Course 5178AL: Implementing and Maintaining Audio/Visual Conferencing and Web Conferencing Using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007
4 sessions—Instructor-led

Introduction 5178AL: Implementing and Maintaining Audio/Visual Conferencing and Web Conferencing Using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. This Distance Learning version of the course consists of four online live instructor-led sessions over two weeks (two hours for each session). Additional self-paced e-learning content, scenario-based labs, and assessments accompany these sessions. This course provides students with the knowledge and skills to plan, deploy, and manage audio/visual and Web conferencing by using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. Audience This course is intended for IT Professional infrastructure specialists. This includes real-time communications Technology Specialists and professional real-time communications engineers. In addition, IT Professionals in any job role that interacts with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Microsoft SharePoint Server, and Exchange Server will benefit from the course. At Course Completion After completing this course, students will be able to: • Determine implementation requirements for an on-premise conferencing solution. • Deploy an on-premise conferencing solution by using Office Communications Server 2007 Standard Edition. • Deploy an on-premise conferencing solution by using Office Communications Server 2007 Enterprise Edition. • Deploy and configure participant clients for on-premise conferencing. • Schedule conferencing and configure user and meeting policies for on-premise Web conferencing and on-premise audio/visual conferencing.   Prerequisites Before attending this course, students must have: • Familiarity with Active Directory knowledge and concepts. • Familiarity with Exchange Server Messaging knowledge and concepts. • Familiarity with SharePoint knowledge and concepts. • Fundamental knowledge of using Microsoft Office 2007 or Microsoft Office 2003. • Fundamental Microsoft Windows Server 2003 knowledge and experience. • Fundamental networking knowledge and experience. In addition, it is recommended, but not required, that students have completed: • Course 5177A: Implementing and Maintaining Instant Messaging Using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007.   Course Outline Module 1-1: Determining the Implementation Requirements for On-Premise Conferencing The way people work has changed in the last few decades because technology has enabled greater mobility. Although mobility offers tremendous benefits to both employees and the organizations for which they work, it also presents some challenges, because work colleagues in different locations must be able to communicate as effectively as they would if they were in the same premises. If two or more employees need to meet to progress a project, collaborate on documents, or simply share ideas, Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 can enable them to do so by providing support for on-premise conferencing. On-premise conferencing, where the organization provides the software and infrastructure for its conferencing requirements, provides a number of benefits over the alternative of an externally hosted conferencing solution. To implement Office Communications Server 2007, you must make some changes to Active Directory directory service, and deploy additional application servers, such as Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Lessons • Comparing On-Premise Conferencing Solutions with Hosted Conferencing Solutions • Preparing to Implement Office Communications Server 2007 • Overview of Application Servers Used in an On-Premise Conferencing Solution • Implementing a Secure On-Premise Conferencing Solution Lab 1-1: TBC After completing this module, students will be able to: • Describe the advantages of on-premise conferencing solutions compared to hosted conferencing solutions. • Prepare a network to support an on-premise conferencing solution. • Describe the role of application servers in an on-premise conferencing solution. • Secure an on-premise conferencing solution by configuring the network.   Module 1-2: Implementing an On-Premise Conferencing Solution with Office Communications Server 2007 Standard Edition The Standard Edition of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 supports small to medium-sized organizations that want to implement an on-premise conferencing solution. In Office Communications Server 2007, the Address Book Service is a required component. An understanding of the Address Book Server and the other on-premise conferencing components of Office Communications Server 2007 Standard Edition will enable you to maintain and troubleshoot Office Communications Server more effectively. Lessons • Implementing Office Communications Server 2007 Standard Edition Servers • Configuring the Office Communications Server 2007 Address Book • Overview of On-Premise Conferencing Components Lab 1-2: TBC After completing this module, students will be able to: • Implement an on-premise conferencing solution by using Office Communications Server 2007 Standard Edition. • Configure the functions of the Office Communications Server 2007 Address Book. • Describe the interoperability of on-premise conferencing components on an Office Communications Server 2007 Standard Edition server.   Module 2-1: Implementing an On-Premise Conferencing Solution with Office Communications Server 2007 Enterprise Edition The Enterprise Edition of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 is better suited to larger organizations because it offers support for more users, and flexible server configuration options. For example, you can install all of the Office Communications Server services on a single server, or group of servers; alternatively, you can deploy conferencing components to separate server computers in load-balanced pools. Enterprise Edition scales easily and helps you to support more users as your needs change. In addition, because you must install the Microsoft SQL Server component on a separate physical computer, you can provide resilience by clustering this SQL Server computer. Lessons • Overview of an Enterprise On-Premise Conferencing Solution • Implementing Enterprise Server Roles • Establishing Federation Between Enterprises Lab 2-1: TBC After completing this module, students will be able to: • Describe the features of an on-premise conferencing solution that is based on Office Communications Server 2007 Enterprise Edition. • Implement enterprise servers in an enterprise on-premise conferencing solution and implement an Access Edge server. • Establish federation between enterprises in an enterprise on-premise conferencing solution.   Module 2-2: Deploying, Configuring, and Using Participant Clients for On-Premise Conferencing To participate in an on-premise conference, you must typically install client software on the workstation computers of your users. Microsoft provides the following three client programs for use with Microsoft Office Communication Server 2007: • Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 • Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 Client • Microsoft Office Live Meeting Add-In for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Office Communications Server 2007 supports the creation of both scheduled and unscheduled Web conferences by using Microsoft Office Live Meeting Add-In for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. Users who participate in an on-premise Web conference can collaborate and share their data by using Office Communications Server 2007 and the Office Live Meeting Console. You can use Group Policies to control how users share their data and to specify additional settings for an on-premise conference. Office Communications Server 2007 also supports audio/video conferencing. Users can create audio/video conferences by using a variety of hardware components, including Microsoft Office RoundTable™ communications and archival system, and by using both Microsoft Office Communicator communications client or by using the Office Live Meeting Console. Lessons • Overview of On-Premise Conferencing Clients • Deploying an On-Premise Conferencing Client • Configuring User-Related Settings for an On-Premise Conference • Working with On-Premise Web Conferencing • Working with On-Premise A/V Conferencing Lab 2-2: TBC After completing this module, students will be able to: • Identify the features of the on-premise conferencing clients. • Deploy clients in an on-premise conferencing solution. • Configure user accounts to support conferencing. • Schedule and collaborate with participants in an on-premise Web conference. • Configure and create an unscheduled Web and audio/video conference. • Identify the group policies that can be set for an on-premise conference.