When talking to clients interesting in changing their new phone system, one concern with Microsoft Lync is the drastic change for the user base in how they go about their day to day operations. Since Microsoft Lync takes such a unique approach for a Unified Communications platform, the fear of a poor adoption rate for users is a major deterrent for organizations to make the switch. PEI offers phased implementations of Microsoft Lync to mitigate these risks and ensure that the users are ready to handle the new solution.
The first phase of the approach is implementing Microsoft Lync as just instant messaging, presence, and web conferencing. This way, the users get comfortable using a portion of Lync’s capabilities, for non-business critical functions. The users can communicate with each other in the collaborative ways, while still using their phone system for voice. Another key benefit is the users getting used to internal web conferencing and video. Since the conferencing is so similar to the enterprise voice capabilities, they will be training themselves on how their new phone system will look and act.
The second phase is switching over to enterprise voice functionality, and getting your utilize all of the capabilities of Lync. Through various deployments, we have found that our clients underestimate the amount of users that prefer using softphones for Lync as opposed to a physical phone. Since the phased approach allows for conferencing either over speakers through a computer or by using a Bluetooth softphone in phase one, the users get used to using their mouse and keyboard to connect to their contacts easier than by dialing a phone. If the clients get used to using only softphones through their computers, the company often saves a great deal of money by purchasing the less expensive headsets.
If a client still has worries on the adoption of the new phone system, PEI offers a Lync Launch Kit, which is designed to increase company excitement around the new system, and provide deep training on Lync’s capabilities. If you are interested in learning a bit more about how Microsoft Lync could benefit your company, please send an email to info@pei.com or give us a call at (303) 786-7474.
Martin Feehan, PEI
