Topic Last Modified: 2013-10-07

This section describes the compatibility of Lync 2013 with various versions of Microsoft Office suites, Microsoft Exchange Server, Windows operating systems, and selected public instant messaging (IM) clients.

Office and Lync 2013

The following table describes the Lync 2013 features that are supported by various versions of Office.

Lync 2013 and Microsoft Office Compatibility

Feature	Microsoft Office 2003 with Service Pack 3 (SP3) (required) or the latest service pack (recommended)	Microsoft Office 2007	Microsoft Office 2010	Microsoft Office 2013
Customize Outlook meeting invitations (add logo, help URL, disclaimer, footer text)	No	No	No	Yes
In Outlook, configure meeting option to mute attendee audio and video by default	No	No	No	Yes
Unified Contact Store for managing Contacts lists across Office and Lync	No	No	No	Yes (requires Exchange 2013)¹
High-resolution pictures	No	No	No	Yes (requires Exchange 2013)¹
Lync 2013 setup integrated into the Office setup program	No	No	No	Yes
OneNote shared notes	No	No	No	Yes
PowerPoint presentation content	No	No	Yes	Yes
Presence status in the Microsoft Outlook To and Cc fields	No	No	Yes	Yes
Reply with conference call from the availability menu	No	No	Yes (from the contact card)	Yes (from the contact card)
Presence status in a meeting request on the Scheduling Assistant tab	No	No	Yes	Yes
Reply with IM, or call from the toolbar or ribbon in a received email message	No	No	Yes	Yes
Presence status in the Outlook From field	No	No	Yes	Yes
Reply with IM or voice from availability menu	No	No	Yes (from the contact card)	Yes (from the contact card)
IM and presence in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel files (smart tags enabled)	No	No	Microsoft Word only	Microsoft Word only
IM and presence in Microsoft SharePoint sites (Outlook must be installed)	No	No	Yes	Yes

¹ For more information, see Integrating Microsoft Lync Server 2013 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 in the Planning documentation.

The following features are available only with Office 2010 or Office 2013:

Contact card with expanded options, such as video call and desktop sharing
Quick search from the Find a Contact field in Outlook
Reply with an IM or call from the Outlook Home ribbon in the Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks folders
Lync Contacts list in Outlook To-Do Bar
Office Backstage (File tab) presence status, program sharing, and file transfer
Presence menu in Microsoft Office SharePoint Workspace 2010 (formerly Microsoft Office Groove 2007)
Presence menu extensibility

Exchange Server and Lync 2013

The following table describes Lync 2013 support for various versions of Exchange Server. Outlook must be installed on the client computer to handle Extended MAPI calls, and some features require the use of Exchange Web Services (EWS).

Lync 2013 and Exchange Server Compatibility

Exchange Server version

Lync 2013 support

Exchange Server 2013

Same as Exchange Server 2010 support, with the addition of Unified Contact Store, high-resolution pictures, and archiving integration.

Note:
For details, see Integrating Microsoft Lync Server 2013 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2013.

Exchange Server 2010

Same as Exchange Server 2007 support, with the addition of Exchange contact sync.

Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) (required) or the latest service pack (recommended)

The following features are available only through EWS:

Read or delete items in the Conversation History folder
Read or delete voice mail items
Display extended free/busy information and meeting subject and location

Public folders are optional in Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) (required) or the latest service pack or release (recommended).

Exchange Server 2003

Outlook MAPI only. EWS-only features are not available (see the previous row).

Windows and Lync 2013

For information about Lync 2013 and Windows supportability, see Lync client software support in the Planning documentation.

Macintosh and Lync 2013

Lync Server 2013 supports certain clients on computers that are running Macintosh operating systems. For details, see Lync client software support in the Planning documentation.

Public Instant Messaging Clients and Lync 2013

If you have configured your server for public IM connectivity, Lync supports the following capabilities with public IM networks. Presence status is filtered to those presence states supported by the public IM client. For details, see Planning for Public Instant Messaging Connectivity in the Planning documentation and Manage External Access Policy for Your Organization in the Operations documentation.

In addition, the XMPP integration feature of Lync Server 2013 lets users exchange instant messages and presence information with users of public IM providers that use Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol, such as Google Talk. For details, see Planning for Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) Federation in the Planning documentation.

Lync 2013 and Public IM Clients Compatibility

Client	Supported Capabilities
Windows Live Messenger	IM, basic presence, audio/video (A/V)*
Skype	IM, basic presence, audio
AOL	IM and basic presence
Yahoo!	IM and basic presence
Google Talk	IM and basic presence

*A/V is supported with the latest version of Windows Live Messenger. If you are implementing audio/video (A/V) federation with Windows Live Messenger, you must also modify the server encryption level. By default, the encryption level is Required. You must change this setting to Supported by using the Lync Server Management Shell.

Important:
As of September 1st, 2012, the Microsoft Lync Public IM Connectivity User Subscription License (“PIC USL”) is no longer available for purchase for new or renewing agreements. Customers with active licenses will be able to continue to federate with Yahoo! Messenger until the service shut down date. An end of life date of June 2014 for AOL and Yahoo! has been announced. For details, see Support for public instant messenger connectivity. The PIC USL is a per-user per-month subscription license that is required for Lync Server or Office Communications Server to federate with Yahoo! Messenger. Microsoft’s ability to provide this service has been contingent upon support from Yahoo!, the underlying agreement for which is winding down. More than ever, Lync is a powerful tool for connecting across organizations and with individuals around the world. Federation with Windows Live Messenger requires no additional user/device licenses beyond the Lync Standard CAL.

Important:

As of September 1st, 2012, the Microsoft Lync Public IM Connectivity User Subscription License (“PIC USL”) is no longer available for purchase for new or renewing agreements. Customers with active licenses will be able to continue to federate with Yahoo! Messenger until the service shut down date. An end of life date of June 2014 for AOL and Yahoo! has been announced. For details, see Support for public instant messenger connectivity.
The PIC USL is a per-user per-month subscription license that is required for Lync Server or Office Communications Server to federate with Yahoo! Messenger. Microsoft’s ability to provide this service has been contingent upon support from Yahoo!, the underlying agreement for which is winding down.
More than ever, Lync is a powerful tool for connecting across organizations and with individuals around the world. Federation with Windows Live Messenger requires no additional user/device licenses beyond the Lync Standard CAL.