Communication Infrastructure
Connect version:
Clarity Connect is native to Skype for Business and therefore must be installed in a Skype for Business Server 2019 environment. The Skype for Business Server topology must be one that is supported by Microsoft.
Coexistence environments (where Lync Server 2010 or 2013 servers are also present in the environment) are supported; however, all application servers for Clarity Connect must be in the Skype for Business Server 2015 portion of the topology, and the next hop must be a Skype for Business Server Front End pool.
Agents may be homed on Front End pools running any version of Lync Server or Skype for Business Server.
The November 2016 cumulative update for Skype for Business is required for Clarity Connect 4.1.
If you plan to take advantage of the Clarity Connect Message Router functionality, please ensure:
- You are running Microsoft Exchange 2013 SP1
- Note: Microsoft Exchange 2010 is supported, albeit with limited functionality
- Agents that will be using this feature are running Outlook 2013
- Note: Outlook 2010 is supported with limited functionality
Network Infrastructure
Since Clarity Connect uses resources spread around the network infrastructure and deals extensively with real-time communication, the latency between network components is critical to the application performing well. Below is a table of the preferred and required ping times between various components.
| Server A | Server B | Rec. Ping | Max Ping |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Application Server | Primary Database | 10ms | 50ms |
| Remote Application Server | Primary Database | 100ms | 300ms |
| Application Server | ‘Local’ Lync Front-End | 50ms | 150ms |
| Application Server | ‘Local’ Agent | 50ms | 150ms |
| Agent | ‘Local’ Lync Front-End | 50ms | 200ms |
Application Server
Each individual instance of the Clarity Connect application must be deployed on its own server. Please note that if other resource-intensive applications are running on the same application server, the specifications below may need to be adjusted upward. Virtualization is supported, but CPU cores must not be oversubscribed on the host machine because of the real-time media processing performed by the servers.
An application server with the specifications below can handle up to 40 calls in the IVR or 100 calls connected to agents.
Certificates
The web certificate bound to a 4.1/5.0 Clarity Connect site in IIS must be SHA-2.
Option 1: Physical Application Server
Operating System:
Windows Server 2012 (64-bit only), Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit only), Windows Server 2016 (64-bit only)
CPU:
64-bit processor, quad-core, 2.0GHz or higher
(Note: Intel Itanium processors are not supported for Lync Server server roles)
Memory:
16GB
Disk:
Local storage with at least 100 GB free disk space on a fault tolerant drive array consisting of drives operating at a minimum of 10,000 RPM. Solid state drives may also be used.
Network:
1 network adapter required (more supported), 1 Gbps or higher
Option 2: Virtual Application Server
Operating System:
Windows Server 2012 (64-bit only), Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit only), Windows Server 2016 (64-bit only)
CPU:
Four virtual CPU cores. As with Lync server roles with media workloads, CPU cores must not be oversubscribed on the host server hosting Clarity Connect application servers.
Memory:
16GB
Disk:
Local storage with at least 100 GB free disk space on a fault tolerant drive array consisting of drives operating at a minimum of 10,000 RPM. Solid state drives may also be used.
Network:
1 network adapter required (more supported), 1 Gbps or higher. For Hyper-V, use the standard VM network adapter, not the legacy network adapter.
Database
Clarity Connect supports the following versions of Microsoft SQL Server:
- SQL Server 2012
- SQL Server 2014
- SQL Server 2016
The recommended version is SQL Server 2016.
Clarity Connect will create a runtime and a data warehouse database. The data warehouse and reporting require that at least SQL Server Reporting Services 2012 is installed.
Locating Clarity Connect databases on the same server as Lync Server databases is not supported for performance reasons. For high-volume implementations, it is recommended that the Runtime database be hosted on a different Database Server instance than the Reporting database.
Memory allocated to the database server must be adequate for the expected load. Clarity recommends a minimum of 32GB of memory, with no cap on the memory used by the SQL Server process. Larger of higher-volume implementations may require more memory on the database server; contact Clarity for details.
Database usage will vary by version and client, but figure roughly 1GB of disk space per 7,500 Connect sessions.
Session Recordings
Clarity Connect recordings can be stored on a file share (accessible by all application servers) or the application server directly. This is configured during installation. The location that is chosen should have adaquite disk space for all sessions that may be recorded. Our approximate recording rate is 1 GB of storage for 113 hours of audio.
Anti-Virus Exceptions
Clarity Connect requires that log files (files ending in .log) contained in the paths for the application install (generally D:\ClarityApps), and call recordings (generally on a network share) be excluded from any Anti-Virus scans. These are processing real time calls and scans can delay or lock files causing issues.
Agent Desktop or Laptop
Please note that if an agent is using resource-intensive applications at the same time as Clarity Connect, the specifications below may need to be adjusted upward.
Operating System:
Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10
CPU:
Intel Pentium 4, AMD Athlon 64, or equivalent
Data and voice:
1.6 gigahertz (GHz) or higher processor, 2 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor (recommended)
Network:
Ethernet-connected Desktop or Laptop with access to the Internet (wireless connections are not recommended)
Memory:
On Windows Vista or higher: 2 GB of RAM
Display resolution:
1280x800 required
Graphics hardware:
Support for Microsoft DirectX 9.0 application programming interface (API)
128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
Windows Display Driver Model driver
Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
32 bits per pixel
Web browser:
The Clarity Connect Dashboard supports modern mobile and desktop browsers. On the desktop, the Dashboard supports Internet Explorer 10+, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera. For mobile devices, including tablets and phones, the Dashboard supports mobile Safari for iOS 8+ (iPad and iPhone), Chrome for Android and iOS version 44+, Firefox for Android version 40+, and Opera for Android version 15+. If running the Dashboard in Internet Explorer, make sure it is not running in Compatibility Mode.
The Clarity Connect Agent Console requires Internet Explorer 10 or later with Silverlight 4 or later plugin (latest preferred).
Microsoft has confirmed that Apple deprecated the support of most plug-ins for Safari 12.0 and later. As of right now, there are no plans to change this. To use Safari to take audio calls in the Web Agent Console, you will need to use Safari version 11 only. Safari 12.0 and later does support IM chat sessions. For more information, please see this Microsoft KB: Plan for Meetings clients
Skype for Business Client: (For Agents not utilizing the Web Agent Console)
Clarity Connect recommends the full Windows Skype for Business client, but also supports the Basic client. The Lync 2010 and Lync 2013 clients are also supported. Clarity Connect does not support the Lync Windows Store app or Lync Attendant client (due to limitations around loading add-on applications).
Agents can answer calls on the Mac client but will not have full functionality.