Lync For Mac 2011
Two weeks ago I announced that the Lync for Mac 2011 client was coming and got super excited.  Today, Lync for Mac 2011 became available through Microsoft Volume Licensing and thus generally available to most.
1) Once you have downloaded Lync for Mac 2011 from the Control Panel to your desktop, double-click on it. 2) Double-click on the Lync Installer. 3) Click on Continue. 4) Click on Continue. 5) Click on Agree. 6) Click on Install. 7) Click on Close. Note: Run your updates and make sure Lync is updated to at least version 14.0.1.
I’ve downloaded and installed it on my MacBook Air running OSX Lion and can now provide a first look at the new Lync client experience for Mac.
You may already know that Office 365 E3 and Small Business Premium includes the full office desktop suite for Windows and Mac for up to 5 devices per user (here), and therefore includes Lync for. How to install Lync for Mac 2011 Ta Vinh. Unsubscribe from Ta Vinh? Step 2: Click Download to load Lync for Mac 2011 setup file with dmg file format. Step 3: Open dowloaded file. Microsoft has released an update to Lync for Mac 2011. Version 14.1.1 (KB3074981) is packed full of updates and bug fixes you will want to install ASAP. Start off with my post Lync for Mac 2011 – A First Look. Voice Experience. The Enterprise Voice story on Lync for Mac 2011 is on par with the Windows client and enables your Mac users to enjoy the same great Lync experience as the rest of your organisation. Oct 09, 2011 Looking to set configuration preferences in Lync for mac? The office for mac site has a good overview of the settings here. From their site: Certain features and behaviors that are available to Lync Server 2010 clients are determined by preference settings on the client.
Microsoft Lync For Mac 2011
What isn’t new? This client looks almost completely different to the old Communicator for Mac second class citizen. It feels A LOT more like the Lync client on Windows.
Incoming call/IM notification
Firstly, the incoming call/IM toast looks totally different. We now have a much more “Lync” looking toast going on, with the user’s name and title listed, number they called on and a preview of the IM.
We can now also deflect incoming calls to voicemail, mobile, reply with IM or set to DND. Can I get a hell yeah?
Photos
We can see from the IM session below that photos are now visible in Lync. This is something I think that is a real perception changer for Lync. I know it was one of the first things I noticed about the new client back when I saw previews of Wave 14, so it’s great to see the same experience on Mac.
Unfortunately, we can’t specify an internet URL for our photo though. Only the default corporate photo from AD or no photo at all is configurable. And yes, I have checked the Photos option in my Client Policy on Lync. 😉
Call Control
We now have call forwarding options available in Preferences. This experience is the same as that in the Lync client on Windows, and means Mac users have the same control over incoming calls as Windows users.
Online Meetings
This is where the big improvements have been made. The Lync for Mac 2011 client can now join and create online meetings created by Lync, no more Web Scheduler!
Meet Now
From the menu bar, I can now create a meeting on the fly and select Meet Now.
Scheduling an Online Meeting
Now directly from Outlook for Mac 2011, we can schedule online meetings. Be aware this requires the 14.1.3 update (Service Pack 1) for Office for Mac 2011.
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From the New Meeting screen in Outlook, I click the Online Meeting button in the ribbon and select Create Online Meeting.
Lync For Mac 2011 Not Signing In
Outlook then populates the meeting request with the meeting details from Lync, ready to send to your participants:
Joining an Online Meeting
Once I click Join online meeting in the meeting invite, my default browser fires up and accesses the simple URL on the Lync Server:
After this, Lync for Mac 2011 opens and joins the online meeting. Yeah I know, I’m deep in thought in this screencap.
Lync For Mac 2011 Free Download
I can then do things like share my desktop, and I can see the stage that shows me what content is currently being shared. Click the image to see it at a larger size.
Pretty sweet huh?
Even for all the improvements, there are still unfortunately a few things that aren’t in Lync for Mac 2011:
- Can’t tag a contact for status change alerts.
- No feeds tab or conversation history tab.
- No ability to create a team-call group.
- Can’t specify an internet URL for your photo, as mentioned above.
- Can’t save conversations to Conversation History folder in Outlook.
- Still no streamlined USB audio device support, however my belief is that this is a Mac OSX limitation.
This is just a quick first look at the new Mac client, but as you can see Microsoft have made some huge improvements here over the old Communicator for Mac that was really just a skinned Mac Messenger. It looks and feels more like Lync, and the meeting join experience is dead on the same now. Great to see an on-par client experience across platforms now.
Related posts:
I’ve put together one central place for Lync for Mac 2011 resources so you’ve got one-stop-shop for information on the client. Whether it’s a problem you’ve encountered, device compatibility or you just need to know what the client looks like, you’ll find it here. Start off with my post Lync for Mac 2011 – A First Look.
The Enterprise Voice story on Lync for Mac 2011 is on par with the Windows client and enables your Mac users to enjoy the same great Lync experience as the rest of your organisation. As the Lync voice story develops on Mac, more scenarios are being discovered that are worth documenting, especially around devices.
Lync for Mac 2011 Devices TechNet Wiki (thanks to Tom Laciano for putting this together)
There’s also a few really helpful articles on the Office for Mac 2011 website. Check these links out to dive a bit deeper into how the Mac client works.
- Helpful Client Comparison Matrix –
Compare Lync for Mac 2011 with Communicator for Mac and Lync 2010 for Windows - Managing Client Side Preferences – Lync for Mac 2011 – Managed Preferences
- Lync for Mac crashing? Check out this post from Mark Coughlan that might fix your problem.
I’ll keep this page updated with new information as it comes to hand. If you’ve got suggestions or questions, please make a comment below.