Send and receive an instant message

From Lync on your iPhone, you can send IMs to individual contacts or to all the members of any group that shows up in Lync, including distribution groups and groups of contacts you've created yourself. You can also add audio or video to an existing IM conversation.

Watch an introduction to using Lync on your iPhone

Watch this short video to learn how to use Lync to IM, make a call, and join a meeting on your iPhone.

• Use Lync on your iPhone

Or read details about Lync IM and more

• Send an IM to a single contact

• Start an IM conversation with a group

• Receive an IM

• Switch between IM conversations

• Add audio or video to an IM conversation

• Find a recent or missed conversation

• End a conversation

Send an IM to a single contact

To search for a contact and send an IM to them, do the following:

1. Tap Contacts, and from the Lync tab, start typing a contact's name in the search box. The results are shown below the box.

2. When you find the contact you're looking for, tap their name, and on the Card screen, tap the IM icon, and start typing your message.

To select a contact from your Contacts list to send an IM to, do the following:

1. Tap Contacts, and from the Lync tab, tap on the group that the person you're looking for is in to expand the group.

2. When you find the contact, tap their name and on the Card screen, tap the IM icon, and start typing your message.

Start an IM conversation with a group

To start a conversation with a group:

1. Tap the Contacts icon.

2. Then, from the Lync tab, start typing the group name in the search box.

3. When you find the group you're looking for, tap their name, and on the Card screen, tap the IM icon, type your message, and tap Send. Your message will go to every member of the group who is online.

Receive an IM

When someone sends you an instant message and you're in Lync, a notification appears at the top of the screen. Do one of the following:

• To accept the invitation, tap the notification.

• To ignore the invitation, tap the Close button.

If you receive an instant message while your phone is locked or Lync is running in the background, a native iPhone notification appears indicating you have a new IM. Do one of the following:

• To accept the invitation, tap the notification.

• To ignore the invitation just let the notification time out.

Switch between IM conversations

If you're in more than one conversation at the same time, you can switch between conversations by doing the following:

1. Tap the Chat icon to get to the Chats screen.

2. From the Chats screen, tap the conversation you want to reply to.

Add audio or video to an IM conversation

To add audio or video to an existing IM conversation to a call, do the following:

• From the IM conversation, from the Conversation screen, tap the Call icon, and the number you want to call.

Depending on how you set your VoIP call options, when you make or receive an audio or video call it could use Wi-Fi or your cellular data plan. For more information, go to Manage Wi-Fi for VoIP options.

Find a recent or missed conversation

When you miss a conversation on your mobile, the Chats tab will show the missed conversation.

1. To view a missed or recent conversation, tap Chats. A list of recent and missed conversations is displayed.

2. Tap the conversation to reply. (To connect to the conversation you must reply by either sending an IM or starting an audio or video call.)

Note:  Conversations that were accepted on other Lync clients but were missed on your mobile device don't appear in the Chats tab.

End a conversation

When you're done with an IM conversation, do one of the following:

• From the Conversation screen, tap the Actions icon, and then tap End Conversation.

• Tap Chats, tap Edit, and then tap the conversation that you want to delete, and tap Delete. Or, tap Select All, and then tap Delete.