Client-to-client chat in Lync Server is easy to configure and support because it doesn’t need to integrate into any other systems. Much like IM, a point-to-point conversation is created, and in this case, the input and output is audio rather than text. As one might suspect, this requires more bandwidth and is sensitive to network latency, but is generally a fairly low resource requirement. For example, Lync Server couple with the G.729 Codec utilizes only 8 Kbps for a conversation. Because these client-to-client chats go across a data network only, it is easy to allow these to cross one’s wide area network (WAN) or even the Internet.
Because the encoding and decoding are handled entirely by the Communicator client, there is no need for special media gateways. Those aren’t needed until one talks from Communicator to a traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).
A popular feature of Lync Server continues to be audio/video (A/V) conferencing. This feature enables face-to-face communications between compatible systems. Although Communicator -based video conferencing is well supported, it is up to the Lync Server administrator to ensure that cross-platform video conferencing is supported.
Although most A/V conferencing systems agree on at least one common codec and protocol, this isn’t guaranteed to be the case in all situations. If one is considering a proprietary video conferencing setup in a location, it is important to work with the vendor to ensure its compatibility with Lync Server first before purchasing it.