Lync 2010 New Features

Topic La st M odifie d: 2011- 02- 03 This t opic descr ibes Microsoft Lync 2010 changes and enhancem ent s m ade since t he release of Microsoft Office Com m unicat or 2007 R2. I f you are m igrat ing from Microsoft Office Com m unicat ions Server 2007, see also " New Client Feat ur es" in t he Micr osoft Office Com m unicat ions Ser ver 2007 R2 docum ent at ion at ht t p: / / go.m icrosoft .com / fwlink/ ? 1 LinkI d= 169718 .

New User Interface

I n addit ion t o a new look, Lync 2010 has im pr oved usabilit y and new feat ur es t hat encourage com m unicat ion and facilit at e im pr om pt u m eet ings and conversat ions am ong colleagues. The Cont act s list is enhanced wit h addit ional cust om izat ion and search feat ur es. ( For det ails, see t he Cont act s Enhancem ent s sect ion lat er in t his t opic.) The Conversat ions list displays a user s curr ent and recent conversat ions. I f m ult iple conversat ions are in progr ess, t he user can swit ch fr om one Conver sat ion window t o anot her by clicking a conver sat ion in t he list . Lync obt ains conver sat ion hist ory fr om Microsoft Exchange Server and displays it in t he Conver sat ions list so t hat user s can view and cont inue t heir past conversat ions. The Act ivit y Feeds list let s users see not e and st at us updat es for people in t heir Cont act s list . Users can now easily see each ot her s lat est act ivit ies, such as office m oves or new personal phot os, or a hist or y of t he last several st at us not es t hat have been post ed. Cont act s can see each ot her s updat es if t hey are assigned a Fam ily and Friends, Workgroup, Colleagues or Ext er nal Cont act s privacy r elat ionship. The Phone view cont ains a dial pad for m aking calls, a list of v oice- m ail m essages, and a Check but t on for t est ing call qualit y.

The "M e" Area

The t op of t he Lync user int er face shows how users appear t o t heir cont act s, and let s users quickly updat e t heir st at us and ot her inform at ion. The new per sonal pict ur e feat ure displays a user s pict ure t o ot hers and let s t he user see pict ures of ot her people in t he organizat ion. User s can cont r ol whet her t hey want t o show t heir pict ur e and whet her t hey want t o see pict ur es of ot hers. I f you enable it , user s can also change t heir pict ure from t he default phot o, which is st or ed in Act ive Direct ory Dom ain Ser vices, t o a cust om pict ur e on Microsoft Shar ePoint services or a public websit e. Lync keeps t rack of how available a user is by showing whet her t he user is in a m eet ing, in a call, or away fr om t he desk. Red, yellow, and green indicat ors let users k now a cont act s st at us at a glance. There is also a new Off Wor k st at us. Wit h new locat ion feat ures, Lync can det ect a user s locat ion when he or she t ravels bet ween work and hom e so t hat Enhanced 9- 1- 1 ( E9- 1- 1) ser vices will be able t o find t he user m or e easily in an em er gency. Users can also use t his feat ur e t o let cont act s see whet her t hey ar e on t he road or in a different building.

Contacts Enhancements
The new Cont act s list and cont act cards m ake it easier t o find people and keep t rack of cont act s. The view of cont act s is m ore cust om izable in Lync. User s can display cont act s by group, availabilit y, or level of privacy, wit h or wit hout phot os, and t hey can st art conversat ions and m eet ings fr om t he Cont act s list by point ing t o t he cont act . I n addit ion, it is easy t o edit cont act infor m at ion. The Frequent Cont act s group shows t he 10 cont act s a user m ost frequent ly has conver sat ions wit h ( not necessarily t he m ost recent ) . Lync pre- populat es t he group wit h t he user s t eam m em bers. User s can pin t heir favor it e or im port ant cont act s t o t he t op of t heir Frequent Cont act s gr oup.

Searching for cont act s is m ore robust because user s can conduct a skill search. This feat ur e let s users search for people in t heir organizat ion by using any pr opert y list ed on SharePoint ( for exam ple, nam e, em ail, skills, area of ex pert ise, and so on) This feat ure is available only if t he syst em adm inist rat or has deployed Shar ePoint and t urned on Lync and SharePoint int egrat ion. New expanded cont act cards show m ore inform at ion, including st at ic infor m at ion collect ed fr om t he corporat e direct ory, cust om ized phone num bers, and presence, locat ion, and t im e zone infor m at ion. Calendar free/ busy inform at ion fr om Exchange Ser ver is also shown. The Or ganizat ion t ab on t he cont act car d shows wher e t he person fit s int o t he organizat ional st r uct ur e and let s users navigat e t he hier archy. I f your or ganizat ion has deployed Micr osoft Exchange Ser ver 2010, a single unified cont act st ore for cont act s across Lync, t he Microsoft Out look m essaging and collaborat ion client , and ot her endpoint s elim inat es t he need t o m aint ain m ult iple cont act list s, and provides a consist ent experience across progr am s.

Privacy Features
New pr iv acy feat ur es offer users m ore cont r ol over who can access t heir infor m at ion. Access levels are now called privacy relat ionships. Users can assign t heir cont act s different privacy r elat ionships, such as Fam ily or Workgr oup, depending on t heir r elat ionship t o t he user . User s can also add t r ust ed dom ains for people out side t he or ganizat ion. Enhanced presence pr iv acy is a new opt ion. Wit h enhanced presence pr iv acy, a user s presence is visible t o cont act s in his or her Cont act s list but not t o ot her people in t he organizat ion.

Office and Windows 7 Integration

Wit h t he great er int eroperabilit y of Lync wit h Micr osoft Office and t he Windows 7 operat ing syst em , user s can access Lync feat ures fr om wit hin Office and Windows. When users run Microsoft Office 2010 product s wit h Lync, t hey can per for m m any of t he sam e act ions in Office progr am s t hat t hey can perform in Lync. Lync feat ures, such as sending inst ant m essages and sharing docum ent s, ar e available in Office 2010 pr oduct s, including Out look, t he Microsoft Word wor d processing pr ogram , t he Micr osoft Power Point present at ion graphics pr ogram , and Microsoft Excel spreadsheet soft ware. This funct ionalit y is available in SharePoint ser vices, t oo. Lync cont act s appear in Out look. Users can st art inst ant m essaging ( I M) or phone conver sat ions fr om Office applicat ions, wit hout swit ching t o Lync. And now users can send an Out look em ail m essage direct ly fr om Lync. Lync feat ures are av ailable from t he Windows 7 t askbar .

Program Sharing, Desktop Sharing, and Collaboration Features

Shar ing and collaborat ion feat ures in Lync hav e been expanded from deskt op sharing t o include progr am sharing, whit eboar ds, annot at ion t ools, polls, and PowerPoint pr esent at ions. Users can upload, navigat e t hrough, and annot at e PowerPoint pr esent at ions dur ing an online conversat ion or m eet ing. Any file present ed is t r ansm it t ed t o all m eet ing par t icipant s, who can save it on t heir com put ers. Users can r est rict PowerPoint present at ion av ailabilit y according t o part icipant r ole ( or ganizer , present ers, and everyone) when t he PowerPoint pr esent at ion is not being shar ed. A whit eboard is a blank screen t hat can be used for collaborat ing wit h t he help of t ools such as t ex t , ink, shapes, and im ages. Annot at ions m ade on whit eboards will be seen by all part icipant s. The whit eboard feat ure enhances collaborat ion by allowing m eet ing part icipant s t o discuss ideas, br ainst orm , t ake not es, and so on. The laser point er t ool can be used during PowerPoint slide pr esent at ions and whit eboar d sessions. Users can shar e files wit h m eet ing par t icipant s by uploading t hem as at t achm ent s. During a m eet ing, part icipant s can download t he at t achm ent s. User s can rest r ict t he availabilit y of at t achm ent s accor ding t o m eet ing part icipant s roles ( organizer, pr esent er s, or ev eryone) . The polling feat ur e enhances collaborat ion by allowing pr esent er s t o quickly det er m ine part icipant s prefer ences. During online m eet ings and conversat ions, pr esent er s can use polls t o gat her anonym ous r esponses from part icipant s. All present ers can see t he result s and can eit her hide t he r esult s or show t hem t o all part icipant s.

Recording and Playback

When enabled by t he adm inist rat or, t he r ecor ding feat ure allows or ganizer s and present ers t o r ecord all aspect s of a Lync session, including who ent er ed t he m eet ing, audio and video, and cont ent fr om I M conversat ions, program shar ing sessions, Power Point present at ions, handout s, whit eboar ds, and so on. Recordings are saved t o t he or ganizer s or present ers com put er but can also be published t o a locat ion t hat is available t o ot hers.

Improved M eeting Join Experience

I n Lync, users can j oin m eet ings fast er and schedule m eet ings m ore sim ply. An im proved Online Meet ing Add- in for Microsoft Ly nc 2010 and m eet ing user int er face m akes it easier t o schedule m eet ings in Out look and invit e ot hers befor e and dur ing m eet ings. Join m et r ics included wit h Lync can be used t o m easure j oin per form ance, which is t arget ed at less t han t wo seconds when Lync is inst alled. Ent ry point s for j oining a m eet ing are display ed wher ever m eet ing inform at ion is available, which im pr oves discover abilit y and let s users j oin m eet ings wit hout having t o swit ch progr am s. Meet ing URLs ar e sim pler, easier t o rem em ber, and easier t o com m unicat e. The invit at ion has been sim plified by including a shor t er ht t ps: / / URL. The or ganizer can also change t he language of t he inv it at ion fr om anot her language t o English and schedule online m eet ings when Lync is not available. Aut hent icat ion- relat ed j oin failures caused by inadver t ent access cont rol configur at ions or last - m inut e changes t o at t endees ar e prevent ed. Anonym ous users and part icipant s for whom aut hent icat ion fails are t ransfer red t o a wait ing ar ea called t he lobby. Pr esent ers can t hen eit her adm it t hese users t o t he m eet ing or r ej ect t hem . From t he invit at ion, m obile phone user s can click once t o j oin t he audio port ion of m eet ings.

PSTN Dial-In and Dial-Out Conferencing

A num ber of enhancem ent s im prov e t he exper ience for people j oining conferences t hr ough public swit ched t elephone net work ( PSTN) calls. I n Microsoft Lync Server 2010, t here are a m inim al num ber of concise prom pt s t hat users m ust respond t o when t hey j oin a call. Callers ar e no longer disconnect ed if no one is available t o accept t he call. I nst ead, t hey wait in t he lobby. I n Lync Server 2010, organizers can decline adm it t ance t o any caller wait ing in t he lobby. Callers have access t o dual- t one m ult ifrequency ( DTMF) com m ands t hrough t he Help m enu. Callers ar e not ified when calls are recorded. Dial- in set t ings ar e aut om at ically configur ed for audio conferencing. No audio confer encing provider configur at ion is required. Meet ing dial- out is an opt ional feat ure t hat allows user s t o j oin t he audio por t ion of a m eet ing by using a PSTN num ber. Wit h dial- out phoning, t he Lync Server A/ V Conferencing service calls t he user , and t he user answers t he phone t o j oin t he m eet ing.

Video Enhancements
The video exper ience in Lync feat ures im pr oved video cont r ols and t he full - screen exper ience, in addit ion t o support for panoram ic video, m ult ipoint video, subscr ipt ion video, and VGA video in conferences.

M anager/ Delegate Enhancements

I n addit ion t o t he feat ur es list ed in t he Call Handling: Delegat ion and Response Gr oup Enhancem ent s sect ion lat er in t his t opic, Lync has added suppor t for delegat e feat ures so t hat delegat es do not have t o swit ch bet ween Lync and t he Microsoft Lync 2010 At t endant console. Lync now pr ovides: not ificat ion when a user is added as som eones delegat e, t he abilit y t o m ake calls on behalf of t he m anager, and an aut om at ic cont act group t hat cont ains people for whom a user is a delegat e. I n Lync, a delegat e can support m ult iple m anagers and m ake use of collaborat ion t ools, such as program shar ing and file t ransfer , which are not support ed by Lync 2010 At t endant .

Call Park and Retrieve

Adm inist rat or s can enable t he Call Park feat ur e, which let s users put a call on hold and t hen eit her ret rieve it t hem selves or not ify ot her users ( for exam ple, by I M) t o ret rieve t he call from t heir own phones or a com m on area phone.

Call Quality Checks and Diagnostics

Lync provides not ificat ions t o help user s im prove t he qualit y of t heir calls if it det ect s device, net wor k, or com put er issues during a call. A net work healt h indicat or m onit or s t he qualit y of t he net wor k at r egular int ervals. I f net wor k qualit y is poor, a m essage is sent t hat r ecom m ends t hat a user m ake a t est call t o ensure t he qualit y is sufficient for t he t ype of call t he user needs t o m ake. Appr oxim at ely t welve pot ent ial audio problem s ar e diagnosed, such as echo, speaking t oo soft ly, and low bandwidt h. Sources of audio problem s m ay include t he net wor k, com put er, devices, or m ult iple issues occur ring at t he sam e t im e. A Check Call Qualit y but t on allows users t o m ake a t est call on Lync so t hat t hey can check t he voice qualit y of t he call. I t allows user s t o hear how t hey would sound in a real call. When users m ake a t est call, t he Audio Test service prom pt s t hem t o recor d a voice sam ple aft er a beep. The sam ple records for a pre- defined t im e period ( for exam ple 10 seconds) , and t hen it plays back t o t he user. I f t he net wor k is sub- opt im al, or if user s do not have a good device set up, t hey will discover t his from t he recording play back. During a call, if a user has a device set up t hat is adding poor audio ( for exam ple, echo or noise) , Lync inform s t he user and ot hers in t he call t hat t hey ar e using a device t hat is causing poor audio qualit y. The inform at ion t hat is sent t o ot hers in t he call will help t hem im pr ove t he qualit y of t he call. For exam ple, present ers can m ut e t he user s line if t he user is j ust list ening in on t he call.

Improved Audio Device Handling

I m pr oved audio device handling allows for easier inst allat ion and ident ificat ion of m ult iple audio devices. User s can swit ch devices in a conversat ion wit h a single click. Adm inist rat or s can choose t o advise users t o use a device t hat is opt im ized for Ly nc and pr ovide a link t o t he suppor t t eam s websit e. Device t uning set t ings ar e locat ed in t he Lync - Opt ions dialog box.

Location and Emergency Services Support (E9-1-1)

When enabled, t he Em er gency Services Ser vice Provider allows Lync t o t ransm it a locat ion t o em ergency r esponders when an em ergency services num ber is dialed ( such as 9 - 1- 1 in t he Unit ed St at es) . The locat ion infor m at ion t r ansm it t ed t o em ergency responders is t he locat ion t hat t he adm inist rat or has assigned t o a user s locat ion ( for exam ple, t he user s office num ber ) and ent ered int o t he locat ion dat abase or, if such a locat ion is not available, t he locat ion t he user m ay have m anually ent ered in t he Locat ion field. Two policies are available t o adm inist rat ors: enable E9 - 1- 1 wit hout enfor cing locat ion and enable E9 - 1- 1 wit h t he requir em ent t hat user s accept a disclaim er t hat t heir physical locat ion will not be provided t o em ergency responders should t hey choose not t o provide t he locat ion. All E9 - 1- 1 relat ed not ificat ions are cust om izable accor ding t o t he organizat ions legal policy. A user s geogr aphic locat ion dat a is det er m ined in one of t wo ways: The user can m anually ent er a locat ion, or t he Lync Server Locat ion I nform at ion ser vice provides t he locat ion dat a t o Ly nc. I n addit ion, a user s t im e zone is ret r ieved fr om Windows.

Call Handling: Delegation and Response Group Enhancements

Lync includes call delegat ion and r esponse group enhancem ent s. I n Lync Server, support for delegat e feat ur es such as shar ed lines ( m aking and receiving calls on behalf of a m anager) , dir ect access t o a m anager at all t im es, and quick t ransfer of calls t o a m anager allow delegat es t o m anage calls m or e efficient ly. Response gr oup call handling is enhanced t o allow agent s t o answer calls anonym ously so t hat wor kflow is not circum vent ed by caller s calling a direct line.

Adm inist rat or s can set up Micr osoft Exchange Calendar Delegat e sync- up wit h Ly nc Ser ver . When enabled, Exchange Calendar Delegat es wit h appr opr iat e user r ight s and perm issions ( equal t o or gr eat er t han Nonedit ing Aut hor per m issions) are aut om at ically added as a user s delegat es in Lync.

Enhanced Phone Experience

Lync provides enhanced phone capabilit ies wit h all t he funct ions of a t r adit ional public branch exchange ( PBX) sy st em plus useful pr oduct ivit y feat ures. The Phone view provides a list of voice- m ail m essages and call logs and includes an on - screen dial pad. Users can quickly place a t est call t o check t he qualit y of t heir audio. A Collect Logs feat ur e allows users t o collect Lync logs so t hat Microsoft can invest igat e audio, video, or connect ivit y issues t hat users m ay encount er. Users will need t o m anually upload t he logs by following t heir ent erprise adm inist rat or's inst r uct ions. The ent erprise adm inist rat or will send t he logs t o Micr osoft for t roubleshoot ing purposes. Users can select t heir personal favorit e song or ot her r ecorded announcem ent t o play while t heir callers are on hold.

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