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Microsoft Lync configuration for Tesira using Tesira software

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Biamp’s Tesira VoIP products allow Biamp Tesira digital signal processors to make and receive phone calls over a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) system that adheres to the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standard. Microsoft Lync or Microsoft Skype for Business systems make use of an expanded version of SIP called MS-SIP or Microsoft SIP Extension.  This document details the steps required to configure Biamp’s Tesira VoIP products to connect to a Microsoft Lync system.

Preliminary information

System support

The Tesira SVC-2 and TesiraFORTÉ endpoints have been tested against the following versions from Microsoft:

  1. Microsoft Lync 2010
  2. Microsoft Lync 2013
  3. Microsoft Skype for Business (SFB)

It should be noted that the screenshots used in this tech note were taken from an SFB server. While older Lync versions use the same setup process the user interface layout may vary slightly. 

Note: Office 365 implementations of Lync/Skype for Business are not supported by Tesira VoIP. 

Microsoft license requirements

While full support for 3rd party endpoints is available in SFB / Lync out of the box, using these services requires you to purchase Microsoft license agreements for each line in use.  The following is a list of Client Access Licenses (Cal's) that are required per line of the SVC-2 or TesiraFORTE.  Note that each Tesira VoIP endpoint can support up to two individual lines. Each line being used requires a set of the three licenses listed below: 

  1. Standard User Cal
    • A base license for all SFB/Lync clients
  2. Enterprise User Cal
    • A license required for all VoIP endpoints
  3. Plus User Cal
    • A license to access some advanced features of SFB/Lync. 

There are no licenses required on the Tesira side of the exchange. 

Microsoft configuration

First, we'll focus on setting up the Microsoft Lync / Skype for Business software.

Active Directory settings

A new user must be added to Active Directory for the Tesira VoIP device.  Each Tesira VoIP endpoint supports up to two user identities, and multiple endpoints may be used within a single system.  The steps below will focus on a single user account, however if multiple user are required, simply repeat as necessary.
 
  1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers from Administrative Tools.
 Admin Tools Screenshot
  1. Right Click on Users and create a New User.
 New User Selection
  1. Enter the Name Settings for the new User.
  2. Create a User Logon Name. Note that Tesira uses the username entered into the "User logon name (pre-Windows 2000)" field.

(This name must be 20 characters or less)

  1. Select the Domain that the User will belong to.
  2. Take note of all of these parameters as they will be needed in the Tesira VoIP Endpoint setup.
  3. Click Next.
 New Object - User
  1. Create and confirm a password for the User.
  2. Ensure the "Password never expires" checkbox is selected.
  3. All other settings can be disabled.
  4. Click Next.
 New Object - User Password
 

Skype for Business Server settings

  1. Open the Skype for Business (SFB)  / Lync server configuration page.
  2. Select Users.
  3. From the Enable Users pull down menu, choose Enable Users. 

Enable User Pulldown
  1. Under the Users dialog click the Add button.
 Add User SFB Server.jpg
  1. Click the Find button in the Select from Active Directory window to display the current users.
  2. Select the user that was created in the Active Directory setup steps above. 
  3. Click OK.
 Select From AD.JPG
  1. Assign the user to a pool
  2. Under "Generate user's SIP URI" select "Specify a SIP URI". 
    • Enter the following: "sip:xxxxx@domain".  In this instance the xxxxx represents the user name of the contact and the domain is the URI it is to be associated with. 
  3. Under the Telephony field select Enterprise Voice. 
  4. Under the Line URI enter "tel:xxxxx" In this instance the xxxxx represents the phone extension number to be assigned to the user. 
  5. Select a Dial Plan Policy.  Note that if you plan on not using a Dial Plan, or if you would like the user account to utilize the Pool, Site, or Global Dial Plan you can leave this setting a the default "Automatic".  If you would like to choose a custom User Dial Plan select that dial plan from the pull down list.  If the intention is that the Tesira VoIP endpoint should use Lync Normalization Rules as part of the Dial Plan settings please visit this article. 
  6. All other user settings may remain at default or be adjusted to align with whatever custom parameters are necessary in the particular system. 
  7. Click Enable at the top of the screen. 
 New User Selection.v2.JPG
  1. The resultant user list should show the new user in an enabled state. 

Result of User Setup

Security

SFB and Lync support three different mechanisms for device authentication, however Tesira supports only one of these three.  The following steps ensure that a mutually support service is enabled. 

  1. In the SFB / Lync server select Security.
  2. Select the security scheme that is used for the Registration Pool the User was added to in the SFB / Lync user setup steps above. 
  3. Edit the scheme.

Note: In many circumstances the system may be set to only utilize the default "Global" security group. 

 Security List
  1. Ensure that at minimum the "Enable Integrated Windows authentication" box is checked. 
 SFB Security Selections.JPG

Tesira configuration

Next, we'll focus on setting up the Tesira configuration to match the settings that were used in SFB / Lync.

Network configuration

  1. Open the Tesira software and the .tmf file for the project.  Do not connect to the Tesira system yet, because the information below cannot be entered while you are connected to the Tesira system. 
  2. Right-click on the VoIP Control Status Block and select Properties Sheet. 
  3. Select the DSP Properties tab. 
  4. Under the Network General category in the Properties Sheet, set "VLAN" to "Enabled" if your VoIP network uses a tagged VLAN.  If the network uses an untagged VLAN or simply doesn't use a VLAN, leave this value set to disabled. 
  5. If the VLAN is enabled, enter the proper VLAN ID. 
  6. Leave DHCP set to Enabled if the SVC-2 card will obtain an IP address automatically from a DHCP server.  If this is not the case, set DHCP to Disabled and manually enter an appropriate IP Address, Subnet Mask, Gateway, and DNS data (if required) for the SVC-2 card. 
 Tesira Netowrk Settings
  1. Under the "Protocol SIP" category in the Properties Sheet, ensure that the Transport Type is set to TLS. 
  2. The default setting for TLS in Tesira will encrypt all SIP data, but accept verification of any server certificate received.  If stricter security is required, see Using TLS and SRTP in Tesira VoIP systems.
 TLS Settings

Note: TLS is the default transport protocol for SFB / Lync and will likely be used because of its encryption support for SIP.  TCP is a supported alternative to TLS in Lync, but it must be manually enabled.  If registration issues occur between SFB / Lync and Tesira, temporarily configuring the system in TCP mode would allow a Wireshark trace to capture unencrypted data for troubleshooting.  Additional troubleshooting can be done by downloading the Lync Logs and saving them in the default .uccapilog format.  These logs can be sent to Biamp Technical Support for review. 

Protocol information

  1. Under the Protocol SIP category in the Control Status block's Properties Sheet, click on the "..." symbol next to Line VoIP Line Properties.PNGProperties.  This will open the VoIP Line Properties window. 
  2. Select the Protocol Tab
  3. In the SIP User Name field, enter the SIP User Name portion of the SIP URI  created in SFB/Lync User Dialog page.
  4. In the SIP Domain field enter the Domain portion of the SIP URI used in the SFB/Lync User Dialog page.  Note that the @ symbol does not need to be entered. 
  5. In the Authentication User Name field enter the "User Log In Name (Pre Windows 2000)" created in the Active Directory User Page. (Note that this field must be 20 characters or less. This is a Windows limitation.)
  6. In the Authentication Password field enter the Password used in the Active Directory Password Page . 
  7. In the NetBIOS field, enter the NetBios Domain located in the Active Directory User Page (the field is located to the left of the "User logon name (pre-Windows 2000)" field). Note that the "\" (backslash) symbol should be omitted from the Tesira configuration.                                     
  8. Set the Proxy Vendor to Lync

 

  1. Enter the Proxy Address for the SFB/Lync server. There are two methods that can be used to set the Proxy Address:
  • Entering the IP Address of the SFB / Lync server in the Proxy Address field. 

Proxy Set via IP.JPG
  • Entering the URI of the SFB / Lync server in the Proxy Address field.  When the domain is used the Tesira endpoint will make use of one of the following three mechanisms to locate the Proxy Server. 
  1. SRV Record lookup
  2. NAPTR Record lookup
  3. DNS Record Lookup

The Tesira device will try each method in order and the first to receive a response will be used.  Note that in order to make use of these settings the Proxy Port must be set to 0. 

 Proxy Set via URI
  1. Send the Tesira configuration to the system to complete the setup.