Microsoft Office System UK Developers Conference Radisson Edwardian, Heathrow 29 th & 30 th June 2005

Live Communications Server: Architecture And Client Automation Graham Tyler Associate Consultant Microsoft Ltd

Live Communications Agenda This presentation: Platform overview Customising the client Automating the client Later today: Custom clients [Graham Tyler] Server applications [John Lamb]

Integration with productivity applications Where’s The Real Value?

Adding “Real-Time” to Microsoft Office Enabling Contextual Collaboration Presence in Outlook, Excel, Word, SharePoint and more Enabling higher productivity from users’ favorite applications

Integration with knowledge worker applications SCM Where’s The Real Value? ERP CRMLOB

Where’s The Real Value? Integration with communications infrastructure

Where’s The Real Value? Rich communications experience

What Does This Mean for Developers? Every Application should: Expose presence Enable instant communication Drive contextual collaboration Not just Instant Messaging Use IM “channel” to drive business processes BOTs (user interaction or assistance agents) Richer Media Voice, Video, Whiteboard, Application Sharing

Platform Overview RTC Client APIs 3 rd Party Client 3 rd Party Application (SIP) Real-Time Signaling Infrastructure 3 rd Party Application 3 rd Party Manifest 3rd Party Script

Techniques Client Automation Office 2003/SharePoint ‘automate’ the LC Client (Communicator or Windows Messenger) – so can your app Uses the Windows Messenger API RTC Client APIs Demos today Live Communications Server APIs Advanced functionality

Base Client Windows Messenger Default Client Experience Download 5.1 for LCS Connectivity Windows XP and Windows 2000 RTC Client APIs WindowsMessenger

Premium Client RTC Client APIs WindowsMessenger Microsoft Office Communicator Part of Office Must be installed Support same interfaces as Windows Messenger Can be driven directly or through Windows Messenger Automation

Integration with the Client Client Automation Interfaces Fastest way to add Presence and Instant Communications to your Applications and Web Sites Used by Office and Microsoft SharePoint High Level APIs No UI to write RTC Client APIs 3rd Party Application

What About Scripting? Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript), Sun JavaScript and Microsoft JScript are supported Security Issues lead to restrictions Exclude accessing certain user properties Blocked, FriendlyName, PhoneNumber, , SignInName Can get status if you know the contact information Can’t add contact automatically Can’t do voice, video calls Restrictions on Window positioning

Customizing Extend Help Menu Add custom ‘Help’ link to the help menu Links to content in separate browser window Tabs Extend Communicator with HTML pages

Tabs Web Pages inside Client UI Up to 32 tabs Communicator can add User URI and/or Contact URI to web page parameters

Tabs (step 1) : Registry key Registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator TABURL = Administrator can set the registry key using Group Policy

Tabs (step 2): XML descriptor Tab Descriptor XML file: Tab title Tooltip text 1 true post

Tabs (step 3): Deploy tabs Deploy tabs as web content Tips: Enable dynamic content Control the length of the refresh cycle Use a watermark background image

Adding Client Tabs

Client Automation Communicator works on behalf of the application COM object CoCreateInstance CreateObject Replace undocumented interfaces from previous releases Aggregate service providers

Should I Use Messenger Automation? Pros Simple to develop Users have a familiar interface Inherits new features Cons Separate user experience Can’t control the UI Less control Unable to participate in flow of information

ShortCuts (Shell Extensions) tel:Brings up phone view but does not dial callto:Brings up phone view dials the appropriate number sip:Bring up Conversation Window. If the user self, sips:If in TLS, Bring up Conversation Window. If the user self, In not TLS, dialog box stating high security is required conf:PSTN Conference Control im:Conversation Window

Persona Control ActiveX Control to simplify Automation One property to set Presence “GumDrop” Hover Popup Name, uri, etc. Right Click Menu Start IM, Call, etc Available July 2005

Automating Communicator From Your Application

© 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This presentation is for informational purposes only. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, in this summary.