Keeping the software on your organization’s unified communications (UC) devices up-to-date helps them continue to function correctly and securely. Microsoft publishes new updates on the Microsoft Help and Support Web site . As a best practice, you should check this Web site on a regular basis, at least every three months, and download any new software updates for your organization’s UC devices. Before deploying a new update to your organization, however, you should first verify that that it functions correctly on a test device.

New updates that you obtain from Microsoft Help and Support should apply to your organization’s UC devices, corresponding to their type, brand, model, and language. The revision should be more recent than the revision for the last update the UC devices received.

For example, if your organization uses Microsoft Communicator Phone Edition 2007 R2 devices with a US English display language, and a software version of 3.5.6887, then you should obtain an update with the following characteristics:

Device Type Brand Model Revision Locale Version

UC

Microsoft

CPE R2

DV3

ENU

Later than 3.5.6887, such as 3.5.6897.0

To test and deploy a new update

  1. Obtain the new software update and upload it to the Device Update Service Management Console, as described in Obtaining Software Updates for Devices.

  2. Check the Pendingtab of the Device Update Service Management Console to verify that the new update is listed.

  3. Add a test device to the Device Update Service Management Console, as described in Adding Test Devices. The test device should have the same characteristics as the UC devices to which you want to apply the new update.

  4. Turn off the test device and then turn it on again. When it restarts, the device automatically checks Device Update Service for a pending update that has a more recent version than the update it currently is running. If an applicable update exists, the device downloads and installs it.

  5. For a Communicator Phone Edition device, check the System Informationscreen to see whether the version number of the new update is listed as the current version.

  6. Check the audit logs to verify that the update was installed on the test device, as described in Auditing Update Requests.

  7. If the update was not installed, check the test device connection, as described in Verifying the Connection for a Test Device, correct any problems, and then perform steps 3, 4, and 5 again.

  8. If the new update was successfully installed, use the test device and verify that it works properly.

  9. If devices that are connected to a network outside your organization’s firewall also need the update, verify the update by connecting a test device to the external network, and then following steps 5 through 9.

    Note:
    To obtain updates from outside the firewall, a user must be logged on to the device.

  10. If the new update works properly on the test devices, you can then approve it for deployment to the UC devices in your organization, as described in Approving Device Updates. The update will be automatically deployed to the appropriate devices when they connect to Device Update Service.

See Also