Microsoft Lync server 2010 push notification service, is it required and how to configure it ?

with the release of the new Lync 2010 mobility service, Microsoft also has released what is called push notification service, many administrators like myself were surprised about this after reading Microsoft official Mobility guide and I bet many of them still doesn’t have a clear idea about how the push notification service works, and if is it required to be configured or not.

what is this Service used for ?

The Service is a cloud-based service located in the Lync online Data Center, it is used to send notifications to Lync mobile clients running on windows phone 7 and IOS based systems.

The push notification Service push notifications to mobile clients n the form of badges, icons, or alerts, even if the mobile application was inactive. Push notifications notify a user of events such as a new or missed IM invitation, missed calls, and voice mail.

How it works ?

The Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Mobility Service sends the notifications to the cloud-based Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Push Notification Service, which then sends the notifications to the Apple Push Notification Service (APNS) or the Microsoft Push Notification Service (MPNS). as illustrated in the below diagram.

So assuming User A sends an instant Message to User B located outside the organization and using WP7 Lync mobile client, and it happened that the User B has closed the Lyn Mobile client a while ago, in this case the Lync mobility Service will send a notification to the Lync push notification Service and then the Lync push notification service will push the notification to the MPNS and this last will forward the notification to the Mobile device.

when user B receive the notification he can click on it to activate the Lync mobile client and answer to the IM in request.

is it free of charge ?

The push notification service is Free of charge all that you have to do is to configure your Lync deployment to send the notification to the Lync Server Push notification Service hosted in the Lync online Data Center, push.Lync.com is the Microsoft office 365 domain that is used by the push notification service.

is it required ?

it is required to be configured if there are users within your organization that uses iphone, and WP7 based smartphones, since these types of phones doesn’t support application backgrounding , which means the Lync mobile client can’t remain active in the background while working on something else on the phone.

this is not the case with android and Nokia Symbian smartphones, these types of phones doesn’t require push notifications.

How to configure to support push notification service ?

Log on to the Lync Front-End Server with a user that is member of the RtcUniversalServerAdmins Group and open Lync management Shell.

1. Add Lync online hosting provider to the list of the hosting providers at the command line run:

you can change “lyncOnline” to whatever unique identifier you like

2. Set up hosting provider federation between your organization and the Push Notification Service at Lync Online. At the command line, type:

3.  we have setup a new hosting provider, configured the allowed domain, so now we can enable Enable push notifications.

At the command line, type:

to verify if the push notifications Service is enabled at the command line type:

you should have similar results

4. if you don’t have federation enabled on your Edge Server, you should Enable it by running.

5. you can test the federation configuration by using the test-CsFederationPartner cmdlet

At the command line, type:

where uc-edge1.unibox.me is the Edge Server internal FQDN

you should get a success result

6. you can also test push notifications by using the test-CsMcxNotification cmdlet

At the command line, type:

where uc-edge1.unibox.me is the Edge Server internal FQDN

you should also get a success result as follow

once all the above is completed successfully Lync Mobile clients will start receiving notifications. it is important to note that you should allow a bit of time for the push notification start working properly, and already connected users should sign out and sign in back again on the Lync Mobile client.

what are the Port and Firewall Requirements

if you support push notifications and want Apple mobile devices to receive push notifications over your Wi-Fi network, you also need to open port 5223 on your enterprise Wi-Fi network. Port 5223 is an outbound TCP port used by the Apple Push Notification Service (APNS). The mobile device initiates the connection. For details, see http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1629

Hope you find this post useful, and happy mobile Lyncing

About Charbel Hanna

I've always been living in the IT world and I've had the chance to start my IT consultancy journey in 2004 and i am still enjoying it! andn love sharing with you what i have learned so far.