Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Lync 2013 Client Cumulative Update

Microsoft has recently updated both the Lync Server 2013 and the Lync 2013 client. While most Lync folks tend to concentrate on the former, the latter often includes much wanted and much needed functionality (as well of course as bug fixes). The most recent client update contains a number of features that have been long requested. These include:

  • Spell checker  - as you type IM’s, Lync can now check the spelling which is useful particularly in IM sessions with clients where having fewer typos is a good thing.
  • Photos of sender and receiver – this enables you to see photos in an IM chat or conference of all the participants. This may be overkill in some cases, but in others (e.g. in an IM conference with a large number of participants) it can be really very useful.
  • External photos – pictures from external locations was a feature of Lync 2012, but in the RTM version of Lync 2013, this feature was dropped. But now it’s back – although it need some administrator input in order to enable users to point to external photos.
  • Persistent Chat conferencing – this feature enables you to start a conference with the folks currently in a persistent chat chat room.
  • Recording options – you have the option to record sessions (something available in the RTM version) but now you can record in different resolutions. It looks like you can only record on one resolution.
  • Sign-in Logs option – troubleshooting client logins has always been possible, but with the CU, there is a Sign-in Logs option in the Lync client which enables users to both view and copy logon information and send it to the help desk for more assistance.

As I see it with this CU, the good Lync client just gets a bit better. So far, I’ve not heard any horror stories but like all Lync CUs (client and server side) be sure to do your own testing. I am not aware of any issues with this CU, but the way that these releases are implemented means you should take the time to test before rolling out – just in case.

For more information on the CU, read Byron Spurlock’s article on Windows IT Pro site.

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