As a firm participant of the digital generation, I am always on the lookout for tools which eliminate the geographical divide using technology. Digital avenues which can transport you instantly across vast distances and make you as effective as if you were physically present. It isn’t like I always video-conference in to the office from a beach in Saint Tropez of course, but it is nice to know that I could do just that if I wanted or needed to.
Quality versus Quantity
However there didn’t seem to be one tool to cover all the kinds of communication needed to be an effective part of any team. While some members of the unit may be as comfortable as I am communicating in type, other key stakeholders in decision-making roles prefer to use voice, and still others are best discussing things face to face. What’s more not every type of communication works with every channel – presenting findings over just a text-based IM connection isn’t effective for instance.
At the end of the day, being able to communicate is critical, but the richness of the channels of communication make or break their effectiveness. Team members and stakeholders communicate most effectively in the means they are most comfortable with, so a communications tool which can deliver whatever this channel may be across an entire team becomes invaluable.
Instant Messaging – still the cornerstone of online collaborative communications.
Key Pillar
Instant Messaging (IM) was the first key enabler of distance collaboration. E-mail was never quite quick enough to feel the same as real-time in-person communications, but IM usually sufficed. However still there were irritations. The presence-awareness feature wasn’t always infallible, there are compatibility issues as everyone has their own specific IM toolset, and if you wanted voice or face-to-face video conferencing that was another application altogether.
As Microsoft experts, Space Age Technologies has standardised on the Lync environment.
At Space Age Technologies, as Microsoft specialists, the obvious standard to build upon was Lync. It very quickly became clear that this is a lot more than merely an IM tool. Microsoft has created a full-service IP-based communications environment with Lync. As well as the basics, a presence-aware IM client, Lync also offers integrated Voice over IP, simple on the fly video-conferencing, easy establishment of multiparty multi channel meetings, full integration with Office, remote screen sharing for presentations, and group file sharing are all very powerful features of this extensive solution.
Intelligent Integration
Thanks to the office Lync server being fully integrated with Active Directory, the full Space Age staff complement were already recognised contacts both in Outlook and Lync. For regular updates from or to our Marketing Director who I work with, the presence-aware IM is always valued, while for more detailed briefings a voice call with shared screens works as well as being in the office together.
Lync is also firmly a part of the Office suite, so miss an IM conversation and it gets saved in Outlook. Which also means the conversation and all archived conversations are searchable through a familiar interface, in case you need to retrieve specific details. Best of all is the ease of use – all the necessary functions are just a click or two away.
With Lync 2013, the company has taken it further still. Now full records of meetings combining IM, voice and video can be recorded to a client PC and available for republishing within minutes, in the standardised MP4 format. That’s a killer resource for someone with a slightly flighty memory like me, the ability to replay the meeting at any time to recap exactly what was covered.
Lync is more than merely an IM app – it also incorporates voice and video calling, screen sharing, full Office integration, a recording manager and more.
With the latest version, Lync is now available on all popular mobile systems with full functionality, and can even be extended to users outside of your organisation thanks to the Lync Web App. Finally, Lync users can connect directly with a Skype federation, integrating this popular VoIP environment directly into a single communications hub.
Richness driving Effectiveness
This flexibility of functionality is precisely what serial Web-based collaborators from any discipline have needed since the distance-working model became an option. A single environment, with a single sign-on and contact list and interface, seamlessly managing text-based IM as well as voice, video, and screen- and info-sharing. It’s all the channels of communication you need to support anything from a creative briefing to a board-level financial enclave.
Desktop sharing in Lync 2013 is a great way to share visuals with your collaborative team.
The ability to communicate so effectively over the Web has a host of advantages. It frees staff up to choose their own preferred working environment, it saves both time and money spent travelling, or more likely than not, stuck fruitlessly in traffic, and allows dramatic cost reductions in traditional communications expenses like cellphone bills.
It’s the way that Lync offers users precisely the type of communication they prefer and need for any specific scenario that makes it so effective for our distance collaboration needs. And this same versatility means that this environment will also fulfill your IP-based communications requirements whatever they may be.
