Sean V.'s blog

Microsoft Lync 2010 Custom Presence States

Submitted by Sean V. on Fri, 03/30/2012 - 09:34

There are times when simply telling others that you are Busy, Away, or Do Not Disturb are not enough to convey your actual presence state. For most, the use of custom presence states other than the defaults provided by Lync 2010 was forgotten after Office Communications Server 2007. Although it is true that tighter security behavior doom fated the four additional presence states that were customizable, there is still a method for making additional, customizable presence states available in Lync 2010.

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Hosted Microsoft Unified Communications and Collaboration

Submitted by Sean V. on Tue, 01/03/2012 - 10:20

The ability to host your Microsoft Unified Communications and Collaboration in the cloud is a hot topic. As many are aware the architecture, management, and maintenance of deploying a Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Lync infrastructures are not for the faint of heart. These systems take great care in architecting correctly following all best practices. The workload doesn’t finish with an adequate design. The deployment and included systems management and ongoing maintenance require resources capable and available to maintain such systems.

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Migrating to Lync 2010 from OCS Can Be Painless

Submitted by Sean V. on Wed, 03/23/2011 - 11:53

Lync Server 2010In the advent of Lync 2010 communications server from Microsoft many organizations are faced with, should I upgrade and what does it take?  The transition process can be seamless if the proper best practices are followed when migrating from Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 and Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 R2 infrastructures.  In environments where prior versions of the Offi

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Microsoft Lync 2010 Performance Report

Submitted by Sean V. on Mon, 02/14/2011 - 11:32

The Microsoft voice solution is a competitive offering however not as well accepted or trusted as long lived voice solutions such as Cisco, Avaya, Shoretel, etc. When dealing with a client that has interest in deploying with Microsoft Communication Server their primary concern is reliability as compared to a traditional PBX.  There has already been benchmark tests to confirm Microsoft prowess in the Unified Communication arena:

FYI Stress Test results below:

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New Microsoft Lync Deployment Connects Users

Submitted by Sean V. on Wed, 12/22/2010 - 23:42

As the successor to the Office Communication Server (OCS) family line of products, Microsoft Lync 2010 provides the same core functionality while adding Lync Online Meetings, frequent contacts view, more robust presence, contact card, and different ways to view contacts. Lync energizes the communications platform with an updated look and feel with a touch of social media inspiration. In the OCS product line, the conferencing capabilities were powered by Microsoft Live Meeting 2007 which interacted as an additional application which required to be loaded on the client workstations. Lync introduces an integrated solution, Lync Online Meeting offers the same web conferencing functionality without any required additional application. Lync has much the familiar feel that Office Communicator Client offered; however, there are some notable features which users experience.

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