In addition to an exciting new look for Communicator, we have improved usability, added new features, and addressed customer feedback from previous releases. Communicator is now a unified client, exposing IM, phone, and meeting capabilities at the top level, along with the list of contacts.

New tabbed lists include your current and recent conversations and your missed calls. You can easily switch between conversation windows. Plus, with the Activity Feed, your contacts and you can now easily see each other’s latest activities, such as office moves, new personal photos, or status notes. This makes the Microsoft unified communications solution more socially oriented by encouraging communication between information workers and facilitating spontaneous meetings or conversations.

The top of the Communicator UI shows how you appear to your contacts, and lets you update your status and other information quickly and easily. You can even choose a custom photo from SharePoint to use on your Communicator contact card. Communicator can detect your location as you travel between work and home so that E9-1-1 services will be able to find you more easily in an emergency. Plus, you can allow your contacts to see whether you are on the road or in a different building.

Your view of contacts is more customizable in Communications Server 2010. You can display contacts by group, availability, or level of privacy, with or without photos, and start conversations and meetings right from the Contacts list just by pointing to the contact. Plus, it is easy to edit contact information.

Searching for contacts is more robust because you can now search on a keyword, such as a contact’s title, team, or other expert quality that might appear in his or her contact card.

Note SharePoint is required for keyword search.

You can easily pin your favorite or important contacts to the top of your Frequent Contacts group.

New expanded contact cards show more information about you and your organization, or about distribution groups. The way you interact with people is now more consistent between contact cards and the Contact List.

We have added a number of privacy enhancements requested by our customers, such as a privacy mode that an admin can allow in which contacts in your Contact List see your presence, but others in your company do not.

Access levels have been simplified and enhanced. An admin can allow you to assign your contacts different levels of access depending on their privacy relationship to you, such as Family or Workgroup. You can even add trusted domains for people outside your company.

Your contacts, as well as Communicator features such as sending instant messages and sharing your documents, are available in Microsoft Office 2010 products, including Office Outlook, Office Word, Office PowerPoint, and Office Excel, as well as Office SharePoint.

Your Communicator contacts appear in Office Outlook. You can start IM or phone conversations from Office applications, without switching to Communicator. And now you can send an Office Outlook email message directly from Communicator.

Communicator features are also available from the Windows 7 operating system taskbar.

In Communications Server 2010, sharing features have been expanded from desktop sharing to include application sharing, meeting recording and playback, whiteboard and annotation tools, and Office PowerPoint presentations.

Using DHTML, PowerPoint files can be presented without viewers having to download a rich client. Performance during the presentation has improved overall, and viewers can save and print PowerPoint files.

A whiteboard is a blank canvas that can be used for collaborating with the help of tools such as text, ink, drawings, and images.

Participants can view and save files that are uploaded to meetings in the original file format.

In Communications Server 2010, users can join meetings faster and includes metrics that you can use to measure join performance, targeting less than two seconds to join when Communicator is installed.

It is easier to schedule meetings and invite others before and during meetings.Entry points for joining meeting are displayed wherever meeting information is available, improving discoverability and so that people can join meetings without having to switch programs.

Meeting URLs are simpler, easier to remember, and easier to communicate.Sharing activities with external users (that is, federated and non-federated) provide a more streamlined experience.

Authentication-related join failures caused by inadvertent access control configurations or last-minute changes to attendees are prevented.

The invitation has been simplified by including a shorter http:// URL. The organizer can also change the language of the invitation from another language to English and schedule online meetings when Office Communications Server is not available.

From the invitation, mobile phone users can click once to join audio conferences.

In Office Communications Server 2010, there are a minimal number of messages that users must respond to when they join a call.

Callers are no longer disconnected if no one is available to accept the call. Instead, they wait in the lobby. In Office Communications Server 2010, organizers can decline admittance to any caller waiting in the lobby.

Callers also have access to dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF) commands through the Help menu.

Callers are notified when calls are recorded.

The video experience in Communicator features improved video controls and the full-screen experience, plus support for panoramic video, multipoint video, subscription video, and VGA and HD video in conferences.

Beyond the call handling features listed below, Communicator has added support for delegate features so that delegates do not have to switch between Communicator and Attendant console. Plus, in Communicator, a delegate can support multiple managers, and make use of collaboration tools such as application sharing and file transfer, which are not supported by Attendant console.

The call park and retrieve feature provides the capability for calls to be sent to a general holding area for pickup, or retrieval, by the appropriate response group or individual. For example, you call a grocery store and ask for the bakery department, the call is placed in an available orbit, such as line 2, the bakery is paged, and then the bakery employee dials line 2 to retrieve the call.

Administrators have the option to use this feature in Communications Server 2010 and can specify the number of orbits needed for the organization. When the feature is deployed, call handling controls include familiar language of transfer to the call park and retrieve a call.

In response to customer requests, pre-call and in-call diagnostics are new to Communications Server 2010. A network health indicator monitors the quality of the user’s network at regular intervals and provides the assessment of good or poor. If the quality is poor, a message is sent that recommends that users make at test call to ensure the quality is sufficient for the type of call they need to make. The message recommends that if it is an important conference call (for example, the user may want to switch to a land line or mobile phone).

In-call diagnostics include detailed messages provided in the Communicator Conversation window with explanations and solutions provided in the UI in context to assist the user with troubleshooting. Roughly twelve potential audio problems are diagnosed, such as echo, speaking too softly, and low bandwidth. Sources are the network, computer, or devices, or multiple issues occurring at once. Additional troubleshooting and explanatory information for each problem diagnosed is provided in Help topics.

In response to user feedback, device installation and identification is easier to use. Multiple devices are supported, including Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices. For example, one-click device switching during a call provides flexibility and maintains productivity when the users need to take the call with them and transfer to their mobile phone. Device tuning settings are located in the Options dialog box.

When an emergency call is placed using Communicator, the location of the user can be automatically sent to emergency services. Two policies are available to administrators: enable E9-1-1 without enforcing location and enable E9-1-1 with the requirement that users accept a disclaimer that their physical location will not be provided to emergency responders should they choose not to provide the location. All E9-1-1 related UI notifications are customizable according to your organization’s legal policy.

In Communications Server 2010, support for delegate features such as shared lines (that is, making and receiving calls on behalf of a manager), direct access to a manager at all times, and quick transfer of calls to a manager allow delegates to manage calls more efficiently.

In addition, response group handling of calls is enhanced to support anonymous agents. Response group agents can answer calls anonymously so that workflow is not circumvented by callers calling a direct line.

Communicator provides enhanced phone capabilities with all the functions of a traditional PBX system plus useful productivity features.The Communicator UI includes a tally of the number of missed calls and voice mail that alerts the user of activity. The Phone tab provides a list of voice mails and call logs, as well as an on-screen dial pad.