PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS
UCfy Test Suite
The alpha-CNS UCfy Test Suite provides a set of tools to assess and monitor Voice Quality and Usage in Skype for Business deployments.
Core of the suite is the Test Call Server which usually will be deployed as a probe to customer sites. Based on the modelled call pattern it will generate test calls between different sites or data centre’s to simulate Skype for Business Voice and Video Real-time traffic on the WAN/LAN. Depending on the used hardware it can generate several hundred concurrent calls.
As the Test Call Server is based on Microsoft UCMA framework it uses the same Signalling (SIP stack) and Codecs as other Skype for Business server components. This ensures a consistent and comparable load test as the voice quality data like Network MOS scores are based on the very same metrics. Voice Quality data (Skype for Business Quality of Experience or QoE data) will be collected during the testing phase and can then further be analysed with the alpha-CNS Lync Usage Analyzer which is also part of the Test Suite.
When Skype for Business is then being deployed and used in production the QoE data from the Skype for Business Monitoring database can be used for further analysis and comparison.
The Test Call server allows an individual modelling of the call volume, call distribution, and codec family selection. This allows to generate the same call volume and pattern as expected in a later production deployment. The maximum call concurrency can be defined per destination (remote site) and day of week and time of day.
The also provided Test Call Server Controller provided a central configuration tool for the Test Call server for an easy modelling of the call patterns and live monitoring of calls between the probes.
alpha-CNS Test Call Server can be used to load test the underlying network to ensure it is capable of handling expected Voice and Video traffic. Different probes can be placed at strategical locations in the network to allow Audio and Video call generation between the probes. The Call Controller can be used to model call patterns (e.g. maximum Audio and Video call concurrency, codecs, video profiles). Call Quality data (QoE – including Network MOS, Packet Loss, Jitter, Video Frame Loss Rate) will be stored and can be imported to the Lync Usage Analyer for further data analysis.
Probes can be deployed Stand-Alone or connected to an existing Skype-for-Business deployment. For pure network load tests or Green-Field SfB deployments it is recommended to deploy the probes in Stand-Alone mode. If SfB call handling (call setup etc) should be part of the load test or external access (via SfB Edge servers) should be tested as well, then the probes need to be configured to connect to Skype for Business (on-premises).
The Lync Usage Analyzer is a comprehensive and sophisticated Analysis tool for Skype for Business Quality of Experience data. The data can be either directly imported from multiple Skype for Business Monitoring databases or from the local databases populated by Test Call servers.
An additional Export Tool allows to export all required data from the Monitoring database to a single portable database file that can then be imported later on by other teams or consultants. These data do not contain any user related data as SIP addresses will be hashed and telephone numbers shortened.
THE LYNC USAGE ANALYSER PROVIDES FOLLOWING VIEWS:
1) Media Stream details (Inbound and Outbound):
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Bandwidth consumption per Modality
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Call Types: PSTN, Peer-2-Peer, Conferencing, Conference-Dial-In
2) Voice Quality data:
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Network MOS (NMOS) degradation
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Jitter, Latency, Packet Loss, Concealed Samples Ratio (Average Values and Deviation)
3) Call Stats Tables with Call Quality data based on:
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Sites or Remote Sites
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Call Types and Sites
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Call Types and Codecs
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User Agents and User Agent Matrix
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Codec and Sites
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Capture Devices
IT SUPPORTS FOLLOWING FILTERS:
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Sites and remote sites (calls for a site or between a site and remote sites)
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Voice gateways (calls being routed through a certain gateway/gateways)
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Call Types: PSTN, Peer-2-Peer, Conferencing, Conference-Dial-In
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Connection Types: wired, Wi-Fi
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User Location: corporate network, VPN, remote user
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For PSTN calls: destination prefix
The alpha-CNS Wi-Fi Heatmapper is a sophisticated tool to conduct Wi-Fi assessments. It collects Wi-Fi data during floor walking and visualises results like Coverage, Channel Overlap and Voice quality. It has an integrated voice call generator to simulate voice calls per survey spot and measure voice quality over Wi-Fi. It uses the same frame work and library as the Test Call Server and uses therefore the same signalling and codecs as the Skype for Business client. It also simulates the same roaming behaviour as the Skype for Business client by setting the Wi-Fi streaming mode accordingly during the test calls.
Orthogonal traffic can also be generated to simulate simultaneous downloads or uploads from the client.
Existing Quality of Experience (QoE) data can be imported from the Skype for Business Monitoring database to get additional voice quality data which can be mapped against the discovered Access Points.
UCfy Provisioning Suite for Microsoft Teams/Skype for Business Online and Skype for Business Server (Lync)
The alpha-CNS UCfy Provisioning Suite is an advanced Provisioning and Number Management tool especially developed for Microsoft Skype for Business and Teams.
It provides a complete provisioning engine for users, Common Area Phones, and Skype for Business Analog Devices for an easy, centralized, and cost-effective management from policy and number assignments up to call forwarding configuration. All SfB entities can be managed individually or via the build-in bulk load feature. Provisioning and de-provisioning of entities can be automated as well by using build-in workflows or by integrating with existing IDM solutions.
The integrated number management allows you to keep track of all available, reserved, or assigned DDIs and extensions per number range and site.
A simple role based access control design allows task delegation, audit, and additional security.
The alpha-CNS UC Provisioning suite uses sites and profiles to define required settings per location to be applied to users and other SfB entities. A site can be considered as a physical location where SfB has been deployed independently of where SfB servers or gateways have been installed. If users have been enabled for SfB and maybe provisioned with DDIs provided by a SIP trunk that is being terminated in a data center, then this location can be treated as a site and one can configure different profiles for this specific site. For certain sites it is required to configure users and phones differently, some users are allowed to make international calls, should have Exchange UM enabled, others should only receive calls. These can be achieved by defining different profiles and assign different SfB policies and Exchange provisioning settings to these profiles. SfB policies need to be created in Skype first but will automatically replicated to alpha-CNS UC Provisioning suite.
Number ranges whether provided by local gateways connected to local carriers or by central SIP trunks can be assigned to sites and profiles. When provisioning users and phones, numbers will be automatically taken from assigned ranges, or administrators can pick numbers and extensions manually.
Alpha-CNS UC Provisioning Suite also provides a complete number management component. It helps you to keep track of all assigned DDIs or internally defined extension ranges worldwide. Within a few clicks administrators can see how many numbers are still available or reserved and can request new ranges from their carrier in time if required.
Number ranges are assigned to sites and can be used by different profiles.
Picture 4 – List of Numbers and Extension within a Number Range
Numbers can easily be assigned to SfB users, common area phones and analog devices which are associated with analog ports on media gateways.
All SFB entities including assigned numbers will be synchronized with the UC Provisioning Suite by the Provisioning Engine including Response Group Workflows, Conference Dial-In numbers, and Lync Meeting Rooms to ensure a most up-to-date list of number assignments.
All policy and profile changes of all SfB Entities will be logged in the backend database. This allows tracking of all discovered changes.
Picture 5 – List of Numbers and Extensions exported to Excel
Number ranges can easily be exported to Excel for further processing.
User Management
The UC Provisioning Suite provides an easy to use Web interface to add, modify, and delete SfB entities. Administrators can easily search for all SfB entities, whether it is a user, a common area phone, or a conference dial-in number, they will be shown in the search results. SfB users, common area phones, and analog devices can then directly be added or modified using the Web portal, response groups and conference dial-in numbers etc. will be read-only.
Depending on the site permissions the user will only be able to search within the configured sites or when enabling existing users in Active Directory for Lync the user can only search within the configured Active Directory containers.
All relevant user details including the site and profile the user is assigned to and all assigned DDIs and extensions are shown on the General tab. When adding a new user or phone, or modifying an existing one all information required for the provisioning the user or phone will be taken from the assigned profile. The profile also controls whether Exchange Unified Messaging will be enabled.
Although it is recommended to use the UC Provisioning Suite for all SfB related provisioning tasks, Administrators can still use SfB Powershell commands or the SfB Control Panel to configure users. Those changes will always be replicated back to the Provisioning database to provide a current state view on all SfB entities and number assignments. Additional profile setting can be used to reinforce policy assignments. When they are changed manually or the profile is updated with new policies then these settings will be re-applied to all associated SfB entities.
Administrators will also have access to call forwarding settings of users and Common Area Phones including delegate and team-call group settings.
Bulk Provisioning
The alpha-CNS UC Provisioning Suite also allows bulk provisioning of users, common area phones and analog devices. Administrators can import Excel sheets into the Web GUI or import them using powershell.
All data can then be edited. Before the actual job will be submitted to the provisioning engine a sanity check of the provided data will be done, e.g. users do exist already, numbers have been assigned to other users already, or are not in a configured range.
All jobs either individual or bulk jobs can be submitted for immediate execution or they can be scheduled to be executed at any date.
Jobs can also be prepared in advance and saved with status “in-preparation”. This allows to collect and check all user details for site migration in advance.
Automated Provisioning
The alpha-CNS UC Provisioning Suite also allows a fully automated provisioning of SfB users. This would be useful when AD account provisioning is done by other provisioning tools and UC-fy User Manager should only take care of the Lync portion. The UC Provisioning Suite can be set up to monitor certain Active Directory containers and provision new users automatically with SfB accounts, assign them to the right profile and assign numbers if required.
Voice Gateways
SfB Analogue Devices are still widely used in SfB deployments. They allow an integration of analog ports for Fax, door opener, lift phones or other devices into Skype for Business to use the same PSTN breakouts as other SfB entities with the same call authorization and routing principles.
The alpha-CNS UC Provisioning Suite helps managing deployed voice gateways which provide analog ports to be used for SfB Analogue Devices. Administrators can add Voice Gateways to sites via the Provisioning Portal and when adding new analogue devices, they can be assigned to a physical analogue port on a gateway. The voice gateways will be managed via SNMP v3 and ports will automatically configured with the assigned DDI.
The gateway needs to be prepared once for use with UC Provisioning Suite. All available analogue ports (or other ports to be used with UC Provisioning Suite – like internal BRI ports) will be read automatically by the UC Provisioning Suite.
STATE FILTER FOR MICROSOFT LYNC / SKYPE FOR BUSINESS SERVER
Presence information can be very useful for efficient communication. Microsoft Lync 2010 / 2013 does not only show the basic presence like Away or Busy, but also additional information like Busy – in a meeting or Busy – in a call and depending on the privacy relationship of the contacts the time of last activity of an contact. In many companies it is not consistent with the employee privacy requirements of the works councils. With changing the privacy relationship the user can choose how much information are shared, but to hide the time of last activity the user has to choose a privacy relationship group where other useful information are also filtered.
The alpha-CNS state filter allows you to hide the time of last activity while all the other information are still available to the user.
CALL ROUTER FOR SKYPE FOR BUSINESS
Microsoft Skype for Business Server is a comprehensive and powerful unified communication and collaboration solution.
Unfortunately Skype for Business does only allow users to have one telephone number (LineURI). And although Skype for Business additionally supports a private line (PrivateLine) it can only be used for incoming calls and certain features like team group calls and delegates do only work with the primary telephone number.
alpha-CNS Call Router helps you to overcome these limitations. It allows you to virtually assign additional DIDs to a user which will be mapped to the primary telephone number for inbound PSTN calls as well as for calls originated by other Lync users.
This is usually required if a customer is present in different countries and want to assign local telephone numbers to users, like having a UK DID and a US DID assigned to the same user. alpha-CNS Call Router also allows using those assigned DIDs as the caller id depending on what number is being dialed. E.g. when dialing an US number the assigned US DID is presented but when dialing an EMEA number the UK DID is being used.
IM RESPONDER FOR LYNC / SKYPE FOR BUSINESS
Microsoft Lync is a comprehensive and powerful unified communication and collaboration solution, but it does not allow users to have more than one SIP address (SIP URI). If Lync solutions will be consolidated, SIP domains or SIP address formats being changed, the SIP address usually gets changed and the user is not reachable anymore at the old SIP address by other Lync users either internally or federated.
alpha-CNS IM Responder is an UCMA application that takes care of the old Lync account while the user has been moved to the new Skype for Business platform already. It reacts on behalf of the user and publishes availability with an additional Lync note containing the user’s new SIP address. It also listens to incoming IM and Audio session requests and replies with pre-configured messages and text. alpha-CNS IM Responder helps you to assure your customers, partners, and other Lync users can still reach you and automatically being informed about the SIP address change.
HOSTED VOICEMAIL FOR SKYPE FOR BUSINESS
The alpha-CNS Hosted Voice Mail service provides voice mail to Skype for Business server (SfB) or Lync 2013 server deployments without using Exchange Unified Messaging.
Alpha-CNS hosts the voice mail service in two data centres in the EU. It can easily be integrated into customers Lync/SfB deployments as a hosted voice mail service like Microsoft’s Exchange Online. Skype for Business will automatically forward calls to the hosted voice mail service for voice mail enabled users or for configured auto-attendants. Callers can leave a voice message, which will be send as an email to the original called party. Voice mails can be send by regular mail (SMTP) which does not require any Exchange deployment or via Exchange Webservices to ensure a secure delivery and to mark voicemails as such in Exchange.
The auto-attendant feature allows callers to reach users by dialling their extension or if setup in IVR mode, they can reach different destinations by dialling the corresponding number ( e.g. 1 for support, 2 for sales).