Spec me an enterprise instant messaging solution (e.g lync)

wasc

wasc

wasc

Soldato
Joined
21 Oct 2002
Posts
3,008
Location
At home of course :p
Hi all,

We need a corporate instant messenger solution. I've been looking at Lync 2013 but it's quite expensive and it's too geared up for phone calls e.t.c - we already have an Avaya Phone system so it's functionality we don't really need.

I've looked at several, such as Akeni Enterprise Messenger but I'm struggling to find one that really fits the bill. What we are looking for are

Must Haves
-Work Internally (duh) :)
-Work externally without a VPN (we can open firewall ports as needed, but something that works purely over https will be ideal as these ports are likely to be unblocked at client sites)
- Either a Mac OSX client, or a web based client as we have a few mac users (95% PC based) - HOWEVER if needed I could install parallels on our 2 mac users and then berate them for buying a mac :p


Be nice to have, but can possibly do without
- Message Logging server side (management need access to all chat logs for compliance)
- Active-Directory integration
- Screen/Application sharing
- Ability for management to setup groups, which are deployed to everyone (i.e. some sort of global address book)


It may be that the answer is Lync, but I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.
 
Well if it helps, you only get the phone functionality when you buy the Enterprise and Plus CALs for Lync. Otherwise it's pretty much just an instant messenger with some added Office integration.

At the other end of the scale is a simple and free Jabber server. It's cross platform and you'll be able to use it both internally and externally. The only catch is the integration, which you'll likely have none!

All depends what sort of road you want to go down. We're looking at the Lync route as we're looking at getting an Enterprise agreement with MS which would cover this. Plus we really like the Office integration :)
 
I was going to say Jabba the server side can run on windows as well.

When I last looked at it you could also enable thinks like Skype, MSN, Yahoo messenger through it.

Kimbie
 
If you don't need the phone system then Lync Standard and an Edge server.

Very easy to setup. Offers full office integration. Deploy an archiving server for your message archiving/compliance. You can still do Lync to Lync voice calls / video chat / powerpoint presentations / desktop sharing / presence (which is very useful).

Edge server means it can run on your phones / be accessed externally. The only minor niggle is certificates but that's not exactly a show stopper. You can also federate this with AIM / Skype / etc.

Lync is also integrated into Exchange (it downloads the GAL and also uses the Calendar for presence information) so if you have a distribution group called [email protected] then you can just add this into Lync and it will add all of the group in there.

In my opinion Lync will become Skype - the instant messaging program is really nice to use and is certainly whats lacking from Skype IMHO.



M.
 
Last edited:
I wasn't involved in our Lync deployment but I have to say I'm pretty impressed with it as a business tool. We use the voice and video for conferencing but that came in a later phase.
 
Such as?

I can't think of one issue we've had with it. Used every version from 2007 R2 onwards (when it was Office Communicator).

It's a feature rich basic solution in my opinion.



M.
 
Lync is great but if you can't afford it then OpenFire is a fantastic option. Integrates nicely with AD for user authentication and has quite a few client options.
 
Hi all,

Thought i'd update this :)
We went with Lync in the end. Personally I think it's very bloated for a small instant messaging system (i.e. needs several SQL databases, and also needs two servers to get it working properly externally).

It also wasn't the easiest thing to deploy - however we're there now and it's working.

OpenFire was a very close second place - certainly was much easier than lync to install.
 
Actually it doesn't need serveral SQL databases and it doesn't need two edge servers - it's purely down to your design.

With Standard it has SQL express. If you go to Enterprise then it does require a SQL backend and a minimum of two databases (one for the edge one for the internal servers) if you deploy persistent chat and monitoring then the database count goes up.

On the Edge side the only reason you'd have two servers is for DR. Also Lync isn't just an instant messaging system - it's more of a collaboration tool. You can share desktops, powerpoint presentations, video chat, send files, integrate into the phone system, etc.



M.
 
m4cc45 said:
Actually it doesn't need serveral SQL databases and it doesn't need two edge servers - it's purely down to your design.

With Standard it has SQL express. If you go to Enterprise then it does require a SQL backend and a minimum of two databases (one for the edge one for the internal servers) if you deploy persistent chat and monitoring then the database count goes up.

On the Edge side the only reason you'd have two servers is for DR. Also Lync isn't just an instant messaging system - it's more of a collaboration tool. You can share desktops, powerpoint presentations, video chat, send files, integrate into the phone system, etc.
M.
Click to expand...

Hmm, interesting. When we installed it, it seemed to need global configuration databases as well as local configuration databases. As we wanted message tracking, we also needed to deploy archiving databases as well.

In addition, we tried to get it working with just one server but couldn't get mobility working properly - we had to deploy two servers in the end to get it working correctly from outside.
 
Perhaps I misread - by two servers I thought you meant two Edge servers? You will need a minimum of one internal and one Edge for external client access.

Assume you've installed Enterprise version? As you've found out you will need additional databases for monitoring, archiving, etc.

There is a Lync Planning Tool which is really good:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36823

Essentially you enter in the information around your topology and what features you want and it will do the rest. Not the most feature rich but it ensures that your current topology is correct for the features you want.


M.
 
For the two edge boxes you probably mean an Access Edge and a Reverse Proxy server.

For small installs you can virtualise a Windows 2008 R2 instance on the Edge and use Windows IIS AAR as the reverse proxy.

Most sites that have issues with Lync haven't been set up properly in my experience. It's an easy product to get 85% right, but that last 15% can be a rail pain in the user's ass.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom