R2 Adds Audio Conferencing

A new audio conference bridge in R2 supports traditional telephony users in conferences hosted by Communications Server 2007. R2’s audio conference bridge mirrors the basic features of traditional audio-conferencing bridges—for example, R2 supports on-demand (or reservationless) and scheduled conferences, dial-in numbers and participant passcodes, and a hold queue.

Communications Server 2007 R2 provides two new services to support audio conferences. The Conferencing Announcement service handles incoming calls from conference participants—for example, collecting passcodes from users and placing them into the conference or a hold queue. The Conferencing Attendant Service manages calls while the conference is in progress—for example, it allows conference leaders to mute or eject participants.

The illustration shows a simplified architecture that supports four types of conferencing users: workers inside the company’s firewall using the Communicator 2007 R2 client application or a desktop phone, corporate users outside the firewall using the Communicator R2 client, and users dialing in from a conventional telephone connected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN).