Enter User Management Pack 365, a slick web management tool that helps administrators perform specific tasks for Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams. In addition, UMP 365 can also help to manage tasks around Active Directory (modifying user attributes) and O365 (assigning user licenses).

From my experiences over the years, I have always struggled with remembering how to run specific PowerShell commands across different platforms. Maybe this is because I don’t do these tasks daily, but I always felt like each time I tried to do a similar task, there was always a small tweak I needed to make to the script. This ultimately lead me down the vicious cycle of finding the right TechNet article or blog, hammering away at PowerShell until it finally stopped yelling at me about syntax errors! Well, for those of you who have shared that same struggle, especially with managing Skype for Business and nowadays Microsoft Teams, I would really encourage you to take a look at UMP 365.

Basically, if you look at Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business, you have fantastic GUIs that allow you to do a certain percentage of management activities (let’s spit ball with 40% of the tasks are available in the GUIs). Beyond the GUI, you need to utilize PowerShell and the fantastic TechNet information that helps explain all of the different cmdlets, parameters and syntax (let’s call that the “other” 60%). To learn how to truly use the things available just in PowerShell, you really need to have some great experience and quite a bit of time to develop those scripts. Although there are many people out there that “can” do these tasks (and develop scripts), this might not be the best use of time for your administrators. Why take up hours of their work weeks going through these script development exercises, when you can use a tool (which by the way is completely GUI based) that already has a lot of these scripts already covered?

To help set the stage, take a look at the following screenshot from the Users tab of UMP 365. You can easily identify a specific user, right-click on the user and modify TONS of attributes for the user. Some examples would be specific to Telephony settings, things like LineURI, Voice Policies, and much more!

One of the other things I have struggled with is that each platform has different cmdlets. For example, Skype for Business Server (on-premises), Skype for Business Online (O365) and Microsoft Teams all have different Admin Portals, cmdlets and PowerShell modules. This means that each time I want to perform a task in a hybrid environment, I need to go through that specific portal/process based on where that specific user is located. That is exactly what UMP 365 alleviates an administrator from having to worry about. The same GUI of UMP 365 can manage all these scenarios regardless of where the user is homed. That right there is super powerful and makes everyone’s lives so much easier!

Add to it, some cmdlets require you to gather additional information about a user to be able to easily identify which command changes need to be applied to which user. Below is a sneak peek “under the hood” that UMP 365 provides where you can visually see the complex cmdlet being run for specific tasks. In this visual, I made a bunch of changes to AD attributes of test users. Notice the crazy long ObjectID associated with each user? Yup! Good luck figuring that out on your own!

With that all in mind, if you haven’t had a chance to see UMP 365, I highly recommend reaching out to your AudioCodes contacts and taking a look. Don’t struggle like I have with managing users, and let UMP 365 do all the heavy lifting!

The post Putting the POW in PowerShell with User Management Pack 365 appeared first on AudioCodes.

AudioCodes is introducing a replacement program for Microsoft LPE (Lync Phone Edition) devices that will stop working with Microsoft Office 365 services beginning on October 31, 2018 when only TLS 1.2 compliant devices will be supported. The offer can be found and claimed on the AudioCodes website at http://online.audiocodes.com/lpeupgradeprogram.

What are Lync Phone Edition (LPE) devices and why won’t they work?

Lync Phone Edition (LPE) devices are the IP Phones first launched alongside Lync 2010.  The phones were produced by third-party certified vendors like Polycom, HP/Snom & Mitel/Aastra.  All of them run Windows CE 6.0 and a Microsoft written Lync Phone client. Windows CE – and therefore Lync Phone Edition – doesn’t support TLS 1.2, therefore, when Microsoft enforces TLS 1.2 only on Office 365, these devices will no longer connect.

AudioCodes offers Teams Ready device for Lync Phone Edition (LPE)

The models of Lync Phone Edition (LPE) devices that are affected by this change are:

• Polycom: CX500, CX600, CX3000
• HP: 4110 and 4120
• Mitel/Aastra: 6721ip and 6725ip

Why is this important?

Older TLS versions (1.0 and 1.1) are known to have vulnerabilities used by hackers. Security regulated markets (for example credit card processing) force services to only utilize modern TLS implementations. While Microsoft has stated that there are no known vulnerabilities in their own implementations of TLS 1.0 they recognize the potential for future vulnerabilities and making this change to more modern TLS. These newer regulations also encourage moving toward new security mechanisms – for example, Modern Authentication that Microsoft has implemented in recent years.  These newer security mechanisms are fully supported by AudioCodes phones.

Microsoft will enforce TLS 1.2 on the Office 365 Cloud on October 31, 2018. Affected phones can utilize different services within Office 365. As mentioned above, basic calling may be facilitated by Skype for Business Online so that is affected. Likewise, affected phones can utilize Exchange Online services for calendaring, voicemail services, Outlook contacts, call logs, and more. The fact that phones cannot access Exchange Online services will also impact on-premises/hybrid deployments using Exchange Online.

Will this affect my existing non-LPE devices?

All 3PIP (Microsoft 3^rd Party Interoperability Partner) phones which are certified for Skype for Business Online will continue work after this Office 365 TLS 1.2 change and work with and be supported by Microsoft Teams. There will be no change to 3PIP phones connected to Skype for Business Server on-premises. They will be able to join Microsoft Teams scheduled meetings and place calls with the same user experience and features detailed above in the Microsoft blog.  LPE Phones will still be able to connect to Skype for Business Server on-premises as long as TLS 1.0 and 1.1 are supported in that deployment. Connectivity to Office 365 features like Exchange Online will not work after October 31, 2018.

Additionally, at Enterprise Connect in March 2018, Microsoft announced a new line of ‘native Teams’ phones that run a Microsoft Teams app directly on the phone itself. LPE phones will not work with Microsoft Teams. For more details check out the Microsoft Tech Community blog. The current Microsoft Office 365 roadmap shows this support coming in 3Q 2018.

How can AudioCodes help?  Are there trade-in/trade-up incentives?

Yes! AudioCodes is introducing a replacement program for Microsoft LPE Phones that will stop working with Microsoft Office 365 Services beginning on October 31, 2018 when only TLS 1.2 compliant devices will be supported. The offer can be found on the AudioCodes website at:  http://online.audiocodes.com/lpeupgradeprogram.  For every model of AudioCodes in this offer, we have a matching (or more advanced) set of features. On top of standard expected calling features, our AudioCodes phones have modern features like advanced boss-admin, sidecar options, resiliency options, superior centralized management and more.  A few charts detailing how AudioCodes phones compare – along with frequently asked questions – can be found on our LPE Upgrade Program FAQ page.

The post Lync Phone Edition (LPE) – AudioCodes offer Teams Ready device upgrade appeared first on AudioCodes.

What does this all mean and what benefit do I get?

What exactly does this all mean for you? It depends on where you are in your UC/IC journey. For some, the journey might be moving from an existing PBX to Microsoft Teams calling directly. Others might already be using Skype for Business / Skype for Business Online and ready to make the move to Teams calling. Still, others might have sites around the globe that are not yet able to migrate phone numbers from the local Telco providers into Microsoft Calling Plans.

Organizations looking to migrate to Microsoft Teams calling can now utilize direct SBC connectivity into the Microsoft Teams environment. This allows customers to bring their own PSTN trunk into the Microsoft environment via a Teams Certified SBC. With the combination of Teams and an AudioCodes SBC, organizations will now be able to take full advantage of Microsoft’s Intelligent Communications vision by providing a complete Teams experience for their users.

What about my environment today and tomorrow?

Customers that currently utilize AudioCodes infrastructure to connect to their existing PBX, Skype for Business on-premises, or Skype for Business Online with Phone System (previously Cloud PBX) are in a great position. In this scenario, you have the ability to leverage your existing infrastructure and repurpose/reconfigure/update it to connect to the Microsoft Teams environment. If that current infrastructure is not already in place or maybe it needs an upgrade, AudioCodes has a large portfolio of certified SBCs that supports from a few sessions all the way up to tens of thousands of current sessions.

The benefit of a complete, unified portfolio is that AudioCodes has a solution to fit your needs today and tomorrow, from physical devices to a full complement of highly scalable virtual instances. Furthermore, depending on the level of functionality required, the SBC portfolio can also provide advanced high availability (HA).

Things to consider with Direct Routing SBCs from AudioCodes

Now that we know of the wide range of options available in Direct Routing scenarios, what about diving into some specific use cases that make the AudioCodes SBC stand out?

1. Ever wonder what you are going to do with those existing analog devices? How in the world do I plug that analog wire into the cloud? That will likely never happen, but AudioCodes has you covered. Time and time again, the conversation comes up on how to integrate these existing analog devices (think elevator, common area, warehouse and laboratory phones) in organizations both large and small. For these scenarios you can easily place an AudioCodes MediaPack (analog adapter) behind the SBC, providing the necessary connectivity to allow Teams users to communicate with the analog device (and vice versa). Analog in Teams – no problem.
2. What about sites that cannot have an SBC connect to the open internet and thus directly into Teams? Perhaps these sites only have MPLS back to a centralized site to funnel all outbound traffic. This is most common in larger organizations where local internet is not the best fit for the organization. The SBC can serve dual purposes to handle this situation – a centralized hub that hosts the main infrastructure (aka SBC) along with a spoke at a branch site with a local PSTN breakout. That local PSTN break out could be required due to local regulations or because of a cost-effective contract with a provider. Either way, the AudioCodes solution stack can make this type of scenario possible.
3. Do you have a local regulation that requires routing of calls based on the location of a user? Specifically, when dialing emergency numbers (911, etc.) do you need to present to call to the PSAP in a specific fashion (aka ELIN)? That is a driving factor to leverage the SBCs ability to utilize the IP address subnets within a network and where the user generated the call to make logical and dynamic routing decisions. With SBCs in the environment, especially connecting to on-premises trunks, AudioCodes has the ability to utilize the SBC routing logic to make intelligent decisions based on the IP address of a particular user. This functionality is critical in emergency (aka 911) environments, especially when it pertains to larger campuses. A person making an emergency request may be pinpointed to a specific floor and room, allowing first responders to granularly identify their location.

What Next?

Now is the time for organizations who are looking to test Direct Routing with Microsoft Teams to contact your local AudioCodes representative or get in touch with AudioCodes via our website. Working with Microsoft for over 12 years, this is just another exciting step in the evolution of Enterprise Voice. AudioCodes is keen to work with you to architect the best path to the Teams future while keeping an eye on existing capabilities. If you already have SBC licenses in your environment, AudioCodes will be able to help determine the best way to connect to the Teams backend. For organizations that are not yet leveraging AudioCodes infrastructure, reach out today to get started with AudioCodes and Direct Routing in Microsoft Teams.

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