New Lync Server 2010 Resources Available

Since the general availability of Lync Server 2010 in Dec. 2010, the Lync Server team has released resources designed to assist partners and customers with the deployment and management of unified communications using Lync Server 2010 in combination with Exchange and SharePoint servers. The resources, which include evaluation software as well as administration, adoption, transition, and integration guides, will assist in managing Lync Server’s seemingly complex environment of hardware and software to ensure an organization obtains the benefits of unified communications. Still, Lync Server remains a powerful product, and most companies will want to work with partners to implement the product.

Presence and Real-Time Communications

The Lync brand was introduced with a major release in Dec. 2010 that replaced the Office-branded products built around Office Communications Server, its Office Communicator client, and the Live Meeting client and service.

Lync Server 2010 maintains users’ presence information and enables multiple communications, including Web conferences. Compared to its predecessor, Lync Server 2010 delivers a more complete set of voice capabilities, enabling it to potentially replace a private branch exchange (PBX) rather than just augment it. New features include E911 (automatically reporting the location of emergency callers to responding agencies in the United States); fax support; branch office survivability features, such as support for failover to the public switched telephone network on loss of the primary link to headquarters; and call admission control, which, when needed, blocks new calls to preserve voice quality for current calls. Lync Server also delivers many improvements to limit downtime and simplify management of large-scale installations, and partners have delivered improved hardware (such as branch office systems and low-cost IP phones) to take advantage of the product.