When a user types a name into the Search box in the Communicator Web Access client window and then presses ENTER, Communicator Web Access searches Active Directory for the name that was entered. As an administrator, you have several options available for customizing how this search is conducted and for specifying how many results are returned per search.

Note:
Communicator Web Access only searches Active Directory when looking for a contact. This behavior is different from Office Communicator, which searches Microsoft Outlook contacts as well as Active Directory.

Search criteria are configured on a per-site basis. This means that you can have different search criteria for an internal virtual server than you have for an external virtual server. You cannot use the Communicator Web Access snap-in to configure Search criteria. Instead, you must manage search settings by using WMI. This typically means that you have to write a script or use Wbemtest.exe, a WMI tool included with the Windows operating system.

One important property that you can configure by using WMI is the default search field (that is, DefaultSearchField). When you search for a contact in Active Directory, Communicator Web Access searches two Active Directory attribute values: the user’s display name and the user’s e-mail address. However, administrators can change these default search values. Instead of display name and e-mail address, you can use any (or all) of the attributes and values shown in the following table.

Value Attribute

1

First name

2

Last name

4

Display name

8

E-mail address

For example, to modify the site properties so that searches are conducted only on e-mail addresses, you set the value of DefaultSearchField to 8. For details, see the procedure “To change WMI settings using Wbemtest.exe” later in this topic. You can also sum the values in the table in order to search on multiple attributes. For example, to search on both first name and last name, set DefaultSearchField to 3: 1 (first name) + 2 (last name). By setting DefaultSearchField to 15, you get a query that searches all four fields: first name, last name, display name, and e-mail address.

Note:
Keep in mind that only users who have been enabled for Office Communications Server are returned in the search results. You should also be aware that users can override these default settings by specifying their own search criteria.

In addition to defining the search fields you can use WMI to configure search limits and quotas. You do this by modifying one or more of the following properties:

To view search configuration settings using Wbemtest.exe

  1. Log on to the computer that is running Communicator Web Access. To modify search configuration settings, you must log on as a member of the local Administrators group and the RTCUniversalServerAdmins group.

  2. Click Startand then click Run.

  3. In the Rundialog box, type wbemtestand then press ENTER.

  4. In the Windows Management Instrumentation Tester, click Connect.

  5. In the Connectdialog box, type root\default\rtccwa_repositoryin the Namespacebox, and then press ENTER.

  6. In the Windows Management Instrumentation Tester, click Open Class.

  7. In the Get Class Namedialog box, type MSFT_CWASiteSettingin the Enter Target Class Namebox, and then press ENTER.

  8. In the Object Editor for MSFT_CWASiteSettingdialog box, select Hide System Propertiesand then click Instances.

  9. All of the virtual servers installed on the computer are displayed in the Query Resultdialog box.

  10. To view the properties for a particular virtual server, double-click the server name. The property values for the virtual server are displayed in the Object Editordialog box.

To change search configuration settings using Wbemtest.exe

  1. Log on to the computer that is running Communicator Web Access. To modify search configuration settings, you must log on as a member of the local Administrators group and the RTCUniversalServerAdmins group.

  2. Click Startand then click Run.

  3. In the Rundialog box, type wbemtestand then press ENTER.

  4. In the Windows Management Instrumentation Tester, click Connect.

  5. In the Connectdialog box, type root\default\rtccwa_repositoryin the Namespacebox, and then press ENTER.

  6. In the Windows Management Instrumentation Tester, click Open Class.

  7. In the Get Class Namedialog box, type MSFT_CWASiteSettingin the Enter Target Class Namebox, and then press ENTER.

  8. In the Object Editor for MSFT_CWASiteSettingdialog box, select Hide System Propertiesand then click Instances.

  9. All of the virtual servers installed on the computer are displayed in the Query Resultdialog box. To view the properties for a particular virtual server double-click the server name.

  10. In the Object Editordialog box, select the property (for example, SearchMaxClientResults) whose value you want to change, and then click Edit Property.

  11. In the Property Editordialog box, type a new value (for example, 40) in the Valuebox, and then click Save Property.

  12. In the Object Editordialog box, click Save Object.