Search in Lync by phone Extension

We get a lot of question a bout search by phone extension in Lync client.

The issue with searching for extension is related to the Lync server in “Enable User” and not with the Active Directory. In order to be able to search for extension you need to set up the extension in the Lync server when you enable users. Please follow the steps below alongside with the screenshots:

1-      Go to the Lync control panel and access “Voice Routing” < “Dial Plan”. Then you can create a new Normalization Rule or edit the current one. You can name it internal extensions. Add the values as it shows below:

2-      Secondly, you will need to access “Users” from Lync control panel and add the extension of the user following the format shown in the screenshot below:

3-      We have updated the extension this way, and here how it shows on the Lync client when I search for extension No. 3008 that was just updated for the user, Kerols Saniout:

     

With regards to searching for extensions, if the user does not show up for example after searching for “ Kerols extension ” then you will need to force Lync Address Book Synchronization:

http://eslamelmoawen.blogspot.com/2012/10/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html

Further reading about Extensions in Lync from different resources on the web:

http://jasonmlee.com/archives/426

http://msmvps.com/blogs/andersonpatricio/archive/2012/04/03/how-to-use-extensions-for-incoming-calls-in-lync-server-2010.aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/b/nexthop/archive/2011/11/30/assigning-telephone-numbers-to-lync-enterprise-voice-users.aspx

I will be looking forward to your feedback about this workaround.
Should you have any other questions regarding the above, please contact me.

Thanks much!