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The search bar in your Contacts list, in the Microsoft Lync main window, is your main entry point to both find and communicate with people.

What do you want to do?

Find a contact

You can find contacts who are already in your Contacts list as well as people who work in your organization whom you haven’t added to your Contacts list.

  1. Open Lync, and, in your Contacts list, type a contact’s name, email alias, email address, phone number, and if applicable, the extension. As you type, the search results adjust to display the most likely contacts.

  2. If you don’t find the name or number that you’re looking for in the search results, you may be able to refine the results by searching for keywords such as skill or area of expertise. If your organization has enabled this feature, Lync communications software searches for these words or phrases in the Microsoft SharePoint profiles of the users.

    Note: If the person you are searching for is not part of your organization, you’ll need to add them as a contact individually. There is not a search mechanism for federated partners, outside of Skype Directory search.

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Add a new contact

You can use the search bar to add a new contact even if the person does not work in your organization, or is in an organization that is recognized or joined to your organization’s network (known as being federated).

  1. Open Lync, and, in the search box, type a name, email address, or phone number. As you type, the search results adjust to display the most likely contacts.

  2. In the search results, point to the contact that you want to add, click the plus sign (+), and then click the appropriate group.

The modes of communication you can use to contact the person depend on whether they are in an organization that is federated to your organization.

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Search for additional participants

When you are in a conversation or meeting, you can add contacts in several ways. One way is to click the People Options menu in the conversation window, and then click Invite by Name or Phone number. This opens the Invite by Name or Phone Number dialog box, which contains a search box and Contacts list where you can type contact names and phone numbers. However, in Lync, calling PSTN (telephone) numbers is supported only if:

  • The meeting organizer uses an Audio Conferencing Partner to provide PSTN conferencing with Lync.

  • The meeting is scheduled, or is a Meet Now meeting. Lync conversations, such as those initiated by a user from the Contacts list, do not include PSTN conferencing support.

You can also click contacts from your Contacts list, and drag them onto the conversation window.

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