Mobile Clients for Microsoft Lync Released!!!

The Monday (12-Dec-2011) did not gave much blues as Microsoft released the Mobile Client for Microsoft Lync.

If you have a Windows Phone then you can open the link https://windowsphone.com/s?appid=9ce93e51-5b35-e011-854c-00237de2db9e on your phone and install it.

Lync mobile clients enable you to stay connected, communicate and conference on the go. Mobile clients for Microsoft Lync 2010 take the power of unified communications mobile—including rich presence, instant messaging, audio conferencing, and calling features from a single, easy-to-use interface.

Few of the features that I like the most are:

1. Join conferences with a single touch; no access code or pin number required. I also do not have to remember anything. Just click the meeting request (like I would do on my laptop and voila I am connected to the conference).
2. 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.
3. 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 recognize calls from the Lync mobile client.
4. Connect with confidence through channel encryption, transport layer security (TLS) support, and perimeter/internal network protection that help safeguard your communications.

For more information, please review https://lync.microsoft.com/en-gb/Product/UserInterfaces/Pages/lync-2010-mobile.aspx

Now you must be wondering if this is available only on Windows Phone!!! Microsoft has plans for other platforms like, iOS, Android, Symbian. Lync Mobile for Android is already available in the market place https://market.android.com/details?id=com.microsoft.office.lync . Lync for iPhone is now available at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-lync-2010-for-iphone/id484293461?mt=8 while for iPad is available at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-lync-2010-for-ipad/id484222449?mt=8

The following tables compare the features and capabilities among Microsoft Lync 2010 mobile clients and the Lync 2010 desktop client in the following categories:

• Sign-in, sign-out, and push notifications
• Enhanced presence
• Contacts and contact groups
• Instant messaging (IM)
• Conferencing
• Telephony
• External users
• Archiving and compliance

These tables indicate the features that are available to Lync users in an on-premises deployment of Lync Server 2010. The same features are also available to Lync Online and Office 365 users unless otherwise indicated in the table footnotes.

Sign-in and Push Notifications

¹ On Windows Phone, Lync signs out automatically if the user has not used the application for a period of time, as follows:

• If the user has enabled push notifications, Lync signs out after 36 hours.
• If the user has not enabled push notifications, Lync signs out after 1 hour.

On iPhone and iPad, Lync signs out automatically if the user has not used the application for a period of time, as follows:

• If the user has enabled push notifications, Lync signs out after 36 hours. Lync sends a push notification indicating that the user must sign back in.
• If the user has not enabled push notifications, Lync signs out after 1 hour.

On Android and Nokia (Symbian), Lync remains signed in as long as the application can contact the server. Contact with the server occurs automatically every 5 minutes, even if Lync is in the background or the device is locked.

• If the Lync application cannot communicate with the server for more than one hour, the server will sign out the user. If the user is not signed in to any other Lync client, the user will appear Offline.
• The Lync application automatically signs in when it can communicate with server again.
• If an Android device is connected through Wi-Fi, the device may close the Wi-Fi connection after a certain period of time (the default on many Android devices is 10 minutes), at which point the Lync app will lose the connection with the Lync server.

² On Android and Nokia (Symbian) mobile devices, the Lync application runs in the background and push notifications are not required.

Enhanced Presence Support in Lync Mobile Clients

¹ Lync mobile clients do not update a user’s presence based on the user’s free/busy calendar information. If a mobile client user is also signed in to the Lync desktop client, the desktop client updates the user’s presence based on the user’s free/busy calendar information. If the user is signed in to a mobile client only, the user’s presence does not update based on free/busy calendar information.

Contacts and Contact Groups Support in Lync Mobile Clients

¹ With Lync 2010 for Nokia, a user can search for a contact and add the contact to a group, and remove a contact from a group.

² Not available to Lync Online and/or Office 365 users.

IM Support in Lync Mobile Clients

¹ If the user accepts an IM invitation on the desktop client, a missed IM notification will display on the user’s mobile phone

² This device vibrates every time an IM is received even if the current message in the IM conversation is displayed

Conferencing Support in Lync Mobile Clients

¹ For Office 365 users, this feature is available for audio conferencing provider (ACP)-enabled meetings only.

² For Office 365 users, this feature is available for audio conferencing provider (ACP)-enabled meetings only. For on-premises Lync Server 2010 users, Lync 2010 for Nokia client integrates with Nokia Phone Calendar and all Lync meetings in the Calendar contain a Join Meeting button.

³ Not available to Office 365 users.

⁴ For Lync Online and/or Office 365 users, this feature is available from third-party audio conferencing providers.

Telephony Support in Lync Mobile Clients

¹ For Lync Online and/or Office 365 users, this feature is available for PC to PC calls. PSTN calls are supported by Lync to phone mobile partners.

² For on-premises Lync Server 2010 users, on Windows Phone, iPhone, iPad, and Nokia (Symbian) devices, the user taps the call icon in the contact card and accepts the callback from Lync Server. For Office 365 users, on Windows Phone, iPhone, iPad, and Nokia (Symbian) devices, when the user taps the call button, a dialog box opens asking the user to confirm that he or she wants to call the number.

³ On Android devices, for both on-premises and Office 365 users, the user taps the call icon in the contact card to copy the contact’s phone number to the Android dial pad, and then the user clicks the call button.

⁴ Not available to Lync Online and/or Office 365 users.

⁵ For Lync Online and/or Office 365 users, this feature is supported by Microsoft partners.

External User Support in Lync Mobile Clients

¹ By default, federated users are assigned the External Contacts privacy relationship. To be able to reach a federated contact on his or her mobile phone by calling his or her published work number, the federated contact must manually assign you the Colleagues privacy relationship.

² Not available to Office 365 users.

Archiving and Compliance Support in Lync Mobile Clients

¹ Not available to Lync Online and/or Office 365 users.