Silverlight Functions

The Silverlight client looks similar to the full client, although there are a few functions that are not available (for example, audio or video features). When Silverlight users click the Phone menu, they are prompted to enter their own number, and Lync Server 2010 calls them when they click Call Me, as shown in Figure 23.17.

Figure 23.17 Using the Call Me Option

Users who join a conference through the Silverlight client see the same IM information as the full client. They also are able to participate in screen sharing and application sharing. If the user joined as a guest, the meeting organizer needs to update the Meeting Option to allow everyone to act as a presenter in order for the guest user to be able to initiate sharing.

By clicking Share from the Silverlight client, users receive several items from which to choose:

• Desktop

• Program

• New Whiteboard

• New Poll

• Show Stage

Sharing the desktop gives Silverlight clients an indication that their desktop is shared. This triggers the Show Stage function on other participants so that they can see what Silverlight users are sharing.

Choosing to share a program shows a preview of the applications that are currently running on Silverlight users’ systems, and they can select one of these programs, as shown in Figure 23.18, and click Start Sharing.

Figure 23.18 Sharing Programs

This action causes the application to appear on the stage of other participants who see the sharer’s screen with near real-time updates. Some visual lag might occur and will be affected by latency, bandwidth, and the complexity of the images that change in the shared application. This is to say that something like a Word document will appear to update very quickly but something like a PowerPoint presentation will take a little longer to update from the point of view of the participants following along.