Introduction to LYNC - The biggest thing to hit the office since Microsoft Office.

by Bonnye Sensenig

A generation ago, business communication was fairly simple. It consisted of phone calls, interoffice memos, snail mail ,and, of course, the ever popular, often unreliable office grapevine. In recent years we have seen a shift in workplace communications-suddenly employers, suppliers, and customers stay in touch via voicemail, email, instant messaging (IM), audio conference, video conference, and web conference. The simple phone system and office mail cart have all but vanished, replaced by intranets, extranets, VoIP, servers, dedicated computer shares, and PBX (Private Branch Exchange) systems. And somewhere amidst this profusion of devices and modes, communication systems can become technologically complicated and maddeningly expensive. Microsoft has created a solution. Now, with Lync, users can keep track of their contacts’ availability; send an IM; start or join an audio, video, or web conference; or make a phone call—all through a consistent, familiar interface.

Microsoft Lync 2010, is a unified communications system built from the ground up to be a single platform that can extend or even totally replace PBX systems. It provides a full set of phone features: call forwarding, call transfer, hold, and so on- but it also provides more! A single interface that unites voice communications, IM, and audio, video, and web conferencing across the PC, phone, or Internet: in short, all the features, all available from multiple devices virtually anywhere, anytime. And because Microsoft Lync is a software-based solution, as opposed to one based on hardware, it offers simplicity, scalability, and affordability.