Several of the Lync - Options dialog boxes allow you to customize your Lync alerts.
This article describes the Alerts options window, where you tell Lync what kinds of alerts you want to receive, and from whom.
By default, when someone adds you as a contact, Lync will add him or her to a running list of people you might consider adding to your own contacts list. At your convenience, you can review this list by clicking the New tab on the contacts view of the Lync main window. Look at the list of potential contacts, decide who to add to your own contacts list, and assign privacy relationships to those new contacts.
However, if you prefer, you can choose to automatically add to your contacts list anyone has added you as a contact. With this setting, you will never see contacts on the New list. Instead, the new contact is automatically added to your contacts list and is assigned the privacy relationship of colleague. To set the option to automatically add these contacts:
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Open the Alerts options window, and under the heading General alerts, clear the Tell me when someone adds me to his or her contact list check box.
Note: If you have set your status to Do Not Disturb and you have call forwarding turned on, any incoming calls will be forwarded to your voicemail and not to your preferred contact.
If you are very busy, setting your status as Do Not Disturb is handy for reducing the number of interruptions you get. But you may still want to keep in touch with important contacts. You can make exceptions for contacts to whom you’ve assigned the Workgroup relationship (typically your closest coworkers).
Open the Alerts options window, and under the heading When my status is Do Not Disturb, select one of the following options:
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To hide all Lync alerts so that you cannot be interrupted when your status is set to Do Not Disturb, select Don’t show alerts.
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To see only conversation requests from Workgroup members and hide all other alerts when your status is set to Do Not Disturb, select Show only conversation alerts from people in my Workgroup privacy relationship.
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To see all alerts, but limit conversation requests to those sent by Workgroup members when your status is set to Do Not Disturb, select Show all alerts, but only conversation alerts from people in my Workgroup privacy relationship.
Note: If you have set your status to Do Not Disturb and you make a 911 call, your status automatically changes to Available. You can reset it at any time.
Because contacts not using Lync are likely to be outside of your organization, you may want to set alerts for their communications differently from those originating from your coworkers and other Lync users. To do that, open the Alerts options window, and, under the heading Contacts not using Lync, select one of the following options:
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To block all alerts from non-Lync contacts, select Block all invites and communications.
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To receive invite alerts (notifications that you’ve been added to someone’s contacts list) but block other communications from non-Lync users, select Allow invites but block all other communications.
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To see all communication alerts from non-Lync users, select Allow anyone to contact me.
If you’re missing IM alerts when they’re sent to you and you want to make them more prominent, try the following:
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Set your display so Lync will always be in the foreground. To do this, click the drop-down arrow next to the Options button, click Tools, and then click Always on Top.
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Confirm that Lync is set to send audible alerts. To do this, click the Options button, click Ringtones and Sounds, select Play sounds in Lync (including ringtones for incoming calls and IM alerts), and confirm that the other check boxes in the panel are not selected.
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Confirm that the volume is turned up on your computer speakers and other audio device(s).
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If you use multiple display monitors, make a practice of moving your Lync main window onto the monitor you’re working in.
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Consider choosing a more distinctive or more prominent IM alert sound than the default.
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Click the Options button, click Ringtones and Sounds, click the Sounds Settings button, and then click the Sounds tab.
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Drag the slider on the Program Events display panel down to the Microsoft Lync 2010 listings.
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Click Incoming Instant Message. The Sounds display at bottom of the window should read COMMUNICATOR_iminvite.wav.
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Now click the drop-down arrow next to it and sample some of the other sounds on the list.
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When you find a sound you want to use for incoming IM alerts, click Apply. (The Program Events display panel should now read Incoming Instant Message, and the Sounds panel should display the name of whatever .wav file you’ve selected.) Then, click OK. (You can also record your own .wav file for this purpose, and then browse to that file to select it as your IM alert.)
To turn off audible alerts for incoming calls and IM requests, do the following:
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Click the Options button, click Ringtones and Sounds, and then clear the Play sounds in Lync (including ringtones for incoming calls and IM alerts) check box.
If you are very busy, setting your status as Do Not Disturb is handy for reducing the number of interruptions you get. But you might still want to keep in touch with important contacts. You can make exceptions for contacts to whom you’ve assigned the Workgroup relationship (typically your closest co-workers).
Open the Alerts options window, and do one of the following:
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To hide all Lync alerts so that you cannot be interrupted when your status is set to Do Not Disturb, click Do not display alerts.
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To see only conversation invitations from Workgroup members and hide all other alerts when your status is set to Do Not Disturb, click Display only conversation alerts from people in my Workgroup privacy relationship.
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To see all alerts, but limit conversation invitations to those sent by Workgroup members when your status is set to Do Not Disturb, click Display all alerts, but only conversation alerts from people in my Workgroup privacy relationship.
Note: If you have set your status to Do Not Disturb and you make a 911 call, your status automatically changes to Available. You can reset it at any time.
By default, when someone adds you as a contact, you’ll receive an alert asking your approval. You can then add the contact to your Contacts list and assign a privacy relationship. If you prefer, you can choose to automatically approve such invite notifications. With this setting, the contact automatically is assigned the Colleagues relationship.
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Open Alerts options, and to stop being notified when someone adds you as a contact, clear the Notify me when someone adds me to his or her contact list check box.
