Microsoft Lync. Commonly Answered Questions

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1 Microsoft Lync Commonly Answered Questions Microsoft Lync gives users real-time presence information including availability, location, photos, whiteboards, remote desktop sharing and enhanced instant messaging (IM) to help them connect more efficiently and effectively. Lync is fully integrated with Outlook and SharePoint (The Point - Intranet website). The following information answers some of the commonly asked questions about Microsoft Lync. How to Add Users to Your Contact List For users that you frequently contact, you will want to add these users to your Lync contact list. To do this, follow the directions below. Open the Microsoft Lync client and type a name in the Find a Contact field. See image below. If you receive a message that says the address book is preparing to synchronize. Search results might not be current. That means the address book is currently synchronizing with the Lync server and you will have to try again later. Unfortunately, this process can take between 1 minute and 60 minutes depending on the time of day. 1

2 Right-click on the user and go to Add to Contact List and then All Contacts. See image below. At this point, it s suggested that you also pin any frequent contacts to your frequent contact list. You can do this by right-clicking on the user and then clicking on Frequent Contacts. See image below. 2

3 No Contacts Are Found When You Search for Contacts If you receive a message that says the address book is preparing to synchronize. Search results might not be current. (See image below). That means the address book is currently synchronizing with the Lync server and you will have to try again later. Unfortunately, this process can take between 1 minute and 60 minutes depending on the time of day. How to Add Groups to Your Contact List Instead of adding each user one by one, you may want to add a group of users. To do this, use the directions below. NOTE: You can only browse groups that have less than 100 users. For any groups that have more than 100 users (like Matrix All ), you ll need to use a smaller subset group containing the users you are looking for like Technical Support, Admin, or Atlanta Central Account Execs. Open up the Microsoft Lync client and do a search for the group name you want to add to your contact list. Once the group name appears in the search window, click on the + (plus) icon to Add to Contacts. See image below. 3

4 Once the group is added, click on the expand arrow in the lower-left-hand corner of the application to confirm all the users you need are listed. See image below. Once you click on the expand arrow, you may have to use the scroll bar to scroll the screen down to see all the users you have added. See the image below. 4

5 Removing Lync from the Start Menu bar and Adding it to the Notification Area By default, Lync shows up on the Start Menu like the image shows below and doesn t go away when you click the X in the upper-right hand corner to close out the application. Many people don t like this option. Follow these directions to remove this icon from the Start bar and add it instead to the notification area in the lower-right-hand corner on the task bar (see image below). Once you have followed the directions below, you can double-click on this icon to Open Lync instead of using the large Start Bar icon. Open Lync and click on the gear icon in the upper-right-hand corner of the application. Click on Tools and then Options. See image below. 5

6 Click on the General tab and then check the checkbox that says Minimize to the notification area instead of the task bar. Click on Ok to save your settings. Close Lync and it should now disappear from your Star Menu and appear in your task bar. To make sure it s always visible, click on the bump up arrow on the task bar on the Start Menu in the lower-right-hand corner and then click on Customize. See image below. 6

7 Look for Microsoft Lync 2010 in the application list and then select Show icon and notifications followed by Ok to save your settings. 7

8 Using Microsoft Lync with Microsoft Outlook General Information Lync has a few of plugins that work with Microsoft Outlook that are installed by default when the program is setup. From these plugins you can send IM messages and setup conferences from e- mails. Here are a few of the features and where to find them. Use the picture below as a reference. Much like Lotus Notes SameTime Chat, you can send messages from Outlook by using the chat contact list located in the lower-right-hand corner of Outlook. You may need to click the plus arrow to expand this list if the users are not a part of your Frequent Contacts list. When someone sends you a or calendar appointment, you can view presence information to see if the user is available by hovering over their name in Outlook or looking at the color of their presence icon to see if they are in a meeting (or even online). You can reply to with an instant message by clicking on IM from the Respond bar. 8

9 Using Microsoft Lync with Microsoft Outlook Changing Your Office Hours Sometimes in Lync you will see smart information letting you know when a user is away, in a meeting, or free until. This information is controlled by the connection Lync has with Microsoft Outlook. Because of this, you may want to change what s displayed as your regular offices hours. For an example of a pop-up message that might appear, see the image below. Follow the directions below to change your offices hours in Microsoft Outlook (therefore changing what is displayed in Lync). Open Microsoft Outlook and click on your File menu and go to Options. See image below. Next click on the Calendar tab and modify your Work time section and click ok. 9

10 Using Microsoft Lync with SharePoint (The Point Intranet Website) When Lync is installed, it installs a plugin for Internet Explorer that allows you to send IM messages from SharePoint integrated sites. Here are the primary features. Use the image below as a guide. Whenever a user is referenced on a SharePoint site, their presence information is displayed. You can use the color to tell if they are available. By hovering over a user s name, an information window will appear that allows you to send a IM message and view some additional presence information on the user. See the second image. 10

11 Other Things You Didn t Know About Microsoft Lync If you send an instant message to a user and they don t answer, or are not available, Lync will automatically send them an message with the same information after a few moments. If you don t like this option, you can disable it by going into your options in Lync. If you change your Out of Office message in Outlook, this also updates as a status update in Lync so that users know that you are out of the office. This can also be disabled in options in Lync. When you are in meeting (as is determined by your Outlook calendar), Lync will show you as red or busy. When you have not used your computer in 5 minutes, Lync will show you as yellow or away. When you are actively using your computer or have used it in the last few minutes, Lync will show you as available. This can be disabled in options in Lync. 11