Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 is an enterprise grade real-time communications solution that offers instant messaging, Web conferencing, audio/video and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services within the context of the user's presence. It leverages an organization's investment in Microsoft products by integrating with Active Directory, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, a public key infrastructure (PKI), the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), the Domain Name Service (DNS), Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2005, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server and the 2007 Microsoft Office system. It also requires use of hardware load balancers and media gateways from third-party partners.

Deploying Office Communications Server 2007 can be complex. It's important, therefore, to have a clear understanding of what purpose the different server roles offered by Office Communications Server 2007 perform to make sure administrators deploy the right topology that will meet their organization's needs.

Part I introduces key aspects of Office Communications Server 2007. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the functionality that Office Communications Server 2007 offers. Chapter 2 introduces the various server roles included in Office Communications Server 2007 to create a deployment. Chapter 3 covers supporting technologies necessary to deploy Office Communications Server within your environment.