Lync 2013

You see only a white screen when viewing Lync 2013 desktop sharing

Ståle Hansen 9 Comments

On a couple of Windows 8 computers I have seen the issue where I receive only white screen when someone shares their desktop with me in Lync 2013.

This applies to

  • Fresh installed Windows 8 computer
  • One year old Windows 8 computer
  • Lync Peer to Peer collaboration
    • The issue is consequent so it is not a specific deployment issue
  • Lync conference
    • All other attendees can see the screen fine so it is not an appsharing issue
  • The issue is client related so it will be present for Lync Online as well as Lync on-premises

The experience

WhiteAppSharing
Continue reading →

Slides from my NICconf 2014 talks are online

Ståle Hansen 2 Comments

nic2013This year I had the honour to talk at the Nordic Infrastructure Conference (NIC) 2014 in Oslo, Norway. This is a great conference getting more traction in the market with A list speakers like John Craddock, Johan Arwidmark and Wally Mead. MVP Justin Morris and I had two Lync talks each. Below you can download my slides and read the key takeaways from my sessions. Sadly there where no recording this year, hope they will have the capaticy to record sessions next year. Continue reading →

MUCUGN: Slides and recording available Lync and Exchange integrations

Ståle Hansen Leave a comment

Microsoft UC User Group Norway (MUCUGN) had its first meeting over Lync 2013 june 19 2013. We where about 26 participants, which is great for the first meeting and the topic was Lync 2013 and Exchange 2013 integrations with demo. We recorded the session and the slide deck (in english) and the Lync recording (in Norwegian) are now available.

Remember to join us for our next meetup at september 17 where Lasse Nordvik Wedø will talk about Centralized Logging Service : http://www.meetup.com/MUCUGN/events/137807372/

Topic: Integrating Lync Server 2013 and Exchange Server 2013

  • Prerequisites
  • Unified Contact Store (UCS)
  • High Resolution Photos
  • Online meeting in OWA
  • OWA IM integration
  • Exchange UM
  • Demos

Thanks to Jens Trier Rasmussen [MSFT] for letting me use his awesome deck :)

View and download slides from SlideShare

slide1

View the Lync recording from Vimeo, it starts at about 3.50 :)

Lync client sign-in and DNS records recommendations

Ståle Hansen 9 Comments

This article was last updated 23.12.14

The Lync 2013 clients uses lyncdiscover to find the pools and url’s they need to sign in to. I have spent a couple of days trying to figure out the most restrictive way to DNS records where all clients work and here is my recommendation regarding internal DNS records and where the clients should sign in from. I will start with the conclusion, and then continue with some background information and finish with some test results. This article does not talk much about external DNS records since they are the same as for Lync 2010, mostly. Continue reading →

TEL, SIP, mailto, and Lync meeting links association

Ståle Hansen 4 Comments

On a windows 8 machine you can have several application that can open Lync and Outlook related URL’s. This can be a problem since it may not always be the application you want to use that is opening your links. This article will help you take control of your Unified Communications links.

The applications

  • Lync Rich (desktop) client – Opens TEL:, SIP: and Lync meeting links
  • Lync Windows Store App – Opens Lync meeting links
  • Skype – Opens TEL:
  • Chrome – Opens TEL: and mailto:
  • Outlook – Opens mailto:
  • Mail App – Opens mailto:

Usually I would think you would prefer Lync Rich Client and Outlook to open you links. So when the Lync Windows Store app opens meetings you are an administrator of or Skype opens TEL: links when you want to call someone with Lync this could be an issue. I will in this article talk about when you use the URL’s and how to take control over them. Continue reading →

Lync 2010/2013 Script to find available numbers in a Lync deployment

Ståle Hansen 10 Comments

LyncPSHaving worked on a couple of Enterprise Voice deployments since the launch of Lync Server 2013 I am still missing a feature that I honestly thought would be incorporated in to Lync by now. It is the ability to find unused available numbers in a given number range assigned to the Lync Server based on Unassigned Numbers. I even hoped it would be possible to assign a teluri to users through a drop down list in the Silverlight GUI since the information is available in the server. I hope this will be available in a future Cumulative Update.

This is almost how I wrote it back in january 2011 when I created the List-UnusedNumber.ps1 script. This is still true and I have therefore revitalized the old script and upgraded it and tested it on Lync 2013. The original script was also featured on the Lync PowerShell blog, which was a huge thing for me. Continue reading →

Lync sessions from Nordic Infrastructure Conference (NIC) 2013 now online

Ståle Hansen 3 Comments

262088_196758450372054_3536971_nJanuary 24th 2013 I had the honour to speak at the Nordic Infrastructure Conference (NIC) in Oslo. There where 30 speakers and 24 of them where MVP’s presenting on topics like Windows Server, Virtualization and Cloud, System Management, Unified Communications and Windows Client. There was a lot of great speakers this year as last time like Jeffrey Snover, Scott Schnoll, Johan Arwidmark, Justin Morris and Martin Lidholm to name a few. See a screen of all the speakers. Of the sessions I managed to attend I would really recommend watching the video of  Jeffrey Snover’s PowerShell CrashCourse. Continue reading →

Lync 2013 Select Primary Device available to PC-to-PC enabled users

Ståle Hansen 4 Comments

In Lync 2010 when enabling users for “Enterprise Voice” you would get the Audio Selection Menu which helped you select your primary device at any time. This was an important menu since it would let you know what was your active device at any given time and was a huge improvement over the Communicator 2007 R2 clients. Originally it was intended that this menu was going to be enabled for users enabled for “PC-to-PC only” as well, but it ended up being a bug that became a feature. Continue reading →

Windows 8 will change the way you use a PC

Ståle Hansen 5 Comments

For the past six months I have used a Samsung Series 7 slate with Windows 8 installed. I have to say, a Windows 8 slate like this Samsung or the Microsoft Surface will change how you use and relate to your PC. I will try in this article to share what I have experienced using this form factor actively in my daily life. Continue reading →

Recommendation: Profiles for Lync v2 for Lync 2010 and 2013

Ståle Hansen 2 Comments

A feature not present in the Lync client is the ability to sign in with different accounts. In the native Lync client you can only be signed in with only one identity and there is no easy way to switch identities. As a consultant I implement Lync for a lot of different customers and I need to sing in as them to test features. You probably experience that scenario if you are a Lync administrator as well, testing different settings for different types of users. For Lync 2010 there was a tool developed by Greig Continue reading →