Probably the biggest driving force behind
companies implementing Lync Server 2010 is replacing outsourced web
conferencing services. Many companies spend tens of thousands of
dollars a month on services such as Webex or GoToMeeting. Although
there might be situations where a company running Lync Server 2010
needs to create a conference so large that its infrastructure isn’t
sufficient, the other 95% of the time it can use a platform it owns
rather than paying an external company for the services. In many
environments, OCS 2007 R2 implementations paid for themselves in 6 to
12 months for this reason. Lync Server 2010 looks to offer similar
return on investment for companies in need of web conferencing.
Web conferences are not supported on the Macintosh
Communicator client. There is no option to create one and trying to
invite a contact using the Macintosh Communicator client through a PC
client results in a notification that “Sharing is not supported with
this contact.” The only way to get into a web conference from a
Macintosh is from the Silverlight client.
Caution
Be aware that having multiple participants of the
same conference in the same room can result in a fair amount of
feedback through the clients. The client will actually detect this and
recommend that one or more participants mute the microphone. In a video
conference with more than two participants, the view switches to
whoever is the active speaker.
Joining a Conference
Most
invitations to a web conference arrive through e-mail. This is to say
that in most corporate environments, invites to web conferences are
part of an Exchange meeting invite. It appears as a web link inside the
meeting invite, as shown in Figure 1.
Clicking the web link results in the default web
browser launching. If pop-up blockers are turned on, the Lync Server
warns the user. He can opt to either disable the pop-up blocker for
this site and refresh or he can click a link to “Join with pop-up
blocker turned on” although that might interfere with screen sharing.
It is recommended to disable the pop-up blocker and refresh the
connection.
Note
In Safari, the pop-up blocker can be disabled by clicking Safari at the top context menu and unchecking Block Pop-Up Windows.
With the pop-up blocker disabled, the main web page
notifies the user that the meeting has started in a separate browser
window and that the main window can be closed. Meanwhile, a second
window pops up and is identified as the Lync Web App, as shown in Figure 2.
The Lync Web App window offers the user two options:
Tip
If connecting to an internal web conference, join
using the corporate credentials. This authenticates the identity and
generally gives more freedom to participate in the web conference.
When a meeting is organized, the organizer can
choose which participants can join automatically and which participants
can request to share information or request to control a session.
Typically these rights are not given out to guest users. Similarly,
guest users are typically placed into a lobby before they are added to
the meeting by the organizer.
The Lync Web App window enables you to choose the
preferred language in the Language drop-down. Similarly, you can click
the gear in the upper-right corner to access the following two options:
Checking
the box to Forget me on this computer ensures that all personal
information entered from the current session is cleared when the user
signs out. Enabling logging enables you to choose a location for saving
support logs that can be used by Lync support to help troubleshoot any
issues that might arise during the conference.
Choosing Join as a guest prompts the user to pick a
display name. This name can be anything and shouldn’t be considered a
valid form of identification for a guest user. This is to say that a
guest user isn’t prevented from using names that might be valid within
the organization, so always keep that in mind when allowing guests to
join a meeting. Users are offered an option to Remember me on this
computer, which results in the display name being persistent should
they join future meetings as a guest. Clicking the Join Meeting button
connects to the meeting. Users receive a notification that they have
successfully joined the meeting.
In the meeting, the user has the ability to share a
whiteboard and can show the Stage. The stage is the area that shows
shared items. If the organizer of the meeting shares a whiteboard, the
state automatically appears on the Silverlight client for the Macintosh
user who connected to the meeting. Alternatively, the Macintosh
Silverlight client user can share a whiteboard, if allowed by meeting
options, and it appears for other users. Unfortunately the Macintosh
Silverlight client cannot view a shared application, only a shared
whiteboard. This is a different behavior than the Windows-based
Silverlight client because the additional plug-in for application
sharing doesn’t yet exist for the Macintosh.
Should one choose to Join using your corporate
credentials, the client prompts for the domain\user name for logon as
well as the password. Entering these and clicking Join Meeting connects
the user to the meeting as an authenticated user. This means that the
identity can be trusted and that the user will be considered “People
from the organizer’s company” when applying Meeting Access rights or
Presenter rights.
Sharing Information in a Meeting
Due to the limitations within the Macintosh
Silverlight Client for Lync Server, the only type of sharing that it
can participate in is whiteboard sharing. You can click Share and then
New Whiteboard to create a new whiteboard. If one has been previously
used and the Stage is shown, you can use the drop-down menu called
Content List in the upper right to select a previously populated
whiteboard. This is especially useful if a meeting is broken up into
several parts and participants want to quickly pick up where they left
off. The whiteboard interface includes the following buttons:
Laser Pointer
Select and Type
Line
Color
Pen
Arrow Stamp
Insert Image
Additional Tools
Save with Annotations
Full Screen
The Laser Pointer function enables the person who
currently controls the meeting to create and move a pointer. By
clicking in the whiteboard and moving the pointer around with the mouse
or a touch pen, you can point to objects in the whiteboard while
speaking to call attention to them. This is meant to mimic the use of a
traditional laser pointer in a presentation where you can point to an
object to call attention to it.
The option of Select and Type, which includes a
submenu for font and font size, enables the user to create a text box
and type text into it. This is meant to mimic the most common use of a
physical whiteboard, which is to write notes onto it.
The Line button enables the user to create lines,
arrows, ovals, and rectangles. These are often used to either enclose
information on a whiteboard or can serve as the basis for basic
sketches or diagrams within a conference session. For the creation of
shapes, select a shape, click into the whiteboard, drag the mouse to
the end of the shape, and release it.
The Color button enables you to alter the color of
objects. For example, you can make a line in the default black and then
decide to change the color for subsequent lines to show that they are
different things. This mimics the multiple colors of whiteboard pens
often used when whiteboarding.
The Pen enables you to draw freehand with the mouse.
Clicking into the submenu of Pen, you can select different colors of
pens or define the pen as a highlighter. Using a highlighter pen
results in not overwriting existing lines. This can be helpful when
calling attention to text because it won’t obscure the original text.
The Arrow Stamp button, which also enables you to
choose a Check stamp or an X stamp, enables you to place an arrow onto
the whiteboard. The easiest way is to click into the whiteboard, drag
the mouse to where you want to place the object, and then release the
mouse.
The Insert Image button enables you to search the system for image files to paste into the whiteboard.
The Additional Tools button includes the typical
undo/redo functions, allows for cut/copy/paste functionality, and
enables you to delete selected annotations or all annotations.
The Save with Annotations button enables the user to
save the whiteboard as a Portable Network Graphics (PNG) image. You are
prompted to choose a location to save the image.
The Full Screen button expands the
whiteboard to fill the entire screen. During this full-screen mode, you
are not able to see the normal interface for Lync, text that is typed into
the conversation pane, nor the status change for other participants. To
exit full-screen mode, either click the left bar’s arrow labeled Show
Conversation or press the escape key (ESC).
