External Communications Capabilities
Topic Last Modified: 2012-01-24
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 provides communications capabilities for users inside and outside your organization. The type of communications that are supported depends on the type of user. The following table summarizes the communications capabilities by type of user. The following sections in this document provide more detail.
Summary of External User Access Capabilities by User Type
| Scenario | Remote user | Federated user | Public IM connectivity/Interoperability | Anonymous user |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Presence |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Instant messaging (IM) peer-to-peer |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
IM conferencing |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Collaboration |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Audio/video (A/V) peer-to-peer |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes* for Windows Live Messenger 2011 |
No |
A/V conferencing |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
File transfer |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
* For public IM connectivity A/V peer-to-peer support, you must use Windows Live Messenger 2011. You must also modify the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 encryption level. By default, the encryption level is Required. You must change this setting to Supported. For details, see Prepare for Support of Public IM Connectivity.
Capabilities Available to Internal Users
With your authorization, users who are logged on to your intranet can communicate with external users in the following ways:
IM and presence Users can participate in one-on-one IM conversations with public IM users and IM Conferences with remote and federated users. Users can view the presence of remote, federated, and public IM users. They can also add remote users, federated users, and public IM users to their Contacts list.
Web conferencing Meeting organizers can invite remote users, federated users, and anonymous users to conferences as either presenter or attendee. Presenters can share applications or their desktop with federated users, and they can give federated users control.
A/V conferencing Meeting organizers can specify that meeting audio and video for conferences be hosted on your internal Lync Server deployment.
Capabilities Available to Remote Users
Remote users have the following capabilities:
IM and presence Users can send instant messages and view presence status without using a virtual private network (VPN) to log on to the internal network. They can add users from federated partners and users of supported public IM service providers to their Contacts list, and they can view those users’ presence status, even while they are signed in remotely.
Web conferencing Users can participate in conferences as if they were logged on to the internal network.
A/V conferencing Users can participate in A/V conferences as if they were logged on to the internal network.
Essentially, remote users have the same capabilities as internal users and in most situations will not notice any difference in performance.
Capabilities Available to Federated Users
The functionality available to federated users depends on the option you choose during deployment. When defining the deployment in Topology Builder, IM and Presence is always enabled. You choose to add Conferencing, which will enable Web conferencing and A/V conferencing:
IM and presence only Users can participate in IM conversations with individual Lync Server users in your organization and access presence information, but they cannot participate in Lync Server-based multiparty conferences, it is strictly peer-to-peer conferencing.
IM and presence, web conferencing, and A/V conferencing Users can participate in IM conversations with individual Lync Server users in your organization and access presence information. Users can participate in web conferences and A/V conferences (if they are supported by your Lync Server deployment). Federated users have access to the full feature set, except for the Lync Server 2010 Address Book of the federated company.
Capabilities Available to Public IM Users
IM and presence capabilities are available, and optionally, peer–to–peer A/V conferencing with Windows Live Messenger. Users can participate in IM conversations with individual Lync Server users in your organization and access presence information, but they cannot participate in Lync Server-based IM multiparty conferences, it is strictly peer-to-peer communication. Depending on the configuration of external access policy and media configuration, public IM users can participate in peer–to–peer A/V sessions with Windows Live Messenger users. For details, see Prepare for Support of Public IM Connectivity.
Capabilities Available to Anonymous Users
Anonymous users can participate in IM, web conferences, and audio conferences that are hosted on your internal deployment. Anonymous users require an invitation to access these features.