When Microsoft (News - Alert) Lync was introduced into the IP and unified communications market in early 2011, it immediately enhanced the way the enterprise communicates by building on the reliability of internal and external communication that Microsoft has become known for. A year later, the enterprise-ready unified communications platform continues to streamline the way we work and communicate using IP-based technologies and the familiar user experience offered by Microsoft.

With the option to integrate MS Lync into a user’s existing Microsoft Office and other MS applications, Lync provides the consistent interface Microsoft users are already acclimated with on top of a desktop client that offers the latest features such as IM and presence, video conferencing, enterprise voice capabilities and mobile apps.

For IP phone provider snom, integrating MS Lync into its vast line of popular VoIP desktop phones was a no brainer and the company began doing so shortly after the first release of Lync. Although the implementation was rolled out slowly at first, nearly a year later, snom boasts the majority of its IP phones compatible with the Microsoft platform and guarantee its phones Lync-ready right out of the box.

In fact, the integration of Lync has had such a profound effect on snom’s business, that looking back on 2011, snom COO, Mike Storella (News - Alert), credited one of the company’s biggest accomplishments to getting its phones validated with Microsoft Lync. Integrating Lync into the company’s product line of IP phones has opened up a number of new doors for snom that will certainly continue to expand into 2012. Moving into the New Year, Storella notes that the company will still remain heavily involved in the Lync space and will release some additional phones that will support the platform in 2012. He added that eventually, the anticipation is that all snom’s products will be validated with Lync and he also foresees SIP making its way toward Lync sooner than later.

If you are interested in learning more about how to deliver Lync to the enterprise with the help of snom’s IP phone portfolio, you won’t want to miss a presentation given by Storella and director of snom’s Partner Alliance, Tommy Lee (News - Alert). Together, the two UC experts will discuss how the new snom UC portfolio provides users with the most diverse array of cost-effective, Lync-qualified desktop phones and new management tools and training for accelerating your Microsoft Lync deployments with snom endpoints. One lucky participant will win a snom UC600.

Stefanie Mosca is a Managing Editor for TMCnet, with a particular focus in wireless technologies as well as mobile and IP communications. She holds a master's degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University and a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of New Haven. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page or follow her on Twitter (News - Alert) @stefaniemosca.

Edited by Juliana Kenny