Skype for #WindowsPhone is Here. Here is how to Get It. #skype #lync #mvp12

 

Just over breakfast my good MVP colleagues notified me the Skype for WindowsPhone is here! How did I miss that?!

It may not show up on the market yet, but click this link on your mobile to get it!
zune://navigate/?phoneappID=c3f8e570-68b3-4d6a-bdbb-c0a3f4360a51

Source: Shane Hoey. Shane Hoey is a Powershell MVP that spends a lot of time in Lync. Catch up with him if you are at MVP Summit.

Hidden Feature in Lync Mobile for #WindowsPhone: Connect With Federated Contacts Not Already in Contact List #mvpbuzz #mvp12

Just fiddling with Lync Mobile for Windows Phone and realized there is a feature I did not notice before: the ability to start communication with a contact that is not already in your contact list.

To take a look at this feature, open Lync Mobile on Windows Phone and goto the Contacts screen.

Next, type in a Federated contact that is not currently in your Lync Mobile contact list. Now wait…and sure enough, it soon show you their presence/contact name/etc.

Now you can click on the contact and see their presence, Instant Message or Call them.

My thought is while this is nifty, it is more interesting in the fact that this means much of the background work around adding new contacts in Lync Mobile for Windows Phone is already done?

My Lync 2010 and Lync Mobile Experience Using Delta’s Inflight GOGO WIFI

Just on the flight from eastcoast to Redmond I had a chance to play with Lync on the Delta GOGO in flight WIFI.

As a good geek I immediately test the up/download speed using www.speedtest.net: Below are the results:

• 276ms ping time
• .25MB Down
• .25MB Up

Delta's Gogo  service was $12.95 for the flight, or $30.00 for a month.

Lync 2010 IM and presence worked fine. I placed a peer-to-peer voice call and the remote party (upload) got a choppy call experience, but the audio coming my way was just fine.

Lync Mobile for WindowsPhone seemed reasonably snappy. (as snappy as 3G?) Seeing contact list presence, changing your own status and carrying on an IM conversation (and seeing other user is typing indicator) seems to work fine. All seemed to work just like on 3G with similar apparent performance. This is likely due to the low bandwidth requirements Microsoft designed Lync Mobile to work on. See my article on “Analyzing Data Usage on Lync Mobile” by clicking here

Hmmm, looks like VoIP apps not allowed on Gogo®, at least not in flight, as show below. TThat’s interesting.

Final Geeky note: In my testing I did notice that gogo inflight does NOT allow 2 devices to be connected at the same time. (no surprises, but one always hopes...;-)

What is the Most Liked Lync Phone Edition Desk IP Phone? Poll Results

It looks like the Polycom CX600 is the favorite among Lync Phone Edition IP deskphones. This is not a great surprise as it has been around first and comes from well received Polycom lineup of Lync Optimized Devices.

What is more a surprise to me is the runner up: HP 4120! For a phone that was just released not that very long ago, HP 4120 already appears to have a following. The HP 4120 has a more traditional layout compared to the CX600 which may explain the seeming “instant” interest in this device. Perhaps you have some comments and input you can give as to your thots how this device shot up on the charts?

The trailer is the Astra 6725i. This is the lowest cost unit in the lineup but isn’t a bad device. I am just a little perplexed at its showing.

You might want to take a look at my video review of the HP 4120 phone:
http://windowspbx.blogspot.com/2012/02/hp-4120-ip-lync-phone-edition-video.html

[BREAKING] #Lync Mobile for #Android Gets an Update: Dialer & Call via Work

I just received an update that Microsoft Lync Mobile for Android got an update today that brings a Dial pad, and thus, Call Via Work, along with some other improvements, to the Android Lync app!

Here are some of the new items:

• Call Via Work/ Dial Pad
• Call-Via-Work from Contacts
• Notification Setting
• Status Icon improvement
• Copy to Clipboard
• One Click Meeting Join

 

Dialer pad (Dial pad didn’t show on screen shot above but its there!)

photo of dialpad above

Call-Via-Work from contact card

Call back in progress…

If this is a sign of update iteration for Lync Mobile, it is a very good sign!

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.microsoft.office.lync&hl=en

Ken Lasko has an article that is better than mine. Please take a look:
http://ucken.blogspot.com/2012/02/lync-mobile-for-android-updated.html

Partial Source: @StevenDaugherty

First Impression Video Review of #Polycom #Spectralink 8400 Lync Features

 

Note: The Polycom 4.0.1 UC Firmware is NOT Microsoft Lync Qualified as of 2/23/2012.
Note: Lync Limitations of Polycom 4.0.1 FW: Click Here (Slide 11)
Note: This is first impression thoughts, I’ve only used the device several days.

The Polycom Spectralink 8440 is a SIP, WIFI based portable phone that Polycom has released a firmware update that brings Lync connectivity to the device.

This was my first experience with Polycom’s non-Lync Optimized devices and it took me just a little bit to orient myself (which I plan to blog on) but after figuring out the basics, upgrading to 4.0.1 and configuring the device to register with Lync (following Jeff Schertz’ blog post) worked with no surprises.

My first impression of the Polycom device (Lync aside) is that the screen resolution and unit build quality is very good. The user interface is intuitive and you can do common call features in just a few clicks.

Well, below is the video:

More on Polycom UC firmware 4.0.1:
http://windowspbx.blogspot.com/2011/12/polycom-announces-new-firmware-to-lync.html

HP 4120 IP Lync Phone Edition Video Review

Here is my video review of the HP 4120.

No surprises with the Lync Phone Edition firmware. HP has brought some new things like “quiet return to cradle”, bigger buttons, no mechanical hook switch, and Ethernet indicator lights. But no large surprises, just another solid Lync certified IP phone.

-quiet "return to cradle" design
-bigger buttons
-2 tilt angles (some have requested higher tilt angle)
-Ethernet indicator lights (can blink in low light office environments)
-narrower than cx600 (taller as well)
-wall mountable (by how cables are routed)
-no mechanical off/on hook switch (to wear out)

snom Brings Lync Presence to Desk Phone Definable Indicator Lights

Note: While the snom 300 and snom 821 are Lync Qualified devices, the features noted in this article may not be included in the Lync Qualified certification process. I am still awaiting clarification on this point.

I know I am not necessarily in the majority when it comes to being interested in physical buttons on Lync phones but I stick to my guns: some scenarios require buttons for maximum efficiency.

snom is doing some very interesting work in bringing Microsoft Lync presence to phone buttons and indicator lights on their snom 300 and 821 Lync Qualified devices. With the snom UC Edition firmware you can have a button/indicator assigned to show a Lync user’s presence.

Steps to Have snom Lights Show Lync User Presence:

1. Install snom UC Edition (version 8.7.x) and configure a Lync user (snomLyncUser) on the phone
2. Make SURE all the Lync users you want to watch/monitor using snom indicator lights are added are in snomLyncUser’s contact list.
   1. You will need to use the Lync Client to do this, so log into Lync client using “snomLyncUser” and add the contacts you want to watch.
   2. Note that the contacts cannot merely be in the Lync contact list via a Distribution Group, you need to specifically add that Lync User.
3. Now login to snom device to define the buttons/indicator lamps
   1. Click on “Function Keys”
   2. Change the button type to “Presence” and type the Lync user URI in the next field. (example: lyncuser01@lyncdomain.com) For this exercise we’ll assign lyncuser01 to P4.
   3. Repeat this for each Lync user you want to assign to a light/button.
   4. Click “Apply”
   5. At the top of the screen (not shown) you will need to click a final “Save”
   6. That’s it.

Now lets look at the snom 300 we just configured. The red arrow show the light (P4) we assigned to LyncUser01 and it is working! Since it is lit we know that lyncuser01 is either Busy, DND, Off Work, Appear Away or In Call status. This bring up the weakness of a boolean (light on or off) to show presence, but it is much better than nothing.

Here is a how Lync presence states map to the default snom 300 light states:

• Available = Off
• Busy = On
• DND = On
• Be Right Back = Off
• Off Work = On
• Appear Away = On
• In Call = On

If you don’t like how snom mapped the lights, don’t get too upset—they’ve also given us a way to map/configure how they work as well! But first, let’s look at snom 821.

While the snom 300 series only has 1 color light, the 821 has 3 colors, which is very very helpful when trying to convey presence. In the picture below P3 Lync user is Away/Inactive and P4 is DND/Busy/In Call.

The default snom 821 Lync presence to light map is something like:

• Available = Green*
• Busy = Red
• DND = Red
• Be Right Back = Orange*
• Off Work = Orange*
• Appear Away = Orange*
• In Call = Red
• Inactive = Orange
• Away = Orange

[Note: If the asterisked items above do not light as shown, it is likely because you did not do a Factory Reset on the snom device prior to upgrading from a previous firmware. To correct this you can either do a factory reset or add the state to led_on! as shown below. ]

How to change the default Lync Presence to light color or state mapping?

In the snom web interface, click “Settings”. Find the spot where the below text is and you will see the settings you need to change to change the light mapping.

• led_on!: ON BUSY IN_A_CALL IN_A_MEETING HOLDING DND UNAVAILABLE ACTIVE INACTIVE AWAY PhoneHasMissedCalls
• led_blink_slow!:  CurrentIdentityHasVoiceMessages
• led_blink_medium!:
• led_blink_fast!: RINGING PhoneHasCallInStateRinging PhoneHasMonitoringLineKeyInStateRinging
• led_red!: BUSY IN_A_CALL IN_A_MEETING HOLDING DND
• led_green!: AVAILABLE
• led_orange!: AWAY INACTIVE
• led_blue!:
• led_red_green!:
• led_red_orange!:
• led_green_orange!:
• led_message_usage!: PhoneHasCallInStateRinging PhoneHasMonitoringLineKeyInStateRinging CurrentIdentityHasVoiceMessages PhoneHasMissedCall

If you want to quickly change one of the above settings, just plug something like this into a browser:
http://192.168.1.65/dummy.htm?led_red_green=DND&settings=save

What Do snom Buttons Do In Microsoft Lync Environment?

• Light shows Presence
• One button call
• 2 Button Call Transfer to Lync User*

* - I’ve noticed when doing a 2 button transfer the experience is a little different than I normally expect: while the user you just transferred is being transferred, you will hear hold music, which will stop when the call is connected.

snom Vision Notes:

UPDATE: snom Vision seems to work fine with Lync presence. Upgrading snom Vision to FW 1.2.4 adds several major updates.

snom 821 with FW 8.8.1.1 BETA (above)

 

snom Vision FW 1.2.4 User Interface (above)

Notes about snom Vision:

• Is snom Vision Lync Qualified? I don’t know if there is even a protocol around certification for devices that connect to Lync Qualified devices.
• snom Vision does not pull Lync photos from Lync Server. You need to manually configure them on the Vision or from XML provisioning.
• snom 821 FW 8.8.1.1 now shows presence as text under the Lync Contact’s name only on the snom  821, not on the snom Vision. As of snom Vision firmware 1.2.4.
• How do I connect the snom Vision to a snom 821 Lync Qualified phone? In the snom Vision web interface goto Modules | Extension Module. Type the IP address, User and Password of the snom 821 and click “Reestablish phone connection”. This pairs the snom Vision and 821.
• How do I assign a Lync user to a snom Vision button? Follow the instructions above for snom 821 with the follow note: For the 821 when you type in the sip URI of lyncuser@lyncdomain.com it changes it for you to <sip:lyncuser@lyncdomain.com>. Since the snom Vision does not do this for you you need type the lync user SIP URI as: <sip:lyncuser@lyncdomain.com>.

#Lync User QuickTip #16: Leaving the Office? Move The Call To Your Mobile and Continue Call

You are on a phone call at your pc and you need to leave your office or head to the great outdoors? Setting this up just takes minutes.

If you do not have your mobile number defined for yourself, just click on “Options” | “Phones” and add your mobile phone number as shown below. (you might have to wait a bit till this takes affect)

Now your all set! If someone calls you and you need to walk out the door/drive down the road or just go get the mail, just click “Transfer” and then click your Mobile and the call will be transferred to your mobile device!

NOTES: At the moment I am not aware of a way to transfer the call back to the Lync Client. Also, I don’t think this tip works with Lync Phone Edition. (but if someone knows different, please correct me in comments.) This tip does NOT require the Lync Mobile client to be installed on the mobile device.

Requirements for this Tip: Enterprise Voice

See the whole Lync User Tips Series:
http://windowspbx.blogspot.com/search/label/LyncUserTip

How Ironic: Microsoft Lync Takes Multi-Vendor Hardware Approach While #OpenSource #Digium Shifts to Building Own Handsets #Asterisk

Tom Keating of TMCNet reports out of ITExpo that Digium will produce its own line of deskphones.

This strikes me as interesting/ironic that the Microsoft Lync ecosystem is appearing more diverse than the epitome of opensource PBX vendors: Digium.

Certified Lync Phone Edition

• Poycom CX
• Aastra
• HP IP Phone

Lync Qualified Devices – Deskphones

• snom 300
• snom 821

Gateway/Survivable Branch Vendors

• AudioCodes
• Dialogic
• Ferrari Electronics AG
• NET
• HP

Mobility Vendors (not sure if these are certified)

• Altigen MaxMobile
• AudioCodes Mobility Plus
• Shoretel Mobility Router

And many more vendors in the video and Optimized for Lync program.Well, you can take a look at the devices list yourself:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/lync/gg278164

TMCNet Article: Click Here