[CCoE Notice] Using the new Lync telephone system at home and while traveling

[Charles John Young Jr.]

I'm sure that all of you who have attended training on the new Lync 
telephone system already know much more about the features and 
capabilities of this system than I do.  However, last week I was asked 
if the software could be installed on a home computer or a laptop, so that 
the computer could become your UH telephone.  The answer certainly seems 
to be "yes"!

This weekend, I installed the Lync 2010 client software on both my home 
office desktop computer and my laptop computer, and I was able to make 
calls just as easily (or with no more difficulty, depending on your 
perspective) as I could from my office desk.

Both my home office desktop and my laptop computers are running Windows 7 
Home Premium.  I have a Logitech QuickCall USB speakerphone on my desk 
system, and my Hewlett-Packard laptop has built-in microphone and speakers. 
Both systems connect to my home network using wireless, and my network 
connects to the Internet via AT&T DSL.  I did not try any video calls, but 
for straight voice, the quality was every bit as good as my cell phone.

Of course, if you need to use the telephone in areas that are noisy or 
where you need more privacy, you would probably also want to use a 
headset.

The Lync 2010 software can be downloaded from the Information Technology 
website:
  <http://www.uh.edu/infotech/php/software/list.php?affiliation=staff>

Many documents about using Lync can be found on the Internet; one from 
another university that provides a good guide on how to install the Lync 
software at home is:
  <http://louisville.edu/email/Lync-install-setup-home-use.pdf>

The download from UH IT is a zip file, and the installation program is 
called "LyncSetup.exe" (both 32- and 64-bit versions).  After you have 
installed the Lync software, you should then run Windows Update to get 
the latest updates.  (My apologies to the Mac users, but I don't have one 
to try.  Perhaps one of you can share your experiences with configuring 
Lync on Mac OS X.)

The first time you run Lync, you will be asked for:

  Your Sign-in address:   This is your UH Exchange e-mail address,
                          your_user_id at Central.UH.edu

  Your User name:         cougarnet\your_CougarNet_user_name
  Your Password:          your_CougarNet_password

I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you DO NOT CHECK "Save my password".  However, 
for those of you who will do so anyway, the link to the online web page to 
reset your password is:
   <http://www.uh.edu/infotech/password>

Enjoy!

John