Administering Device Update Service

Topic Last Modified: 2009-06-02

This section provides information about how to use Device Update Service to keep your organization's unified communications (UC) devices up-to-date with the latest software. For background information on Device Update Service architecture and functionality, see Device Update Service Overview in the Technical Overview of the Getting Started documentation.

If your organization deploys Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Communicator Phone Edition and Microsoft RoundTable, these UC devices will require regular maintenance by your Information Technology (IT) department, including keeping the software updated. On a regular basis, Microsoft provides device software updates that you can deploy to your organization’s devices. An update might consist of the latest enhancements or address an issue in the firmware version currently deployed on the device. To maintain security and proper functioning, it is important that your organization's UC devices receive these updates in a timely manner as they become available.

You can use Device Update Service to keep your organization’s UC devices up to date. Included with Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Device Update Service provides significant enhancements over the previous version, named Software Update Service, including simplified deployment and management.

Device Update Service is automatically installed with Office Communications Server 2007 R2, and runs on the Web Components server. In the previous release of Office Communications Server, the update service for devices, which was called Software Update Service, required a separate, somewhat complex installation. In the current release the update service, now called Device Update Service, is automatically installed along with the Web Components service, greatly simplifying deployment. You still need to set up the infrastructure for the update service, such as by creating a file system location for update files, configuring DNS records, and configuring proxy settings for external access. For details, see Device Update Service in the Planning and Architecture documentation.