Project and Lync together: Reducing communication barriers

Project Professional and Project Web App now allow you to instant message, voice or video call, or send email with one click using Lync in the most common views. This makes getting quick answers from your team members, fellow PMs, or other stakeholders easier than ever.

Here are a couple common scenarios where Project’s new Lync integration can be useful:

· You notice a critical task is running behind in the Project Professional Gantt Chart view or the Project Web App “Project Details” view, and you need status from the resource assigned to that task. Hovering over the Resource Name allows you to instantly IM the resource for task status. The resources reports that the task is complete, you mark it as such in the Project, and a headache is averted for your project stakeholder status meeting in 20 minutes.

· You need a developer to work on a project, but you’re unsure if he’s going to be out of office when you need him. He hasn’t decided whether or not to go on vacation in December or January, so he hasn’t update his availability. You pull up the Build Team page in Project Web App, hover over his name, and initiate a quick phone call learn that he’s flexible in his vacation schedule and he can work on your project when you need him. You add him to your team and start assigning him tasks.

 

You can also leverage video chatting, email and more in a variety of views across Project Professional and Project Web App. Try Project + Lync together and make communicating with your Project team and stakeholders even easier in 2013!

NOTE: This only works with Lync 2010 or greater and Lync integration is not supported in Project Standard. In all cases the resource’s Email Address field must be populated to enable Lync presence information for that resource. This field is populated when adding resources via Active Directory or Active Directory Synchronization.