Features
One basic use of Lync Server is instant messaging and presence within a single organization. This includes support for rich presence information, file transfer, instant messaging as well as voice and video communication. (These latter features are often not possible even within a single organization using public IM clients, due to the effects of negotiating the corporate firewall and network address translation). Lync uses Interactive Connectivity Establishment for NAT traversal and TLS encryption to enable secure voice and video both inside and outside the corporate network.
Lync Server also supports remote users, both corporate users on the internet (e.g. mobile or home workers) as well as users in partner companies. Lync supports "federation" - enabling interoperability with other corporate IM networks. Federation can be configured either manually (where each partner manually configures the relevant edge servers in the other organisation) or automatically (using the appropriate SRV records in the DNS).
Microsoft Lync Server uses Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for signaling along with the SIMPLE extensions to SIP for IM and presence. Media is transferred using RTP/SRTP. The Live Meeting client uses PSOM to download meeting content. The Communicator client also uses HTTPS to connect with the web components server to download address books, expand distribution lists, etc. By default, Office Communications Server encrypts all signaling and media traffic using SIP over TLS and SRTP. There is one exception to this - traffic between the Mediation Server and a basic media gateway is carried as SIP over TCP and RTP. However, if a hybrid gateway is leveraged, such as one from Microsoft's Open Interoperability Site, then in fact everything is encrypted from all points if (SSL certificates are configured on the gateway and TLS elected as the transmission type).
IM is only one portion of the Lync suite. The other major components are VOIP telephony and video conferencing through the desktop communicator client. Remote access is possible using mobile and web clients.
Several third parties have incorporated Lync functionality on existing platforms. HP has implemented OCS on their Halo video conferencing platform.
Microsoft released Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 in February 2009. The R2 release added the following features:
- Dial-in audioconferencing
- Desktop sharing
- Persistent Group Chat
- Attendant console and delegation
- Session Initiation Protocol trunking
- Mobility and single-number reach
Read more about this topic: Microsoft Lync Server
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