Hi All,

I am doing a research on seeing the feasibility of a VOIP solution for our company, but as I came across MS Lync, it seems to have additional features like Making phone calls through it, Instant Messaging, Conferencing, Outlook integration - MakingPhone Calls by clicking the contacts number and all.

Now I see that, after going through multiple documentations and wherever I could find more detailed information on Lync and telephony, I have the following questions:

1) Do we need a VOIP solution in place that will help us connect to any phone number, from what it looks like we do from a desktop, seems like it will link up with the VOIP soft client for the call.

2) If we do need a VOIP solution in place, will it work with any VOIP provider or do they have to have a specific VOIP customization with Lync (Soft Phone Client integration). Any reference links if possible.

3) Outlook Integration with Lync: I had a check on this reference, it seems that it does a RPC call, thus I take it we wont have to modify our Exchange Server 2010 to allow integration with Lync.

4) Business Contact Manager (BCM) 2010 integration with Lync 2010: I searched as much as I could regarding this, where Phone Call option is available in BCM, but as I take it that it works for Dial-up Modems only, but with Lync along with VOIP would be able to initiate the call so that it could be tracked during the process as per log history.

Thanks in advance.

Thanks and Regards,

Remus.

Hi Remus, I'm not entirely clear on all your questions but;

1.) Lync doesn't have any dependency on an existing VOIP solution. It's an enterprise grade Unified Communication product (a suite of services), and as part of that suite is capable of acting as a complete VOIP telephony solution in its own right. Providing you deploy the required Lync roles / servers and supporting components (SBCs, SIP trunks etc.), then you can connect your Lync environment to the PSTN and use it as a complete replacement for any telephony system. That said, if you do have an existing PBX / telephony system that you would like to retain and have co-existence with, then that possible as well. Regarding soft clients, the Lync desktop client is just one type of endpoint that a user can make and receive calls on, they might also use desk phones, conferencing devices, or qualified contact centre products to name a few.

2.) As mentioned above, you can't use another vendors softphone with Lync, you'd use the MSFT Lync client software.

3.) Lync works natively with Microsoft Exchange. Calendar integration, conversation history etc. all work out the box providing Exchange is healthy and configured correctly. If you were to use Exchange 2010 with Lync as a telephony solution, then it will also handle your voicemail functionality - this requires the deployment and configuration of the Unified Messaging role on the Exchange servers(s)

4.) Unfortunately I'm not over familiar with BCM, and can't vouch for any enhancements or benefits that you might gain. Your call log history is saved directly in outlook via Exchange, but I'm not sure you'll get any click to call functionality (which is what I think you're getting at there).

Kind regards

Hi,

Agree with BenDonaldson.

You can the Lync certified IP phone and Lync certified IP PBXs and Gateway with the help of the link below:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/dn788944.aspx

Best Regards,

Eason Huang