Unable to authenticate Lync on my office DNS

29. January 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: Outlook for Mac · Tags: , ,
When launching Lync (same goes for the old OSX Communicator), I get a message stating that:

"Sign in to Microsoft Lync failed because the service is not available or you may not be connected to the Internet."

Needless to say, I am connected to the Internet.

In fact, I am ABLE to connect to our Lync server if I change the DNS settings on my machine to point to an outside DNS service (i.e. Google DNS = 8.8.8.8). Of course that then prevents me from accessing other critical internal services, QA environments, etc. When I switch back to my corporate DNS, Lync maintains its connection so I'm able to IM, see presence, etc. but, its an awful workaround and something that's been broken for years based on various message boards around the internets.

Any plans on fixing it? Or can you provide guidance on proper AD config issues (if that's the problem)?

Impacted systems:
- Lync v14.0.1
- Communicator v13.1.3