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Migration Considerations for Meetings

 

Topic Last Modified: 2011-04-04

The following topics are discussed in this section:

  • Changes to meetings in Microsoft Lync Server 2010

  • Migrating users based on their conferencing needs

  • Migrating existing meetings and meeting content

  • User experience during migration

  • Microsoft Lync 2010 compatibility with meetings on earlier server versions

  • Configuring the meeting join page

Changes to Meetings in Lync Server 2010

In earlier versions of Office Communications Server, there are two types of meetings:

  • Conference calls (Lync 2010 client, conf:// URL prefix)

  • Web conferences (Live Meeting client, meet:// URL prefix)

In Microsoft Lync Server 2010, all newly-scheduled meetings use Lync 2010 as the primary client, and have a URL prefix of https://.

During migration, Lync Server 2010 fully supports the earlier meeting types:

  • Previously scheduled conference calls and Live Meeting web conferences are moved to the Lync Server 2010 server.

  • For users who have been migrated to the Lync Server 2010 server but do not have Lync 2010 installed, previous meeting types can still be modified or created.

For details, see the “User Experience During Migration” section later in this topic.

Default Lync Server 2010 Meeting Options

In earlier versions of Office Communications Server, scheduled meetings allowed anonymous users to attend meetings by default. In Lync Server 2010, meeting access for scheduled meetings is set to “My company” by default. Anonymous users and participants who use dial-in conferencing but for whom authentication fails are transferred to the lobby. Presenters can admit these users to the meeting.

However, for unscheduled Lync Server meetings, including Meet Now meetings, participant access is set to Everyone, including people outside my company by default, so anonymous users can join without waiting in the lobby.

Lync Server 2010 Meeting Clients

You can use the following clients to join meetings scheduled through the Online Meeting Add-in for Microsoft Lync 2010:

  • Lync 2010

  • Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendant

  • Microsoft Lync Web App

  • Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendee

  • Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 (that is, only if the administrator has enabled them. For details, see the “Configuring the Meeting Join Page” section later in this topic.)

You cannot use the following clients to join meetings scheduled through the Online Meeting Add-in for Lync 2010:

  • Communicator Web Access

  • Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007

The Lync Web App or Lync 2010 Attendee are the recommended alternatives for users who do not have Lync 2010 or Lync 2010 Attendant installed.

Migrating Users Based on Their Conferencing Needs

Consider migrating frequent meeting organizers early in the process so that they can take advantage of the new sharing, collaboration, and lobby management features of Lync Server 2010.

For users who need web conferencing features specific to Live Meeting—particularly support for large meetings and break-out rooms—you have the following options:

  • Advise organizers to use the Live Meeting service, if available in your organization.

  • Leave the organizers homed on the earlier version of Office Communications Server, so they can continue to schedule server-based Live Meeting web conferences.

Migrating Existing Meetings and Meeting Content

When a user account is moved from Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 to a Lync Server 2010 server, the following information moves along with the user account:

  • Meetings already scheduled by the user.   This includes Communicator conference calls (conf:// URL prefix) and Live Meeting conferences (meet:// URL prefix).

  • The user’s personal identification number (PIN).   The user’s current PIN continues to work until it expires or the user requests a new PIN.

The following information does not move to the new server:

  • Meeting content.   You should advise meeting organizers to reload content into their scheduled meetings after migration.

Note

When the Online Meeting Add-in for Lync 2010 is first used to schedule new meetings, a new default conference identifier is created. The default conference identifier is the http address and conference ID that is ordinarily reused for all scheduled meetings.
This should only be an issue for organizers who memorize their conference identifier and give it out to others. Most meeting attendees will join by clicking the join link in the new meeting invitation, and previously scheduled Office Communications Server 2007 R2 meetings will continue to work.

User Experience During Migration

This section discusses the conferencing experience of users migrated to Lync Server 2010 both before and after Lync 2010 is installed.

Before Lync 2010 Is Installed

After a user is migrated to the Lync Server 2010 server, but before new clients are installed, the following Office Communications Server 2007 R2 client functionality continues to work on the new server:

  • All scheduling functionality in the Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook

  • All meeting links in previously sent meeting invitations

  • Meet Now conferences in Office Communicator 2007 R2

  • Escalation to Live Meeting (Share Information Using Live Meeting) from Office Communicator 2007 R2

  • Dial-in conferencing numbers

    Note

    Existing dial-in conferencing numbers work whether the meeting is hosted on Office Communicator 2007 R2 server or a Lync Server 2010 server. However, the latest Office Communicator 2007 R2 cumulative update is required on the Office Communicator 2007 R2 server pools.

After Lync 2010 Is Installed

When a migrated user installs Lync 2010, the Online Meeting Add-in for Lync 2010 is installed too. This has the following effects:

  • All subsequently scheduled meetings use the new meeting format, which uses an https:// address instead of the legacy meet:// Live Meeting address.

  • For an existing meeting that is migrated to Lync Server 2010, the organizer can modify most meeting details as usual. However, if the organizer wants to change the meeting end date, end time, participant list, or the meeting subject, the organizer must reschedule the meeting in the new Lync 2010 meeting format. When the organizer changes any of these details, the add-in will prompt the organizer to manually reschedule the meeting and send an updated meeting invitation to all participants.

  • In an IT-managed deployment of Lync 2010, the administrator has the option of uninstalling the Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook, which is used to schedule Live Meeting server and service-based meetings. However, you may have users who need to continue to schedule Live Meeting service meetings. In this case, you can allow both add-ins to coexist.

The following meeting functionality continues to work for users who have installed Lync 2010:

  • All meeting links in previously sent meeting invitations, including Communicator conference calls (conf:// URL prefix) and Live Meeting conferences (meet:// URL prefix).

  • Audio conferencing information in previously sent meeting invitations, including meeting IDs.

  • Sharing functionality in Office Communicator 2007 R2 meetings.

  • Sharing functionality in peer-to-peer conversations or conferences that include Office Communicator 2007 R2 users.

    Note

    In previous versions of Office Communications Server, all users could initiate desktop sharing in meetings. In Lync Server 2010 only meeting presenters can initiate desktop sharing. In recurring meetings that are migrated to Lync Server 2010, attendees can no longer initiate desktop sharing. If they need to do so, they must have a meeting presenter promote them to presenter so that they can initiate desktop sharing.

Meetings with Federated Organizations that Use Previous Clients

Users in federated organizations who are using Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 or Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 clients cannot join Lync Server 2010 meetings in your organization if those meetings are locked by the organizer. You need to reschedule these meetings in Lync Server 2010 so that when federated participants join the meeting by using the new https:// meeting URL, they have the option of using either Lync 2010 Attendee or Lync Web App.

Lync 2010 Compatibility with Meetings on Earlier Versions of Office Communications Server

Users who have Lync 2010 installed can attend meetings hosted on earlier versions of Office Communications Server, but the following considerations apply:

  • For Communicator meetings, new Lync 2010 features are not available

  • For Live Meeting web conferences, Lync 2010 users must also have the Live Meeting client installed in order to attend. The email invitation contains instructions for installing the Live Meeting client.

Configuring the Meeting Join Page

You can control the clients that are available for joining scheduled Lync Server 2010 meetings by configuring the meeting join page. When a user clicks a meeting link, the meeting join page detects whether a client is already installed on the user’s computer. If a client is already installed, the default client opens and joins the meeting. If a client is not installed, the meeting join page displays options for joining the meeting with alternate clients.

The meeting join page always contains the option to use Microsoft Lync Web App. In addition to this option, you can decide whether to show links for Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendee or a previous version of Communicator. The scenarios are as follows:

  • If Lync 2010 or Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendant is installed, the client starts and joins the meeting..

  • If neither Lync 2010 nor Lync 2010 Attendant is installed and Lync 2010 Attendee is installed, Lync 2010 Attendee starts..

  • If no Lync Server 2010 client is installed, the meeting join page appears and gives the user the following options:

    • Use Lync Web App

    • Download Lync 2010 Attendee (this link is hidden by default)

    • Use a previous version of Communicator (this link is hidden by default)

For the scenario in which neither Lync 2010 nor Lync 2010 Attendee is installed, you can configure the meeting join page in Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Control Panel (that is, under the Security, Web Service settings). You can also configure these same settings by using the New-CsWebServiceConfiguration or Set-CsWebServiceConfiguration Windows PowerShell cmdlets with the ShowDownloadCommunicatorAttendeeLink and ShowJoinUsingLegacyClientLink parameters.