Deployment Processes for Dial-In Conferencing

Topic Last Modified: 2009-07-20

Conferencing Attendant is designed to use components and features of Enterprise Voice by default, but you can configure support for dial-in conferencing in your organization whether or not you have deployed Enterprise Voice for Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

If you have already deployed Enterprise Voice in your organization, see Support Dial-in Conferencing with Enterprise Voice later in this topic.

Support Dial-in Conferencing without Enterprise Voice

To support dial-in conferencing without Enterprise Voice, perform the following steps:

Table 1. Dial-in conferencing deployment process if you have not deployed Enterprise Voice

Phase	Steps	Permissions	Documentation
Install and activate Office Communications Server 2007 R2.	All unified communications applications and the application server are installed by default. In an Enterprise Edition deployment, activate the Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement Service applications during the pool configuration process. In a Standard Edition deployment, activate the Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement Service applications during the server installation process.	Administrators group RTCUniversalServerAdmins group Domain Admins group	In the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 deployment documentation for Enterprise Edition and Standard Edition, see: Configure Pool and Applications (in an Enterprise Edition deployment) Add Servers to the Pool (in an Enterprise Edition deployment) Install Standard Edition Server (in a Standard Edition deployment)
Install, activate, and configure the 2007 R2 version of Microsoft Office Communicator Web Access server.	Install Communicator Web Access server to host the Dial-in Conferencing Web page for users to manage their personal identification number (PIN) and conference information. The Dial-in Conferencing Web page is installed by default when you install Communicator Web Access server. Publish Communicator Web Access URLs to make the Dial-in Conferencing Web page discoverable. Install Communicator Web Access. Activate Communicator Web Access. Create an internal virtual server. Publish Communicator Web Access URLs	Administrators group Domain Admins group	In the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 deployment documentation for Communicator Web Access, see: Installing and Activating Communicator Web Access Creating a Communicator Web Access Virtual Server Publishing Communicator Web Access URLs
Optionally, enable remote user access to Communicator Web Access.	Enable access to the Dial-in Conferencing Web page from outside your organization’s firewall. Create an external virtual server. Optionally, use a reverse proxy to publish Communicator Web Access for remote users.	Administrators group Domain Admins group	Installing and Activating Communicator Web Access Creating a Communicator Web Access Virtual Server Using a Reverse Proxy to Enable Remote User Access
Test the Dial-in Conferencing Web page.	Sign in to the Dial-in Conferencing Web page using the URI https://<internalCWAserver_FQDN>/dialin and, if remote user access is enabled, https://<externalCWAserver_FQDN>/dialin.	Office Communications Server 2007 R2 user	Testing the Web Site
Create one or more location profiles, and then assign default location profile.	Create location profiles with normalization rules that will route Conferencing Attendant calls as well as enable Conferencing Attendant to perform PIN-based user authentication, and then assign a default location profile to each pool. Location profile descriptions are used to specify regions for conference access phone numbers.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	In the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 deployment documentation for Enterprise Voice, see: Step 2. Create Location Profiles Step 4. Assign Location Profile to Pool
Optionally, verify or modify user PIN requirements.	Specify minimum PIN length, maximum retry attempts, and PIN expiration.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	See Configure Dial-in Conferencing PIN Settings in this section of the documentation.
Configure a global policy to support dial-in conferencing.	Configure settings on the Meetings tab in Office Communications Server Global Properties to do the following: Specify if users can invite anonymous participants to any type of conference or meeting. Create and assign a global policy that enables PSTN dial-in conferencing support and specifies if anonymous participants must enter a pass code.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	Configure a Global Policy to Support Dial-in Conferencing
Deploy a Mediation Server.	Deploy a Mediation Server to route calls to and from the public switched telephone network (PSTN).	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	In the Enterprise Voice deployment documentation, see: Step 5. Deploy a Mediation Server
Deploy a third-party basic media gateway OR Configure the Mediation Server to perform SIP trunking	Deploy a media gateway to connect to the PSTN. OR Configure the Mediation Server to connect to a service provider offering PSTN origination and termination, also known as “SIP trunking”.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group (to configure the Mediation Server) Administrator of the SIP trunking provider	See the documentation provided by the manufacturer of your media gateway, if you deploy a media gateway OR Deploy SIP Trunking in this section, if you deploy SIP trunking And Configuring a Mediation Server in the Enterprise Voice deployment documentation, if you deploy SIP trunking.
Configure your organization’s media gateway to support dial-in conferencing.	Configure the media gateway with one or more direct inward dial (DID) phone numbers to use as conference access phone numbers.	Administrator on the media gateway	See the documentation provided by the manufacturer of your media gateway.
Configure Conferencing Attendant.	Configure conference access phone numbers and settings, including supported languages.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	See Configuring Conferencing Attendant in this section of the documentation.
Enable dial-in conference scheduling.	Deploy the Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook to enable users to schedule conferences with support for dial-in conferencing.	Administrators group	Deploy the Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook
Configure user account properties.	Configure the Line URI setting of Telephony Options for user accounts with a unique normalized phone number. For example, tel:+14255550200.	RTCUniversalUserAdmins group, to configure user accounts DomainAdmins group, to configure normalized phone numbers in Active Directory Domain Services	For instructions, see Configuring Telephony for Individual Users in the Administering Office Communications Server 2007 R2 documentation. For background information, see Normalization Rules in the Planning and Architecture documentation.
Configure static routes.	Configure a static route for each pool to route calls to the Conferencing Attendant to the Mediation Server to enable Communicator Web Access users to join dial-in conferences using PSTN dial-out.	Administrators group RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	In the Deploying Communicator Web Access (2007 R2 Release) documentation, see: Configure Static Routes for Communicator Web Access Users Configuring Audio Conferencing for Communicator Web Access
Welcome users to dial-in conferencing.	Customize the “Welcome to Dial-in Conferencing” e-mail message included with the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 documentation, and then send the e-mail message to users.	Administrators group	See Welcome Users to Dial-in Conferencing.

Support Dial-in Conferencing with Enterprise Voice

If you have deployed Enterprise Voice in your organization to provide support for calls to the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and you have enabled Enterprise Voice for users, you do not need to complete as many additional steps to support dial-in conferencing. If you have already deployed Enterprise Voice, to support dial-in conferencing you need only configure direct inward dial (DID) numbers on your media gateway for Conferencing Attendant, activate Conferencing Attendant, and then configure Conferencing Attendant settings. You can activate Conferencing Attendant during the configuration of an Office Communications Server, Enterprise pool, or during the deployment of a Standard Edition server. If you did not activate Conferencing Attendant when you deployed Office Communications Server 2007 R2, you can activate Conferencing Attendant later. For details, see Activate an Application.

To support dial-in conferencing if you have already deployed Enterprise Voice, perform the following steps:

Table 2. Dial-in conferencing deployment process if you have deployed Enterprise Voice

Phase	Steps	Permissions	Documentation
Install and activate Office Communications Server 2007 R2.	All unified communications applications and the application server are installed by default. In an Enterprise Edition deployment, activate the Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement Service applications during the pool configuration process. In a Standard Edition deployment, activate the Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement Service applications during the server installation process.	Administrators group RTCUniversalServerAdmins group Domain Admins group	In the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 deployment documentation for Enterprise Edition and Standard Edition, see: Configure Pool and Applications (in an Enterprise Edition deployment) Add Servers to the Pool (in an Enterprise Edition deployment) Install Standard Edition Server (in a Standard Edition deployment)
Install, activate, and configure the 2007 R2 version of Microsoft Office Communicator Web Access server.	Install Communicator Web Access server to host the Dial-in Conferencing Web page for users to manage their personal identification number (PIN) and conference information. The Dial-in Conferencing Web page is installed by default when you install Communicator Web Access server. Publish Communicator Web Access URLs to make the Dial-in Conferencing Web page discoverable. Install Communicator Web Access. Activate Communicator Web Access. Create an internal virtual server. Publish Communicator Web Access URLs	Administrators group Domain Admins group	In the Deploying Communicator Web Access (2007 R2 Release) documentation, see: Installing and Activating Communicator Web Access Creating a Communicator Web Access Virtual Server Publishing Communicator Web Access URLs
Optionally, enable remote user access to Communicator Web Access.	Enable access to the Dial-in Conferencing Web page from outside your organization’s firewall. Create an external virtual server. Optionally, use a reverse proxy to publish Communicator Web Access for remote users.	Administrators group Domain Admins group	Installing and Activating Communicator Web Access Creating a Communicator Web Access Virtual Server Using a Reverse Proxy to Enable Remote User Access
Test the Dial-in Conferencing Web page.	Sign in to the Dial-in Conferencing Web page using the URI https://<internalCWAserver_FQDN>/dialin and, if remote user access is enabled, https://<externalCWAserver_FQDN>/dialin.	Office Communications Server 2007 R2 user	Testing the Web Site
Verify location profile configuration and pool assignment.	Verify that location profiles include normalization rules that will route Conferencing Attendant calls as well as enable Conferencing Attendant to perform PIN-based user authentication, and that a default location profile is assigned to each pool. Location profile descriptions are used to specify regions for conference access phone numbers.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	In the Deploying Enterprise Voice documentation, see: Step 2. Create Location Profiles Step 4. Assign Location Profile to Pool
Optionally, verify or modify user PIN requirements.	Specify minimum PIN length, maximum retry attempts, and PIN expiration.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	See Configure Dial-in Conferencing PIN Settings.
Configure a global policy to support dial-in conferencing.	Configure settings on the Meetings tab in Office Communications Server Global Properties to do the following: Specify if users can invite anonymous participants to any type of conference or meeting. Create and assign a global policy that enables PSTN dial-in conferencing support and specifies if anonymous participants must enter a pass code.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	See Configure a Global Policy to Support Dial-in Conferencing.
Configure your organization’s media gateway to support dial-in conferencing.	Configure the media gateway with one or more direct inward dial (DID) phone numbers to use as conference access phone numbers.	Administrator on the media gateway	See the documentation provided by the manufacturer of your media gateway.
Configure Conferencing Attendant.	Configure conference access phone numbers and settings, including supported languages.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	See Configuring Conferencing Attendant.
Enable dial-in conference scheduling.	Deploy the Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook to enable users to schedule conferences with support for dial-in conferencing.	Administrators group	See Deploy the Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook.
Configure user account properties.	Configure the Line URI setting of Telephony Options for user accounts with a unique normalized phone number. For example, tel:+14255550200.	RTCUniversalUserAdmins group, to configure user accounts DomainAdmins group, to configure normalized phone numbers in Active Directory Domain Services	For instructions, see Configuring Telephony for Individual Users in the Administering Office Communications Server 2007 R2 documentation. For background information, see Normalization Rules in the Planning and Architecture documentation.
Welcome users to dial-in conferencing.	Customize the “Welcome to Dial-in Conferencing” e-mail message included with the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 documentation, and then send the e-mail message to users.	Administrators group	See Welcome Users to Dial-in Conferencing.