

SIP Trunk

PSTN andMobile Phones

MOMMMCWMI

AttendantConsole

Routine Voice Administration

Routine Administrative Tasks

Provisioning/de-provisioning usersAuthorisation changesRouting changesDialling behaviour maintenance

Enabling Users for Voice - Multiple UsersThe wizard can ‘enable’ usersmsRTCSIP-line must be populated separately

Enabling Users for Voice

Communicator Calls

Remote Call Control

Enterprise VoiceDual Forking

Dual Forking with RCC

Enabling Users for Voice – Easier to script!Key attributes:

Samples in the resource kit:LCSEnableConfigureUsers.wsfOcsAssignTelUri.wsfOcsConfigureTelUri.wsf

msRTCSIP-Line - for RNLmsRTCSIP-LineServer - for RCCmsRTCSIP-OptionFlags - bit mask:RCC – 16UC Enabled – 128RCC + Forking – 512msRTCSIP-UserLocationProfile - location profile

WMI MSFT_SIPESUserSetting class

Managing Voice Users - Group Policy

Policies override server settingsTelephony mode:

0 = Enable computer-to-computer calling only. Call control is not enabled (default). 1 = Enable Enterprise Voice telephony features. 2 = Enable RCC and computer-to-computer calling. 3 = Enable both Enterprise Voice and RCC. 4 = Enable RCC without computer-to-computer calling. 5 = IM and Presence only, no audio

Location ProfileOther key policies: SIPSecurity, EncryptionImport template into Group Policy MMC snap-in

Provisioning usersDemo

Authorisation/Routing/Dialling

Four building blocksLocation profiles

Collections of Normalisation RulesVoice policies

Contain Phone UsagesRoutes

Associated with Phone Usages

This session doesn’t cover planning or theoryAttend UNC305 to learn about that

Easiest approach for administration

Use the Enterprise Voice Route HelperTool offers multiple features

ConfigurationAd-hoc testingAbility to run test casesAbility to avoid certain ‘career issues’

Can be done manually, but why would you?

Enterprise Voice Route HelperDemo

Monitoring

Why is monitoring so important?

Because we all want to stay employed OCS is a distributed systemThere are many environmental dependenciesNew ‘software’ model brings new challengesUsers may be more sensitive than usual

Which tools can help me?

OCS 2007 R2 Monitoring Server (QoE)OCS 2007 Deployment Verification Tool

AgentsAnswering agent

VoIP Test SetPre-call Network Diagnostic Tool

Quality of Experience Recap

Quality of ExperienceConsiders all factors influencing user perception, such as:

HardwareApplicationPsychologicalPhysical parameters

Media stack monitoring and optimizing in real-timeIntelligent end pointsInferior UC devices can cause disproportionate problemsQoE is about network AND payload content

Quality of Experience Summary

Right-provision networksUse DiffServ / SLA where appropriateIntelligent endpoints adapt to network conditionsUse OCS 2007 & OCS 2007 R2 logo devicesQoE focuses on the network and payloadMonitoring Server aggregates QoE data

Monitoring Server: Collection

Integrated component of OCS 2007 R2Receives a ‘QoE’ CDR after every voice callEach CDR contains important quality metricsReports come from endpoints and serversAll reports are stored in a database

What might you use QoE Data for ?

Helpdesk troubleshootingNetwork engineeringNearly real-time monitoringEarly warningsValidation of plansFuture planningAnd many more uses...

DO NOT CONSIDER THIS OPTIONAL

QoE ArchitectureClient

(UC endpoint) Mediation Server

Systems CenterOperations Manager

(alerts)

SIP – PSTN Gateway Client(PSTN endpoint)Leg A Leg B Leg C

Monitoring Server

MSMQ QoEService

QoE DB

QoEAgent MSMQ

Front End Server

SQL Server Reporting Services

In this example, QoE reports generated for legs ‘A’ and ‘B’ only

Monitoring Server: Useful data

Information is grouped in a logical mannerLocation (one or more subnets)A/V Conferencing ServerMediation Server

Out of box reports ready to useScenario (PC-PC, PC-PSTN)SummaryTrendsBy specific userAnd more...

Monitoring Server: Early warnings

Rich data stored in database is actionableData is ready for consumption by SCOMFix problems before many users feel painThis can also show up ‘subtle’ voice issues

Key Metrics Per CallSIP Session Data:

Endpoint IP address/maskInside/outside user flagICE Connectivity PathCodec(s)Network connectivity information

Wired vs. WiFiLink speedVPN or not

Capture/Render DeviceNoise Level/Signal LevelEcho metrics for the clientSpeech/signal and noise metrics for the client

Key Metrics Per Call continuedNetwork

Packets/Packet Loss RateJitter/Round Trip TimeLatencyBurst

PSTNMediation Server to gateway leg reporting

Video Quality MetricsConversational MOSListening MOSSending MOSNetwork MOS/Network MOS Degradation

Voice Quality Test OptionsSubjective:

Uses panel of testers to determine VoIP qualityResults vary from one test to anotherActive: Inject reference signal into stream and compare it to the output at other end

Objective:QoE Server approachSimilar to ITU ‘PESQ’Passive: Output signal is compared to a model to predict perceived quality

Absolute Categorization Rating (ACR)

Traditional Assessment of Voice QualitySubjective test of Voice quality based on a scale of 1–5Scoring is done by group of testers listening to callsListeners rate the callsMean Opinion Score (MOS) is the average ACR

Rating Quality Impairment

5 Excellent

Imperceptible

4 Good Perceptible but not annoying

3 Fair Slightly Annoying

2 Poor Annoying

1 Bad Very Annoying

Be careful when interpreting data

All MOS scores are not created equalIt’s important to understand OCS MOS usage:

OCS MOS scores useful to compare with OCSNot useful for comparing with other systemsThe important thing is quality in YOUR deployment

QoE Reporting - Mean Opinion Score (MOS)

Wideband vs. Narrowband MOSListening, Sending, Network MOS on wideband scaleConversational MOS on narrowbandBe aware of scale when comparing vendor-vendor scores

For MOS, need to compare similar scenariosLarger sample sizes deliver more meaningful average scores

Minimum of 30 callsJust comparing MOS values may be meaninglessAverage of scores collected during “subjective” test

MOS DetailNetwork MOS:

Considers only network factorsUseful for identifying network conditions impacting qualitySupported by all UC endpoints, except Exchange 2007 UM

Listening MOS:Considers many factors including:

Codec usedCapture device characteristicsTranscoding, mixing, defects from packet loss/packet loss concealment, speech level, and background noise

Useful for identifying payload effects impacting qualitySupported by Communicator 2007

QoE Reporting: Two Classes of MOS Scores

Listening Quality MOS (MOS-LQ): Commonly used class of MOS scores for VoIP deploymentsDoes not consider bi-directional effects, such as delay/echoMicrosoft UC provides three wideband MOS-LQ metrics:

Network MOS: Audio played to userListening MOS: Audio played to userSending MOS: Audio sent from user

Conversational Quality MOS (MOS-CQ):Considers Listening Quality & bi-directional effectsMicrosoft UC provides one narrowband MOS-CQ score

Conversational MOS: Audio played to user

Max MOS Rating by CodecNetwork MOS scores vary considerably, based on call typeCall type determines codec usedDifferent codecs have different max MOS ratings for NetworkLook carefully at MOS score and scenario

Scenario Codec Max Network MOS

PC – PC Call RTAudio WB 4.10

Conference Call SIREN 3.72

PC – PSTN Call RTAudio NB 2.95

PC – PSTN Call SIREN 3.72

Deployment Changes for OCS 2007 R2

OCS 2007“Archiving & CDR” Server RoleQoE Server available out-of-band

OCS 2007 R2Archiving server roleMonitoring server role = QoE + CDR

Basic Topology Options

Everything can be collocated with SE server!Clearly not recommended for large deploymentsRequires full version of SQL Server

Monitoring and archiving roles can be collocatedDatabases can be clusteredEach role can be collocated with its database

Databases can be collocated with the BE database

SE: Standard EditionBE: Back-end

Pool Association Options

Pools associated to one monitoring serverMediation servers associated to one monitoring serverMonitoring servers can support multiple pools

Monitoring Server Database Capacity Planning

Database size is dependent on call volume and call report retention settingsEach day’s call report uses approximately 16.8 kilobytes (KB) of database storage per userEstimate database size with this formula:

Example; using the default call report retention time for 50,000 users:

DB size = (DB growth per user per day)*( # of users)*(# of days)

DB size = (16.8 KB/day)*(50,000 Users)*(60 days)= 50.4 GB

Values in this example are based on the capacity planning user model from the OCS 2007 R2 documentation.

Configuration stepsInstall Message QueueingInstall SQL Server and reporting servicesInstall and activate monitoring serverDeploy reportsInstall management pack (optional)Configure loggingAssociate pool/servers with monitoring serverEnsure port 5069 is open on load balancerStart service

Note: Not all steps may be required if IM archiving is configured.

OCS 2007 R2 Monitoring ServerDemo

Monitoring Server Reporting Summary Report Samples

Other monitoring tools

Deployment Validation Tool

Tool runs various test callsAudio Quality criteria:

Jitter: Packet arrival timesPacket Loss: User Datagram Protocol (UDP)/Packet loss ratioDelay: Roundtrip

Test calls to monitor end-to-end functionality

DVT Components

DVT consists of:Agents: VoIP or PSTN agent runs tests/sends reportsOrganizer: Controls agents, assigns tests to run and collects result metrics

Integrates with SCOM

DVT User Interface

Answering Agent Tool (AAT)

Target users: End usersHelpdesk/Tier1

Tool overview:Self service for usersAnswers call, records and plays back message

Spencer Low

VoIP Test ToolClient Emulation:

Emulate a Office Communicator 2007 client for initiating or receiving Enterprise Voice calls

Server Emulation:Use VoIP Test Set toemulate MediationServer or Gateway

Pre-Call Network Diagnostic Tool

Reports Audio QualityProvides a check of current network conditionsStatistical DataSetup and Installation

OCS 2007 R2 Resource Tool KitEstablishes connection with Media Relay ServerContinuous Test

FederatedCompany

Exchange2007 SP1

Email, UnifiedMessaging

OCS 2007 R2 Roles

ActiveDirectory

Information Worker (UC endpoints)

RemoteUsers

MediationServer

Front End Back End

SQL DatabaseRegistrar, Proxy, PresenceResponse Group

Management

A/VMCU

Audio, Video

A/V Edge

Access Edge

SIP/MediaTranslation

Web ConfMCU

Slide/MeetingContent

Web Edge

CWAServer

CommunicatorWeb Access

Reverse Proxy

ABS,DL,Content

Archiving

Monitoring

Group Chat

CommunicatorPhone Edition

Meeting Console Communicator

App ShareMCU

DesktopSharingIP PBX

TDMPBX

PSTNGW

SIP Trunk

PSTN andMobile Phones

MOMMMCWMI

AttendantConsole

Integrating with System Center

Deploy Management Packs!

Management packs available for OCS 2007 R2These are ready-made to monitor OCS healthBe alerted to problems before they impact users

Integration in action

Summary

Architectural ReviewRoutine Voice AdministrationMonitoring & QoEComplementary Monitoring toolsIntegrating with System Center

Incorporate this in your deployment

Incorporate sample provisioning scriptsDeploy Monitoring Server early!Leverage tools such as AATIf you use Systems Center – integrate with OCS!

Related Content

Breakout Sessions :UNC 302 – Network Considerations for Deploying Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2UNC 204 – Ten Ways to Become a Hero with Microsoft Office Communications ServerUNC 305 – Voice Architecture and Planning for Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2UNC 308 – Unified Communications Development for Non-Professional DevelopersUNC 313 – Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Audio Conferencing Deep DiveUNC402 – ICE: The secret of Edge Media Connectivity in Microsoft Office Communications Server

Interactive Theater Sessions:UNC04-IS – Microsoft Office Communications Server Video StrategyUNC05-IS – Lessons learned from Real-World deployments of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2UNC07-IS – Troubleshooting Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2

Hands-on labs:UNC04-HOL, UNC05-HOL, UNC07-HOL, UNC08-HOL, UNC09-HOL, UNC10-HOL

Demo Session : UNC-02DEMO – Connecting Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

UNC Track Call to Action!Learn More!

Related Content at TechEd on “Related Content” SlideAttend in-person or consume post-event at TechEd Online

Check out learning/training resources at Microsoft TechNetExchange Server and Office Communications Server

Check out Exchange Server 2010 atVirtual Launch Experience (VLE) at thenewefficiency.com

Try It Out!Download the Exchange Server 2010 TrialTake a simple Web-based test drive of UC solutions through the 60-Day Virtual Experience

www.microsoft.com/teched

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questions & answers

© 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS,

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