Updated: July 13, 2020 (June 13, 2011)

Lync Online Delivers Communications for Office 365

As managing vice president, Rob Helm covers Microsoft collaboration and content management. His 25-plus years of experience analyzing Microsoft’s technology... more

The Lync Online Microsoft-hosted service will appear in Office 365 service suites June 2011. The service offers instant messaging (IM), presence, and Web conferencing, which can help speed urgent messages, avoid “telephone tag,” and reduce business travel. Lync Online requires less upfront investment than the Lync Server on-premises software and will particularly appeal to smaller organizations buying Office 365. However, the service currently lacks some security, compliance, and voice features of Lync Server, as well as some features of the Live Meeting Web conferencing service that Lync Online replaces.

Multitenant, Dedicated Services Offered

There are two Lync Online communications services hosted by Microsoft:

The Lync Online multitenant service, in which customers share hardware in Microsoft data centers, will be offered to Office 365 customers and is slated to launch June 28, 2011. It replaces Microsoft’s Communications Online Standard service as well as the Live Meeting Web conferencing service.

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