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The advantages that Microsoft Lync 2010 represents for a company
The Office saga started 20 years ago, when a Windows version of Word, Excel and PowerPoint was commercialized. Progressively, Outlook, Access, OneNote and Groove were added to the three basic Office applications.
2003 and 2007 represented a turning point in the integration strategy carried out by Office. The information system of a company had to propose a set of integrated server products with Exchange and SharePoint. Office was able to fulfill nearly all the informational needs of a company, except communication.
In order to fill this gap, Microsoft decided to put together several technologies that they had created in this area (Live Meeting, Net meeting…) and created Office Communication Server 2007 (OCS). Launching Lync 2010 allowed Microsoft to go even further, by proposing to replace the PABX and integrating the following three tools within only one client application:
- Instant messaging and presence
- Audio, video and web conference
- Enterprise telephony
The application supports emergency calls, federation of presence with partner companies, and functionalities that are specific to agency networks, as well as complex architectures. It integrates characteristics of resilience on communication matters and is stronger in enterprise telephony, becoming a rival of Avaya and Cisco solutions.
Integration with Exchange and SharePoint
Exchange
Lync relies on Exchange to update information on the presence of a user. If the user is in a meeting or out of the office, the Lync 2010 client automatically displays this information.
It is possible to listen to voice messages kept on the Exchange server natively on Outlook. The « Join Online » button that appears when a meeting reminder of the Exchange calendar pops up allows you to connect yourself to a video with just one click.
SharePoint
With SharePoint, the integration consists in displaying pictures that were published on a personal site in the Lync client. It also allows you to search for internal resources from your computer by using SharePoint metadata.
Every communication session, including instant messaging, video, audio, etc. can be recorded and published online.
About the client
The Lync 2010 client is available on PC, Mac OS, in browsers via Silverlight and on smartphones (currently iPhone and Windows Phone). It is also possible to communicate with Messenger, Yahoo and Google users.
On PC, it now supports Web conferences, which can be displayed across several monitors (with one displaying a web conference and the other a PowerPoint presentation for example) and supports touch screens. You may also change communication devices quickly, transferring a conversation from a desktop to a mobile without interruption.
Third-party compatibility and extensibility
Lync relies on a partner ecosystem composed of communication equipment manufacturers and communication services providers. It has higher adaptability and interoperability than its rivals’ electrical material infrastructures, thanks to its API and SDK set. Developers can benefit from an ensemble of communication services to develop applications that integrate telephony, presence and instant messaging services.
A company with this type of infrastructure can easily develop an ad hoc solution that is able to support the company’s processes, with the possibility to create various workflows (managed in SharePoint) which rely on presence, alert management, video, voice, instant messaging and video conference services… all managed by Lync.
This flexibility and capacity of adaptation constitute the main advantage of Lync in comparison with its rivals.
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PSR : the magic recorder of the steps you take on a computer!
Windows 7 has a new feature called PSR – Problem Steps Recorder – that enables technical support teams to solve problems that appear on the operating system with only a few clicks.
Simply click on the “Windows logo”, type “PSR” in the “search programs and files” bar and press “Enter”. Once the program is open, click “start recording” and it will record all the steps taken by the user. Click “stop recording” once you’re done.
You will then need to save a .ZIP file (for the record, .ZIP files are natively handled by Windows, and therefore don’t require a third-party software). Inside this file, you will find a document with a .MHT extension, which contains all the steps you followed.
This .MHT file will open your web browser, which will show you screenshots and indications of what was done with your keyboard and mouse (left click, right click, drag and drop, pressed keys on the keyboard, etc.).
You can send this document to anyone, and the user can customize it using Microsoft Word, in order for example to respect the graphic chart of the company.
Save time using shortcuts
Microsoft Office has many shortcuts, in both Word and Outlook, and in all versions, 2003, 2007, etc. Here are a few examples.
To switch from the lower case to the upper case or vice versa, simply click on the “Aa” icon, located in the Home tab.
Another possibility is to click on a word or paragraph and then press simultaneously on the shift and F3 keys. After a first click, the first letter of the word will be capitalized. A second click and the entire word is in capital letters. The same thing will occur if you select a whole paragraph before doing this trick.
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Implementing Cisco® IP Switched Networks v1.0 (SWITCH)
Microsoft System
