Microsoft LYNC Interview Questions and Answers
1) Explain what is SIP Trunking?
SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol, which allows the users to communicate through internet protocol (IP) address or VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). SIP trunking is provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP), to make complete use of your IP phone system and not simply use VoIP within your local network or LAN.
2) Why SIP trunking is good for Lync?
SIP trunking is good for Lync as it eliminates the potential risk of failure by establishing a direct connection of SIP with your mediation server, without depending on an additional gateway. And it is beneficial in
- Reducing cost associated with the Capacity On Demand and in-network calling features
- Lync’s PSTN dialing and in-house multi-media conferencing abilities
- Real-time reporting capabilities and DID provisioning
3) List out the important server roles in Lync server 2013?
Important server roles in Lync server 2013 are
- Standard Edition Server: It allows instant messaging (IM), conferencing and Enterprise Voice
- Back End and Front End Server: It allows PSTN dial-in conferencing, A/V conferencing, web conferencing, call detail records, call error records, etc.
- Edge Server: It allows to communicate users outside the organizations and provides connectivity to various IM services like Yahoo, Google talk, AOL, etc.
- Mediation Server: It enables the communication between internal Lync server and PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) Gateway, IP-PBX or SIP trunk
- Director: It is more a safety tool than a communicating, it authenticates the Lync server user request before sending them to the internal server
- Persistent Chat Front End Server: It is used for multiple user’s topic-based conversation that persist over a long time. It stores the chat history data and information about categories and chat rooms
4) Explain how you can implement SIP trunking in MS Lync 2013?
To implement SIP trunking in MS Lync 2013 you must route the connection through a mediation server, which acts as a proxy for communication sessions between Lync server and the service provider and transcodes media.
5) Explain what is Lync Storage Service (LYSS)?
Lync Storage Service or LYSS is a storage framework in Lync Server 2013, which is used as a storage platforms and also used for disaster recovery purposes. In Lync 2013, an organization can pair front end pools in two geographically dispersed sites. Each site represents a front end pool that is coupled with a corresponding front end pool in another site. If the pool in one site fails, the administrator will direct users from failed pool to the active pool in the other site and user can still use the Lync service.
6) Explain what are the architectural differences in Lync 2010 and 2013?
- The architecture of front end pools has been changed compared to Lync 2010
- The back end database in Lync 2013 is no longer the real-time data store in the Lync pool
- To avert the single point of failure of the Back-end, most Lync data now are stored on the Front End Server to enhance the performance and scalability of the Lync architecture
- Front end server in Lync 2013 handles more resources and information like contacts, presence and conferencing details, etc. while back end server provides the overall persistent storage of this data
- A/V conferencing is now handled by the front end server
- There are no longer separate monitoring server or archiving server roles in Lync 2013, as of now it is handled by Front End Server
- It requires additional computational resources on the front end server when running video conferencing
7) Mention what are the two classes of Desktop Phones for Lync?
For Lync, there are two categories for desktop phones
- IP phones optimized for Lync
- Qualified IP phones tested and verified for Lync
8) Explain how you can enable recording in Lync online?
By default, the setting is given like enable recording of calls and meeting. You have to just enable the setting “Recording of calls and meetings.”
Rather than individual users you can make the changes in the settings like
- Go to “Lync Online Control Panel” then click users
- In the user’s list, check the box next to users name you want to record calls and meetings and then click on edit users
- Now, under bulk edit user settings page, under IM AUDIO/VIDEO AND CONFERENCING check the box for “Changing Request” and then again check in the box for “Record calls and conferences.”
- Verify the settings and click Finish
- So when you are on the chat or video conferencing you can start recording by just clicking on “More Options” and then “Start Recording”
9) List out the services that SIP trunk connected with an ITSP provides without any charges?
Various services that SIP trunk with an ITSP provides
- Caller ID
- Call Waiting
- Voicemail
- Extensions
- Dedicated Fax Line
10) Mention whether the federation between Skype and Lync support video?
No, it does not support videos, but it supports IM, Presence and voice but later or sooner video will also be supported in the near future.