What's New in Office Live Meeting Client Deployment

There are some important improvements with Office Live Meeting 2007 client.

Meeting Client for Office Communications Server 2007 R2. Organizations now have two Office Live Meeting options: they can subscribe to the Office Live Meeting service or they can host meetings using Office Communications Server 2007 R2. A single Office Live Meeting client can be used both by Office Live Meeting service subscribers and by Office Communications Server 2007 R2 users.

User mode installation. Unlike previous versions of the Office Live Meeting client, there is now a user mode installation capability that allows users who do not have administrator permissions on a computer to install the meeting client. The LMSetup.exe application installs the meeting client according to the users permissions on the computer. If the user does not have administrator permissions, he or she can install the meeting client and participate in meetings with some limitations.

Installer package. Microsoft provides users with the LMSetup.exe application to install the Office Live Meeting client. If necessary, administrators can extract a Windows Installer package (.msi file) from this application to deploy the meeting client in a managed IT environment. The .msi installer provides the following:

• Support for multiple command-line options, including silent installation options, which enable administrators to install to the users desktop with no user interaction required.

• Support for multiple distribution technologies. With the installer package, IT departments can install the meeting client using the deployment systems they already have in place, such as Active Directory Domain Services Group Policy, Systems Management Server (SMS) for managed enterprise deployment, Microsoft IntelliMirror management technologies, or scripted deployment. The installer is available at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=140334.

• Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook. A Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook is available, which allows users to schedule meetings directly from Outlook. Office Communications Server 2007 R2 users must install the add-in so that they can schedule meetings. The Web-based Microsoft Office Live Meeting Manager, which is available to Office Live Meeting service users for scheduling and managing meetings, is not available to Office Communications Server 2007 R2 users.

Dial-in audio conferencing. The dial-in audio conferencing feature is a new audio option for audio conferences hosted on Office Communications Server 2007 R2. Users who do not have access to a computer and want to join an Office Live Meeting audio conference can now call into the conference using a regular mobile, desk, or home phone. When scheduling an Office Live Meeting conference, the organizer can add a conference call number to the conference. Invitees can use any phone to dial into the conference and participate in the audio portion of the conference.