Installing and configuring the Verba SfB - Lync Announcement service

For a general overview of the function refer to the Announcement article.

Prerequisites

The Verba Announcement service is available in the following server roles:

• Media Repository & Recording Server
• Media Repository
• Recording Server
• Announcement Server

To enable the service, the following tasks need to be executed on all Verba servers where the service needs to be enabled:

Step 1 - Add the Windows user account used during installation to the following groups:

• • CSAdministrator
  • Local Administrator
  • RTCUniversalServerAdmins

Step 2 -  Install the following features on the server(s) if they are not installed already.

• • Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5
  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0/4.5
  • Media Foundation (Windows Server 2012 or newer) / Desktop Experience (Windows Server 2008 R2)

Step 3 - Install the Microsoft UCMA Runtime 4.0 on the UCMA application servers

Step 4 - Configure your firewalls

Step 5 - Create a Trusted Application Pool/Server in your Skype for Business / Lync environment

Step 6 - Request / assign a certificate for/to the Announcement Server

Step 7 - If there are multiple announcement servers, create a new DNS entry for each server using the pool FQDN.

Installation and service activation

Verba Announcement Server installation

If you want to run the service separately, you need to install a Verba Announcement Server role on dedicated server(s).

Follow the guidelines at Installing a Verba Announcement Server

Enabling the Verba SfB/Lync Announcement service

If you already have the desired server role installed, you just need to enable the service.

Step 1 - Using the web application, navigate to the System / Servers page and select the server.

Step 2 - Click on the Service Activation tab.

Step 3 - Click on the  button for the Verba SfB/Lync AnnouncementService to activate the service.

Configuring the Verba SfB/Lync Announcement Service

When the above steps are completed, the Verba Announcement service can be configured as any other server component in the system using the Verba web interface.

For more information see Configuring Verba recording announcement service.

Configuring Verba components for announcement

Configuring the Verba SfB/Lync Call Filter for announcement

Step 1 - Open the Verba web interface, click on the System / Servers and select the SfB/Lync Front-End / SBA / SBS server, or select the appropriate Configuration Profile at System / Configuration Profiles. 

Step 2 - Go to the Change Configuration Settings tab, then expand the SfB/Lync Call Filter / Recording Announcement node.

Step 3 - Configure the following settings:

Step 4 - Click the  icon to save your settings.

Step 5 - The system will notify you that the changes need to be applied to the server by restarting the involved services. Execute the required tasks.

Step 6 - Repeat the steps on each Front-End / SBA / SBS server.

Configuring the Verba Media Collector and Proxy for announcement

Step 1 - Open the Verba web interface, click on the System / Servers and select the Verba Media Collector and Proxy (Proxy Server, Edge Server or Mediation server in case of mediation based recording), or select the appropriate Configuration Profile at System / Configuration Profiles. 

Step 2 - Go to the Change Configuration Settings tab. Expand the Media Collector and Proxy node.

Step 3 - Under the General section provide the SIP URI of the announcement service(s) at the Announcement Service Uris setting.

Step 4 - Click the  icon to save your settings.

Step 5 - The system will notify you that the changes need to be applied to the server by restarting the involved services. Execute the required tasks.

Step 6 - Repeat the steps on each Proxy Server, Edge server or Mediation server in case of mediation based recording.

Configuring the Verba Passive Recorder for conference call announcement

Step 1 - Open the Verba web interface, click on the System / Servers and select the Recorder Server, or select the appropriate Configuration Profile at System / Configuration Profiles. 

Step 2 - Go to the Change Configuration Settings tab, then expand the Passive Recorder / Recording Announcement for Lync Conference node.

Step 3 - Configure the following settings:

Step 4 - Click the  icon to save your settings.

Step 5 - The system will notify you that the changes need to be applied to the server by restarting the involved services. Execute the required tasks.

Step 6 - Repeat the steps on each Recording Server.

Configuring custom prompts for users (optional)

It is possible to configure custom notification sounds on a per user basis. To achieve this follow these steps:

Step 1 - Login to the Announcement server, and go to the C:\Program Files\Verba\resources\announcement folder.

Step 2 - Copy the .wma files to the conference, inbound and outbound folders.

Step 3 - Open the Verba web interface, click on the System / Servers and select the Media Repository server, or select the appropriate Configuration Profile at System / Configuration Profiles. 

Step 4 - Click on the Change Configuration Settings tab. Expand the Web Application section.

Step 5 - Expand the Lync recording Announcement node, and add the names of the .wma files to the PSTN Inbound Announcement Prompt Files and the Conference Announcement Prompt Files, one in a line .

Step 6 - Click the  icon to save your settings.

Step 7 - The system will notify you that the changes need to be applied to the server by restarting the involved services. Execute the required tasks.

Step 8 - Repeat the steps on each Media Repository server.

To configure the custom prompt for the users please see the User Configuration configuration.

Configuring announcement transfer hiding (optional)

It is possible to hide the announcement transfer information using Verba Announcement service. To achieve this follow these steps:

Step 1 - Open the Verba web interface, click on the System / Servers and select the SfB/Lync Front-End / SBA / SBS server, or select the appropriate Configuration Profile at System / Configuration Profiles. 

Step 2 - Go to the Change Configuration Settings tab, then expand the SfB/Lync Call Filter / Recording Announcement node.

Step 3 - Set Hide transfer information from Announcement service to Yes.

Step 4 - Click the  icon to save your settings.

Step 5 - The system will notify you that the changes need to be applied to the server by restarting the involved services. Execute the required tasks.

Step 6 - Repeat steps 1-5 on each SfB/Lync Front-End / SBA / SBS servers.

Step 7 - Navigate to System / Servers and select the Recording Server, or select the appropriate Configuration Profile at System / Configuration Profiles. 

Step 8 - Click on the Change Configuration Settings tab. Expand the Passive Recorder / Recording Announcement for Lync Conference section.

Step 9 - At Announcement Service Uris, enter the SIP address of your announcement services.

Step 10 - Click the  icon to save your settings.

Step 11 - The system will notify you that the changes need to be applied to the server by restarting the involved services. Execute the required tasks.

Step 12 - Repeat steps 7-11 on each Recording Servers.

Configuring redirect on failed transfer (optional)

In the case of the incoming calls, it is possible to also play announcement when the callee is not available actually. In the cases like this, an alternative destination has to be specified where the incoming call will terminate instead of the original callee.

Step 1 - Open the Verba web interface, click on the System / Servers and select the Announcement server, or select the appropriate Configuration Profile at System / Configuration Profiles.

Step 2 - Go to the Change Configuration Settings tab, then expand the SfB/Lync Recording Announcement / Advanced node.

Step 3 - Redirect targets can be configured at the "Redirect Targets for Failed Transfers" setting. The format is the following: sip_ui_or_line_number|response_code

One can be provided in each line. If the transfer fails, the service will try to redirect the call to the target with the matching response code. Wildcard (x) can be used in the response code. 

john_doe@adatum.com|486
peter_parker@adatum.com|408
bruce_wayne@adatum.com|4xx

Step 4 - Click the  icon to save your settings. 

Step 5 - The system will notify you that the changes need to be applied to the server by restarting the involved services. Execute the required tasks.

Step 6 - Repeat steps 1-5 on each Recording Servers.