Broadcast Messages

The server context includes an action named BroadcastMessage. This action allows Office Communications Server administrators to send an alert to all SIP-enabled users or users hosted on a specific pool. The content of the message would typically be to announce service outages, virus malware, or any other kind of Office Communications Server information. Here's the syntax.

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LCSCmd /Server:<Server FQDN> /Action:BroadcastMessage /Role:<SE : EE : Proxy : WorkgroupProxy : AP> [/RefDomain:<Domain FQDN> ][/PDCRequired:[TRUE\|FALSE] ][/GlobalSettingsDC:<DC FQDN> ][/DC:<DC FQDN> ][/GC:<GC FQDN> ][/Global:<Configuration \| System> ][/GroupDomain:<Group Domain FQDN> ][/GroupDomainDC:<Group Domain DC FQDN> ][/PoolName:<Pool Name> ][/Message:<Message Text.> ][/MessageFile:<Message Text File.> ][/MaxSession:<Maximum Session Number> ][/CertIssuer:<Certificate Issuer> ][/CertSerial:<Certificate Serial Number> ][/L:<log file path> ][/XML:[TRUE\|FALSE ][/?:[TRUE\|FALSE]]

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LCSCmd /Server:<Server FQDN> /Action:BroadcastMessage
/Role:<SE : EE : Proxy : WorkgroupProxy : AP>
[/RefDomain:<Domain FQDN> ][/PDCRequired:[TRUE|FALSE]
][/GlobalSettingsDC:<DC FQDN> ][/DC:<DC FQDN>
][/GC:<GC FQDN> ][/Global:<Configuration | System>
][/GroupDomain:<Group Domain FQDN> ][/GroupDomainDC:<Group
Domain DC FQDN> ][/PoolName:<Pool Name>
][/Message:<Message Text.> ][/MessageFile:<Message Text
File.> ][/MaxSession:<Maximum Session Number>
][/CertIssuer:<Certificate Issuer>
][/CertSerial:<Certificate Serial Number> ][/L:<log file
path> ][/XML:[TRUE|FALSE ][/?:[TRUE|FALSE]]

Here is an example.

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LCSCmd /server /action:BroadcastMessage /Role:Proxy /Message:"The system is going down for maintenance at 7:00 PM PST."

Where:

Parameter	Description
/Server	Executes the action for the specified server FQDN.
/Role	Specifies the role of the server.
/Action	Takes a string that specifies the action name. Valid action names include CheckLCServerState, Activate, Deactivate, and Diag.
/RefDomain	Specifies the reference domain FQDN.
/PDCRequired	Specifies whether PDCs are required for the action. Default is TRUE.
/GlobalSettingsDC	FQDN of the of a global settings domain DC. This must be the local domain DC if the settings are in the configuration container, root DC is the settings are in the system container.
/Global	Specifies the global setting location. Possible values are Configurationand System.
/GroupDomain	Specifies the FQDN of the domain where Office Communications Server universal groups are located.
/GroupDomainDC	The FQDN of a DC in the domain where Office Communications Server universal groups are located.
/PoolName	The name of the pool on which to send the message.
/Message	The text of the IM being sent.
/MessageFile	A file containing the test of the IM being sent.
/MaxSession	The maximum number of sessions (threads). The default is 10.
/CertIssuer	The name of the issuer of the trusted certificate.
/CertSerial	The serial number of the trusted certificate.
/Force	Specifies whether to force task execution.
/L	Specifies the log file path. If not specified, %TEMP%\<ActionName>[<Date>][<Time>].html is used. To disable logging, use a dash character (-) as the log file name.
/XML	Specifies whether the log file to be generated should be in XML format instead of HTML.
/?	Shows Help on usage.

When a broadcast message is sent out, all signed-in users for a pool will be alerted. In a pool with 15,000 users signed in, the message will take up to 7 minutes to be distributed to all users. In a pool with 50,000 users signed in, you should expect the message to take up to 27 minutes to be distributed.