Voice and Video in Microsoft Office Communication Server 2007:Insights to Quality of Experience and Planning for Network Bandwidth Usage

Johann KruseNational Technology SpecialistMicrosoft Australia

UNC313

Brief overview of Office Communications Server, Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Microsoft Office Communicator capabilities

The Challenge

Basics of Quality of Experience

Right-Sizing your Network

Monitoring

What We Will Cover…

Product Overview: Media

Office Communications Server 2007Provides audio and video conferencing for ad-hoc and prescheduled meetings

Office Communicator 2007Telephony client that supports rich multiparty audio/video conferences

Live Meeting Console 2007Server or service client that supports Web/audio and video conferencing

Demo

The Challenge

QoS and CAC try to recreate conditions of switched networks

The Challenge of Packet Networks

Traditional IP telephony is really not designed for IP networks

Transfer of circuit switched concepts rather than a redesign for IPFragile codecs, sensitive to minute network service quality impairments:

“Even a 1% loss can significantly degrade the user experience with G.711, which is considered the standard for toll quality”

Network engineering techniques required for traditional IP telephony

Traditional approach QoS/CAC is complex and

difficult to manage

Traditional approach is often ineffective

Administrators may not control the whole network

Users are increasingly mobile

Voice quality is the most common source of user dissatisfaction

in current VoIP installations

Other factors affect voice quality

Cost $Complexit

y

Ubiquity

Limitations of Traditional Approach

Basics of Quality of Experience

Quality of Experience“ Microsoft UC is unique in providing a complete, comprehensive solution to the QoE needs of Enterprise Voice, without requiring QoS, on any network, anytime, anywhere”

Comprehensive, user-focused approach to perceived quality.

Centered on users, incorporating all significant parameters of user experience

Smart, adaptive endpoints. Endpoints with real-time capability to monitor, pilot, optimise and deliver UC QoE

Real time metrics of actual experience.Measuring, quantifying and monitoring the user’s subjective experience

Media stack optimised for unmanaged IP networks.

Rich application that takes real-time adaptive and corrective actions to continuously optimise the user’s subjective experience on any network

Addressing Root Causes

Environment or payload issuesDevices, ambient noise, echo, lack of gain…Payload effects are end-to-end

Often most detrimental but least managed Network can be perfect but call unacceptable

Uses AEC, NS, AGC to normaliseNetwork effects

Multiple dynamic error correction mechanisms, dynamic automated adaptation to actual network conditions, bandwidth elasticity

Based on application layer intelligence

Perfect Net

Corp Net Internet High Conges

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

Microsoft OC

Traditional IP Phone

Source: Psytechnics 12/06

Quality of Experience @ Work –

Noise Free

Perfect Net

Corp Net Internet High Conges

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

Microsoft OCTraditional IP Phone

Source: Psytechnics 12/06

Quality of Experience @ Work –

Office Environment

How does it work in the real world?

Same stack is used for Messenger and other MS products 1.5 billion voice minutes per monthBest voice quality according to PCWorld280 million clients

Right-Sizing Your Network

Right-Sizing Your Network

Even with 2:1 adaptability clients need some bandwidthWhether building out VoIP telephony or audio/video conferencing, you are adding a service to your networkSimple policies at the network layer or

in the clients give you control

How Much Bandwidth Does it Need?

These are on the wire numbers, not rawThis is only one wayNumbers are worst-case; silence suppression saves more bandwidthPacketisation dynamically changes based on usage, which saves more bandwidth

CodecMin

BandwidthMax Bandwidth

Real-Time Audio (RTA)

24 Kbps 45 Kbps

Siren 48 Kbps 48 Kbps

Real-Time Video (VC-1)

50 Kbps 250 Kbps

Media TypeBandwidth

Needed

Audio 45 Kbps

Video 250 Kbps

Data ~45 Kbps

Signaling 10 Kbps

Total 350 Kbps per direction

Per-User CalculationType of usage is important when planning

Stack will adjust to available BW every 5 secs

Consider the whole path end-to-end

Other Network Considerations

DelayEngineer to less than a mean of 150 ms

Loss Up to 10% can be handled without significant problems

ConnectivityThe clients can connect through pretty well all common networksNAT, Proxy, Symmetric NAT, Firewalls

Managing the Usage: Server

Server policyLimit the type of conference that can be set up

For example, audio only

Limit who can set up the conference Limit the number of users per conference

Managing the Usage: Client

Client policyLimit the bandwidth used

HKLM\software\policies\Microsoft\LiveMeeting\

MaxAudioVideoBitrateHKLM\software\policies\Microsoft\Communicator\

MaxAudioVideoBitrateGlobal setting per application

Limits the total bit rate used of audio and videoAudio always has the preference

Support for DiffServ

Does not require DiffServBut can work within a DiffServ environment and supports DiffServ marking

DSCP marking by the endpointsBy default, endpoints mark all media for DiffServAudio: Expedited ForwardingVideo: Class 3 of Assured Forwarding

DSCP marking can be tuned through use of policyWindows Vista allows centralized policy enforcement

See appendix for details

Port Controls

For traffic management and security reasons controlling ports can be usefulBy default media uses 1024 and aboveKeys for OC:

HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator\Portrange\EnabledHKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator\Portrange\MaxMediaPortHKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator\Portrange\MinMediaPortSimilar keys exist for Live Meeting Console

When considering a port policy think:What is your traffic management plan?DMZ/FW traversal considerations?

Deployment Validation

Deployment Validation and Agent

DVT (Deployment Validation Tool)Targeted to AdministratorsAgents make calls and report status of the E2E systemValidates VoIP and PSTN calls are workingVerifies the ongoing quality of the network

AAT (Answering Agent Tool) Targeted to end usersAllows users to do test calls and hear what they sound likeCan you hear me now?

demo

Deployment Verification Test (DVT)

DVT Architecture/Design

QoE Monitoring Server

QoE Monitoring Server

Creates a CDR for each call or conference Metric CDR includes

MOS metrics for the callNetwork parametersIn total more than 30 parameters that impact quality

Record can be routed to QoE Monitoring or third-party Server

Server collects dataProvides reporting interface and runs analytics on dataDoes limited root cause analysisAvailable at RTM as tech preview

QoEServer

At Home

PSTNNetwor

k

Off “Corp”

InternetCorp

SQLSQLSQLSQL

AV MCUs

At Work

MediationServers

MOM ReportingConsole

QoE Metrics Report Collection

Reporting

0

10

20

30

40

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60

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Freq

uenc

y

MOS Score

Listening MOS

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10

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30

40

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60

1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00

Freq

uenc

y

MOS Score

Conversational MOS

Frequency

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50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4

Fre

qu

en

cy

Bin

Network Degradation

Degradation Avg

Jitter Factor

Packet Loss Factor

Explanatory Text

Network MOS Sending MOSSummary

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600

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Network MOS

Explanatory Text

Network MOS Sending MOSSummary

Explanatory Text

Network MOS Sending MOSSummary

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MOS Score

Sending MOS

Frequency

Alerting – State View

Alerting – Alert View

% calls with poor jitter factor

% calls with poor packet loss factor

% calls with high delay

% calls with failed media connectivity

Some of the MetricsAudio QoE Perf counters

Listening MOS, Conversational MOS, Network MOS

Classify calls to detect quality degradation

Additional counters

Some video counters% calls with low video bitrate

% calls with high video packet loss

demo

Out-of-the-Box Reports

Reports

QoE Summary Report

QoE Trend Report

Worst Performing Endpoints Report

Call List Report

Call Details Reports

Flexible Report Filtering

Time

Connectivity type

Call types

Thresholds

Endpoints

Location

Endpoint type

QoE Monitoring Server with MOM Pack

At the End of the Day….There is no free lunch

New services take bandwidth

Microsoft UC Quality is a comprehensive approachCombines adaptive end-points measuring the experience for all calls at all timesAdvanced media stack that can correct network and non-network impairments

Microsoft UC manages traffic and quality at the application layer rather than network layer

Does not require QoS or CAC; it can function on QoS enabled networks and supports DiffServ

Good network design and engineering still matterPriority is sufficient bandwidth and low latency

Microsoft UC works to deliver optimal quality on any network, anytime, anywhere

Port Range KeysOffice Communicator Client

HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator\Portrange\EnabledHKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator\Portrange\MaxMediaPortHKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator\Portrange\MinMediaPort

By default these registry keys are not set. 

Live Meeting Console  When the Console application is running in Attendee mode:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Live Meeting\Console\Version 8.0\Attendee\MediaPortRangeMinHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Live Meeting\Console\Version 8.0\

Attendee\MediaPortRangeMax When the Console application is running in Presenter mode:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Live Meeting\Console\Version 8.0\Presenter\MediaPortRangeMinHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Live Meeting\Console\Version 8.0\Presenter\MediaPortRangeMax

Resources

http://www.microsoft.com/uc

http://blogs.technet.com/jkruse

Evaluation Forms

Questions?

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