Upgrade and Interoperability Issues
Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 will reach end of support on January 9, 2018. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.
There are several interoperability issues to consider when moving from Communicator 2005 to Communicator 2007.
Warning
After users in your organization are configured for enhanced presence, and have successfully logged on to Office Communications Server 2007 for the first time, they can no longer use previous versions of Communicator. For more information, see the section titled, "Things You Must Know Before You Deploy" in the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Planning Guide.
Feature Availability
In an organization in which both Communicator 2005 and Communicator 2007 are deployed, many core features that Communicator 2005 users expect are still available, as shown below in Table 1.
Table 1. Coexisting with Communicator 2005
| Office Communicator 2007 and Office Communications Server 2007 Features | Available with Communicator 2005 |
|---|---|
Instant messaging and basic presence |
Yes |
Enhanced presence |
No |
Computer-to-computer voice calls |
Yes |
Access to external federated users |
Yes |
Public IM Connectivity |
Yes |
File transfer with Communicator 2007 clients |
Yes |
Rich text and Tablet PC Ink in instant messages |
Yes |
Computer-to-computer video calls with Communicator 2007 users |
No |
In-house audio and video conferencing |
No |
Web conferencing with external users |
Yes, when used with Live Meeting 2007 |
Audio/video conferencing with external users |
Yes, when used with Live Meeting 2007 |
Unified Communications Enterprise Voice features |
No |
However, features that are hosted on Office Communications Server 2007 are not supported by the Communicator 2005 client. For example, when a Communicator 2007 user invites a Communicator 2005 user to join an audio/video conference hosted on Office Communications Server 2007, a message appears saying that the other party is not able to accept that type of call (unless A/V encryption is disabled on the A/V Multipoint Control Unit (MCU)).
Group Policy Deployment Strategies
When deploying Communicator 2007 Group Policies in an organization that uses Communicator 2005, you can roll out the Communicator 2007 policies without affecting existing users. For complete details about the additions, changes, and deletions to Group Policies for Communicator 2007, see Office Communicator 2007 Group Policy Settings later in this document.
In addition, because Live Meeting policies are separate from Communicator policies, you can deploy Group Policies for the Microsoft® Office Live Meeting 2007 client either before or after you deploy Communicator 2007.