Lync is great tool for conducting webinars. It is even better in that people who don’t have Lync can download and install the free Lync Attendee client to have the full experience. You can download the Lync Attendee software from:

Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendee – User Level Install –
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15755

For information about using the software see:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/communicator-help/quick-start-use-lync-2010-attendee-HA101832596.aspx

or get my book:

Getting Started with Lync Online

Now it is always best to check that everything works first with Lync and to do that you can use the following:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2386655

which is a bit ‘techie’ but is very comprehensive. Some other troubleshooting links for Lync in general are:

http://community.office365.com/en-us/wikis/lync/ensuring-your-network-works-with-lync-online.aspx

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2566790

Of course you can still get issues and if you get this one:
 
‘There was a problem verifying the certificate from the server’ then this article may help:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2604176

There is even a Mr Fixit button that will do the hard work for you.

For a long while you could go to:

 

http://speedtest.microsoftonline.com/

 

to run a speed test from the Microsoft Online datacentres to your location. Doing so would produce some handy results like:

 

 

and

 

 

if you try and visit the site above it comes up as not found and I haven’t found any replacement as yet?? Strange.

 

For the time being I suggest that the best substitute is:

 

http://www.testexchangeconnectivity.com

 

and select the Office 365 tab

 

 

as the best way to get an idea of the performance from the Office 365 data centres, although I’d prefer to see the old site back as it provides a lot more ‘techie’ info. I hope it is getting revamped in preparation for the upcoming release of the new Office 365.

Many people are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new Office 365 which is due any time now. With a new version on the way there are of course plenty of questions about what the product contains, what the upgrade path and options are and so on. Here a few resources I’ve found that may answer some of these questions for you.

Office 365 Preview Service Descriptions – http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj819284.aspx

Office 365 Service Upgrade center for enterprise – http://community.office365.com/en-us/wikis/office_365_service_updates/office-365-service-upgrade-center-for-enterprise.aspx
 
Office 365 Service Upgrade Center for Small Business – http://community.office365.com/en-us/wikis/office_365_service_updates/office-365-service-upgrade-center-for-small-business.aspx
 
Interesting that these documents also say:
 
“We’ll be rolling out the service upgrade over the course of 2013, and it is completely automated: there’s nothing you need to do to prepare your Office 365 service for the upgrade. During the upgrade, email, instant messaging and sites will keep working, and you don’t need to reconfigure computers and mobile devices after the upgrade.”
 
All we need now is a date when it will actually be available.

As we ramp up to the full release of a swag of new software (Office 2013, Exchange 2013, Office 365 etc) we are beginning to see more resources become available for IT Professionals.

You can find all the products at:

http://officeignitelabs.cloudguides.com/default.htm

or if you just want Office 365 that is at:

http://officeignitelabs.cloudguides.com/Office%20365%20Labs.htm

At these locations you’ll find a swag of helpful videos that will give you a good overview of the new features and get you on the road to understanding how they can be used effectively. Jump on board now as it is going to be a big year.