51 things I LOVE about Microsoft Lync - Part 3
It’s the little things that make a difference…
21. OOO
Noooo… as I recently found out this is not the sound one makes as one suffers the agony of kidney stones. That sounds more like ARRRRRRRHHH! OOO, or more commonly known as “Out Of Office” is a nifty little piece that the Lync developers got right. Update your Out Of Office details in Outlook and they magically appear in Lync in your “What’s happening today” comment.
22. Frequent Contacts
Without contacts – Lync is useless. Lync keeps a track of those contacts you use the most, and even better, allows you to “Pin” your favourite contacts so they always stay visible. When you first start using Lync your Frequent contacts are pre-populated with your manager and direct reports. Over time this list changes to those that you’ve communicated with more than 4 times. This list holds up to 10 contacts unless you use the Pin feature. There’s no limit to the number you can Pin and ‘Pinned’ and ‘Unpinned’ contacts are separated by a line so you can easily identify who is what.
23. Contact Views
There's a host of different ways you can view your contacts, pre-defined views include by Group Name, By Status or by Relationship.
I find the “Group Name” the most useful as you can define your own groups and go straight to the group to start a conversation with the whole group with just a simple click. This is used by our receptionist to notify everyone who’s online of the impending fire alarm test.
24. Shortcut Keys
Like every Microsoft application there a stack of shortcuts you can use to do stuff in Lync. My favourite… Windows Logo + Q. This opens Lync – simple but really useful!
Here’re a couple of others almost as useful…
Windows Logo + A … accepts an incoming conversation request
Windows Logo + X … declines an incoming conversation request and sets your status to Do Not Disturb
For a complete list refer Microsoft Office Support Pages
25. Archiving
I don’t know how many times I’ve gone to my Conversation Archive folder to see how long I was talking with someone for or even what was said. This is a great feature especially for those that bill their time. A simple setting in Lync will tell the software to keep a record of any communications in your Exchange mailbox. You see this archive as a Conversation History folder in Outlook.
26. Add Voice
I find it difficult to grasp why my wife would rather sit on the couch and have a conversation with her mate via txt message on her mobile phone, than pick up the phone and ring her. What a novel concept that would be – to actually speak with someone. The same can be said with Lync… there’s generally a point in an IM conversation (and it’s often reached fairly quickly) where it’s easier to change the conversation to a voice call. Don’t get me wrong…. There still a place for IM and txt messages. Changing a conversation to a voice call in Lync is so simple… just click the Call button.
Of course you’ll need speakers and a microphone or a headset… which is exactly what we’ve given all of our staff. Mostly to facilitate private conversations and to avoid bugging people around you with conversations from speakers.
27. Add Video
The other little device we’ve given our staff is a web cam. Everyone, not just our laptop users, now has video capabilities. The majority of us are shy when it comes to seeing yourself on a screen, but the capability is there. I find it most useful when I talk with those that are not in the same office as me. It’s almost as good as being in the same room together and helps makes those is our remotes offices feel part of the organisation.
28. Drag and Drop into conversations
When you’re in a call with someone and need to get the opinion or advice from someone else… Simply find their name in your Lync contact list (or do a search for them in the main Lync window ), now drag them into your current conversation. Lync will handle the rest and when they answer they be added to you conversation. When you’ve finished they can hang up or you can kick ‘em out with a simple click.
29. Screen Sharing
Show the other people in you conversation what you’re talking about! This is fantastic for trouble shooting, providing feedback on changes to a doc, and collaboration in general. Mostly we use this for support. A user will call us with a problem, or perhaps wanting to know how to do something in Windows – we simply get them to share their screen and give us control. They can share their screen(s), an application that running, or even a PowerPoint slide deck.
30. Meet Now
This is the piece that allows you to hold an online meeting. It uses the Microsoft Live Meeting technology. You can of course schedule a meeting for a future time and send an appointment with a link to your meeting, or you can use the Meet Now button and create an instant ad-hoc online meeting for one or multiple people to attend. This is the
We use this technology to support our customers who do not have a Lync installation locally. They are able to use the Silverlight or the full install Lync Attendee client (which is free) to attend a meeting we’ve setup. We usually email them a URL to click which automatically starts or downloads the Lync Attendee, and connects them to the meeting. Once they’re connected they share their desktop and allow us to have control.
Those that have Lync installed inside their organisation or for those that are using Lync via Office 365 – we simply federate, and it’s exactly the same experience as if they are part of our staff.
It’s fabulous to finally see this functionality and ease of use finally starting to be available from Microsoft.