All the convergence technology in the world is useless without end user devices. But such devices, like Microsoft Office Communicator Phone Experience and Microsoft RoundTable, can be a headache for IT to maintain. The Bink.nu blog has posted some info on automatic updating mechanisms for these devices.
“Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Software Update Service provides an automated way to update all unified communications devices deployed in an organization. “
Three files are involved …
A guide to help install/configure this auto Software Update Service.
A file to configure the service on an Office Communicaitons Server 2007 Web Component Server or Standard Edition server.
A file to configure the service on a SharePoint server.
While reducing the administration of communications devices through auto updates is a helpful thing, keep in mind that Microsoft has been known to walk to some shaky ground in this area. Last week it angered customers with “secret” updates. Still, that event shouldn’t scare you off of using automatic updates of enterprise software.
