Unified Communications

Microsoft® Lync™ connects users in new ways, regardless of their physical location. The latest release of the Unified Communications platform delivers a fresh, intuitive user experience that is directly accessible from Microsoft Office applications such as Microsoft Outlook®, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft SharePoint®.

Lync brings together the different ways people communicate in a single interface, is deployed as a unified platform, and is administered through a single management infrastructure. The unified nature of the system helps reduce costs and facilitates rapid user adoption. And, because Lync is broadly interoperable, it fits into existing IT infrastructure for easier deployment and migration.

IM and Presence

Rich presence and instant messaging capabilities in Lync Server 2010 help workers find and communicate with one another efficiently and effectively. Integration with familiar Microsoft Office productivity tools and Microsoft SharePoint makes IM and presence a natural part of everyday workflow, enhancing collaboration while making knowledge and expertise inside the organization readily accessible to all users.

Enterprise Voice

The core of Microsoft's unified communication solutions, Exchange Server 2010 can help you and your team accomplish strategic business challenges through reduced IT costs, increased user productivity with access anywhere, and greater safeguards for your business data. Enterprise voice in Lync Server 2010 meets telephony requirements through a combination of traditional IP PBX voice user features and more flexible unified communications alternatives. Traditional telephony management functions including dial plans, call authorization, and call detail records are supported and improved via interoperability with standard enterprise tools including Active Directory® and Microsoft SQL Server®. With Enterprise Voice, users can use their computers or desktop IP phones as their primary business phones; Enterprise Voice can also extend business calls to mobile devices.

Unified Conferencing

With Unified Conferencing in Lync Server 2010, users can collaborate, share information, and coordinate their efforts in real time. Audio, video, and sharing of documents, desktops, and applications are incorporated into the easy-to-use Lync 2010 client, accessible on demand and in the context of a typical workflow. For example, without switching applications, users can escalate a simple IM discussion to a multi-party application sharing session with voice and even video. All parties can see and edit presentations, documents, and other content without a single e-mail exchange.

Integration with Microsoft Office

Users can communicate with context from Microsoft Office applications. Lync Server 2010 works with Exchange, SharePoint, and Office applications for a richer collaborative experience with consistent presence, click-to-call options, and a new shared contact card.

Mobile Experience

With the Communicator Mobile client, Lync Server 2010 supports a wide range of Microsoft and third-party platforms, extending a rich communications experience to customers on their mobile devices of choice. Mobile clients compatible with Lync Server 2010 are made available by Microsoft, through joint partnership with providers such as Nokia, or from other providers.

Single, Unified Platform

Lync Server 2010 provides support for working with contacts that are located outside the company. Federated contacts can be people in an organization that have a federated relationship with the organization, or people connected to a public instant messaging service, such as the MSN network or the Windows Live network of Internet services. In the Contact List, users can see an icon that identifies federated contacts.

Simpler Deployment and Management

Lync Server 2010 introduces significant simplifications in deploying, operations, and interoperability with added features such as simple single-point application provisioning, software-based load balancing, and automatic fail-over and draining.
Lync Server 2010 can provide presence, IM, and conferencing for organizations of literally any size, with up to 10,000 users per server, 100,000 users per pool, and an unlimited number of pools.