Microsoft Lync to transform business environments

By Cassandra Mascarenhas

Keeping in line with the evolvement of its products over the years, Microsoft launched its latest iteration in its offerings of unified communications to its valued customers in Sri Lanka, the next generation of communication server Microsoft Lync 2010.

Released last year by Microsoft Corp in US markets, Lync will now be available in Sri Lankan markets via selected Microsoft partners in the country.

Lync is a single platform that integrates instant messaging, presence, audio, video and web conferencing and voice to bring people together in the ways they communicate best. It provides one interface that works with applications that businesses know and use today, including Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Exchange.

Microsoft Lync is now known as the new family brand for the products formerly known as Microsoft Communications Server, Microsoft Office Communications Online and Microsoft Office Communicator which now also includes Microsoft Lync Web App and Microsoft Lync Online.

“Sri Lanka is lagging a bit in terms of IT and communication and what is now left to see is where Sri Lanka will go along the data path. However there are IT and telecommunication partnerships beginning to emerge and the future of the country clearly lies in how software will be used,” said Country Head of Microsoft Sriyan de Silva Wijeratne while delivering the welcome address at the launch of the product yesterday.

The country also needs to concentrate on skills development and keeping talent within the country as the country is currently losing talent through the migration of people. There is a key role that Microsoft and its partners in Sri Lanka can play in this scenario in addressing this issue by providing the right quality of skills in order to retain talent, added Wijeratne.

Microsoft has concentrated on evolving its products over the past decade from improving individual products to more recent products, which are now based on collaboration and building linkages.

“Lync delivers on Microsoft’s vision to unify all of the areas of modern business communication, giving people a more collaborative experience with features like HD video conference recording activity feeds,” said SMS&P Director of Microsoft Sri Lanka Pubudu Basnayake.

“In addition to transforming how people communicate, IT departments can also benefit from Lync and evolve their infrastructure while enhancing or eliminating their traditional PBX systems, saving time and money.”

Microsoft recently commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact study that found that for a composite organization, Lync 2010 offers a risk adjusted ROI of 337 per cent, including $6.35 million in hard cost savings over three years,  with a payback period of 12 months.

Microsoft Lync customers globally include The Estee Lauder Companies Inc., Nikon Corp., Marquette University, France Telecom, and Herreknectare which have deployed Lync 2010 to change the way they communicate, thereby transforming their businesses while saving money.

It can make every engagement a virtual face-to-face meeting, because any interaction can include video and audio conferencing, application and desktop sharing, instant messaging, and telephony. Lync has been designed from the ground up to work with Microsoft Office, SharePoint and Exchange, which helps reduce end-user adoption hurdles and increase return on investment.

People can also stay connected to others on a wide range of devices while away from the office and manage their communications and calls in new ways, such as easily moving a call from a PC to a mobile device while leaving the office without disrupting the conversation.