LYNC 2013 STAFF GUIDE

This guide provides a comprehensive introduction to Lync. It covers the

Lync app, instant messaging, video and telephone conferencing as well as

Lync 2013’s integration with Microsoft Outlook.

Updated 21/05/15

Page 1

Contents Section 1: Introduction to Microsoft Lync 2013

1.1. Understanding Lync 2013 ............................................................................ 2

Section 2: Lync App

2.1. Lync App Home (Contacts Tab) ................................................................... 3

2.2. Lync App (Conversations Tab) ..................................................................... 4

2.3. Lync App (Calendar Tab) ............................................................................. 4

2.4. Lync App (Settings Dialogue Box) ................................................................ 6

2.5. Lync App (Availability – Online Presence) .................................................... 7

Section 3: IM, Video and Telephone Calling

3.1. Instant Messaging (IM) screen .................................................................... 8

3.2. Accepting and Initiating Telephone and Video Calls .................................... 9

3.3. Sharing Window ........................................................................................ 11

3.4. Functionality within IM, Calls and Video Calling ........................................ 12

Section 4: Microsoft Outlook and Lync Meetings

4.1. Microsoft Outlook – Conversation History ............................................... 13

4.2. Microsoft Outlook – Online Lync Meeting (For External Participants) ...... 14

Section 5: Lync Etiquette & FAQs

5.1. Lync Best Use ............................................................................................ 15

5.2. FAQs .......................................................................................................... 16

5.3. Glossary .................................................................................................... 18

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S1: Introduction to Microsoft Lync

1.1. Understanding Lync 2013

What is Microsoft Lync?

- A sophisticated communication tool which can be used to instant message, telephone

conference and video conference with other professionals.

- A collaboration tool which can also be used to share and send documents safely and securely as

well as work on them collaboratively in real-time.

- An online presence indicator which uses your Outlook calendar to provide your colleagues with

an instant notification of your current availability.

Lync promotes a healthier, more efficient work style by reducing the time and energy spent on lengthy

commutes, allowing you to focus on the job at hand; which has a positive impact on the environment and

your working day.

What’s new in Lync 2013 compared with Lync 2010?

Tabbed conversations, allowing for better management of communications without the need for

excessive pop-up windows.

Persistent Chat feature – users can enter in and out of chat conversations and still view chat

history whilst they were absent.

Full Audio/Visual capabilities on the Lync Web App. i.e. those attending a Lync Meeting Online

without Lync software installed on their device can now add audio and video feeds to the

meeting.

Video conferencing from a mobile device using mobile data or via a Wi-Fi connection.

Higher resolution support. Lync 2013 now offers up to 1080p support (Up from 720p).

What can Lync offer you?

Follow the link to find out how Lync can benefit you:

http://www.exeter.ac.uk/staff/futureworkplaces/casestudies/

What to do if Lync isn’t working?

First, check our FAQs (on page 16). If you’re still experiencing technical difficulty, contact the SID desk

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S2: Lync App

2.1. Lync App Home (Contacts Tab) After entering your UoE user name and password into the Lync login page, you will see this screen

‘What’s happening today?’ dialogue box is a great way to inform your colleagues of any important

events or times you’re likely to be unavailable. e.g. Project Board Meeting today @ 12pm.

Online Presence Setter

– Allows you to manage

your availability and

control who can make

contact with you. (Page

7 for more info.)

Location Setter –

Inform your contacts

about your current

location.

Contacts tab – From

here you can add,

remove, edit and sort

your contacts according

to various groups. It’s

worth noting that your

Lync contacts are

stored separately to

your email contacts to

avoid confusion.

Settings Cog – From

here you can manage

general settings as well

as configure your audio

and video settings. In

general, if you are

experiencing technical

difficulties, the Settings

Cog is your first point

of call. (See page 6 for

details.)

Add a contact quick

reference button.

Search bar – To search

for people outside your

contacts list.

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2.2. Lync App (Conversations Tab) You can navigate to this page by clicking the icon (conversations tab)

2.3. Lync App (Calendar Tab) You can navigate to this page by clicking the icon (calendar tab)

Conversations tab – from here you can manage previous interactions with colleagues.

Categorised

by Video

calls

(Camera

icon)…

…and IM

chats

(Dialogue

icon)

Date of Interaction

Double-clicking an

interaction will

allow you to

explore the

conversation in

greater depth – i.e.

call times and a

breakdown of what

was said.

A link to the ‘conversation history’ tab within Outlook. All conversations will be

stored here to allow the user to refer to past conversations. (Page 13 for more info)

Current

“Presence” of

contact.

Denotes a group

conversation

…,audio

calls (phone

icon) …

Page 5

Calendar tab – from here you can view your appointments

and calendar events for the day. This is synced with your

Outlook calendar.

Time

Date

Location

Subject

Page 6

2.4. Lync App (Settings Dialogue Box) This is the ‘Settings’ dialogue box. You can get here by clicking the Cog icon on the main Lync app

window.

Click the General tab for general

settings including:

Spellchecking, Font and Lync support

settings.

Click the Personal tab for settings

related to personal contact details

including:

Auto-login, Outlook synchronicity and

privacy settings.

Click the Alerts tab for alert

settings including:

Who can send you alerts and when

as well as who can make contact

with you.

Click the Audio Device or Video

Device tab for Audio and Video

Device settings including:

Configuring new Audio or Video

devices or trouble-shooting

existing ones.

Click the File Saving or Recording

tab for File management (or video

management) settings including:

Configuring where attached files

(File Saving) or Recorded videos

(Recording) will be saved.

Click My Picture Tab >

Edit or Remove

Picture to change or

set your display

picture.

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2.5. Lync App (Availability – Online Presence)

If Presence status is ... Contact is ... How this status gets set

Available online, available to contact. Automatic or user-selected.

Be Right Back away from computer briefly. User-selected.

Away logged on but has been away from computer for specified period.

Automatic based on inactivity or user-selected. Time interval can be adjusted.

Off Work not working, not available. User-selected.

Busy occupied and shouldn’t be interrupted. Automatic (if user is in an Outlook-scheduled conference) or user-selected.

In a call in a Lync call (two-party call) and shouldn’t be interrupted.

Automatic.

In a meeting in a meeting (per Lync or per Outlook) Automatic.

In a conference call in a Lync conference call (Lync meeting with audio) and shouldn’t be interrupted.

Automatic.

Do Not Disturb not to be disturbed; will see IM requests only if sent by Workgroup members.

User-selected.

Presenting giving a presentation and therefore not to be disturbed.

Automatic when user is presenting from Lync-enabled computer. IMs are blocked.

Offline not signed in. Automatic.

Unknown presence can’t be detected. Status may appear to contacts not using Lync IM.

To manage who can contact you and alert others to

your current availability you can manage your

online presence. Below is a table of possible

presence options. Some are set automatically whilst

others require manual set-up by clicking the drop-

down arrow on the Online Presence setter (as

shown on page 3 and in the image to the right.)

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S3: IM, Video and Telephone Calling

3.1. Instant Messaging (IM) screen This is the IM window. From the App Contacts Tab (Page 3) you can open this by double-clicking on a

contact (or multiple contacts for group IM – hold down shift to select more than one contact) that you

wish you to IM or alternatively, right-click their name and select ‘Send an Instant Message’.

IM

conversations

Toggle IM on/off

Add Video. This will

enable the contact to

see you; however, they

need to manually start

their own video feed in

order for you to see

them.

Tabbed conversations for quick access to

all your ongoing conversations – this is a

new feature to Lync 2013.

Sharing icon. From here you

can share a PowerPoint, a

program, your desktop, a

poll, a whiteboard or a Q&A.

Also, you can attach a file

here too via the attach tab.

Pop-out window (if you would like to

have a particularly important

conversation in a window of its own).

High Priority

Message

Toggle

On/Off

Add or manage

recipients.

Manage

recordings

/text size

Add Audio. Audio

can be added to

any Lync to Lync

conversation

through the Lync

Call function.

Page 9

3.2. Accepting and Initiating Telephone and Video Calls

If this window appears in the

bottom right of your screen,

someone is trying to call you. You

can denote it’s a telephone call by

the telephone symbol in the top

right of the image.

To Answer the call, click anywhere

on the contacts image.

To decline the call, click Ignore.

To initiate a telephone call with a

Lync contact:

From the contacts menu – right

click the name of the contact you

wish to call, select Call, then Lync

Call.

From an IM with the contact you

wish to call – click the button.

These principles work for more

than one contact too – by holding

down Ctrl you can select multiple

contacts from your contacts menu

or by clicking the button in an

IM group conversation you can

start a telephone conference.

End Call Call Connection Strength Call Duration

See page 12 for more details

on these buttons.

Page 10

If this window appears in the

bottom right of your screen,

someone is trying to video call you.

You can denote it’s a video call by

the video symbol in the top right of

the image.

To Answer the call, click anywhere

on the contacts image.

To decline the call, click Ignore.

To initiate a video call with a Lync

contact:

From the contacts menu – right

click the name of the contact you

wish to call, select Start a Video

Call.

From an IM with the contact you

wish to video call – click the

button.

These principles work for more

than one contact too – by holding

down Ctrl you can select multiple

contacts from your contacts menu

or by clicking the button in an

IM group conversation you can

start a video conference.

End Call Call Connection Strength Call Duration

See page 12 for more details on

these buttons.

Page 11

3.3. Sharing Window To open this window, you can click the button from an IM/Video Call/Telephone Call window then

select PowerPoint presentation (in this case) or alternatively you can share, other programs, a virtual

whiteboard, a poll or even your desktop.

Hovering over the top right of the

screen gives you a pen (+other

annotation tools) allowing you to

collaboratively work on the stage.

End call Stop Presenting Manage/view participants

Manage current

slide.

View participant’s

current methods of

communication (See Page

12)

IM, Video Call,

Sharing and People

Management tools

(See Page 12)

Recordings

management

Page 12

3.4. Functionality within IM, Calls and Video Calling

What tools are available?

What do I know about my audience?

Whether they are IM’ing

Whether they are

sending audio.

Whether they are

currently sending video.

Whether they

are sharing

content.

Toggle IM stage on/off

Add Video Feed. N.B.

This will enable the

contact to see you;

however, they need to

manually start their

own video feed in order

for you to see them.

Sharing icon. From here you

can share a PowerPoint, a

program, your desktop, a

poll, a whiteboard or a Q&A.

Also, you can attach a file

here too via the attach tab.

Add or manage

recipients.

Add an audio feed

through the ‘Lync

Call’ function.

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S4: Microsoft Outlook + Lync Meetings

4.1. Microsoft Outlook - Conversation History To navigate here open Outlook and click the ‘Conversation History’ Folder.

Conversation History Folder

List of past conversations. N.B. In Lync 2010, press Ctrl + J whilst in the IM screen (See Page

8) to rename the conversation allowing for quicker reference in Conversation History.

See Page 14 for a detailed look at how

to initiate an Online Lync Meeting.

A detailed breakdown of the

conversation including the modes

it took .e.g. IM, video conference,

document attachment etc.

Page 14

4.2. Microsoft Outlook – Online Lync Meeting (For External

Participants) To navigate here follow the instructions below:

To initiate a new Lync meeting,

first click New Items in your

Outlook Home Tab followed by

Online Meeting.

Alternatively, with an email already highlighted, it’s possible

to set up a Lync meeting with all those involved in that email

stream. Click Meeting, then Online Meeting.

Enter the contacts you wish to attend and the subject

of the meeting. Note that you can invite external

contacts to a Lync meeting even if they don’t have

Lync installed on their device – they will be prompted

to open a web version of the Lync App (functionality

may be restricted)

To join the Lync meeting, all participants

will need to click the link.

Lync Meetings are primarily intended for

contacting external participants. For internal

communication, Video/Telephone conferencing is

recommended.

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S5: Lync Etiquette & FAQs

5.1. Lync Best Use

- For internal or federated communications, it is advisable to use IM and video conferencing –

Avoid using Online Lync Meeting (See Page 12) as the process can be more complex and may

restrict some users’ functionality.

- For external communications (i.e. where your contacts aren’t federated with the University or

don’t have access to Lync) - use the Online Lync Meeting facility. Take particular caution here by

ensuring your contacts’ credentials are correct – be certain that the person you are contacting is

who they say they are.

- You should carefully consider what hardware you’re going to use (and get this set up

beforehand to prevent technical difficulties) for any video call. This also applies to Online Lync

meetings; allow time prior to the start of each meeting to ensure everything is functioning as

expected.

- Consider those around you before video conferencing - try to avoid video calling in areas where

it may cause a disruption to other workers; be logical in your choice of location.

- You should take into account lighting – ensure that your audience can see you clearly and won’t

be straining nor have light shining in their eyes.

- Be cautious when sharing files and/or your desktop. Ensure the information contained on your

desktop as well as within any shared documents don’t contain any sensitive data and therefore

adhere to the University of Exeter’s Data Protection policy. For more information on this, please

visit:

http://www.exeter.ac.uk/media/level1/academicserviceswebsite/it/recordsmanagementservice/DP_Poli

cy_v2.0.pdf

Page 16

5.2. FAQs

Why use Lync over Skype?

Allows you to strictly control who you want to connect with, and restrict the users that can connect to

you. With a strict federation policy in place, there’s far greater security built into Lync compared to Skype

or similar software. Currently, the University of Exeter is federated with all of its campuses as well as

other universities; networking all the contacts from each establishment together and allowing a simple

means of communication between these communities. Any external person outside of the federated sites

will not be able to contact you, unless you contact them first via Online Lync Meetings. This is a much

safer and efficient way to manage your contacts compared to Skype or equivalent software.

Why not just use email?

Allows you to control your own availability, and keep others notified. With an effective availability

setter, Lync allows you to keep others notified of your current availability. Available, Busy and Away are

just a few of the options available; providing all your contacts with a quick reference as to whether you

are currently contactable, particularly useful for home and remote working. ‘Do Not Disturb’ is used to

restrict communications to only those contacts with Workgroup privacy setting; allowing for periods of

greater focus, without losing availability to important contacts. Lync also works with your Outlook

Calendar, dynamically displaying your availability accordingly.

Reduce email traffic, increase efficiency. With Instant Messaging, the need for emails will be reduced

dramatically. Whilst there are good reasons to use email for more formal communications, Lync provides

a means of more informal communications not too dissimilar from an impromptu discussion in the office

corridor. Whilst more informal than traditional email, Lync still provides the functionality of file

attachment, group conversations as well as a clear conversation history to store conversations more

permanently.

What devices can use Lync?

Compatibility across differing operating systems as well as tablets and mobiles. Lync is available on

most operating systems (via the Lync App or Client). So whether you want to communicate from your

laptop, your mac, your tablet or even your mobile phone, there are plenty of device options to access

Lync. This creates great flexibility and aids remote working; providing its users with the opportunity to

communicate with their colleagues wherever and whenever they need to.

Will Lync sign me in automatically?

Yes, although this feature can be switched off by clicking on the cog icon, clicking the personal tab then

unchecking the box which reads ’automatically start Lync when I log on to Windows’.

Page 17

What benefits would Lync have to staff at St Luke’s, Penryn or KSpa?

- Greater flexibility in working practice including more opportunities for home/remote working

- Relieve some of the parking issues at the campuses

- Support and connect staff working off-site e.g. conducting research, attending conferences

- Strengthen communication networks internally and between campuses

- Encourage greater levels of collaboration within workgroups

- Give staff at St Luke’s, Penryn or KSpa the ability to monitor their own availability using Presence

- Reduce travelling expenses

What hardware is recommended for video conferencing using Lync and

how do I set it up?

For optimum use of Lync, it is recommend that you have the following hardware installed and ready-to-go before entering into a video call/online meeting:

- Webcam

- Headset

- Microphone

In general, this is a straightforward ‘plug-in and go’ process (Note: When using hardware for the first

time, configuration may take a few minutes whilst drivers are installed) however, if you encounter any

issues, refer to the cog icon in the top right of your Lync app. Under the ‘Audio Device’ tab you will be

able to troubleshoot both your speakers and your microphone – first ensure you have selected the

correct microphone and that it’s picking up sound (you will see a green bar that moves along as it picks up

sound) and then follow the same procedure with your speakers.

Under the ‘Video Device’ tab you will need to ensure you’re receiving a video feed – If no webcam is

detected ensure the webcam is properly connected.

I don’t have a webcam, what are my options?

- Instant Message

- Telephone conference (requires headset and microphone)

- Use one of the new Lync Hub rooms

- Video Conference or Online Lync Meeting (you can still play an active part through audio and IM

yet have no personal video feed)

I don’t have a webcam or a headset, what are my options?

- Instant message

- Use one of the new Lync Hub rooms

- Video Conference or Online Lync Meeting (you can still play an active part using IM yet have no

personal video or audio feed. You will require speakers, and since audio will be broadcast through

them, you must carefully consider those around you.)

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5.3. Glossary

Key terms:

Client – Software or ‘App’ that is installed on your computer (or device) which allows you to access the

functionality of Lync. When you log onto Lync, the window that pops up is known as the Lync Client.

Contact Groups – It’s possible to manage your contacts list into groups. Group names can be decided

upon by the user to make finding contacts an easier process (i.e. close colleagues, other departments,

etc.). Each group can be given its own group privacy (see below)

Display Picture – This is the image that is linked to your contact details and allows other to quickly

identify contacts. It can be set by clicking the ‘cog’ – settings icon > My Picture Tab > Edit or Remove

Picture.

Federation Policy – Manages which Lync users are configured to be communicable with both internally

and externally to the University.

Group Privacy – Each group in your contacts list can be set to have its own custom group privacy settings.

These settings allow you to manage how groups can contact you and when.

IM – Instant messaging. An easy-to-use, text-based means of communication.

Online presence – Allows you to notify other users to your availability. This includes ‘Available’, ‘Busy’,

‘Away’, ‘Out of Office’, ‘In a call’, ‘In a meeting’, ‘Do not Disturb’. Certain availability statuses can be set to

allow only a subset of your contact list to be able to contact you. i.e. ‘Do not Disturb’ allows only

members of your contact list with ‘Workgroup’ group privacy to contact you.

Video Conference – A meeting between multiple participants using audio and video to interact.