The Legend of Lync: Microsoft’s enterprise collaboration rules
It’s on your mac. It’s on your Windows. It’s on your iPhone and your Android. It’s in the cloud. A better question would be, where isn’t Microsoft Lync? If you’re new to the enterprise collaboration scene, here’s a quick breakdown of Lync just for you.
A Lync to the past
Microsoft Lync grew out of a previous Microsoft product called Microsoft Office Communicator (MOC). Lync was released January 25th, 2011 and has since replaced it’s MOC predecessor. It is similar to Windows Messenger but has much greater functionality and is targeted at corporate environments, so if you haven’t worked for a company that uses Lync you probably haven’t experienced it’s incredible features and functionality.
Basically, Lync is a unified communications application combining many distinct forms of connecting people to each other, no matter where they are or what device they are using. With Lync you can instant message, video conference, display presence status (available, busy, in a meeting, etc.), set up Lync meetings, share files, and make voice calls. If you’ve ever used Skype, you know what most of this functionality is good for and in which situations. In fact, Microsoft bought out Skype and is now integrating it with Lync as well as their other product lines. It’s magical, perhaps legendary.