Lync Server - Collaboration Benefits

In concert with Microsoft Office 2010 and Sharepoint 2010, Lync Server is the lynchpin to a successful enterprise collaboration strategy.


Improved Web Conferencing Experience
Possibly the most significant change to, and benefit of, the new collaboration tools in Lync Server is the deprecation of the live meeting client. Lync Server users can join and manage live meetings through their Communicator client. Help desk personnel no longer need to explain which client to use for what kind of call. Simple, tight integration of scheduling and managing conferences provides a huge confidence boost even for inexperienced users. With just a few clicks, users can schedule, manage, and provide content for a meeting. Conference invitees, who do not use Lync Server, can join Lync Server web conferences by using a new lightweight client, the Lync Server Attendee online client.

Administrators looking to provide limited communicator web access to non-Windows or remote users in OCS deployed Communicator web access (CWA). CWA was a dedicated
server role in OCS. In Lync Server, this role is deprecated and replaced with the
Communicator web app, which is a service running on the Front End Server.

This topology change benefits to administrators and users alike. Administratively speaking, eliminating this server role offers a reduced overall Lync Server server footprint and simplifies management responsibilities. Lync Server users accessing CWA can share their desktops, and manage inbound and outbound calls no matter what OS they used to access the CW application.

In previous versions of OCS, only Windows users could share their desktops; users could not receive calls. By bringing these additional options to the CWA experience, non Windows Lync Server users are provided with an improved experience.


Lobby Experience
With Lync Server, after joining a conference, it is possible to apply a new experience to attendees that enhances the meeting join experience. This is known as the lobby. When a nonpresenter joins a meeting that has not started, she is placed in the lobby until the presenter joins. In addition, the lobby mode can be used during a call to avoid the disturbance of people entering and exiting a conference. The presenter can control when lobby users are admitted to the conference. This enables a presenter to maintain control of a meeting, especially one with several attendees.


Multiple Language Support
Users at multinational enterprises benefit from this new Lync Server feature. Each Lync Server site can have its own language for meeting prompts. When users join a meeting, they hear prompts in the language of their site, regardless of the site of the organizer.


Simplified Join Experience
If you have ever had a difficult time getting users to connect a live meeting and were confused by the obfuscated meeting URI in previous versions, fear not. The new simplified meeting URIs make the meeting-join experience quicker and more reliable. System administrators can set a simple URL (for example, HTTP://meet.contoso.com) that will be used by all meetings. This simple URL cleans up the body of the default Outlook message so that even those unfamiliar with joining a live meeting can join easily.


Visual Conference Calls
Sometimes, a simple audio conference is all that is required for quick collaboration. If users frequently attend audio-only meetings in Lync Server, they will be presented with a familiar, clear, and concise listing of users who join their conference. Users can manage their audio conferences with confidence, using the same interface from which they make individual calls.


Mute All, DTMF, and Roll Call
Users conducting large conferences benefit from the mute all option. Using the simple, familiar Communicator interface, a meeting organizer can mute attendees to gain control of a meeting or conduct a press conference-type meeting. Meeting participants can control their meeting status using the dialpad. This also enables mobile users to have full control over their meeting experience. When conducting larger meetings, Lync Server meeting organizers can obtain an audio roll call of meeting participants. The recorded name or text-to-speech spoken name is played to only the organizer, enabling administrators to keep track of meeting participants.


Meeting Content Control
Collaboration power users can skip ahead in uploaded content shared in meetings. If you have ever been in a meeting where the presenter spent too much time on content you already knew about, you will appreciate this feature. A simple mouse click returns you to the content currently being shared.


Join from PBX
Users who are not Enterprise Voice–enabled can still participate in meetings with Lync Server Communicator. Users who have their extension homed to their corporate PBX phone can click the simple meet URL in a meeting invite. Communicator can be configured to call the meeting participants at their PBX number. This enables non-Enterprise Voice users to enjoy the benefits of Lync Server’s advanced UC features as well.

Source of Information : Pearson-Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Unleashed