SBAMakingSmall: Lync 2013 Mobile for Android First Look

Lync 2013 Mobile for Android is available on the Google store. Below is our first look and photo tour of the app. At the end of this photo tour I have written my notes and thoughts. Enjoy.

Status Screen:

Voice Calling Screen

dtmf dial pad during a call

Dialer

Set Status

Instant Message

IM using Android Speech recognition (very nice)

Making a call from Android Contact List you are given a choice of which app to use. Lync 2013 Mobile is among this list.

Video Call (this is a video call to a Lync 2010 user)

Video Call: You can switch cameras and orientation mid call.

Incoming Call

Settings

Call forwarding

Landscape works in all screens fine. Notice the buttons at the top get smaller

Call Via Work Call back (it doesn’t appear the user can select call-via-work versus voip at dial time like Windows Phone)

Swipe to get to IM from a Voice/Video call

New modality request

Call History: Notice the little “1” on the conversation history “tab” indicating 1 missed call.

Not connected” indication

Both Lync 2010 and 2013 can be installed and (it seems) run at the same time. Do note that Lync 2013 will not work with Lync Server 2010.

Some Things I Noticed:

You can swipe as well as tap between screens (not possible on Lync 2010 Android)
Entire app is VERY snappy on my Nexus 4
You can sync Lync contacts to your Android device
You cannot search Android contacts from Lync (not a big deal because you can dial from Android contact list)
Even if you exit Lync from App Switcher, incoming calls will come through
NOT supported on Android tablets
Contacts added on Lync 2013 (PC) will show up immediately
Lync dialer does not normalize number
NOTE: Appears there is no way to initiate multi-party IM from this client (Is this correct?)
~~No Visual Voicemail~~

Observations

The app is VERY snappy on my Nexus 4
Seems like the Lync 2013 Mobile for Android is ever so slightly more basic than iOS and Windows Phone Versions of Lync 2013 Mobile (but still great app)
- No way to select Call-Via-Work versus Voip at time of call
- Can’t search device contacts from Lync App (in fairness Lync contacts are added to Android contact list as an alternative)
- No Visual Voicemal
Overall very nice app

More Detailed NotesAlso, you may want to read this blog article that answers in detail, a variety of call situations and how Lync 2013 Mobile (not android specifically) handles them.