This topic describes the prerequisites and requirements for the deployment of dial-in conferencing as well as the overall deployment process.

Feature Components

Dial-in conferencing is a feature of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 that requires no components of its own. However, you must deploy the following components before you can configure dial-in conferencing support:

Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Edition or Standard Edition
Application server, which is installed automatically when you deploy Office Communications Server 2007 R2
Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement Service unified communications applications
The 2007 R2 version of Office Communicator Web Access server
Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Mediation Server
A third-party media gateway
Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook

Deployment Prerequisites

To provide support for dial-in conferencing in your organization, you must deploy and configure a variety of different server roles, features, policies, and applications. Users on the public switched telephone network (PSTN) will not be able to dial in to conferences until after the dial-in conferencing deployment process has completed.

Note:
The deployment and configuration process for Office Communications Server, the Communicator Web Access server, and the Mediation Server are mentioned in this topic to provide context, but the planning and deployment information for those servers are described in detail in other sections of this documentation set.

Office Communications Server

Dial-in conferencing requires that you deploy Office Communications Server internally, including Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement Service unified communications applications. Before you deploy an Office Communications Server Enterprise Edition pool or Standard Edition server, ensure that your IT infrastructure, network, and systems meet the infrastructure requirements described in Office Communications Server Infrastructure Requirements.

You must install and activate the Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement Service applications by doing the following:

If you are deploying Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement Service in an Enterprise pool, create a pool, configure the pool, and then add a server to the pool as described in the Create the Pool, Configure Pool and Applications, and Add Servers to the Pooltopics in the Deploying Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Edition documentation.
If you are deploying Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement Service on a Standard Edition server, install a server as described in Install Standard Edition Serverin the Deploying Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard Edition documentation.

Any or all unified communications applications can be activated during the pool configuration or server installation process. If you do not activate Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement Service during your initial deployment of Office Communications Server 2007 R2, you can activate the applications later either by doing one of the following:

In an Enterprise pool, rerun the Add Servers to the Pooltask in the Deploying Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Edition documentation.
On a Standard Edition server, rerun the Configure Standard Edition Servertask in the Deploying Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard Edition documentation.
From the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 snap-in, run the Application Activation Wizard as described in Activate an Applicationin the Deploying Unified Communications Applications documentation.

The installation and activation process for all unified communications applications, including the Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement Service applications required for dial-in conferencing, are integrated into the Office Communications Server Front End Server installation and pool configuration processes.

Communicator Web Access

After you deploy Office Communications Server, you must also deploy Communicator Web Access. Before you deploy Communicator Web Access, ensure that your IT infrastructure, network, and systems meet the infrastructure requirements described in Office Communications Server Infrastructure Requirements.

The Dial-in Conferencing Settings Web page is hosted by Communicator Web Access and installed on the Communicator Web Access server by default. The Dial-in Conferencing Settings Web page enables users to view conference access phone numbers, view or modify their assigned conference information, or create or modify their personal identification numbers (PINs). You must deploy at least one internal virtual server and publish the URL for that server. You can optionally also deploy an external virtual server and publish the external virtual server to provide access to the Dial-in Conferencing Settings Web page outside your organization’s firewall. If you deploy and publish an external virtual server, users who access the page by using a link in a meeting invitation created by the Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook will see the Dial-In Conferencing Settings Web page that is on the external virtual server by default.

Enterprise Voice

Conferencing Attendant is designed to use components and features of Enterprise Voice by default, but you can configure support for dial-in conferencing in your organization whether or not you have deployed Enterprise Voice for Office Communications Server 2007 R2. Before you deploy any Enterprise Voice components or features, ensure that your IT infrastructure, network, and systems meet the infrastructure requirements described in Enterprise Voice Deployment Requirements.

At a minimum, dial-in conferencing requires that you perform the following Enterprise Voice deployment tasks:

Create one or more location profiles with normalization rules that will route Conferencing Attendant calls.
Configure a global policy to specify that dial-in conferencing support can be added to meetings and to specify whether anonymous users are allowed to participate in any type of conference.
Deploy a Mediation Server to route calls to and from the PSTN.
Deploy a third-party basic media gateway or configure the Mediation Server to perform SIP trunking.

If you are using a media gateway instead of SIP trunking, to support dial-in conferencing, you must also configure the media gateway with one or more direct inward dial (DID) phone numbers to use as conference access phone numbers. You must also configure user accounts with a normalized phone number.

For details about configuring location profiles, see Step 2. Create Location Profilesin the Deploying Enterprise Voice documentation.

For details about deploying a Mediation Server, see Step 5. Deploy a Mediation Serverin the Deploying Enterprise Voice documentation.

For details about deploying and configuring a media gateway, see the documentation provided by the manufacturer of your media gateway.

For details about deploying SIP trunking, see Deploy SIP Trunkingin the Deploying Dial-in Conferencing documentation and Configuring a Mediation Serverin the Deploying Enterprise Voice documentation.

Conferencing Attendant

Although Conferencing Attendant is installed and activated when you deploy Office Communications Server, you cannot configure most Conferencing Attendant settings until after you deploy the certain components of Enterprise Voice. As a result, we recommend that you configure all Conferencing Attendant settings after you deploy features of Enterprise Voice as described earlier in this topic.

In Conferencing Attendant settings, you must configure at least one conference access phone number, including settings for each phone number such as the display name, assigned pool, supported languages, and the location profile to use, among others.

For details about configuring Conferencing Attendant, see Configuring Conferencing Attendantin the Deploying Dial-In Conferencing documentation.

Optional Deployment Processes

After you complete the processes described earlier in this topic, dial-in conferencing support is functionally deployed. You can complete the processes described in this section to provide additional functionality to users of dial-in conferencing.

Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook

The Conferencing Add-in for Outlook enables users to schedule conferences with support for dial-in conferencing. Without the add-in, users can either use dial-in conferencing ad hoc or they can manually create meeting invitations that contain the conference access numbers and their personal dial-in conferencing information.

You can deploy the add-in to client computers at any time, but we recommend that you do not deploy the add-in until you complete the deployment steps described earlier in this topic.

E-Mail Announcement

You can optionally complete the dial-in conferencing deployment process by announcing support for dial-in conferencing to your users. For your convenience, you can customize the “Welcome to Dial-in Conferencing” e-mail message included with the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 documentation.

You can send the e-mail announcement to users at any time, but we recommend that you do not announce support for dial-in conferencing until you complete the deployment steps described earlier in this topic.

Port Requirements

Unified communications application deployment is integrated with the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 deployment process. As a result, the requirements to deploy the application server and to install the applications are the same as those for configuring a pool and adding a Front End Server or installing a Standard Edition server in Office Communications Server 2007 R2. However, the applications do use different default SIP listening ports. If you use a load balancer, ensure that the load balancer is configured with the ports used by any applications that will run in the pool.

The following is the default port allocation for the Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement Service applications.

Table 1. Application Listening Ports

Application	Port
Conferencing Attendant	5072
Conferencing Announcement Service	5073

Note:
All instances of the same application in a pool use the same SIP listening port.

For details about the permissions required to configure a pool, see the Configure Pool and Applicationstopic in the Deploying Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Edition documentation.

For details about the permissions required to install and activate a Front End Server, see the Add Servers to the Pooltopic in the Deploying Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Edition documentation. For details about the permissions required to install and activate a Standard Edition server, see the Install Standard Edition Servertopic in the Deploying Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard Edition documentation.

For details about server hardware and software requirements, client hardware and software requirements, infrastructure requirements, and load balancer requirements required to deploy an Office Communications Server Front End Server, see Office Communications Server Infrastructure Requirements.

Deployment Process

In summary, to support dial-in conferencing, perform the following steps.

Table 2. Dial-in Conferencing Deployment Process

Phase	Steps	Permissions	Documentation
Install and activate Office Communications Server 2007 R2.	All unified communications applications and the application server are installed by default. In an Enterprise Edition deployment, activate the Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement Service applications during the pool configuration process. In a Standard Edition deployment, activate the Conferencing Attendant and Conferencing Announcement Service applications during the server installation process.	Administrators group RTCUniversalServerAdmins group Domain Admins group	In the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 deployment process: Configure Pool and Applicationsin the Deploying Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Edition documentation (for an Enterprise Edition deployment) Add Servers to the Poolin the Deploying Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Edition documentation (for an Enterprise Edition deployment) Install Standard Edition Serverin the Deploying Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard Edition documentation (for a Standard Edition deployment)
Install, activate, and configure the 2007 R2 version of Microsoft Office Communicator Web Access server.	Install Communicator Web Access server to host the Dial-in Conferencing Web page for users to manage their PIN and conference information. The Dial-in Conferencing Web page is installed by default when you install the Communicator Web Access server. Publish Communicator Web Access URLs to make the Dial-in Conferencing Web page discoverable. Install Communicator Web Access. Activate Communicator Web Access. Create an internal virtual server. Publish Communicator Web Access URLs.	Administrators group Domain Admins group	Installing and Activating Communicator Web Access Creating a Communicator Web Access Virtual Server Publishing Communicator Web Access URLs topics in the Deploying Communicator Web Access documentation
Optionally, enable remote user access to Communicator Web Access.	Enable access to the Dial-in Conferencing Web page from outside your organization’s firewall. Create an external virtual server. Optionally, use a reverse proxy to publish Communicator Web Access for remote users.	Administrators group Domain Admins group	Installing and Activating Communicator Web Access Creating a Communicator Web Access Virtual Server Using a Reverse Proxy to Enable Remote User Access topics in the Deploying Communicator Web Access documentation
Test the Dial-in Conferencing Web page.	Sign in to the Dial-in Conferencing Web page using the URI https:// <internalCWAserver_FQDN>/dialinand, if remote user access is enabled, https:// <externalCWAserver_FQDN>/dialin.	Office Communications Server 2007 R2 user	Testing the Web Sitein the Deploying Communicator Web Access documentation
Create one or more location profiles, and then assign default location profiles.	Create location profiles with normalization rules that will route Conferencing Attendant calls as well as enable Conferencing Attendant to perform PIN-based user authentication, and then assign a default location profile to each pool. Location profile descriptions are used to specify regions for conference access phone numbers.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	In the Enterprise Voice deployment process: Step 2. Create Location Profiles Step 4. Assign Location Profile to Pool topics in the Deploying Enterprise Voice documentation
Optionally, verify or modify user PIN requirements.	Specify minimum PIN length, maximum retry attempts, and PIN expiration.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	Configure Dial-in Conferencing PIN Settingsin the Deploying Dial-In Conferencing documentation
Configure a global policy to support dial-in conferencing.	Configure settings on the Meetingstab in Office Communications Server Global Properties to do the following: Specify whether users can invite anonymous participants to any type of conference or meeting. Create and assign a global policy that enables PSTN dial-in conferencing support.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	Configure a Global Policy to Support Dial-in Conferencingin the Deploying Dial-In Conferencing documentation
Deploy a Mediation Server.	Deploy a Mediation Server to route calls to and from the PSTN.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	Step 5. Deploy a Mediation Serverin the Deploying Enterprise Voice documentation
Deploy a third-party basic media gateway. OR Configure the Mediation Server to perform SIP trunking.	Deploy a media gateway to connect to the PSTN. OR Configure the Mediation Server to connect to a service provider offering PSTN origination and termination, also known as “SIP trunking”.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group (to configure the Mediation Server) Administrator of the SIP trunking provider	Documentation provided by the manufacturer of your media gateway, if you deploy a media gateway OR Deploy SIP Trunkingin the Deploying Enterprise Voice documentation, if you deploy SIP trunking Configuring a Mediation Serverin the Deploying Enterprise Voice documentation, if you deploy SIP trunking
Configure your organization’s media gateway to support dial-in conferencing.	Configure the media gateway with one or more DID phone numbers to use as conference access phone numbers.	Administrator on the media gateway	Documentation provided by the manufacturer of your media gateway
Configure Conferencing Attendant.	Configure conference access phone numbers and settings.	RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	Configuring Conferencing Attendantin the Deploying Dial-In Conferencing documentation
Enable dial-in conference scheduling.	Deploy the Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook to enable users to schedule conferences with support for dial-in conferencing.	Administrators group	Deploy the Conferencing Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlookin the Deploying Dial-In Conferencing documentation
Configure user account properties.	Configure the Line URIsetting of Telephony Optionsfor user accounts with a normalized phone number.	RTCUniversalUserAdmins group, to configure user accounts DomainAdmins group, to configure normalized phone numbers in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)	Configure Usersin the Deploying Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Enterprise Edition documentation or in the Deploying Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Standard Edition documentation
Configure static routes.	Configure a static route for each pool to route calls to the Conferencing Attendant to the Mediation Server to enable Communicator Web Access users to join dial-in conferences using PSTN dial-out.	Administrators group RTCUniversalServerAdmins group	Configure Static Routes for Communicator Web Access Usersin the Deploying Dial-In Conferencing documentation Configuring Audio Conferencing for Communicator Web Accessin the Deploying Communicator Web Access documentation
Welcome users to dial-in conferencing.	Customize the “Welcome to Dial-in Conferencing” e-mail message included with the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 documentation, and then send the e-mail message to users.	Administrators group	Welcome Users to Dial-in Conferencingin the Deploying Dial-In Conferencing documentation