Chronology of Lync Server

Let’s go through some history and chronology to better understand why and how Communication Server 2010 came to be.

• Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 Instant Messenger Service—It’s hard to believe so few people, even Exchange administrators, have heard of the Exchange 2000 IM service. However, it is not hard to believe that even fewer deployed it. It was a rudimentary service with little integration to Exchange or other Microsoft Server products. Later versions utilized special engines, whereas the Exchange 2000 IM service leveraged an in-house middleware platform called Exchange Interprocess Communication (EXIPC) to translate between IIS 5 and Exchange. The solution was essentially composed of two types of servers: home servers and routing servers.

Home servers handled IM communications similarly to a front end in Lync Server. However, there was little Active Directory integration. That’s where routing servers came in. If two users were homed to different home servers, they would need to jump through a bunch of hoops to talk with each other. The routing server acted as a bridge connecting any two home servers. It was a basic solution, especially at a time when public IM providers such as Yahoo! and AOL offered significantly more in terms of functionality.

• Live Communications Server 2003—Instant messaging functions were taken out of Exchange and given their own platforms with the 2003 wave of Microsoft Server products. It was code named Greenwich and initially called Office Real-Time Communications Server 2003 before being renamed Live Communications Server 2003 just prior to release. It wasn’t long before it was better known by its three-letter acronym LCS 2003. LCS 2003 was the first version to support certificates and offer TLS-encrypted communications as the recommended method. LCS 2003 was also the first version to support enterprise archival of IM communications, although it was rarely implemented because the compliance regulations in effect today simply didn’t exist or include IM conversations in 2003.

• Live Communications Server 2005—Live Communications Server 2005, or LCS 2005 as it’s more commonly known, was the first widely deployed version of the Microsoft real-time communications platform. It was code named Vienna. Although one might argue that LCS 2005 was Microsoft’s first attempt at a unified communications platform, few organizations deployed functions beyond IM and presence. LCS 2005 added new functions including a more advanced presence engine that would change a user’s presence status based on information from a user’s Exchange calendar and remote access through the access proxy role. LCS 2005 SP1 added the capability to communicate with Office Communications Server 2007 users and a number of other features. In today’s Microsoft nomenclature, it would likely be called Live Communications Server 2005 R2.

• Office Communications Server 2007—Code named RTC12, this is when the creative codenames went the way of the dodo bird. Commonly known as OCS 2007, the platform made huge jump in terms of functionality and acceptance. OCS 2007 added the following functions:

• On-Premise Web Conferencing—The ROI from bringing web conferencing in-house almost always justified the cost of implementing OCS, and thus, it became an important feature. However, voice conferencing was PC-only or needed to be hosted through a third-party provider.

• Multiparty IM—It might seem insignificant to add more than one person to an IM conversation, but it became an important market differentiator compared to products such as IBM SameTime and Cisco CUPS.

• Enhanced presence—Also known as “rich presence,” it enabled users to expose additional information beyond the red, green, and yellow gumdrop that was standard at the time. This information included name, title, and detailed calendar information. It also included a multitiered access mechanism called levels of access to display different amounts of personal information to different tiers of users.

• Improved federation—Open federation and widespread adoption of OCS 2007 changed the landscape of intercompany communication. E-mail became secondary for partner communication as users could see real time availability data and collaborate immediately removing the latency inherent to asynchronous methods of communication.

• Enterprise Voice—It’s simply not possible to call your solution a Unified Communications solution without the inclusion of a voice platform. Although it was basic, it was a proactive step in the right direction because almost every other UC vendor would also roll out a combined IM, meeting, and voice platform around the same time or soon after.

• Office Communications Server 2007 R2—When combined with Exchange Unified Messaging, this was the first version that could realistically be considered a PBX replacement, although it still lacked many traditional PBX features. Code named Wave 13 or W13, OCS 2007 R2 added a bunch of collaboration and voice features as noted in the following:

• Call Delegation—Also known as the boss-secretary function, this enabled delegates to answer a call for another user. The primary user also notified the delegate answered the call. This function was designed to be used with the Communicator Attendant Console. Much like with delegates in Exchange, the assistant could be given the rights to do almost everything for the manager yet make it appear that the manager was doing the work. A full call delegation feature list includes call screening for audio, video, or IM; joining a voice conference on behalf of the manager; checking voicemail for the manager; initiating a person-to-person call on behalf of the manager; initiating conference calls on behalf of the manager; and transferring calls to the manager.

• Team Call—A simple workflow that enabled call forwarding to multiple people. The call could be forwarded to specific people in sequence or in parallel. This was often used for out-of-office or out-to-lunch functions.

• Group Chat—A separate server role that also required a separate client from Communicator. It allowed persistent chat similar to IRC.

• Desktop sharing—This included desktop sharing from the Communicator client and with anonymous users through the Communicator Web Access service.

• Audio conferencing—Much like web conferencing in OCS 2007, this is another great ROI story. Third-party audio conferencing services can be expensive; tens of thousands of dollars per month can be saved by bringing it in-house. Many companies deployed OCS 2007 R2 strictly for this functionality; everything else was just a bonus.

• Response Group Service—This is Microsoft’s version of a simple IVR workflow. It’s often used for small call centers or IT help desks.

• SIP trunking—SIP trunking is still new but seeing a growth in adoption. Essentially, it enables OCS 2007 R2 to connect to a SIP trunking provider that handles all outbound call routing. Although the process can be a little complex to set up initially, it greatly eases call routing topology because everything goes to the cloud service provider.

• Improved codecs—Improved codecs for voice and video enable better voice quality and more tolerance for nonideal networks. They also enable HD-quality video between clients over reasonable network links.