Lync For Dummies

Lync Enterprise
Voice
Sonus Special Edition
By Mohan Palat and Kevin Isacks
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Lync Enterprise Voice For Dummies, Sonus Special Edition

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Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
About This Book......................................................................... 1
Icons Used In This Book............................................................. 2
Chapter 1: Taking a Peek at

Unified Communications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Understanding UC....................................................................... 4
Looking at UC Applications....................................................... 5
So, Where Does UC Come From?.............................................. 6
Chapter 2: Getting Acquainted

with Microsoft Lync. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
What Is Lync All About Anyway?.............................................. 7
Understanding Lync Servers and Apps.................................... 8
Microsoft Lync Server...................................................... 8
Microsoft Lync App.......................................................... 9
Understanding Your Options
for Lync Server Deployment................................................ 10
Deploying Lync on-premises......................................... 10
Using hosted Lync services........................................... 11
Hybrid Lync services..................................................... 12
Choosing between the three options........................... 12
Applications Enabled by Lync................................................. 13
Understanding Why Enterprises Choose Lync..................... 14
Chapter 3: Digging into Lync Enterprise Voice . . . . . . . 15

What is Lync Enterprise Voice?.............................................. 16
Looking into Lync Enterprise voice features.............. 16
Making Lync Enterprise Voice work............................ 17
Planning for deployment............................................... 18
Different deployment models........................................ 18
Choosing a deployment model..................................... 19
Reviewing a Lync Enterprise Voice Case Study.................... 21
iv
Chapter 4: Getting the Most Out

of Lync Enterprise Voice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
IP-PBX/Gateways....................................................................... 23
Making Enterprise Voice More Robust
with Survivability.................................................................. 25
Understanding SBAs................................................................. 26
Introducing the SBC.................................................................. 28
Chapter 5: Leveraging SBC for Enterprise Voice. . . . . . 31

Connecting to SIP Trunking Services..................................... 32
Integrating with Existing IP-PBX Platforms............................ 33
Ensuring QoS............................................................................. 34
Supporting E911........................................................................ 35
Dealing with Interoperability between Vendors................... 36
Centralizing Control and Troubleshooting............................ 36
Chapter 6: Ten Reasons to Choose Sonus when

Deploying Lync for Enterprise Voice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Microsoft Compatibility and Qualification............................ 39
Proven Experience.................................................................... 39
Multivendor Interoperability................................................... 40
Maximized Resiliency and Protection
Against DoS Attacks.............................................................. 40
Encrypted Communications.................................................... 40
Rapid Recovery......................................................................... 41
Survivability for Branch Sites.................................................. 41
Centralized Policy Management............................................. 42
Exceptional Transcoding Performance.................................. 42
Wide-Ranging Media Support.................................................. 42
Foreword
For many organizations, the search for the next technology to
deliver strategic advantages is leading to Unified Communications (UC) and to Microsoft Lync as a critical component.
Lync delivers a unique set of capabilities to integrate communication modalities, presence, application integration, and
other services. Organizations can streamline business processes and increase productivity by assuring that the right
communications happen at the right time, with the right
people, and the right tools. Most Lync deployments start as an
internal trial and then deploy, but extending Lync beyond the
boundaries of the organization can yield equal or even greater
benefits than internal use alone. By using Lync federation,
capabilities can be extended to partners and customers,
reducing costs and increasing business success. Using Lync
conferencing can reduce conferencing costs and, when combined with Lync telephony services, can deliver a truly unified
user experience. You may also experience a reduced cost with
traditional legacy telephony equipment.
However, when Lync is extended beyond the organization
boundaries issues of interoperation, security, control, and
management emerge. Organizations contemplating Lync
deployment should begin planning for external Lync capabilities. Even if the initial deployment is internal, often users and
departments will drive rapidly for external Lync capabilities,
so make sure you plan ahead.
One key element of a successful external Lync deployment is a
Session Border Controller (SBC) that can manage and assure
the security and integrity of the organization. Lync externalization opens doors to new sets of threats that can have significant impact. This book guides you to understand the issues
and complexity of a Lync Enterprise Voice deployment. It gives
the reader the initial tools to begin to make the right decision
to assure personal, solution, and organization success with
Lync Voice.
Phil Edholm
PKE Consulting LLC & UCStrategies.com
pedholm@pkeconsulting.com
www.pkeconsulting.com
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Introduction
nterprises of all sizes and kinds (government, private,

education, and so on) have begun to fully adopt and
embrace the latest in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
technologies. VoIP enables Unified Communications (UC) that
bring all sorts of different VoIP-enabled services together so
they work together seamlessly and in a (well, weve got to say
it) unified way.
With UC, an enterprise user can use a single software application (app) on his desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone to
communicate and collaborate with colleagues, customers, and
partners through instant messaging, voice calls, conference
calls, videoconferences, screen and application sharing, and
more. If youve not used it before, well, its awesome.
About This Book

One of the leading software platforms for UC is Microsofts
Lync. In this book, we talk about Lync and give you an idea
just what its all about and what kinds of UC services Lync
supports. Most importantly, we introduce you to Lync
Enterprise Voice an additional element of Microsoft Lync
that enables the Lync platform to completely replace a traditional enterprise Private Branch Exchange (PBX). (In case you
didnt know, a PBX is the business phone system that most
enterprises use to enable things like call transfers, call holding, conference calling, and more).
While Lync by itself can bring a lot of productivity benefits
to an enterprise and make for happier employees who can
collaborate and communicate in new ways, adding Lync
Enterprise Voice to the mix also provides a way for enterprises to offer their employees really cool voice, video, and
collaboration services while also saving a boatload of money
(compared to traditional PBX and phone services).

Is your enterprise thinking about implementing UC? Or have
you already got a Lync deployment and youre now considering going for the big cost savings with Lync Enterprise Voice?
Or are you a service provider who wants to offer these services to your customers? If so, then Lync Enterprise Voice For
Dummies, Sonus Special Edition, is the book for you.
Icons Used In This Book

This book calls out important bits of information with icons
on the left margins of the page. Youll find four such icons:
The Tip icon points out a bit of information that aids in your
understanding of a topic or provides a little bit of extra information that may save you time, money, and a headache.
Pay attention to the Remember icon because it points out
parts of the text to lock away in your memory for future use.
Watch out! This information tells you to steer clear of things

that may cost you big bucks, suck your time, or be bad
practices.

We try to keep the technical jargon and discussion to a minimum. You wont need to know these factoids to get the most
out of the book, but you may find them interesting.

Chapter 1
Taking a Peek at Unified

Communications
In This Chapter
Getting a handle on UC
Understanding the world of UC applications
Learning who provides UC
or many years, companies, large and small, have relied

on Private Branch Exchange (PBX) systems for their
voice telephony needs. PBXs provide business phone features, such as shorter numbers for internal dialing, call
transfers, and bridging conference calls. The rise of Internet
technologies like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has
driven businesses to switch to Unified Communications (UC)
from their old PBX systems for voice telephony.
A leading solution for UC is Microsoft Lync, which, with its
Enterprise Voice components, offers a full replacement for a
traditional PBX service. In order to create a robust and high quality UC voice service for an enterprise with Lync, you also
need a special device called the Session Border Controller
(SBC), and you need to buy a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
Trunking service from your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Figure 1-1 shows you how this all fits together.
Figure 1-1: The Microsoft Lync Enterprise Voice solution.
Understanding UC
UC is the next evolution in enterprise communications and
collaboration technologies, bringing all varied connections
under a single architecture. This process makes communication seamless, no matter where you are or what device you use.
These communications can be delivered over an IP (Internet
protocol) network through the following mechanisms:

Voice: Calls, voice mails, multi-party conference calls,
and so on

Video: Videoconferences, on-demand video learning, and
so on

Data: Text messaging, e-mail, document sharing, and so on
The unified part of UC refers to the fact that the UC hardware
and software take all these communication applications and
put them under the purview of a common control system
instead of using different hardware and software solutions for
each individual application.
Doing so provides two big benefits:

It allows communications to be delivered across media.

For example, a voice mail left by one employee may be
delivered to its recipient as an e-mail attachment or even
as a speech-to-text translated message.

It applies presence and location information to the communications flow so communications are routed and
delivered intelligently.
Chapter 1: Taking a Peek at Unified Communications
Presence simply means the ability and willingness of an individual to receive certain types of communications. If youve
ever used Skype or an instant messaging program, your
status (available, busy, do not disturb) is your presence.
In UC, presence is a richer bit of data and when combined with location helps the UC system figure out how
and when to deliver your communications to you. For
example, if youre out of the office and at a meeting, a UC
system may route calls to your mobile device and also
not even try to ring the phone.
This combination of multiple platform, client, and communication methods with presence and location data is a powerful
tool one that can greatly streamline and improve the ways
that enterprise employees communicate, coordinate, and collaborate with each other, whether theyre in a single location
or spread across the globe. Say goodbye to playing phone tag
and endless e-mails or voice mails, and say hello to UC!
Looking at UC Applications
The most common UC applications include the following:

Voice calls: UC systems provide VoIP-based person-toperson or multiparty voice communications, by using
software applications (apps) on PCs or Macs or on
mobile and tablet devices. With a UC system, users no
longer need a PBX system to make voice or even video
calls to others. Users also save a lot of money in voice
calls by skipping the traditional public telephone network and using VoIP instead.

Instant messaging (IM): UC systems provide personto-person or multiparty IM (like AOL IM or Skype),
often with the addition of features like persistent chat
sessions, the ability for an IM session to pass between
devices, and for a user to pick up a chat where he left off.

Videoconferencing: UC supports high-quality (often HD)
videoconferencing. These calls can be person-to-person
or, depending on the system, between groups of people.

Collaboration and meetings: Conferencing and collaboration are key parts of a UC solution for enterprise. There
are a number of aspects to conferencing, including IM/
chat, voice, and video.

Dont limit your UC apps to the desktop. UC platforms can
support mobile devices as fully integrated clients. To make
this work, you need a working data connection on the mobile
device and a UC app installed on the device by the IT department or through an app store.
So, Where Does UC Come From?

What you need to deploy UC in your enterprise (or to provide
it to your customers if youre a service provider) includes a
few key elements:

Connectivity to an IP network, usually including SIP
Trunking services

A server (or servers) to run the UC applications and provide back-end functionality, such as directory or contact
servers, presence data, and so on

UC clients on the end-user devices (desktop or mobile)

Edge devices (like an SBC) to control, secure, and optimize connections to the network
UC can be deployed in a combination of ways:

Enterprise deployments: Choose to deploy the servers
and software within your own datacenter or server room
and own and operate the UC system itself.

Hosted deployments: Access UC in the cloud by purchasing access to a hosted UC service. In this case, a
third-party service provider manages for all the servers,
software, and operations the enterprise just pays
to use.

Hybrid deployments: Some functionality is installed
on the enterprise premise while other functionality is
hosted in the cloud by a service provider.
Whether an enterprise deploys UC on its own or through a
hosted service, it still requires connectivity through a SIP
Trunking service provider or Internet Telephony Service
Provider (ITSP). The ITSP provides bandwidth and connectivity and (in most cases) connectivity to the Public Switched
Telephone Network (PSTN).
Chapter 2
Getting Acquainted
with Microsoft Lync
In This Chapter
Introducing Microsoft Lync
Meeting the servers and clients
Learning about Lync deployment scenarios
Taking stock of Lync applications
Understanding the benefits of Lync
nterprises of all sizes and kinds are adopting Unified

Communications (UC). (Check out Chapter 1 if youre
not sure what UC is all about.) And one of the most widely
deployed UC solutions comes from the folks in Redmond,
Washington: Microsoft Lync.
In this chapter, we introduce you to Microsoft Lync and talk
about the servers and clients required to deploy Lync in an
enterprise. Next, we discuss the different deployment scenarios and the applications that Lync enables. You also discover
the reasons why so many enterprises are deploying Lync.
What Is Lync All

About Anyway?
Microsoft has been investing in and developing applications
for communications and collaboration for a long time. Lync is
the latest and greatest and far more advanced evolution
in the long line of products.

For more information on what Microsoft has to say about the
Lync product, visit office.microsoft.com/en-us/lync.
Microsoft Lync is an enterprise-ready UC platform. UC

requires two elements:

A UC server running the UC software platform in the
datacenter (which could be inside the enterprise or
hosted by a third party)

UC software running on the end-users PC, phone,
or tablet
Lync provides both the server software (hosted by your own
datacenter or by Microsoft itself) and the app software for
various platforms to enable a robust voice, video, and data
UC solution appropriate for any enterprise. Because its a
unified platform (it is UC, after all), Lync supports all the UC
applications using a single-server platform and a single application, meaning theres less to learn, less to deploy, and less
to manage.
Understanding Lync
Servers and Apps
Microsoft Lync has two major elements: Microsoft Lync
Server and Microsoft Lync Server App (the client software).
Microsoft Lync Server

Microsoft Lync Server is designed to provide the following
services to an enterprise:

Instant Messaging (IM) and presence: Exists both within
the enterprise and outside of it. It can also talk to other
standard Internet IM systems, such as Windows Live,
Yahoo! Messenger, AOL IM, and Google Talk.

Conferencing: Gives you the ability to videoconference
and allows users to share screens and applications, enjoy
collaboration, manage voice and chat (IM) meetings, and
Chapter 2: Getting Acquainted with Microsoft Lync
conduct virtual meetings anytime, anywhere, and on any

device (including mobile).

Enterprise voice: VoIP support for person-to-person and
multipoint audio calls, including standard Private Branch
Exchange (PBX), which is an enterprise telephone system
functionality such as voice mail, call holding, forwarding,
and so on.

Connection to the PSTN (Private Switched Telephone
Network) or SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) Trunking:
Supports calling outside of the enterprise network via
connection to either a traditional phone company or to
an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that offers voice services via a SIP Trunking connection.

Support for remote and mobile users: Fully supports
remote and branch office users, telecommuters, and
mobile workers.
Many other functions arent mentioned in this list Lync
literally supports dozens of apps and services (you can find
an exhaustive, too-long-to-print list on Microsofts website).
Lync Server utilizes the SIP protocol as the underlying protocol for routing and controlling communications within the
enterprise network and beyond. SIP is a standardized proto col used for supporting voice, video, and conferencing over
common Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Using SIP ensures
that the services enabled by Lync Server are broadly compatible across devices, networks, and with other UC and communications systems.
You have some options for deploying Lync Server for an
enterprise. We cover these in more detail in the section
Understanding Your Options for Lync Server Deployment
later in the chapter.
Microsoft Lync App

Beyond the server (see the preceding section), a Lync deployment requires apps on the devices and endpoints (also called
Lync Client) where enterprises employees actually interface
with their Lync services. As a Lync client, you have a few
options for using Microsoft Lync App:
10

Microsoft Lync software: This is the primary way that
most of you will use Lync. The Microsoft Lync client software supports all Lync functionality through one stop
shopping users can rely on a single app on their PCs
for IM, to set their presence preferences for video and
voice calls, and for collaborative conferencing.
For claritys sake, well always use the word client
when were discussing the client software.

Web client: Users arent required to have the client soft
ware on their computer to use Lync. Lync supports fullfeatured client access via a Web browser interface. All
thats needed is an HTML 5 compliant browser (meaning
the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome, or
Mozilla) on a PC or Macintosh laptop or desktop computer.

Mobile clients app: Microsoft has developed mobile
Lync apps for Windows Mobile, Android, and iOS devices
(both iPhone and iPad). So users can access their Lync
services on the go wherever they are.

Lync-enabled phones: Not everyone wants to talk
through a PC or tablet (or even a mobile device) all the
time. With that in mind, Microsoft has certified a number
of phones and related devices that serve in a Lync UC
network.
You can find an up-to-date list of devices that are optimized for Lync at technet.microsoft.com/en-us/
lync/gg278164.aspx.
Understanding Your Options

for Lync Server Deployment
The Lync Server is installed on-premises in an Internet
(hosted) datacenter or through a hybrid solution.
Deploying Lync on-premises

The first Lync option is for an enterprise to install and host
the Lync Server software itself in its own datacenter. There
11
are few types of servers that may be installed in an on-premises deployment of Lync Server.
All the following server types can be deployed within a singleserver computer or across a pool of two or more server computers for greater redundancy, reliability, and capacity:

Front-end and back-end servers: These are the basic,
must-have servers for any Lync deployment. The frontend server (or servers, in a larger deployment) handles
user authentication, presence information, contact and
address book functionality, and the delivery of applications. The back-end server hosts the databases to make
the front-end servers work.
There is also a Lync Standard Edition Server for smaller

enterprise deployments (and for pilot deployments
within larger organizations). This combines the front- and
back-end servers within a single device, but it loses the
redundancy and high availability of a distributed server
solution, so it isnt recommended for mission-critical
larger deployments.

Edge servers: For enterprises offering Lync services to
mobile or remote users (branch offices, telecommuters,
road warriors), an edge server, located in the DMZ outside of the corporate firewall, is required.

Mediation server: For deployments of Lync that replace
a traditional PBX service with Lync Enterprise Voice, the
mediation server handles all the signaling, translation,
and other media routing and handling roles. This server
can be on the same hardware as the front-end server or
on its own server computer.

Other servers: Optionally, additional server types may
be required, based on the range of services, scale, and
complexity of a given deployment.
Using hosted Lync services

Not every enterprise wants to or has the capability to
install, manage, and maintain an in-house Lync deployment.
For those, Microsoft offers the option to use hosted, cloudbased Lync Online services.
12

Lync Online is simply Lync delivered as a hosted service
over the enterprises Internet connection. That means that
someone else (Microsoft or another third party) owns and
runs the Lync servers in its own datacenter and the enterprise
accesses them via a data connection.
Although it supports voice, Lync Online is not a full replacement for an enterprises existing PBX platform.
Hybrid Lync services

You can also deploy Lync in an enterprise via the hybrid
option, which is a service between on-premise and hosted.
In a hybrid deployment, an enterprise can move some functionality to the Lync Online service while maintaining other
functionality within on-premise servers. Specifically, a hybrid
deployment may be used to

Deploy Lync Enterprise Voice on-premises while utilizing
Lync Online for other services (this is called Hybrid Voice)

Maintain existing PBX voice services while utilizing Lync
Online for other UC services like IM and conferencing

Gradually migrate from an on-premise to a hosted Lync
deployment
Choosing between
the three options
Which of the options should an enterprise choose? Well, the
primary decision point is what priority Enterprise Voice or
PBX-like services hold to the enterprise if theyre part of
the goals of a Lync deployment, then the on-premise or hybrid
approach is required. If an enterprise is mainly concerned
with IM and conferencing functionality, Lync Online will do
just fine.
13
Applications Enabled by Lync

The services enabled by a Lync deployment include

Telephony: With Lync Enterprise Voice, Lync can be a
complete replacement for an enterprises existing PBX
system. Users can call within the enterprise or (through
a SIP Trunk or PSTN interface) anywhere in the world.
Lync supports all the PBX functionality that enterprises
expect, including conferencing, call forwarding and transfer, voice mail, and more. With SIP Trunking present,
Lync Enterprise Voice can save an enterprise significant
money compared to traditional PBX voice.

IM and presence: Using their Lync clients on PC or
mobile devices, users can set their presence and engage
in real-time and persistent IM chat sessions with one or
many users at a time. If their Lync deployment is configured, they can chat with Lync users in other enterprises
or use standard Internet IM protocols to chat with users
anywhere on the Web.

Video conferencing: Users can conduct HD-quality videoconferences with up to five users at a time to conduct
virtual meetings anytime and anywhere and on any
device (including mobile).

Lync meetings: Beyond video, Lync users can quickly
(with one click in most cases) conduct collaborative
meetings, including screen sharing, PowerPoint sharing,
and other application sharing. Users outside of the enterprise (clients and partners) can be included by using a
simple URL and the Lync Web client.
Whats new in Lync 2013

Microsoft is adding a number of compelling new features in Lync 2013
including the following:
Support for Enterprise Voice
(discussed in Chapter 3) in the
hybrid deployment model
Enhanced E911 support

New and improved client applications for Windows 8, Windows
Phone, iOS, Android, and web
browsers
(continued)
14

(continued)
Improved call management and

routing features
1080p (high definition) videoconferencing support including calls
of up to five people
Updated web application support, providing better access to
Lync apps via the Web
Greater scalability
Improved management tools

The ability to integrate Skype
users into the contact list, see
their presence information, and
communicate with them
Support for Microsoft Office
OneNote, so a user can share
a OneNote document during a
Lync meeting
Understanding Why Enterprises

Choose Lync
Millions of users are currently using Lync within their
enterprises traditionally the IM, presence, and collaboration features have drawn enterprises into the world of Lync.
But voice is becoming an increasingly important part of Lync
deployments Lync deployment consultancies have recently
stated that over 50 percent of their new business includes
Enterprise Voice. With the support for hybrid enterprise voice
in Lync 2013, this number is bound to go up.
Whats driving this adoption? Several things:

Lync offers integration with existing, incumbent
Microsoft services, such as Outlook, and uses familiar
server platforms (Microsoft Server and SQL).

Lync supports a wide range of compatible clients
across PCs, Macs (with Web client), and all the most
popular smartphone and tablet platforms.

Lyncs focus on security is a major plus for many enterprises. We talk more about security in Chapters 4, 5, and 6.

Lync offers broad compatibility, such as support for
third-party network hardware and third-party IM and
conferencing applications such as Skype.
Chapter 3
Digging into Lync

Enterprise Voice
In This Chapter
Getting to know Lync Enterprise Voice
Seeing Lync Enterprise Voice in action
nterprise voice provides a business with all the functionality that used to require a Private Branch Exchange
(PBX). That functionality includes conference calling, desk-todesk calling, hold music, attendant functionalities, and more.
Microsoft Lync Enterprise Voice is the implementation of
enterprise voice for businesses by using the Microsoft Lync
UC platform. With Lync, enterprises can segue from a legacy
PBX solution(s) at their own pace.
The most basic implementations of Microsoft Lync Unified
Communications (UC) provide an enterprises users with IM,
presence and the ability to conduct meetings via voice, video,
and collaboration software. The most basic Lync deployments,
however, dont offer all the voice communications stuff thats
handled by business PBX systems. So whats the end result?
Communications are still siloed in two distinct systems: one
for users who use Lync and another for those who use the
PBX (most often through their desk phones). But, with the
addition of Lync Enterprise Voice particularly the latest
version of Lync, Lync 2013 that no longer needs to be the
case. Lync Enterprise Voice provides an overarching architecture for all of an enterprises communications, making them
truly unified.
16
What is Lync Enterprise Voice?

Any Lync deployment gives you voice. You can use an inhouse or hosted Lync server and a Lync client to make voice
calls to other users within an enterprise, to other Lync users
or partners, or even beyond that with web clients and Skype
integration. But voice isnt Lync Enterprise Voice. Its merely
a subset.
Think of the difference in terms of comparing a VoIP-enabled
IM client running on your home PC with a phone service
offered by your telco or cable company. Both let you talk to
someone, but only the latter is set up to provide 911 calls
(with location data) and to allow more sophisticated calling
features like call forwarding, hold, transfer, and so on.
What Lync Enterprise Voice does, in a nutshell, is bring the
full-fledged enterprise PBX experience under the umbrella
of Lync UC. An enterprise can use Lync Enterprise Voice to
supplement or even replace an Internet Protocol PBX (IP-PBX)
system.
Looking into Lync Enterprise

voice features
Essentially offering everything that an enterprise may use an
IP-PBX or traditional PBX to provide, Lync Enterprise Voice
enables a wide range of enterprise telephony features:

Connectivity to the PSTN: Lync users can call any
number, anywhere (within the policy limits of the
enterprise of course no calls to Antarctica!) through
connectivity to the PSTN via a gateway or SIP Trunking
connection (more on these in Chapter 4).

Voice calls from anywhere: Use Lync to place and
receive calls from any device, in any location, through
the Lync client.

Device switching: Use Lync to switch devices (for example, from a headset on your PC to a conference room
phone) with no interruption. This is often known as
call parking.
Chapter 3: Digging into Lync Enterprise Voice
17

Call handling: You can forward calls or send them to
voice mail or to your mobile phone all without dropping the call.

Simultaneous ring: Incoming calls can ring on any or
all your devices, so calls are never missed (except on
purpose, of course!).

Team calling and delegation: Configure calls to ring on
the phones or devices of all members of a team or to
delegate calls to an assistant.

Common area phones/hot-desking: Calls ring through to
phones that arent associated with an individual user, so
you can get your calls in the conference room or at the
desk you choose today.

Caller ID manipulation: You use a different outbound
caller ID (for example, showing the main number for an
enterprise location rather than an individuals).

E911: Provides location information on calls to emergency services (911).
Making Lync Enterprise

Voice work
Some additional hardware, server, and software requirements
exist to enable Lync Enterprise Voice. At a high level, youre
going to need the following:

A Lync mediation server (discussed in Chapter 2 not a
requirement for basic Lync deployments but required for
Lync Enterprise Voice)

A device or service to connect your Lync UC network to
the PSTN (more on this in the section Different deployment models a little bit later in the chapter)

Additional servers based on the applications youre
deploying, the number of users, and the desired redundancy and survivability of the network
18
Planning for deployment

In order to successfully deploy Lync Enterprise Voice, your
technical team needs to spend time actually planning the
deployment in terms of the policies and configurations that
govern your deployment and the underlying network facilities
that your Lync Enterprise Voice deployment requires.
Download the Microsoft Lync Planning Tool application
from Microsoft before you start designing and planning a
Lync Enterprise Voice deployment. This software walks you
through your actual deployment and gives you a detailed list
of server and software requirements as well as a proposed
network diagram to support the deployment. The Lync Server
software itself contains a Topology Builder module which
when the actual deployment begins will validate the network deployment as part of the installation process.
When you plan your Lync Enterprise Voice deployment, consider the following factors:

Figure out the number and types of sites you want to
deploy. Lync Enterprise Voice deployment contains two
types of sites:

Central sites: Major offices where you deploy a

front-end server (see Chapter 2)
Branch sites: Smaller branch offices and peripheral

sites that rely on a central sites servers to deliver
most of their Lync services

Determine the number of users per site and how many
calls they typically make during a day

Estimate how much bandwidth you need between sites by
using the enterprises data wide area networking (WAN)

Understand your requirements for survivability, high
availability, and disaster recovery this drives both
bandwidth and server requirements
Different deployment models

Perhaps the biggest decision you make when planning a Lync
Enterprise Voice deployment is how youre going to handle
19
the offload of voice calls from your network to the PSTN. Lync
gives you options for PSTN interconnection, and what you
choose affects how youre going to build out the rest of your
network.
Lync Enterprise Voice is a VoIP system that utilizes the SIP
protocol for session management and routing. You cant just
plug it in to a traditional phone service (like a T1 voice line
from the phone company) without translating the SIP signaling and call data first.
The basic distinction in deployments is how you connect your
enterprise to the rest of the world via the PSTN. You have two
choices here:

Connect to standard TDM (time division multiplexing)
telephone services
Using TDM telephone services can be expensive and isnt
the recommended model.

Connect, via SIP Trunking, directly to an ISP, who then

handles any connections to TDM phone networks within
its own network infrastructure. You also need a Session
Border Controller (SBC) to help secure and control this
connection.
There is one other option here for remote branches. You may
wish to install a device called a Survivable Branch Appliance
(SBA) or Survivable Branch Server (SBS, the difference is in
scale the server is for larger branches) that enables direct
connectivity to the PSTN in case the WAN link between that
branch and the main office suffers an outage. SBCs, SBAs, and
SBSs are covered in more detail in Chapter 4.
Branch sites typically connect to the PSTN via a Central Site
traffic flows between the branch and central site over the
enterprise Intranet connection and then on to the PSTN via a
gateway or IP-PBX or a SIP Trunk to an ITSP.
Choosing a deployment model

So which model traditional TDM telephone service or SIP
Trunking is best for an enterprise? Of course the answer
20

isit depends. Companies that choose SIP Trunking do so
because

SIP Trunking provides great consolidation of PSTN connectivity into a single central site.

SIP Trunking provides a simpler deployment, with less
equipment to buy, manage, and maintain.

SIP Trunking call costs are typically considerably lower
than TDM calls.

Some ITSPs supporting SIP Trunking charge only by bandwidth costs, completely eliminating per-minute charges.
This may seem like a slam-dunk case for deploying with a SIP
Trunking model, but a few enterprises may choose to maintain some degree of TDM telephone service. Typically this will
be due to a large existing investment in IP gateways, in which
case the enterprise may choose to move to SIP Trunking in a
slower, incremental approach.
Industry estimates vary widely on the cost savings realized by
using SIP Trunking for connection to external networks. About
what percentage of cost do you see as actual reductions in
expense for SIP Trunks that you have implemented? Check
out Figure 3-1. This graph of cost savings from SIP Trunking
derives from a recent Sonus sponsored study.
Figure 3-1: Typical SIP Trunking savings.

21
Reviewing a Lync Enterprise

Voice Case Study
Sonus recently migrated to an enterprise-wide Lync UC
deployment, including a transition from disparate voice
communications architectures to a unified Lync Enterprise
Voice infrastructure.
First some background. The company has major headquarters,
technology centers, and branch offices located throughout
the world. In 2012, the company acquired a firm that had
already recently completed its own migration to Lync and
Lync Enterprise Voice. After the acquisition, with the increase
in employees and locations as well as the added complexity
to the companys voice communications infrastructure, Sonus
struggled to productively and economically provide voice services to its global employees.
In particular, the complexity of dealing with and managing
multiple communications and collaboration systems outstripped the productivity offered by those systems. The company decided quickly and to standardize on Microsoft Lync
and Lync Enterprise Voice.
Sonus set and met targets to get the entire combined enterprise up-and-running on Lync messaging, video/voice, and
collaboration in just eight weeks and to completely move all
communications (including outside-the-enterprise communications via the PSTN) to Lync Enterprise Voice within six
more months.
In order to support the migration to Lync and Lync Enterprise
Voice, the company replaced numerous IP voice gateways
with a single Sonus SBC with SBA capabilities in each office.
Functionally, the migration to Lync and Lync Enterprise Voice
benefitted the company in several ways:

Each employee can click-to-call colleagues from IM
or e-mail when the colleagues presence indicated
availability.

Global interactive whiteboarding sessions supported by
Lync allow coworkers across the country and around the
world to collaborate in real time.
22

Audio conferences for up to 200 people can be set up on
the fly in less than a minute.

Remote and telework employees are able to connect and
collaborate with coworkers no matter where they are.

The companys CIO noted that employee productivity was measurably improved by the Lync and Lync
Enterprise Deployment.
Beyond productivity increases from the migration to Lync,
the company reaped direct financial benefits:

Significant savings approximately $40,000 per office
per year by replacing existing IP gateways with a
single SBC in each office

An estimated quarter million dollar decrease in Capex
(capital expenditures) for telecom based on the migration

A savings of $150,000 per year on operational expenses
(Opex) due the simplified management and operational
expenses for the unified Lync deployment compared to
previous disparate systems

Over $200,000 per year saved on conferencing expenses
by keeping internal conferences on network within the
enterprises own SIP-based WAN (or Intranet) using Lync
Notably, this savings occurred while the enterprise saw
a substantial increase (over 50 percent) in conferencing
minutes driven by the ease-of-use of Lync conferencing.
Chapter 4
Getting the Most Out of

Lync Enterprise Voice
In This Chapter
Getting into IP-PBXs and IP Gateways
Understanding Lync Survivability
Introducing the Survivable Branch Appliance (SBA)
Knowing the role of Session Border Controllers (SBC)
n Chapter 3, we discussed the elements needed to incorporate Enterprise Voice in a Lync Unified Communications
(UC) deployment. In this chapter, you discover the devices
that enable that internal Lync to external PSTN calling. First,
we introduce Internet Protocol (IP) Gateways and IP-PBX
(Private Branch Exchange) devices that are especially
designed to translate between SIP VoIP and Time Division
Multiplexing (TDM) phone services. We discuss the concept
of survivability how to keep the phones on when the
worst happens and the survivability-focused hardware that
gets installed in smaller branches of an enterprise using Lync
Enterprise Voice. You also find out what a Session Border
Controller (SBC) is.
IP-PBX/Gateways
Enterprise PSTN connectivity for an Enterprise Voice requires
a connection to a TDM phone provider that utilizes a standalone IP Gateway or an IP-PBX with integrated IP Gateway
functionality.
24

An IP gateway can be a standalone, single-purpose device, or
it may be part of a multi-purpose device that includes IP gateway functionality. It will be paired with an SBC for security
and media handling functionality.
You may also see IP Gateways referred to as Media Gateways,
VoIP Gateways, or PSTN Gateways.
In an enterprise environment, an IP gateway is typically connected between an IP-PBX and a TDM-based service provider
phone service connection (known as trunk lines). The IP
gateway functionality may also be integrated directly into the
IP-PBX, where the PBX connects directly to trunk lines.
IP Gateways may also be used with legacy TDM PBXs, in order
to connect them to SIP Trunking service provider connections.
Not every IP Gateway or PBX is compatible with Lync
Enterprise Voice. Check out a list of certified compatible gear
at go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?linkId=202836.

For connection to the PSTN, a device that translates between
the SIP-based VoIP calls used by Lync Enterprise Voice and the
TDM calls supported by traditional telephone service providers. The IP Gateway and some IP-PBXs can perform this job.
IP Gateways have one overarching function, which is to support connectivity and conversion between VoIP and PSTN
protocols and signaling. In conjunction with the SBC, the IP
Gateway may also help to

Convert transmission and encoding techniques called
transcoding

Support signaling protocols for both sides of the conversion (SIP on the Lync side of the network, TDM on the
PSTN side)

Support the networking protocols on both sides of the
gateway typically this will be Ethernet within the Lync
Enterprise Voice network and standard TDM networking
protocols such as T1 or E1 on the PSTN side

Maintain toll-quality voice quality in calls by supporting
features like echo cancellation and low latency (delay)
during calls
Chapter 4: Getting the Most Out of Lync Enterprise Voice
25
Making Enterprise Voice More

Robust with Survivability
For enterprises with more than one location which is
pretty much all medium and large enterprises there is a
design factor that both increases the efficiency and cost savings of the Enterprise Voice deployment and creates a vulnerability in the system. In particular, branch sites typically
depend on a central site for call control and connections to
the PSTN because the front- and back-end servers and often
the Mediation Server, as well, are located in the central site
(usually the main office). So users in branch sites depend on
processing that occurs in the central site(s) for their UC
connectivity.
The centralized control of the Enterprise Voice network
leaves two points of vulnerability:

If theres a disruption in service to the enterprise WAN
connection between the branch and central site, the
branch site loses all communications connectivity both
within and outside of the enterprise.

If theres a server outage in the central site, the branch
office has network connectivity, but users there are
unable to communicate.
In these two instances, you can see that its imperative to
architect the Enterprise Voice network in such a way that
branch sites arent left out in the cold.
The main safeguard against these types of outages is the
installation of survivable equipment in branch sites. This
equipment includes Lync Enterprise Voice network gear that
can pick up some of the processing and connectivity slack
when the worst happens. Its essential to spend time while
architecting the network to make the network more resilient
and survivable in the following locations:

Central sites: This process involves building sufficient
redundancy into the network. For example, an Enterprise
Voice deployment can be made more redundant and
resilient by installing backup server pools in other
26

locations and then defining failover routes within the
network, so services can be seamlessly delivered after
failures.

Branch sites: The installation of a Survivable Branch
Appliance (SBA) provides the backup processing and
PSTN connectivity to keep a branch online during a
failure situation. More on SBAs in the later section
Understanding SBAs.

All sites: The installation of an SBC provides additional
security and intelligent routing of calls whatever the network status is.
Understanding SBAs
Its the role of the SBA (and its larger sister, the SBS
Survivable Branch Server) to provide resiliency and survivability (hey, its right in the name!) for Lync Enterprise Voice branch
sites. When a branchs communications are provided through a
Lync server in the central site, the loss of WAN connectivity can
leave branch offices with neither internal (for example, stationto-station) nor external communications capabilities.
SBAs at each branch office make it possible for those offices
to continue to provide basic voice telephony services to
employees when network connectivity to the main office is
lost. Specifically, an SBA makes this possible by functioning
as a local PSTN gateway and providing basic voice telephony
services to employees in the branch office. When the connectivity to the main office is restored, the branch office reverts
back to the original configuration and telephony calls are
once again processed by the main office telephony system.
Pretty neat trick, huh?
Resiliency and survivability dont mean that every single Lync
service works without a hitch during a central site or WAN
outage. Instead, it means that the most essential services stay
on until the network is fully restored. By essential services,
we mean things such as the following:

Inbound and outbound PSTN calls

Internal enterprise calling both within the site and
between sites
27

Basic IM

Dial-in (PSTN) conferencing

Voice mail
Other services like E911, web or videoconferencing, and
other advanced Lync features may not be available until
the network is fully restored. But enterprise employees can
keep communicating and working right through the outage,
which, for many businesses, is downright essential.
The SBA is designed for smaller (but not necessarily small!)
branches. Microsofts recommendations for when to deploy
an SBA/S are as follows:

Branch sites between 25 and 1,000 users should get
an SBA.

Branch sites between 1,000 and 2,000 users should
deploy either two SBAs or an SBS.

Sites that support up to 5,000 users or require local presence and conferencing features should be bumped up to
the central site level and deploy Lync server.
Regardless of which approach is taken, a key to resilient
branch deployments is the addition of connectivity to external phone services. To provide this, a branch site can use one
of two options:

Connect the SBA or SBS to an IP gateway

Connect the SBA or SBS directly to a SIP Trunk connection to an ITSP
This connectivity allows users within the branch site environment to bypass the usual SIP connection to its serving central
site and to instead route calls through a different communications channel, while the SBA or SBS takes over the call handling duties usually performed in the central site.
The SBC may, in many cases, include Lync SBA functionality

(and certification). In this case, a single device can handle
three key functions:
28

UC network security and intelligent routing

SBA functionality in case of a network or central site
server outage

Connectivity via SIP Trunking to an ITSP (if the branch
uses SIP Trunking instead of an IP gateway)
Figure 4-1 shows a typical branch office SBA with an SBC
(acronyms galore!).
Figure 4-1: A branch office SBA with an SBC.
Introducing the SBC

The SBC plays a big role in a Lync Enterprise Voice deployment and sits on the edge of the network (between the enterprises and the phone companys networks) and provides all
sorts of security and mediation services to keep things running smoothly. It communicates between two network end
devices, such as a Lync SIP VoIP call between two phones.
These communications are called SIP sessions. The SBC does
this session controlling at the point where traffic is handed off
from one network to another (called the border) like where
traffic leaves the enterprise and goes onto a service providers SIP trunks. Because of where the SBC fits in the network,
it can be usefully implemented by both businesses themselves
and also by the service providers who serve them.
29
Lync Enterprise Voice network operators both enterprises

and service providers face threats to the security of their
network and business and also face more everyday issues
such as how to make VoIP work seamlessly and efficiently
while also realizing the cost and bandwidth savings that VoIP
promises. Thats what makes SBCs really worth deploying in
an Enterprise Voice network.
Some of the main roles of an SBC include the following:

Protecting the network from attacks and fraud:

Denial of Service (DoS) attacks: Bad guys attempt

to overwhelm the network with fake connections.
Spoofing attacks: Nefarious users attempt to gain

access to the network deceptively.
Toll fraud: Hackers attempt to access the network

in order to route calls over it at the network owners
expense.

Enabling SIP trunking, allowing the network owner to
save money and operate more efficiently by connecting
directly to an ITSP via SIP trunks

Enabling better communications in varied network environments
For example, a deployment where existing IP-PBXs and
other legacy telephony equipment is integrated with the
Enterprise Voice deployment. The SBC is designed to
smoothly translate between varying network protocols,
codecs (encoders/decoders for digitizing media), bandwidths, and more.
In Chapter 5, you take a closer look at the role of SBCs in Lync
Enterprise Voice networks.
30
Chapter 5
Leveraging SBC for

Enterprise Voice
In This Chapter
Making the SIP trunking connection
Making IP PBXs work well
Ensuring service quality
Supporting E911
Helping different PBX vendors play together nicely
Centralizing control and troubleshooting
he Session Border Controller (SBC) is a device that provides a host of security, service enablement, and control
functions for any VoIP or Unified Communications (UC)
network. Enterprises use SBCs for all sorts of UC network
deployments, as do service providers.
The SBC which Microsoft recommends be included in a
Lync Enterprise Voice Deployment to ensure interoperability
and functionality sits at the border between the internal
Lync Enterprise Voice network and the SIP Trunk service
provided by the Internet service provider (ISP) or a legacy
Internet protocol (IP) telephony infrastructure.
In a Lync Enterprise Voice UC deployment, the SBC plays several key roles discussed in this chapter. First, we discuss how
SBCs enable and improve SIP Trunking for connections to ISPs.
Then we discuss the role of the SBC in integrating IP-PBXs with a
Lync deployment. You also discover how SBCs improve service
quality and make E911 services work. Finally, you delve into
how SBCs help with multivendor compatibility and central control and troubleshooting of the Enterprise Voice deployment.
32

As we mentioned in Chapter 4, in Lync branch sites, the SBC
may also serve the role of survivable branch appliance (SBA).
Connecting to SIP
Trunking Services
While some enterprises may use TDM voice services with
their Enterprise Voice deployment, a growing number are
taking the VoIP revolution to its logical conclusion and
partnering with SIP Trunking ISP partners. In a SIP Trunking
deployment all calls entering and leaving the enterprise are
carried as SIP packets across a data connection there are
no phone lines like there are in a TDM deployment (where
an enterprise may lease access to a T1 or E1 line with a fixed
number of lines associated with that transmission facility).
Instead, SIP Trunking uses a standard service provider data
connection which may be shared with other data/Internet
services or dedicated to the purpose of SIP Trunking. The
enterprise isnt paying for lines; its paying for bandwidth.
Any VoIP to PSTN translation thats required in a SIP Trunking
deployment (for connection to regular phones outside of
the enterprise network) is handled by the ISP. Everything that
enters and leaves the enterprise network is pure IP.
PSTN connections may still exist for disaster recovery purposes, as discussed in Chapter 4.
The SBC is an essential part of a SIP Trunking deployment.
The SBC performs a few key functions:

A gatekeeper role: The SBC looks at each SIP packet
crossing between the Lync network and the external ISP
network, determining which should be allowed through
and how they should be routed.

An interworking role: The SBC allows SIP systems to
talk to each other even if they speak different dialects
of SIP. Among the translations that an SBC can perform are

SIP normalization: SIP is a standard, but there are

subtle variants in the way SIP is implemented the
SBC can understand all of them and modify the SIP
Chapter 5: Leveraging SBC for Enterprise Voice
33
packets to ensure both ends of the call can get the

full picture and understand each other.

Transrating: SBCs can modify the bit rate of calls,

videoconferencing, and other SIP sessions crossing the network to accommodate different devices
and different network segment capabilities. For
example, a video call may be transrated to a lower
bit rate to accommodate an endpoint on a mobile
network.
Transcoding: SBCs can translate in real time

the codecs (encoding and decoding protocols)
used for digitizing and transmitting calls. This can
be essential when the endpoint devices involved in
a call support different codecs.

Network security: The SBC controls the admission of
calls in and out of the enterprise and protects the network against denial of service attacks, toll fraud, and
other attacks against the Lync Enterprise Voice network.
Additionally, the SBC can hide the topology of the Lync
network within the enterprise, so external parties arent
able to detect the devices within.
Integrating with Existing

IP-PBX Platforms
Many enterprises migrating to Lync Enterprise Voice have an
existing base of IP-PBXs already in place, performing the same
sorts of call functionality provided by Enterprise Voice. In
these cases, most enterprises dont choose to perform a rip
and replace wholesale replacement of the existing infrastructure in favor of a Lync Enterprise Voice infrastructure.
Instead, most gradually implement Enterprise Voice while
retaining some or all of the IP-PBX infrastructure. In some
cases, this will be to leverage the TDM telephony interfaces
offered by the IP-PBX, while in other cases, the IP-PBX will
stay in service to provide specific services or to serve some
segments of the network while others are transitioned to
Enterprise Voice.
34

The SBC plays a vital intermediation role and can provide SIP
normalization, transcoding, and transrating to allow a smooth
integration between Enterprise Voice and the IP-PBX.
Most larger enterprises have a disparate IP-PBX base more
than one vendor serving the company with different IP-PBXs
in different locations. In these cases, an SBC is even more vital
to a smooth integration because its likely that each of these
different IP-PBXs will have its own SIP variations and transcoding requirements.
In addition to the SIP normalization and transcoding/rating
functions, SBCs also serve to provide a centralized call routing intelligence located logically above both the IP-PBXs
and the Lync Enterprise Voice servers. So the SBC can be
the brains of the deployment, helping to ensure that calls
are routed correctly, with the most efficient use of network
resources and the lowest costs.
Ensuring QoS
Quality of Service (QoS) is important in all communications
voice, video, or data but its of particular importance for
voice communications, where any degradation of sound quality, introduction of delay, or jitter (essentially, a change in
delay that can cause audible artifacts in a call) can make the
call annoying or even unintelligible.
In Lync Enterprise Voice QoS, the SBC monitors, controls, and
actively improves calls moving across the network. The SBC
does this by:

Call Admission Control: The SBC decides which calls can
be allowed on the Enterprise Voice network based on
customizable policies set up by the enterprise to keep
the network running smoothly during busy call periods.

Transcoding/rating: The SBC can use more efficient
codecs when the networks bandwidth is near capacity.

VoIP prioritization: The SBC can place voice calls higher
in the pecking order (over things like video or webconferencing) when the networks capacity is being filled up.
35

Media Bypass: Lync supports a process known as
Media Bypass where the Lync Mediation Server can be
bypassed. Media Bypass can greatly reduce the load on
the Mediation Server, ensuring proper capacity for calls
that cant be bypassed.

Monitoring the networks health: The SBC monitors
bandwidth usage, latency, jitter, and other metrics and
then feeds that data back into call admission control and
other functions.
Supporting E911
Lync supports E911. What is E911 you ask? Enhanced 911 is
emergency services calling that provides location information
to responders by adding location information to calls so
emergency responders can automatically pinpoint the location of those calling for services.
Just because Lync supports E911 doesnt mean that it will
just work right out of the box though. The SBC can help in a
number of scenarios:

For Enterprise Voice deployments connecting via TDM
and an IP Gateway, the SBC can support the connection to
the appropriate local Emergency Response Location (ERL)
and pass along standards-compliant location data
something that Lync cant do on its own (over a TDM
connection).

In a SIP Trunking environment, the SBC supports E911 in
two ways:

In some cases, the ISP may not carry the location

components of the SIP signal. In these cases, a TDM
line may be connected to the SBC, and E911 will
operate as discussed in the previous bullet point.
In other cases, the ISP will carry the E911 information but requires a direct SIP trunk connection to
the Lync Mediation Server from the 911 service provider something not all enterprises wish to do
for security reasons. The SBC can serve as a proxy
between the 911 network and the Lync network,
passing all necessary location data, while maintaining network separation and security.
36
Dealing with Interoperability

between Vendors
SBCs are really good at playing the role of intermediary
between the Lync servers and a SIP trunking provider. The
SBCs ability to normalize SIP and to transcode and transrate
media makes it the perfect go-between in any sort of VoIP network deployment.
SIP equipment vendors whether theyre making IP gateways, SIP VoIP client devices, or whatever, really tend to
have their own slightly distinct variations of the SIP protocol
standard. Its not like one is speaking English and the other is
speaking Mandarin; its like one is speaking Australian English
while the other grew up in Boston. The words and constructs
are the same, but occasionally they cant quite understand
each other.
Many perhaps even most Lync Enterprise Voice implementations involve equipment from more than a single
vendor. This is especially true in larger enterprises or enterprises that are transitioning their exiting VoIP UC deployments to Lync.
Chances are good that there are some subtle but impactful
incompatibilities and differences in the way these different
devices use SIP. The impact is often missed or dropped calls
or just a plain the networks not working type of scenario.
Putting the SBC in between these disparate network elements
and letting it do what it does best (enabling network interworking) is the solution.
Centralizing Control and

Troubleshooting
Because SBCs sit in a unique place in the Enterprise Voice
network at the edges of the network where voice and other
UC traffic transitions between locations and between network
borders they can also play a unique role: that of central
control point in the network.
37
The SBC can control the network through its role as call
admission control point and through its intelligent call routing
capabilities. These functions are governed by robust policy
capabilities that let the enterprise or a service provider providing Lync Enterprise Voice determine and enforce centrally
established rules about call permissions and behaviors.
In other words, the SBC can provide an overarching, policybased control layer on top of the UC network, determining
(on a call-by-call, person-by-person, or group-by-group basis)
how or even if calls should be routed across the network
and what network resources they should be assigned.
As part of this process, the SBC tracks the performance and
utilization of each UC network element. That means when it
comes time to track down a problem or to optimize policies
and network topologies, the SBC can help pinpoint the areas
that need attention.
38
Chapter 6
Ten Reasons to Choose

Sonus when Deploying
Lync for Enterprise Voice
In This Chapter
Supporting a wide range of compatibility and interoperability
Providing resiliency and protection from attacks
Getting centralized management
he Session Border Controller (SBC) is a key element

in securing, controlling, maximizing QoS, and enabling
services (like SIP Trunking and E911) in a Microsoft Lync
Enterprise Voice deployment. Sonus Networks is a vendor for
SBCs and has a lineup that just may be a great choice for your
Enterprise Voice deployment. In this chapter, we give you ten
reasons to choose Sonus for Enterprise Voice.
Microsoft Compatibility
and Qualification
Sonus is a qualified Microsoft Lync hardware partner and has
several models of SBCs certified for use in a Lync Enterprise
Voice environment. So you can rest assured that your network will be compatible.
Proven Experience
Many large banks, retailers, and airlines trust Sonus already.
Its one of the faster growing brand of SBCs.
40
Multivendor Interoperability
Sonus SBCs are deployed throughout the world in a variety of
environments, supporting Lync Enterprise Voice and a wide
range of IP-PBXs and legacy TDM-PBX systems in different
configurations.
Sonus has a broad range of compatibility and interoperability
in the industry. So no matter what your legacy situation and
no matter how youre transitioning to Lync Enterprise Voice,
Sonus has you covered.
Maximized Resiliency and

Protection Against DoS Attacks
Keeping the lights on is important in any network environment. In an Enterprise Voice environment its critical. Sonus
SBCs are designed to provide high availability, enabling calls
to be completed even under peak conditions.
For larger deployments, Sonus SBCs can be deployed in pairs
(in whats called Active-Active mode), to provide load balancing and even high availability. Sonus SBCs can additionally
balance the call load across multiple Lync Mediation servers
to keep the network up no matter what.
Resiliency can really come into play when a network is compromised by a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. Such an attack
can cripple an enterprises voice services by simply overloading servers with malicious incoming IP traffic.
Sonus SBCs offer sophisticated real-time firewalling and the
use of techniques such as Virtual LAN (VLAN) tagging, which
drops the malicious packets and allows legitimate traffic to
continue on to the network unimpeded. So the enterprise
stays online and productive!
Encrypted Communications
Keeping sensitive enterprise conversations away from eavesdroppers is the role of encryption in an Enterprise Voice
Chapter 6: Ten Reasons to Choose Sonus for Enterprise Voice
41
deployment. The SIP standard itself uses plain text signaling,

so nefarious parties on the Web may be able to intercept a
SIP-based call.
With a Sonus SBC and its support for AES encryption (128 bit),
potential eavesdroppers arent able to make head or tails of
a conversation they might be able to otherwise listen in on.
And Sonus SBC architecture which separates encryptionprocessing tasks to its own processor architecture within the
SBC allows real-time encryption processing to take place
without causing slow-downs in other SBC functions such as
call routing or media processing.
Rapid Recovery
Outages happen. Hopefully (and in most cases) not very often,
but in real life they do happen. Sonus SBCs are built to make
the disruption of an outage a minor rather than a major event.
For example, Sonus SBCs typically include redundant power
supplies, so a failure of a power supply can be handled without a hitch. And if something external to the SBC causes the
outage (like an outage of the enterprise WAN connection),
Sonus SBCs are ready.
Sonus SBCs continually monitor the health of the network,
pinging other nodes in the network to ensure that links are
up and running. If a failure occurs, the Sonus SBC automatically
attempts to find alternate routes to complete calls without the
end-user ever knowing that theres a problem. In branch sites,
the Sonus SBC can automatically reroute calls to the PSTN (or
even to a mobile network) when the IP network goes down,
giving the user the service she needs without disruption.
Survivability for Branch Sites

In Chapter 4, we talk about Survivable Branch Appliances
(SBAs). Sonus SBCs include full support for Lync SBA.
In fact, Sonus takes this one step further and supports full
Lync Enhanced SBA with 3G/4G failover capability. So an
enterprises branch sites get high-quality voice services,
ready-to-go survivability and require one less device in the
42

network that makes the network simpler and cheaper to
provision and manage.
Centralized Policy Management

Sonus SBCs can be centrally managed. Whether an enterprise
(or service provider) needs two SBCs or 20, a single set of policies and configurations can be established one time and sent
to all locations with one action, which means lower expenses
for IT and better/faster results for users. This streamlining also
eliminates the need to hire or send expensive IT technologists
to each location in the network to maintain and update policies.
Exceptional Transcoding
Performance
Often voice calls arent in the same codec, such as when in
languages a translator or in UC a transcoder is needed to convert between the two. The Sonus SBC platform has a separate
processing architecture of media transcoding and transrating, so the overall performance of the SBC doesnt take a hit
when a lot of processor-intensive transcoding is going on.
Whatever the transcoding load, the encryption/security and
the routing modules are unaffected.
Additionally, this functionally separated architecture makes it
easier and less expensive to add more processing power for
a specific function without requiring the enterprise or service
provider to upgrade other parts of the SBC that are adequately
provisioned.
Wide-Ranging Media Support

Sonus SBCs provide a wide range of support for different
media types because it doesnt rely on off-the-shelf solutions
(with its generic off-the-shelf software) for media processing.
Instead, Sonus creates its own firmware, which allows Sonus
to responsively add additional media types as needed without
waiting for a vendor to come along with a solution.

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Lync Enterprise

By Mohan Palat and Kevin Isacks

Lync Enterprise Voice For Dummies, Sonus Special Edition

Chapter 1: Taking a Peek at

Chapter 2: Getting Acquainted

Chapter 3: Digging into Lync Enterprise Voice . . . . . . . 15

Lync Enterprise Voice For Dummies, Sonus Special Edition

Chapter 4: Getting the Most Out

Chapter 5: Leveraging SBC for Enterprise Voice. . . . . . 31

Chapter 6: Ten Reasons to Choose Sonus when

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

nterprises of all sizes and kinds (government, private,

About This Book

Lync Enterprise Voice For Dummies, Sonus Special Edition

Icons Used In This Book

Watch out! This information tells you to steer clear of things

Taking a Peek at Unified

or many years, companies, large and small, have relied

Lync Enterprise Voice For Dummies, Sonus Special Edition

Figure 1-1: The Microsoft Lync Enterprise Voice solution.

Chapter 1: Taking a Peek at Unified Communications

Lync Enterprise Voice For Dummies, Sonus Special Edition

So, Where Does UC Come From?

nterprises of all sizes and kinds are adopting Unified

What Is Lync All

Lync Enterprise Voice For Dummies, Sonus Special Edition

Microsoft Lync is an enterprise-ready UC platform. UC

Microsoft Lync Server

Chapter 2: Getting Acquainted with Microsoft Lync

conduct virtual meetings anytime, anywhere, and on any

Microsoft Lync App

Lync Enterprise Voice For Dummies, Sonus Special Edition

Understanding Your Options

Deploying Lync on-premises

Chapter 2: Getting Acquainted with Microsoft Lync

There is also a Lync Standard Edition Server for smaller

Using hosted Lync services

Lync Enterprise Voice For Dummies, Sonus Special Edition

Hybrid Lync services

Chapter 2: Getting Acquainted with Microsoft Lync

Applications Enabled by Lync

Whats new in Lync 2013

Enhanced E911 support

Lync Enterprise Voice For Dummies, Sonus Special Edition

Improved call management and

Improved management tools

Understanding Why Enterprises

Digging into Lync

Lync Enterprise Voice For Dummies, Sonus Special Edition

What is Lync Enterprise Voice?

Looking into Lync Enterprise

Chapter 3: Digging into Lync Enterprise Voice

Making Lync Enterprise

Lync Enterprise Voice For Dummies, Sonus Special Edition

Planning for deployment

Central sites: Major offices where you deploy a

Branch sites: Smaller branch offices and peripheral

Different deployment models

Chapter 3: Digging into Lync Enterprise Voice

Choosing a deployment model

Lync Enterprise Voice For Dummies, Sonus Special Edition

Figure 3-1: Typical SIP Trunking savings.

Chapter 3: Digging into Lync Enterprise Voice