Contact Expert Clean Install Guide

Contact Expert v6.1 for Skype for Business Server

Introduction

This guide describes how to deploy Contact Expert for the first time.

This clean installation can be performed only if no previous versions of Contact Expert have been installed yet. If you would like to upgrade an existing Contact Expert instance to a new version, please perform a cumulative upgrade install. (For further information, please visit Contact Expert for Skype for Business Deployment Guide

To proceed with the clean install, please obtain the corresponding Contact Expert clean installation media (ISO file or DVD).

To get the complete list of all enhancements implemented and all bugs fixed in this Contact Expert version, and view our recommendations and other notes about this version, please check the Contact Expert v6.0 Release Notes document.

1. Installing CE Databases

Creating Contact Expert Databases

Important

Before starting the installation of Contact Expert databases, please make sure all Contact Expert Prerequisites are already installed on the target computer.

Follow these steps to deploy Contact Expert system and reporting databases

  1. Launch SQL Server Configuration Manager on the CE Database Host.

  2. Click the SQL Server Services node in the navigation tree at the right. A list of services shows up in the left side pane.

  3. If the Start Mode property of SQL Server Browser service is not set to Automatic, perform the following steps to change it, otherwise skip these steps.

    1. Right-click SQL Server Browser and select Properties.

    2. On the Service tab, select Automatic from the Start Mode options. Click OK and close SQL Server Configuration Manager.

  4. Open SQL Server Management Studio and connect to CE Database Host with a login account having database system administration ("sa") privileges.

  5. Open "CE\CE_DB\CESystem.sql" SQL script from the Contact Expert installation media.

  6. Optional: If you would like to place the database files into a location other than the default path – [SQLPath]\DATA* –,* you need to set the value of *@ce\_db\_data\_dir*** and @ce\_db\_log\_dir script variables in the script accordingly.

  7. Execute the script.

  8. Open "CE\CE_DB\CEReport.sql" SQL script from the Contact Expert installation media.

  9. Optional: If you would like to place the database files into a location other than the default path – [SQLPath]\DATA* –,* you need to set the value of *@ce\_db\_data\_dir*** and @ce\_db\_log\_dir script variables in the script accordingly.

  10. Execute the script.

2. Installing CE Server Roles

First Steps

Important

Before starting the installation of Contact Expert server roles, please make sure all prerequisites (except Java JDK) are already installed on the target computer.

Perform the next steps before setting up Contact Expert server roles on CE Core Host

  1. Make sure that CE Core Host is a member of the Microsoft Skype for Business enabled Active Directory domain.

  2. Assign a certificate to CE Core Host by performing the steps listed in Configuring CE Certificates section.

If you intend to install any component to a location other than the default (C:\Geomant\CE), please ensure that there are no white space characters in the path. For example "C:\Program Files" might cause problems as it contains a space.

WebChat Components

The Server Roles installer package \CE\CE_Server\setup.msi deploys all components that are needed for Contact Expert Chat media channel to work with the cloud based components.

While the installer deploys the chat components, Supervisors need to perform further configuration in CE administration portal for the chat media to operate. For further details please read the Contact Expert WebChat Administration article.

Setting Up Contact Expert Administration Tools

Perform these steps to set up Contact Expert Administration & Reporting Interface

  1. Log in to CE Core Host with domain administrator privileges.

  2. Launch "CE\CE_Admin\setup.exe" from the Contact Expert installation media.

  3. Accept the license agreement, enter a user name and a company name and select the "Anyone who uses this computer" option.

  4. Specify the installation parameters on the Core Parameters screen as per the followings then click Next:

    1. Core Server: enter the FQDN of the CE Core Host here.

    2. System Database:

      1. Server: enter the FQDN of the CE Database Host here.
      2. Data Source: this field is not editable.
      3. User ID: this field is not editable.
      4. Password: this field is not editable.
      5. Catalog: this field is not editable.
    3. Log Directory: accept the default value.***
      ***

  5. Select the Custom option at the next screen, click Next.

  6. Accept the default installation path (C:\Geomant\CE), click Next.

  7. Leave the Admin GUI feature option checked, click Next two times and wait for the install wizard to finish.

How to Enable Windows Authentication for Contact Expert

Optional

Please follow the instructions described in the articles below, if the login method will be domain authentication for Contact Expert:

Setting Up Contact Expert Server Components

Installing Java JDK

Supported Java Version

The one and only Java version which is supported by Contact Expert is always the version which is included to the Contact Expert installation media. This is currently Java 8 Update 60 (1.8.0_60) x86.

Newer Java versions (including later updates of Java 8 and any updates of the next Java versions) are usually backward incompatible, so they might cause major problems in operation. Therefore they are not supported.

To install Java Development Kit on CE Core Host

While logged on to CE Core Host with administration privileges, launch "Java 8u60jdk-8u60-windows-i586.exe" from the Contact Expert installation media and install Java JDK (the Source Code feature is not required).

Installing Contact Expert Server Components

Please note that the install wizard deploys a Contact Expert evaluation license that will limit operation to 3 concurrent operator sessions at the same time. Do not forget to obtain a production license to switch the system into full operational mode.

Perform the below steps to set up Contact Expert server components

  1. Log in to CE Core Host with domain administrator privileges.

  2. Launch "CE\CE_Server\setup.exe" from the Contact Expert installation media.

  3. Accept the license agreement, enter a user name and a company name and select the "Anyone who uses this computer" option.
  4. Accept the default installation path (C:\Geomant\CE).

Configuring CE Core Services

Specify the installation parameters at the Core Parameters screen, then click Next:

Core Server: enter the FQDN of the CE Core Host here.

Web Server: enter the FQDN of the CE Core Host here.

System Database:

  1. Server: enter the FQDN of the CE Database Host here.
  2. User ID: this field is not editable.
  3. Password: this field is not editable.
  4. Catalog: this field is not editable.

*****Reporting Database:*****

  1. Server: enter the FQDN of the CE Database Host here.
  2. User ID: this field is not editable.
  3. Password: this field is not editable.
  4. Catalog: this field is not editable.

Platform: select the appropriate telephony platform (Microsoft Skype for Business Server 2015 - UCMA 5).

Domain ID: accept the default value (1).

The Statistic Server needs to be installed on the CE Core Host of Domain

  1. If you choose a different domain, it will not be installed which can cause improper functioning.

Configuring CE Recording Services

Specify further parameters at the Recording Parameters screen then click Next:

Preferences:

  1. Secure Communication (HTTPS): check if HTTPS is required, otherwise leave unchecked.
  2. Startup Services Automatically: check to start CE services at system startup, otherwise leave unchecked.

Recording:

  1. Both core and recording components: select this option to install both CE Core and CE Recording services.
  2. Only core components: select this option to install CE Core services only.
  3. Only recording components: select this option to install CE Recording services only.

Recorder Server: enter the FQDN of the CE Core Host if core and recording components will be co-located on the current host. Otherwise, enter the FQDN of the CE Recorder Host.

IVR:

  1. IVR Type: select the appropriate option for your IVR solution (Geomant IVR or any other 3rd party solution available).
  2. Port: accept the default value (19970).

Completing the Installation

  1. Check the pre-installation summary and let the wizard install the server components.
  2. Let the wizard reboot the computer.

Installing Contact Expert PowerShell Tools

To install CE PowerShell tools

  1. Log in to CE Core Host with domain administrator privileges.

  2. Launch "CE\CE_Shell\setup.exe" from the Contact Expert installation media.

  3. Accept all default settings and wait for the install wizard to finish.

Prerequisite Check: Provisioning Contact Expert Services as Skype for Business Trusted Applications

If you did not perform this already, follow the steps described in the below Prerequisites sections (provisioning CE Recorder Host is necessary only if Contact Expert call recording services will be used):

For Highly Available deployments, follow these steps instead:

Configuring Contact Expert

Configuring Contact Expert Application GRUU

  1. Log on to CE Core Host with domain administrator privileges.

  2. Find and open the CE Tools shortcut on the desktop and run CE PowerShell with administrator privileges.

  3. Execute the following commands in the PowerShell window:

    Set-CESfbConnectorProperties -ApplicationName "ACE" -ApplicationFqdn "[CE Core Host FQDN]" -ApplicationPort "9000" -ApplicationGruu "[CE Core GRUU]" -CertificateFriendlyName "[Cert Friendly Name]"

    Set-CESfbRecorderProperties -ApplicationName "ACE_Recorder" -ApplicationFqdn "[CE Recorder Host FQDN]" -ApplicationPort "9100" -ApplicationGruu "[CE Recorder GRUU]"

    CertificateFriendlyName: In case the certificate deployed in the prerequisites tasks has a friendly name that is different than the hostname of the CE Core Host computer, then you must use this parameter for the Set-CESfbConnectorProperties cmdlet! For example when the friendly name is the FQDN of the CE Core Host or is an arbitrary string other than the hostname, then you must use this parameter.

    If on the other hand the friendly name of the certificate is set to the hostname of the CE Core Host computer, then you do not need to use this parameter, in this case it is optional.

    The High Availability deployments have special needs for the certificate, that scenario is described elsewhere in the documentation.

    * ApplicationGruu: You can get the application GRUU of the CE Core and Recorder services using the *Get-CsTrustedApplication cmdlet:

    Get-CsTrustedApplication -ApplicationId "[ACE or ACE_Recorder]" -TrustedApplicationPoolFqdn "[CE Core or Recorder Host FQDN]"

    Add-CEFirewallRules

  4. Restart CE Core Host computer.

Configuring Named SQL Server Instances and Custom SQL Server Ports

The below steps have to be performed only in case a named SQL Server instance and/or a custom port is used for storing Contact Expert databases. If you do not use named instances and/or custom ports, please skip these steps.

TCP port 1433 is the default port for SQL Server. The default SQL Server instance is unnamed.

  1. Log on to CE Core Host with domain administrator privileges.

  2. Find and open the CE Tools shortcut on the desktop and run CE PowerShell with administrator privileges.

  3. Execute the following commands in the PowerShell window: 

    Set-CESystemDatabaseProperties -Fqdn "[CE Database Host FQDN]" -Instance "[Instance Name]" -Port "[Port Number]" -DatabaseName "ACESystem" -Login "ACESystem" -Password "MyACEP1ssw0rd"

    Set-CEReportDatabaseProperties -Fqdn "[CE Database Host FQDN]" -Instance "[Instance Name]" -Port "[Port Number]" -DatabaseName "ACEReport" -Login "ACEReport" -Password "MyACEP1ssw0rd"

    Instance and Port parameters are optional. Specify the instance if CE databases are deployed on a named SQL server instance, otherwise skip this parameter; specify the port number if fix TCP port is used, otherwise skip this parameter.

Configuring Cloud Based Scripting

Please execute the following CE cmdlets to configure all relevant components for cloud scripting:

  1. Log on to CE Core Host with domain administrator privileges.

  2. Find and open the CE Tools shortcut on the desktop and run CE PowerShell with administrator privileges.

  3. Execute the following commands in the PowerShell window: 

``` powershell
Set-CECloudBasedScriptingProperties -ScriptingUrl [URL of the cloud based script engine] -ScriptDesignerUrl [URL of the cloud based script designer] -ScriptDesignerLogoutUrl [URL of the logout page of the script cloud based designer]
```

All of the above URL parameters are to be received from Geomant or
affiliates.

CE Connector for the new scripting

CE 6.1 There is an additional component that must be deployed for the new cloud based scripting to operate. At the moment this can only be performed by Geomant or affiliated Business Partners.

Configuring Contact Expert

  1. Log in to CE Core Host with domain administrator privileges.

  2. Launch Internet Explorer and navigate to the Contact Expert Administrator interface: ***https://[CE Core Host FQDN]/CEPortal

  3. Add this site to the Internet Explorer trusted security zone, set it as the home page, and reload the page in the browser.

  4. Log on to the Administrator interface with the default administration credentials: administrator:ACES1stem.

  5. Select Infrastructure→Application Servers** on the left side menu and select the application server by clicking Edit.

  6. Update the FQDN of the CE Core Host for all "Server FQDN", "Private Web FQDN" and "Public Web FQDN" properties.

    IP address is not acceptable here, please fill the fields with the FQDN.

  7. Review the default values of the additional application server parameters (except Skype for Business Parameters) and change if required as explained in the Specifying System Parameters – Application Servers chapter. For the Skype for Business Parameters, please see the Skype for Business configuration preset information in the next section of this page, but first proceed with the next steps here.

  8. Register a voice gateway as explained in the Specifying System Parameters – Voice Gateways chapter.

  9. Set up an agent hunt group as explained in the Specifying System Parameters – Hunt Groups chapter.

  10. Create at least one new skill as explained in the Specifying System Parameters – Skills chapter.

  11. Register new agents as explained in the Specifying System Parameters – Human Agents chapter.

  12. Create a dial rule as explained in the Designing Queues and Campaigns – Dial Rules chapter.

    1. Set a daily activity period that will enable the rule to be active at the time of the installation, so you can test it.

  13. Register a recording gateway as explained in the Specifying System Parameters – Recording Gateway chapter.

  14. Set up a recording rule as explained in the Contact Expert Recording – Recording Rules chapter.

    1. Set a daily activity period that will enable the rule to be active at the time of the installation, so you can test it.

  15. Set up at least one recording channel as explained in the Contact Expert Recording – Recording Channels chapter.

  16. Create a new campaign as explained in the Designing Queues & Campaigns chapter.

    1. Create an inbound voice campaign and take it into Design state.

Starting Up Contact Expert

  1. Log on to CE Core Host with administrator privileges.

  2. Find and open the CE Tools shortcut on the desktop and run CE Server Manager with administrator privileges.

  3. Wait for a few minutes while the installed components are all discovered.
  4. Right click the [CE Core Host FQDN] node in the navigation tree at the left and select the Start each component... item.
  5. Wait until each CE component gets into Using the Contact Expert Server Manager Application#Contact Expert Server Component States state. Depending on hardware and network performance, this step could take between 5 to 10 minutes.

Setting up Contact Expert Automatic Startup

The startup mechanism of Contact Expert is relying on the Microsoft Windows Server environment. It is using a single Windows service component to launch the rest of Contact Expert server components. As usual, this initial service (CE Server Agent) can be configured to start automatically whenever the operating system is finished starting up.

For production environments, Geomant advises to enable the automatic startup feature for this service after all initial configuration was performed. This will make sure Contact Expert is running as soon as possible after a computer restart.

Running Contact Expert Automatically After Windows Restart

Follow the below steps to set up the automatic startup

  1. Log on to CE Core Host with administrator privileges.

  2. Open Services (use the Windows Search tool to find it or alternatively you can run services.msc).

  3. Find and right click the windows service CE Server Agent. Click Properties in the context menu.

  4. On the General tab, set Automatic as Startup type then click OK.

  5. Find and open the CE Tools shortcut on the desktop and run CE PowerShell with administrator privileges.

  6. Execute the following command in the PowerShell window:

    Set-CEStartupMethod -Type "auto"

3. Installing CE Designer Tools

Installing Contact Expert Designer Tools

Important

Before starting the installation of Contact Expert Script Designer, please make sure all Contact Expert Prerequisites are already installed on the target computer.

This chapter describes the installation steps of the legacy component Script Designer (also known as Teleproxy Designer or Campaign Designer). We recommend you to use Cloud Scripting instead, as the legacy solution is out of support.

Please note that a minimum screen resolution of 1366 x 768 is needed on the PC the dedicated Script Designer tool will be used on.

Follow these steps to install Contact Expert Designer Tools

Log on to CE Administrator PC with local administrator privileges.

Launch "CE\CE_Teleproxy\setup.exe" from the Contact Expert installation media.

Accept the license agreement, enter a user name and a company name and select the "Anyone who uses this computer" option.

Accept the default installation path (C:\Geomant\CE) and accept the list of components selected by default.

Specify the installation parameters on the Core Parameters screen as per the instructions below, then click Next:

Core Server: enter the FQDN of the CE Core Host here.

Web Server: enter the FQDN of the CE Core Host here.

System Database:

  1. Server: enter the FQDN of the CE Database Host here.
  2. User ID: this field is not editable.
  3. Password: this field is not editable.
  4. Catalog: this field is not editable.
  5. Use Windows Authentication: leave unchecked.

Secure Communication (HTTPS): leave unchecked.

Click Next at the next screen and wait for the install wizard to finish.

Using Script Designer

Creating Agent Scripts (Scenarios)

To create and assign an agent script to the previously created campaign

Log on to CE Administrator PC with local administrator privileges.

Find and open the CE Tools shortcut on the desktop and run CE Script Designer with administrator privileges in order to assign a script to the campaign already created using the Administrator interface.

Open a campaign being in Design state.

Create a simple script for the campaign and save it.

  1. If you do not wish to create one from the beginning, use the "Import campaign from cabinet file" button on the toolbar to import a demo script from the following location: "CE\CE_Scripts\parking.cab" from the Contact Expert installation media.

Checking Campaign Availability

To check the availability of the campaign and recorder endpoints

  1. Launch Internet Explorer.

  2. Navigate to the Contact Expert Administrator interface: https://[CE Core Host FQDN]/CEPortal and log in using the default administrator credentials.***

  3. Change the state of the campaign to Running as explained in the Designing Queues & Campaigns#Campaign States chapter.

  4. Log on to the CE Agent (Operator) PC and launch the Skype for Business client.

  5. Search for the Skype for Business contact records of both the recorder and the campaign endpoints. Both of them should be showing up and in an Available state (green presence status).

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4. Installing CE Agent Application

Installing Contact Expert Agent Client Application

Important

Before starting the installation of Contact Expert Agent Client Application, please make sure all Contact Expert Prerequisites are already installed on the target computer.

Selecting the appropriate installation method

Contact Expert Agent Client Application MSI installer supports the following installation methods:

  • Local installation (standalone)
  • Remote installation using Group Policy (GPO)
  • Remote installation using System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)

Both manual and silent installation mode is available in all above cases.

Standalone installation is recommended to install the application on a single computer. However, remote installation could be a better choice in case of multiple computers. Manual installation is the option where the entire install process is controlled by the user through the installer GUI, while silent installation means the process does not require any user interaction thus no GUI is displayed.

If you have selected the method best suits your needs, please proceed with the corresponding section.

Manual Installation

Standalone Installation

Follow these steps to install Contact Expert Agent Client Application

  1. Log in to the Agent PC with local administrator privileges.

  2. Make sure the Skype for Business client application is not running.

    It is important to close the Skype for Business client. A simple sign out is not enough. Failing to exit from the Skype for Business client application will generate problems with the Contact Expert Agent Client application that will require the complete uninstallation and reinstallation of the application.

  3. Launch "CE\CE_Agent.Net\setup.bat" from the Contact Expert installation media.

    The installer must be run with Administrator privileges, the supplied .BAT file makes sure this and any other requirements are met. Thus please ensure that you run the included batch file instead of running the MSI installer directly.

    If you run the MSI directly, the installation will fail.

  4. Accept the license agreement, enter a user name and a company name and select the "Anyone who uses this computer" option.

  5. Accept the default installation path (C:\Geomant\CE).

  6. Specify the installation parameters on the Core Parameters screen as per the instructions below, then click Next:

    1. Platform: select the default platform (Microsoft Skype for Business 2015).***
      ***
    2. Protocol: select the protocol which satisfies your requirements (find the explanations below).
    3. Default Port: accept the default value (19960). 
    Make sure the local Windows firewall does not block inbound
    connections to this TCP port.

4.  ***Direct Access***:  
    1.  ***Core Server***: enter the internal FQDN of the CE Core
        Host here.
    2.  Web Server: enter the internal FQDN of the CE Core Host
        here. 
5.  Options:
    1.  ***Start Automatically***: check this if you want the agent
        application to start up automatically after a user signs
        into Windows, otherwise leave this unchecked.
    2.  Secure Communication (HTTPS): check if HTTPS is required,
        otherwise leave unchecked.
    3.  Dynamic Port Selection: check this if you are deploying the
        agent application on a computer which might be used by
        multiple users at the same time, otherwise leave this
        unchecked. 
6.  Web Services: enter the URL of the Client Access Server here
    (see the explanations below). 
7.  Custom Presence: select the preferred Skype for Business
    presence state to be in use by default whenever the agent is
    free to take a CE task (in 'CE - Available' state). The
    following options are available for selection:
    1.  Show Busy presence state when the agent is in CE - Available
        state.
    2.  Show Available presence state when the agent is in CE -
        Available state.

        CE is setting the SfB presence state of the agent to
        ***Busy*** automatically whenever a CE task is loaded for
        the agent. It is not a customer changeable setting.
  1. Click Next and wait for the install wizard to finish the installation.

Network Architecture Scenarios

The Protocol and Web Services parameter values depend on the way the agent PCs running the CE Agent Application are connected to the CE server(s). Use the following table to find out which settings fit your network architecture:

Connectivity Scenario Client Access Server URL
  • If the Agent PC is on the corporate network and
  • There is no NAT towards CE Core Host then
  • The alternative settings are:
http://[CE Core Host Internal FQDN]:8080/ClientAccessServer
  • If the Agent PC is outside of the corporate network or
  • There is a NAT service towards CE Core Host then
  • The mandatory settings are:
 http://[Reverse Proxy External FQDN]:[External CAS Port]/ClientAccessServer

Silent Installation

Standalone Installation

The Agent Client Application MSI installer can be run silently from the command line by passing the /qn or /qn+ parameter to msiexec. You can also specify Contact Expert specific parameters to be passed to the installer in order to configure the application. All these parameters are optional. However, if a parameter is not specified, the installer will use its default value during the configuration.

By default, if you perform a manual standalone installation, setup.bat executes the following command to install the application:

start msiexec.exe /i "%~dp0%~n0.msi";

The following example demonstrates how to install the Agent Client Application in silent mode in a Microsoft Skype for Business 2015 environment using SOAP to communicate with the CE Core Server:

start msiexec.exe /i "%~dp0%~n0.msi" /qn PLATFORM=SFB2015 PROTOCOL=SOAP CORESERVER=cecorehost.yourdomain.com WEBSERVER=cecorehost.yourdomain.com WEBSERVICES=http://cecorehost.yourdomain.com:8080/ClientAccessServer ALLUSERS=TRUE

The below table contains all Contact Expert specific command line parameters with their descriptions and default values:

Setting (as displayed on the GUI) Parameter Name Default Value Valid Values
Platform PLATFORM SFB2015 [ AVAYA | LYNC2010 | LYNC2013 | SFB2015 ]
Default Port DEFAULTPORT 19960 numbers
Core Server CORESERVER

[local computer FQDN]

 string
Web Server WEBSERVER [local computer FQDN] strings
Start Automatically AUTOSTART FALSE [ TRUE | FALSE ]
Secure Communication (HTTPS) HTTPS FALSE [ TRUE | FALSE ]
Dynamic Port Selection DYNAMICPORT TRUE [ TRUE | FALSE ]
Web Services WEBSERVICES http://[localcomputer FQDN]:8080/ClientAccessServer strings
Install into all user profiles ALLUSERS TRUE [ TRUE | FALSE ]

More detailed information and examples can be found in the "CE\CE_Agent.Net\setup.bat" located on the Contact Expert installation media.

To run the Agent Client Application MSI installer silently with the specified command line parameters

  1. Open a Command Prompt window as Administrator.

  2. Change the current path to the "CE\CE_Agent.Net"folder located on the Contact Expert installation media.

  3. Execute the following command:

    start msiexec.exe /i "%~dp0%~n0.msi"; /qn [CE_PARAM1=VALUE1] [CE_PARAM2=VALUE2] ...

Group Policy Installation

Note that this description is merely an example. If you already know how to perform a Group Policy install, you should do it your way.

To specify custom parameters for a Group Policy based MSI silent installation, the installer must be transformed by Microsoft's Orca tool. (Note that you can also use other similar software to create the necessary .mst transformation file.) Orca is a part of Windows SDK Components for Windows Installer Developers tool set which is included in the Windows Software Development Kit (SDK).

See the table in the Silent Installation section for the list of Contact Expert specific custom parameters.

To generate the transformation file

  1. Install Windows SDK. The installer can be found here.
  2. After the setup has completed, navigate to "...Microsoft SDKs\Windowsv7.0Bin" and run Orca.msi."
  3. Start Orca. Drag and drop the Agent Client Application MSI installer onto it. It will open automatically.
  4. Click Transform→New Transform.

  5. Choose Property from the Tables view.

  6. Scroll down to the bottom of the list, and modify the properties if you want to change their default value. The table in the Silent Installation section shows the default and possible values for every property (the "0" in the property table will never be used).

  7. When you are done, click Transform→Generate Transform... and save the .mst file.

Follow these steps to install Contact Expert Agent Client Application from Group Policy

  1. Create a shared folder for the MSI installer on a computer that is accessible from the Domain Controller and from each client PC you would like to install the software on. Authenticated Users must be given at least Read permission on this folder.

  2. Copy the .mst file generated by Orca to the shared folder just created.

  3. Log on to your Domain Controller and open Group Policy Management.

  4. Create a new GPO (Group Policy Object). You can add the object to an existing computer group or to the domain settings by right clicking on one of them and selecting "Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here...". Choose a relevant name.

  5. Right click on the newly created object and click Edit.

  6. In the opened window, navigate to the Computer Configuration →*Policies →Software Settings →Software installation* node. Right click on it and select New →*Package. Copy the ***Network Path** of the shared folder created at the first step of the address bar, hit Enter and choose the MSI installer file, then click Open.

    If you specify the URL using an IP address, FQDN or absolute path, the installation might fail.

  7. After selecting the installer, choose Advanced option for the deployment method. A new window will pop up.

  8. Click Add... on the Modifications tab and choose the .mst file you have generated. Grant Read permission for the Authenticated Users group on the Security tab, then click OK, but do not close the Group Policy Management Editor window yet.

  9. Navigate to Computer Configuration →*Policies →Windows Settings →Security Settings →Local Policies →Security Options*. Find the below policies on the right pane and apply the following settings:

    Policy Setting
    User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode Elevate without prompting
    User Account Control: Detect application installations and prompt for elevation Disabled
    User Account Control: Only elevate UIAccess applications that are installed in secure locations Disabled

  10. Navigate to Computer Configuration→Policies→Administrative Templates→System→Group Policy. Find the below policy on the right pane and apply the following setting:

    Policy Setting
    Allow asynchronous user Group Policy processing when logging on through Remote Desktop Services Disabled

  11. Navigate to Computer Configuration→Policies→Administrative Templates→System→Logon. Find the below policy on the right pane and apply the following setting:

    Policy Setting
    Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon Enabled

  12. After completing the steps above, the group policy must be refreshed on the client computers. By default, it will automatically refresh within 120 minutes or at the next computer restart. To force a PC to update the group policy immediately, log on to the PC, open a Command Prompt window as Administrator and execute the following command:

    gpupdate /force

  13. At the next PC restart, the Agent Client Application will be installed automatically (before the login screen will appear).

System Center Configuration Manager Installation

This type of installation requires strong SCCM knowledge. Also, the below guide assumes you have a properly installed and configured SCCM environment.

Follow these steps to install Contact Expert Agent Client Application from System Center Configuration Manager

  1. Make sure you have a fully functional SCCM server and all the client PCs are connected to it.

  2. Choose your favorite type of collection and include the necessary resources.

  3. Create a new application in the Software Library. Choose the Windows Installer (*.msi file) option for type and locate the installer file on your network. This folder must be shared for the clients with read permission granted.

  4. Agent Client Application can be configured through the command line during the installation. The screenshot shows an example command line entry in SCCM for silent install including a Contact Expert specific configuration parameter. To change multiple values, just specify all the desired parameters and their value assignments (e.g. "msiexec.exe /i setup.msi /qn PLATFORM=SFB2015 PROTOCOL=SOAP DEFAULTPORT=8080"). The table in the Silent Installation section lists the names of these properties and their valid values.

  5. Complete the wizard and do not forget to distribute and deploy the application.

Verifying the Installation

Testing Skype for Business Presence Propagation

Follow these steps to test the presence synchronisation between Skype for Business and Contact Expert

  1. As administrator, log out of the Agent PC and log back in using a Windows account associated with an agent.

  2. Log in to the Skype for Business client manually first and make sure that the list of custom Contact Expert presence statuses (e.g. "CE - Available") appear.

  3. Find and open the CE Tools shortcut on the desktop and run CE Agent Application.Net.

  4. Click the Voice →Login button on the Home tab of the menu bar. Make sure that "Skype for Business" login mode is selected then click the green check-mark to log in the Agent Application.

  5. After logged in, change your agent status to a passive state (break) then change back to active in the Agent Application (click Operator Status →Break button on the Voice tab once then again). Check that your presence shown in the Skype for Business client follows this change through ("CE - Available"→"CE - Break"→"CE - Available").

Verifying Announcements and Queue Music

  1. Make sure the agent account you used to log in to the agent client application has a skill assigned to a working campaign and that there are no other agents in "CE - Available" state for this particular skill or campaign.

  2. While logged in to the agent client application, change your agent status to a passive state (break).

  3. Use the Skype for Business client on a different agent PC or use the mobile edition of Skype for Business client on any mobile device to dial the Skype for Business endpoint URI of the campaign already set up.

  4. Verify that you hear the TTS announcements and/or the queuing music. Your test call must be waiting in the appropriate voice queue as no agent is available assigned to the campaign.

  5. While on the call, check that the Skype for Business endpoint of the campaign has the proper status displayed.

Taking the Call

  1. Without hanging up the test call, change the agent state to active on the agent PC you logged in to the agent client application.

  2. Verify that the call rings at this agent and pick up the call.

  3. While on the call, use the other agent PC to ensure that the statuses of the Skype for Business endpoints of the campaign and the recording service reflect the ongoing call.

In order to verify the status of the entire system, please follow the Basic Install Deployment Checklists.

Configuring the Reverse Proxy

A reverse proxy service is required in the customers' DMZ in case at least one agent workstation resides outside of the corporate network. This is the third option listed in the above Agent PC connectivity scenario table. In this case, Contact Expert Agent Client Application establishes 2 different communication channels:

  • Control channel: a SOAP-based communication channel between the agent client application and Contact Expert Client Access Server (CAS). This channel is primarily used to expose softphone functionalities.
  • Data channel: a HTML-based data channel between the agent client application and the Internet Information Services (IIS) web server running on CE Core Host. This channel is primarily used to download/upload tasks and contact history.

The following diagram shows the described architecture:

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Please note that the corporate firewall must be configured to enable both HTML-based and SOAP-based traffic back and forth between the external agent workstations and the CE Core Hosts.

The Contact Expert installation package does not contain a HTTP reverse proxy, because there are many third party solutions available and customers usually employed one already.

Software such as Microsoft Threat Management Gateway (TMG) firewall, Microsoft Internet Information Services with Application Request Routing (IIS ARR) and free suites such as Nginx, pfSense, etc. are all available for this purpose.

To implement the URL mappings needed by the CE Agent Application located outside of the corporate intranet:

  1. Navigate to the Application Servers form in the CE portal and configure the Public Web URL and Private Web URL values. You can add custom ports to these with a colon, e.g.: "http://public.cehost.com:6789"

  2. Decide which Application Server FQDNs the system should use when constructing the Agent Policy URLs. These are the tags shown in the Agent Policy URLs, such as "{domain_HttpAddress}". The options available are:

    domain_PrivateHttpAddress

    		 The Private Web URL will be used from the Application Server resource
    domain_PublicHttpAddress The Public Web URL will be used from the Application Server resource

    domain_HttpAddress

    		 The system will use the URL tags – either the domain_PrivateHttpAddress or the domain_PublicHttpAddress – defined in the CAS web.xml configuration file

  3. In the reverse proxy of choice, configure an external FQDN with a unique port and an internal FQDN for every URL the Agent Policy resource defines. E.g:

    External URL Internal URL
    https://[Reverse Proxy External FQDN]:[External Port]/CEAgent/... http://[CE Core Host Internal FQDN]/CEAgent/...

    FQDN and port pairs in the External URL column above should match the Public Web URL property in the Application Servers resource set up in step 1 above.

    Repeat this to cover every URL in the Agent Policy.

  4. Finally, add the CAS FQDN to the reverse proxy URL mapping configuration. Make sure the internal URL provided points to the internal application server FQDN with the port configured for the CAS (Tomcat). The default internal port is 8080. 

The base part of the CAS FQDN specified as the external URL in the
reverse proxy should match the **Web Services** parameter specified
during the installation of Contact Expert Agent Application.

Customizing the Configuration File of Contact Expert Agent Client Application

To learn all the possible options in the configuration, please read the following article: How to configure Contact Expert Agent Client Application).

These settings are all preset by the installer wizard, however you can change/refine their values at any time as needed. If a given setting is missing from the configuration file, the application uses its default value.

Sorry, your browser does not support inline SVG. article updatedarticle updated6/23/2020 9:06:53 AM (UTC)6/23/2020 9:06:53 AM (UTC)