For businesses looking to bring in a great unified communications solution, Microsoft Lync can be a great way to go. Kevin Kieller, a professional in the industry, said on NoJitter.com that businesses have to understand that Lync is a complete UC solution and more than simply something to replace a voice system.
"Yes, Lync can, does, and for many organizations should, replace their existing voice system," he wrote. "However, if you are only looking for a voice system, Lync may not be the best choice. Lync is a UC solution and unified communications is about much more than just voice. While Lync is not only a voice system, I think it is important to emphasize that if you choose, you can deploy IP phones with Lync, just like you can with any other 'voice only' solution."
Kieller said Lync can allow companies to think a bit differently about unified communications and phone systems. With traditional lines in place, an assistant will often see a phone call coming in and be able to answer it for their boss. However, Lync allows users to set up delegates, who can answer calls on behalf of someone else or allow the boss to answer themselves. It also has a tool in place to allow delegates to message their manager to let them know that someone important is on the line if they are already on the phone or talking with someone else.
Another big change that companies will have to think about with Lync is the fact that people contact other people and not just devices, something that Kieller said many believe could be considered "old fashioned." While in the past someone could only be contacted by telephone or email, now that same person can be reached via instant message, a video call or on a cellphone as well.
"In the future of communications, you connect to a person, not a device," he wrote on No Jitter. "Email is already like this and in living with Lync you need to start believing that all communications should adopt the same single person/single address concept."
Easy to integrate
Shane O'Neil wrote on CIO.com that there are some big benefits that companies can get from binging in Microsoft Lync, with the big one being he smooth merger of technology within the company's network. According to Gartner Research vice president Stephen Blood, the integration of Lync makes life easier because all users need is a PC and one set of servers to use it, which is much more simplistic than other platforms.