ARCHIVED: About the UniCom Lync deployment

In the summer of 2011, Indiana University's UniCom service was upgraded from Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) to Microsoft's new Lync service. UniCom is being adopted by Indiana University as a long-term replacement for legacy phone systems, resulting in substantial cost savings.

All UniCom accounts have been migrated to the Lync servers. Your phone number and existing list of contacts remain unchanged. Additional actions you should take depend on the software you use to access UniCom and your service option; see below.

• Effect on UniCom software
• Effect on UniCom with Telephone Integration
• New features

Effect on UniCom software

• Office Communicator 2007 for Windows:

  As of November 1, 2011, Communicator 2007 no longer works to access the Lync UniCom service. To use UniCom in Windows, download the Lync client from IUware.

  Note: Call forwarding features you used in Communicator before the Lync upgrade may be disabled.

• Software options for Mac:
  Note:

  For Mac users, UITS recommends Lync for Mac to connect to UniCom at Indiana University. Communicator for Mac and Messenger for Mac are not supported.

  Download Lync for Mac from IUware.

• Office Communications Server 2007 Attendant:

  This software will work with the Lync servers, but call forwarding features will be disabled. UITS recommends immediately downloading the Lync Attendant from IUware.

• Communicator Phone Edition (i.e., a "Tanjay" phone):

  Phones were automatically upgraded to the new Lync Phone Edition.

• Communicator Web Access (CWA):

  Communicator Web Access (CWA) is no longer available at Indiana University as of January 31, 2012. For alternatives, see ARCHIVED: About Communicator Web Access (CWA).

  To participate in Lync web conferences, you can use the Lync Web App (LWA). LWA is a browser-based plug-in application that requires Microsoft Silverlight. For more, see Welcome to Microsoft Lync Web App.

• Live Meeting:

  In the new Lync service, Windows Live Meeting software is no longer required for attending web conferences. The functionality previously provided through Live Meeting, such as sharing programs, whiteboard collaboration, and conducting a poll, is now incorporated into the Lync client.

For more specific changes you may notice, see ARCHIVED: Known issues for UniCom.

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Effect on UniCom with Telephone Integration

UniCom with Telephone Integration (sometimes called mode 2) is not available with the new Lync technology. After the Lync deployment, the two levels of service available are UniCom Basic and UniCom Enterprise Voice (formerly UniCom with Outlook Voice Mail) modes; see ARCHIVED: IU UniCom feature comparison.

If you used UniCom with Telephone Integration as of August 11, 2011, your service level has been changed to UniCom Basic. If you want to upgrade to UniCom Enterprise Voice, contact your telecommunications coordinator; in this case, your department will need to obtain a new phone or headset from UITS that is compatible with UniCom. There is no charge for either the service change or the equipment.

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New features

After upgrading to the Lync client, you'll be able to use the following new features.

• Contact list photos: Contact lists in Lync display pictures of your contacts when they are available. Pictures are imported from SharePoint; see Add or change your profile picture for Outlook and other Microsoft services
• Skill search: Lync integrates with SharePoint so you can discover people within the university that have specific skills.
• Activity feeds: Lync displays changes in location, out-of-office notices, and other updates for your contacts.
• Enhanced privacy controls: You have more choices in how to make your personal information available to others. For example, you can choose to show your presence information only to people in your contact list.
• Graphical dial pad: Enterprise Voice users can make calls with a graphical dial pad in addition to calling a contact by using one-click dialing.
• Seamless Device Switching: You can quickly switch audio devices (e.g., between a headset and a phone) while in a call or a meeting.
• Call Parking: Call Park allows Enterprise Voice users to put a call on hold, and then retrieve it later from any Lync phone within the organization. Call Park is useful for continuing a call from a different location and for transferring a call when the final recipient is unknown.
• Merging Conversations: You can quickly transfer live calls into an existing conversation, including merging multiple conversations.
• Call/conference recording: You can record and play back calls or meetings. Recorded conferences include audio, video, slides, and annotations made during the meeting.
• Conference lobby: Anonymous participants in a dial-in conference are transferred into a "lobby" where they hear music. The leader of the conference is notified and given the option to admit or reject the participant.

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