Integrating Lync Functionality into Your Applications Using the Lync Controls

Think of the Lync client as being built out of LEGO blocks, each providing a specific piece of functionality such as showing the presence of contacts, organizing contacts into groups, and interacting with contacts by starting instant message or phone conversations. The Lync controls separate the functionality in Lync clients into individual controls that developers can drag and drop into their Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) or Silverlight applications.

The Lync controls include a control to show the presence of a contact; for example, the presence of an account manager in a CRM system. Controls are also available to easily start an instant message or audio conversation with that contact at the click of a button. with no additional code required.

A set of other controls provides functionality for managing contact lists; for example, to integrate the user's Lync contact list into an application. You can also use custom contact lists to create and display an ad-hoc list of contacts, such as the account team for a client in a CRM application. Additional controls are available to search for contacts and display the results. Controls are also available to set the current user's presence, personal note, and location.

Due to their obvious dependence on user interface elements of the Lync client, the Lync controls are not available in UI Suppression mode.

Integrating Lync functionality into applications using the Lync controls allows users to launch communications directly from the application that they are working in without needing to switch to the Lync client. The Lync controls are available in WPF and Silverlight and are extremely easy to use; you only need to drag and drop the appropriate controls into the application, and they work without the need for any additional code.