If you have a difficult problem to solve, the answer could be far closer to hand (and more accurate) than Wikipedia...

Just like any other company, here at Wanstor we often need to find a colleague with particular expertise to help us solve a thorny problem. But how do you know exactly who in the company contacts list has that answer? The larger your enterprise, the less probable it is that you are aware of all the skill-sets of everyone at the company. It frequently happens too that the answer comes from an unlikely source - sometimes it's the Network Engineer who knows how to troubleshoot a problem with Office software, or the Office Manager who happens to know how to extract all images from the new format of PowerPoint documents.

With the 'IM An Expert' system operating in Microsoft's Lync Messenger, you can find the contact with the information you need (whatever their actual job title might be) and send them a question:

The IM An Expert system for Lync Server 2010 is an add-on that integrates directly into Lync's instant messaging and voice-chat system, and will initiate an IM session with your in-company expert when they are available. Answers to users' questions also build up an internal database of solutions inside Lync over time, meaning that the answer to your next enquiry may already be waiting for you on the system! IAE depends on users inputting keywords into their profiles, so that it can build up a picture of each user's skill-sets and capabilities as a potential 'expert' - and of course, that includes you.

If the information that you're requesting is sensitive, you can specify privacy preferences for your question. You can also disable your own participation in the I'm An Expert scheme for a period if you're too busy to help your colleagues for a while. You can even entirely opt-out of answering questions - but you then won't be able to ask any.

You can see Microsoft expert developer Ross Smith - Director of Test for Microsoft at OCDG - explain how he developed the IM An Expert system in a couple of videos starting here.

The appeal of the Lync system is not only the sheer flexibility built in, but the teams of developers who work so hard to expand the system's usefulness in this way - and with Instant Messaging and Voice-mail over Intranet or secure internet, Lync already provides the best and most configurable way to maximise the collective knowledge of the people in your company.

Wanstor is an official Microsoft Gold Partner, and provides Lync and Lync Server 2010 either separately or as part of a complete Office 365 solution. If you're interested to know more about what Lync can do for your company, call Wanstor on 0207 592 7868 or contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

If you already have Lync 2010 running, you can download the IM An Expert installer here.