Access the Lync client when running with different credentials

Question

I have an application that runs under a different set of credentials than the user that is logged into Windows. I am trying to setup a PresenceIndicator within that application but it seems to hang when trying to access the Lync client. If I run the application using the same credentials as the current logged in user it runs great.

Is there a way to specify the credentials that the control uses?

Answer 1

The Lync client SDK works by interacting with the currently running Lync process - this is why it won't work if you don't have the Lync client installed on the machine. For that reason, I don't think what you're trying to do is possible - because the Lync client is already "being used" in a different context.

A possible workaround would be to sign into Lync as the user that you are running the application as - that might work, but is probably not an acceptable solution for you.

Even running in UI Suppression mode won't work for you if the Lync client is already running, logged in as another user.

In this instance, I think your only solution would be to use the UCMA SDK instead of the Lync Client SDK, and establish a User Endpoint. You can then specify different credentials when you establish the endpoint. I blogged a simple example of using an UCMA application with a User Endpoint to send to an IM.

For more information around the problem, also see this on the difference between Application and User Endpoints.