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Post on 05-Jun-2020
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collaborationKeeping people in touch efficiently
What is collaboration?At its best, unified communications (UC) is just what it says — it enables
better interaction between people by integrating what were separate
types of communication into a single, combined user experience.
It means email, text, and voice messaging work seamlessly with live voice,
audio- and video-conferencing, and Web collaboration, in one interface,
with ‘presence’ notification to indicate your availability to participate.
People are familiar with the concept of VOIP (Voice Over Internet
Protocol) telephony because of applications such as Skype, which facilitate
low-cost or free voice calls through the Internet. Collaboration has
expanded this idea to incorporate other types of communication as well.
Collaboration differs from standard telecoms systems because it uses
server-based technologies, and digital IP networks (the same type
of network that routes Internet traffic). And unlike the old analogue
telephone systems, it sends voice information over the network as digital
packets, much the same way as an e-mail.
By integrating telephony and data on the same network, it can give
enterprises the ability to combine and use voice, data and video
information in their common business applications, saving and
forwarding whole instant message streams, e-mails, voice phone calls or
videoconferencing sessions as chunks of data.
And being data, Enterprise grade Collaboration software can encrypt the
information being sent across the network, greatly enhancing security.
Collaboration also means an employee can use a single phone number
or handset and a unified inbox for all their communications, making life
simpler.
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What are the benefits?Collaboration is designed to help workers do their jobs better by
allowing them to work anywhere and cutting down on the time that can
be wasted trying to contact or be contacted by other people. In short,
one of the biggest paybacks for a business adopting a Collaboration
solution is increased efficiency and productivity.
Combined with a move to Cloud computing and a Mobility strategy
to manage company communications, Collaboration turbo-charges a
worker’s ability to perform regardless of where they are.
To start with, it offers advanced telephony functions. These include short-
number dialing, which eliminates the use of area codes, and is particularly
helpful with businesses that are located across geographical areas.
Collaboration also offers advanced call-forwarding to different types
of devices, and incoming calls can search for an idle extension in a
department.
It can also ring multiple devices at once — desk phone, desktop, and
mobile — regardless of their location. The aim of this is to help the caller
get through to the right person at the right time.
Phone users can also benefit from having a single number for all of their
phone devices; and companies can keep the same geographic number
across properties and mobile phones.
For someone using Collaboration, they can start a phone call from their
desk phone, and continue the call seamlessly on the mobile as they walk
away from the desk and out of the office.
A single voicemail with a unified voicemail box is another feature of
Collaboration, and this works for multiple communication devices, such
as a desk phone, home phone, mobile phone, or VoIP (Voice over IP)
phone, connected to a computer.
Pulling together voice or video conference calls becomes a simple matter
too, with the benefits of ‘presence’ technology. Presence technology
allows colleagues to quickly see the availability of, and best way to
contact, an individual.
Presence can indicate whether the recipient is available on their mobile,
home phone, desk phone, and so on; and whether they are in a meeting,
working from home, or driving between meetings.
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Are there any cost savings?The short answer is yes.
Being based on a digital network, Collaboration can offer cheaper calls
than traditional telephone systems. With voice and video being carried as
data over the public network, there is scope for businesses to lower their
phone bills.
Another attraction for businesses is that Collaboration systems can
simplify billing and administration, and potentially lower the overall costs
of conferencing by combining disparate services through one vendor.
Collaboration can give a business predictable bills, so you know roughly
what its monthly spend will be. Companies with many locations often
have trouble getting a handle on expenses when each office manages its
own phone system, Web meeting software, fax service, and even contact
centres. With Collaboration, you get one bill.
Lyncing upThere are several major players providing Collaboration systems, but
Microsoft has gained ascendency because of the widespread use of
Windows and Office apps in business, its integration with Lync software
and its association with Skype.
Lync, which comes bundled with Office 365 business subscriptions, is
Microsoft’s server platform for unified communications. In a former life
it was called Office Communications Server. Lync ties real-time presence
information with instant messaging, video conferencing, and voice
communication, and it integrates with Exchange email and Microsoft
Office applications.
The features that Microsoft Lync brings to organisations of all sizes can
translate quickly into business benefits. Lync drives savings in hardware,
software and support costs, and provides a familiar and consistent
interface across a wide variety of devices.
With the release of Lync 2013, Microsoft also introduced the Web
version of Lync which allows users to use the program from their
browser. Users can join a Lync meeting from Windows or Mac OS X
using a Web browser, and still have access to all of the features of Lync,
including HD video, VoIP, instant messaging, and desktop sharing.
Microsoft has developed Lync Mobile apps for Windows Phone, iOS
and Android, so Lync communications are available almost universally.
The Lync Mobile apps allow users to instant message, call, or join a Lync
meeting from virtually anywhere.
The cross-platform approach is a trend with Microsoft, and it’s an
important one. Microsoft would obviously prefer that everyone choose
Windows Phone, but the reality is that Windows Phone has relatively
little market share, while the vast majority of smartphones and tablets
use iOS or Android.
You will run into plenty of customers who don’t use Lync. Skype, on the
other hand, is a popular and free communications tool — and Microsoft
owns that as well. Lync has always provided the option to integrate and
communicate with Windows Live Messenger, but Microsoft is phasing
that platform out and driving users over to Skype instead.
For some businesses, Skype alone may be enough to serve their
needs, but organisations that want more robust, comprehensive
communication tools should take a look at what Lync 2013 has to offer.
Lync 2013 extends communications to Skype with presence, instant
messaging, and voice capabilities.
Lync in Office 365 Businesses small and large can take advantage of Lync 2013 as a
function of Microsoft’s Cloud computing package, Office 365.
The Office 365 element is arguably the most compelling aspect of
Lync 2013. There are other video-conferencing solutions but they can
be costly and only provide the video-conferencing piece.
Office 365 makes sense for most business customers, and the addition
of Lync, Exchange, and SharePoint make it even greater value.
An industry exampleBridgestone Australia is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, the
largest tyre manufacturer in the world.
The company is a major supplier to the Australian automotive industry,
providing an extensive range of quality tyres, carefully developed to
suit local conditions. The company has more than 1,500 employees
across Australia and New Zealand.
Bridgestone has a very widespread workforce with 40 company-
owned sites in Australia and about 90 locations in New Zealand. Teams
also generally have members from more than one location. With a
distributed workforce, employees were not always sure about the
location of staff members.
Most Bridgestone staff members require reliable mobile connectivity,
particularly executives who travel overseas and sales staff who
travel across the country. Sometimes salespeople make trips up to
seven hours to support franchisees in remote locations. Bridgestone
operates a few call centres in Australia and New Zealand that have
special communications needs. Most employees at Bridgestone used
the phone and email to communicate, and occasionally they used
conferencing.
“Our core communications offerings were landlines, mobile phones,
and email,” says Graham Burkin, Infrastructure and Support Manager
for Bridgestone Australia. “They were completely disjointed.”
Bridgestone has several large private-branch exchange (PBX) systems,
but had no connectivity between them. The systems were also
ageing and scheduled for replacement. Bridgestone depended on
local contractors to work on the PBX equipment, and the specialised
resources required were not always available.
“Any changes we wanted to implement were costly because we had to
make them at each location,” says Burkin. “Because of the system’s age,
the configuration was not very stable and even small changes sometimes
resulted in big problems.”
Bridgestone used audio-conferencing services to host conference
calls. The services worked well but were expensive. The company also
installed video-conferencing equipment at many of the offices. These
units were very popular and could not meet the demand for daily
videoconferencing needs. The company did not have a web-conferencing
service, and employees frequently asked the IT staff for access to Skype
and similar software to meet this need.
To better support its distributed workforce, Bridgestone began to
evaluate Collaboration solutions from a few vendors. It wanted a
solution that could replace its aging phone system and provide for all of
the company’s conferencing needs.
It also wanted to increase collaboration by adding instant messaging
and presence to the communications options provided to its staff.
Another requirement for the solution was tight integration for its call
centre agents.
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SolutionBridgestone chose to deploy Microsoft Lync 2013, which provides a
unified solution for instant messaging, presence, meetings, and voice.
Bridgestone liked the ease of use Lync 2013 provided, and it also liked
the inter-operation with other Microsoft products, such as Microsoft
Office, Microsoft Exchange Server, and Microsoft SharePoint.
ConferencingBecause the video-conferencing capabilities at Bridgestone were limited
at most sites to one conference room per site, many teams could not
use the service as often as they would have liked.
“With Lync 2013, our employees can attend videoconferences from
wherever they are,” says Adam Gjorgjievski, IT Communications
Specialist at Bridgestone Australia.
“We deployed Microsoft LifeCam web cameras and our employees
really appreciate the HD (high-definition) multi-party video and great
sound quality.”
Instant Messaging and Presence“We were excited about introducing instant messaging and presence
to the business,” says Burkin. With presence information, teams can see
who is available at any given time.
“We often played phone tag because we didn’t have visibility into each
other’s presence,” says Gjorgjievski. “Presence is especially helpful for
our salespeople, who are frequently on the road. Lync and Lync Mobile
are integral to broadcast their availability and receive communications
throughout the day.”
After Bridgestone employees have determined someone is available,
they have many ways to connect with each other. “I love click-to-call.
It’s easy and I can initiate the call from the application I’m already in. It’s
truly just one click,” says Burkin. “Once a chat or call is in progress, I can
just drag in other people if we need another viewpoint.”
Employees can also easily switch communications from instant
messaging to voice to video to desktop sharing as the conversation
changes.
“I can easily connect with others, and they can easily connect with me,”
says Burkin. “I can divert my calls to my mobile phone or to a delegate
and, with Lync Mobile, I can let people know I am available even when
I’m out of the office.”
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Who is Vita Enterprise Solutions?As part of Vita Group, Australia’s most exciting technology,
communications and electronics provider, Vita Enterprise Solutions
draws on the insight, expertise and know-how generated from 20 years
of servicing the Australian market.
Over this time we’ve built an enviable record of technology and service
delivery. Our strong reputation comes from developing in-house
expertise and aligning with key technology and telecommunications
partners including Telstra and Apple.
We’ll match agile technology outcomes to your business requirements,
simplifying the process for you. From providing the right mobility
solution, increasing collaboration, transitioning to the Cloud or NBN, to
providing hardware and accessory solutions, Vita Enterprise Solutions
will partner with your business to deliver a personalised and fully
integrated end to end solution.
SkypeThe sales force has a lot of area to cover and spends most of its time out
of the office. Lync 2013 provides some unique benefits for this team.
They regularly update the franchisees that sell Bridgestone tyres, often
traveling from store to store.
With the Skype association, Bridgestone expects the sales team can use
Lync 2013 to talk with the stores through their Skype clients.
The sales team is also under a lot of pressure to provide answers to
questions quickly.
“Our salespeople need to be responsive to their customers,” says
Burkin. “With the Lync Mobile on their Windows Phones, they are able
to see who is available and send them a quick instant message or give
them a call. They no longer waste time leaving voice mail for people
who aren’t available.”
Tangible benefitsThe initial reaction to the Lync Server 2013 deployment at Bridgestone
has been overwhelmingly positive.
By deploying Lync with enterprise voice, conferencing, and instant
messaging and presence, Bridgestone has benefitted from cost
reductions, improved business processes, and better employee
relationships.
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