Are you planning to upgrade your unified communications IM client? Following up on the article “What Is Microsoft Lync?” by Mark Stubbles we would like to introduce you today to all new features of Microsoft Lync 2013.
In comparison the Microsoft Office Communicator (also known as OCS) had the look and feel of Windows XP, the Lync 2010 update brought it up to speed with the Windows 7 design and finally, Lync 2013 has the looks of the Windows 8 and Office 365 environment. But of course, there is much more under the hood than just eyecandy. I listed below a few of the new features that were most interesting to me.
Overview of new features in Lync 2013
Visual Features:
The main window has been optimized to provide better access and a more intuitive using of the application. The new tabbed conversation feature gets rid of having several chat windows open at the same time – so you can keep track of all your conversations in a single place and just have to browse through them. Similar to the tabbed browsing of Google Chrome you are also able to move a certain chat out of the tabbed conversations and provide them with their own window and naturally you can move it back into the tabbed conversation window.
And for everyone who would like to display the images and fonts larger they can easily adjust the display setup in the configuration of the client. This is not only a help to users with sight challenges, but also can be useful for a deployment on wallmounted displays.
Easier Deployment:
The main Lync 2013 client and the Online Meeting addin is now included in the setup program of Office 2013 so deployment on the software side has been made significantly easier, especially for large enterprises with many thousands of workstations.
However, because this part has changed Microsoft has also changed how the group policy is deployed. Instead of working on the communicator.adm file to define policies, certain ADMX, and ADML admin templates are provided along with Office Policy Administrative Templates to work on. For more information on this particular topic, I suggest reading the Microsoft article on “Group Policy Settings for Lync 2013“.
BYOD Enhancements:
Microsoft Lync 2013 – Calling a Smartphone
With Lync 2010 the App for smartphone, there was only support for presence and instant messaging while the new Lync 2013 App for smartphones and tablets also supports Voice calls and mobile video conferencing over WiFi and cellular data connection alike. Regardless of the fact that many desk phones can be connected with your Lync client, utilizing Lync on smartphones and Lync on PCs within your organization your permanently replace the requirement of having a separate hardware phone on your desk and cutting costs for invest and maintenance by enforcing unified communications technology. For a more detailed overview of the features for mobile Lync, I recommend the “Mobile Client Comparison Tables” page by Microsoft.
The users accessing from noncorporate workstations via browser also get some good news. The Lync 2013 Web App for webbased conferencing received support for voice and high definition video
conferencing devices. Meeting participants can also show their screens for collaboration or presentation and reassign the presenter role to others – They get the full Lync 2013 meeting experience without having the software client installed on the machine.
Functional Features:
The Lync 2013 client can handle virtual environment better. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) fully supports audio and video devices, like a headset and a webcam, to be connected to the client even though you might be using a virtual machine such as a thin client or a differently repurposed workstation. For more details on how to deploy the Lync VDI plugin please check the Microsoft TechNet article.
Microsoft Lync 2013 – Chat Room Integration
Another interesting new feature is the chat room integration (also known as persistent chat rooms or topic feeds). In older versions, you were already able to create group conversations for multiple users to chat or hold a presentation for instance. In the new Lync 2013, however, these can be promoted to be permanent and will be also available for others to be joined, including all the content that was added and when. It might not be applicable to all services and organizations, but this feature might the need for static email lists and adds a new dynamic way of sharing information and making such available for all. If you don’t want it to be available for all users, there is also the option to limit the visibility to certain users or user groups.
Also newly implemented is a feature that lets Lync 2013 automatically assign you with “presenting” status, to block incoming communication unless the sender is in an approved group. If you are a twoscreen users however this is not automatically done for you if you use the secondary screen as presenting space.
You may have made an experience with previous versions of the client that you would like to keep a certain conversation up for reference but you need to restart the machine. What happens? The information is gone. In the new Lync 2013, once you are back booted up, the conversation comes back along with the content of the conversation, you held before rebooting. I found this to be quite the timesaver in those moments.
- Improvements of already deployed functions:
- Outlook Meeting Scheduling updated
- Native Video Conferencing enhanced
- Web App and Mobile App now support voice and video conferencing
- Contact and card view was improved
- Meeting participation functions were heavily improved for better collaboration
Have you tried Lync 2013 out yet? Missed your favorite new feature? I would be delighted to hear your opinion. Drop us your comment below!
