Microsoft Lync for Mobile

Lync is Microsoft's new unified communications (UC) platform for Enterprise customers. It includes voice, video, instant messaging and conferencing, as well as the ability to enhance, extend, and even replace traditional and IP PBX systems.

Unfortunately, upon its release, Lync was only compatible with Microsoft Windows. Although Mac support was added, it still lacked native support for modern mobile platforms, which is a must have requirement for today's remote workforce. This issue was compounded by the fact that their major competitor Cisco already had true cross platform support, by utilising cloud services and the open-standard Jabber protocol. Microsoft promised to resolve this issue by releasing native Lync clients for all the major mobile platforms by the end of 2011.

Today I'm pleased to report that Microsoft have met this target, by releasing a free client for Windows Phone, iOS and Android (download links below):

• Lync for Windows Phone
• Lync for iPhone
• Lync for iPad
• Lync for Android

Lync for Mobile significantly increases the value of the platform and boasts the following features:  

• Join conferences with a single touch (no access code or pin number required).

• Stay connected, while controlling your availability; see who's available at a glance and connect over IM, email or a call; set your own status and notification settings so you can stay in touch while protecting your "off-work" time.

• Communicate with others using a single, consistent identity. Call-via-work allows outbound calls using your Enterprise Voice number, making it easier for others to recognise calls from the Lync mobile client.

• Connect with confidence through channel encryption, transport layer security (TLS) support, and perimeter/internal network protection that help safeguard your communications.

To be able to use the Lync for Mobile you must either have access to a premise based Lync Server Environment or Office 365. Let's hope Microsoft continue to update the apps and proactively add new platforms as they become relevant.

Introducing Microsoft Lync

Today Microsoft launched Lync, the next generation version of Office Communicator (previously known as OCS Wave 14).

Lync is Microsoft's answer to unified communications, delivering complete presence, instant messaging, conferencing and enterprise voice capabilities through a single, easy-to-use interface that is consistent across PC, browser, and mobile device. It also has improved integration with Office, Outlook (Exchange) and SharePoint.

As with previous versions of Office Communicator (such as 2007 R2), the end users main interaction will be with the software client running on a PC or Mac. Anyone familiar with Office Communicator or Windows Messenger will immediately be at home with Lync, however there have been some enhancements to the user interface and of course plenty of new features.

Unified Experience

• Get easy access to presence, instant messaging, voice, and audio, video, and Web conferencing—all from the new Microsoft Lync 2010 client.
• Use one set of contacts across Lync 2010 and Office applications.
• Communicate with context from within the applications you use most, including Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft SharePoint.
• Deliver access to presence, instant messaging, and other capabilities for workers on the go via PCs, browsers, and mobile phones.

Connect and Collaborate

• Find the right people, make connections, and communicate more effectively with new rich presence features including pictures and location.
• Leverage internal expertise more effectively with Microsoft SharePoint-based Skill Search.

Simple, Essential, Reliable Conferencing

• Collaborate more effectively with built-in desktop and application sharing, PowerPoint upload, and rich white boarding, including the ability to copy and paste images and other content.
• Schedule and join meetings with a single click in Microsoft Outlook or the meeting reminder.
• Place attendees in a virtual lobby for greater security and control over who can attend.

Complete Enterprise Voice Features

• Delight your users with the features they need, a wide range of IP and USB devices, and the ability to work in the office, at home, or on the road.
• Architect your deployment for high availability using data center resiliency and survivable branch appliances.
• Manage bandwidth utilization and increase Quality of Experience with Call Admission Control, QoS markings, and an adaptive media stack that works well even on unmanaged networks like the Internet.
• Meet North American regulatory requirements with flexible Enhanced 9-1-1 capability.

Powerful Deployment and Management Tools

• Work with a PowerShell-based foundation for administration consistent with Exchange Server, Active Directory, and other Microsoft server products.
• Get consolidated management tasks in one location with dramatically improved navigation through the new Silverlight-based, scenario -driven unified graphical management tool.
• Improve security and administrative productivity with Role-based Access Control (RBAC) with built-in and customer-defined roles.
• Get support for server virtualization of most OCS roles.

Extensibility

• Easily embed Communicator UI elements in your applications, build your own client experience in .NET with open and documented APIs, and enhance contextual collaboration by launching applications right from Communicator.
• Get platform support for sophisticated contact center and help desk scenarios, enable access to all UC-enabled services from any phone, and deliver state-of-the-art speech technology in 26 languages.
• Significantly simplify deployment, operations, and interoperability with added features that improve provisioning, load-balancing, fail-over, and draining.

Microsoft were also keen to point out that although Lync is perfectly placed to work with your existing PBX and messaging infrastructure, it is now a fully capable stand-alone product. This statement was clarified at the end of the event when they showed the future compatibility for different platforms and devices.

For more information on Microsoft Lync I suggest you head over to the Lync launch site.