So Lync for mobile devices are out, I know you all heard it elsewhere and there are tons of other posts on this topic, but I have waited a bit with my thoughts on them to be able to use them for real before I start the talking.

I have been using Lync 2010 mostly on my Windows Phone 7.5 htc titan. But also a lot on the ipad 2 and of course some on a Android

And at first I was a bit disappointed that there were no cool features like teleportation or holographic video chats and so on… There was simply an IM/P client with a dial back function as cisco said it in a blog post. And this is true! And from my perspective this is good enough! There are things I miss that I think should have been there and those things are NOT VOIP or video. Yepp that’s right I don’t need Lync on a mobile device to do VoIP just yet and that is mostly a network issue. So dial back is perfectly fine for me and for most of the people I talk to.
And yes I live in one of the worlds most covered area with “great and reliable” 3g/4g coverage. (but there are still blind spots here and there where data network drops to gprs even in the city center of Stockholm, Sweden)

When I got the iPhone 4 I rushed to do a facetime call to my wife. That was in the same room, way cool. And then I never ever used it again. So will you use VoIP and video over 3g networks to do business calls?

For me I want those calls to be a 100% reliable.

Mostly when I’m at the computer sitting on a chair at a desk and working I’m connected via Wi-Fi and I do Lync calls just fine. So why is there no Wi-Fi VoIP option in the client then? Well how often do you just sit there when you are on your phone?

Personally I use Lync on the PC when I sit down and the mobile device when I’m on the run. And even when you are moving in a small office Wi-Fi reception might drop out when you go around a corner or when you roam from one AP to the next one and this will affect call quality and give users a broken experience.

So what’s so good with the Mobile clients then? Well simply put, the Call via work / dial back and IM/P.

I will just list my top four things I have used this month, but you are more than welcome to fill in what I missed in the comments.

1. I can choose to only show my land line number to the people I do business with and also direct them back to my voice mail in Exchange UM (that I also have voicemail rules for).
1. I also set the option in my Windows Phone to only show my number to people in my contacts list, and if I just dial a number it will not show my mobile number.
2. I configured my mobile phone voice mail option to redirect to my Lync number so that I won’t get any voice mails on my carrier vm. This will result in all calls coming in to Lync and Exchange VM. (yes poor man’s mobile extension, but good enough )
2. I can use least cost routing via Lync and save loads of money
1. When I’m abroad I can simply buy a prepaid sim card and use dial via work and then have the Lync server call my new number
1. I have a sip-trunk provider that is really cheap on international calls and one for national calls, making all our calls super cheap.
2. I re-configure my simultaneously ring setting to ring this new number
3. Since I configured my original sim card / mobile number to redirect all calls to the Lync number (which in turn do simultaneously ring to the new number I won’t miss any calls, and voice mail will still go to the Exchange UM voice mail.)
2. When I’m home I can change plan from an expensive buffet plan to a smaller one and save about 50% on our mobile cost each month.
1. If I use call via work those calls will be incoming and I will not be charged for them on my mobile phone bill, but of course instead be charged for those calls twice since the Lync server both calls me and then calls the one I want to talk to. So it’s recommended to have a good plan on the sip trunk instead.
3. I can check presence of colleagues, partners, and customers before I call them.
1. Or just IM from the phone.
2. I am always reachable and can set my presence so that people know how to contact me even when I’m not at a computer.
4. I can call federated contacts on
1. Lync
2. Lync online
3. OCS
4. Live Messenger

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