By Uri Brown – Microsoft Lync Solutions Architect, Telefónica UK
With all the latest technological innovations and present day hyper-connectivity you would be forgiven for thinking productivity is higher now than it was seven years ago. Wrong. In fact, a recent report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) found that the average output per hour worked in large organisations is now nearly 5% lower than pre-recession levels1.The report also goes on to say that 80% of organisations believe their staff are still without full remote access to the key business systems that allow them to work effectively away from the office.
So what does all this mean? Boardrooms across the UK are still looking for that one killer tool that enables their people work where they need to, whilst still keeping them linked to the office and their colleagues.
Step forward Hosted Unified Communications (UC). Our new Hosted Lync UC proposition pairs Microsoft’s market leading UC with O2’s award winning network. Together they provide a cloud-based, enterprise IP voice and UC solution capable of replacing your existing (and probably ageing) PBX.
We designed our solution to support 250 up to 10,000+ users. And the more users, the more cost-effective it becomes. What’s more, it’s federated, so you can communicate and collaborate with people outside of the organisation using MS Lync, Skype, or services like IBM Sametime and Cisco Unified Presence Server.
We’re passionate about flexible working, and we’re keen to transform our customers into advocates too. It’s why we’re continuing to build our Communication & Collaboration portfolio. Telefonica has one of the largest deployments of Lync in the world. It has enabled our UK Operations department alone (around 1500 people) to reduce travel costs by approximately 10% year on year. And with Lync being one of several new UC solutions that we are bringing to market, it’s clear we see Unified Communications as a key enabler to help businesses work smarter.
From a personal point of view Lync allows me to be available anywhere and on any device. As I write this blog I’m actually on a train with a 3G connection. Instead of having a very public phone call, I can simply IM my colleague to resolve an urgent issue. Lync allows me to get things done faster and more efficiently. For example, when I’m in a meeting I don’t get interrupted because my Lync status has automatically updated to inform colleagues of this, based on my Outlook calendar. In short Lync has a wealth of features that streamline communication and collaboration wherever you may be.
Talk to your Account Manager to arrange a demo, call 01235 433 507 or visit our website.
Sources
1 Centre for Economics and Business Research, Smarter Working Britain: the economic benefits of connectivity, 2014
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