Best Practices for Communicator Web Access

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 will reach end of support on January 9, 2018. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

• Deploy a separate Communicator Web Access server to host external virtual servers.

• Use a reverse proxy deployed in the perimeter network to securely expose Communicator Web Access to the Internet.

• Observe secure settings for Internet Information Services (IIS), based on your server operating system version choice:

  • IIS 6.0: Managing a Secure IIS 6.0 Solution at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=145231

  • IIS 7.0: Configuring Security at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=145232

• Choose authentication methods to fit your users’ needs:

  • Integrated Password Authentication. Uses NTLM/Kerberos to provide secure logon methods for internal users

  • Forms-Based Authentication. Provides a username/password prompt and supports external user authentication, users of Macintosh, Linux, and users not running the Internet Explorer Internet browser

  • Custom authentication, Supports methods such as PIN input, and smart card