The Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Planning Tool (RC) asks you a series of questions about your organization and the features that you are interested in. The planning tool will then use your answers to recommend a topology based on the tested Microsoft Lync Server 2010 user model.

Your organization may have a different user model. If so, you should adjust the recommended topology as necessary to fit your organization’s needs.

What’s New in the Planning Tool for Lync Server 2010?

• The Planning Tool now estimates the amount of bandwidth you may require for your WAN for audio and video conferences for each central site.
• The Planning Tool now invites you to participate in helping make the planning tool better.
• You can view your edge network diagram and enter FQDNs and IP addresses and view the certificates, DNS settings, and firewall settings for your edge network in the central sites when using DNS Load Balancing for Edge Servers. You can also import this information to Topology Builder.
• The Planning Tool is supported on Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)
• You can export your topology file to Topology Builder for a faster, easier Lync Server setup experience
• You can export the global topology, with its corresponding branch offices, as well as the number of concurrent calls connecting each data center to the PSTN into the Microsoft Visio drawing and diagramming software. The Visio output contains improved drawings for each of the site topologies.
• The Planning Tool exports a list of the hardware for all sites, including branch offices, to a Microsoft Excel worksheet
• The Planning Tool accommodates more supported topologies for Enterprise Voice and dial-in conferencing.
• Navigation between topologies and server information has been improved.
• You can resize or maximize the Planning Tool window to better accommodate your screen resolution.
• The Planning Tool provides a menu bar and a toolbar for available actions.
• The Planning Tool incorporates new Microsoft Lync Server 2010 features and topology recommendations.
• Users are now evenly distributed among the Front End pools.