Page 11 - SkypeBuzz Fall 2015

Autumn 2015
SkypeBuzz by Telecom Reseller 11

the GUI, rather than the phones, and complained Sennheiser to Spotlight Innovative Contact
about the system because now they had to use
so ware to do something that was easy on their Center and O ce Wireless and DECT Headsets at
old phone. ings spiraled downhill when their
primary Lync Administrator le the organization,
taking all Lync knowledge with him. e system Microsoft’s World Partner Event July 12 -16
was neglected (no patches, no monitoring), then
network issues began degrading voice quality. e
IT team didn’t address the user adoption or system
issues head on, and eventually leadership called for Sennheiser, a leading manufacturer of characteristics such as noise cancellation and Azure and Windows 365,“ said Bill Whearty, vice
an RFP to start again for a new traditional phone premium headset solutions, announced it
high delity voice quality, plus long-wearing president, sales and marketing, CC&O, Americas,
system.
will participate in Microso ’s World Partner comfort and a durability that places it is well Sennheiser Electronic Corp. at Sennheiser.
e lesson? People and processes are just as Conference, taking place July 12 through July above competing brands. Models run the gamut “Yet workplace environments have typically
important as technology!
Enabling has been involved with many, many 16 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Sennheiser will be at from wired, wireless, mobile, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and DECT desktop models for a variety of ignored the importance of the crucial ‘last
mile‘ of audio quality that the headsets delivers
positive case studies where users embrace all of booth #1400 during the event, which will complex call center and o ce environments.
to these high-end architectures. Sennheiser’s
Skype’s features. It’s no coincidence that many feature live product demonstrations of the ese include the D 10 series, plus the SD products introduce a new level of clarity and
success stories begin with users being made aware company’s high-performance mobile, wireless, wireless, Century, Circle, Culture, MB and intelligibility that keeps any UC deployment on
of and gradually motivated to use all the features wired and desktop-based headsets for uni ed PRESENCE units, and mobile speakerphones par with the powerful capabilities that a modern
of Skype. e secret? Executive sponsorship and communications (UC) environments.
such the new SP 10 and SP 20 devices.
business communications solution is meant to
meaningful, internal marketing.
All Sennheiser CC&O headsets are Skype for “ e Microso World Partner Conference is accomplish.“
Successful organizations realize that spending Business- and Lync-certi ed, allowing Microso a prime event in the telecommunications space Sennheiser will o er interactive opportunities
time and money on new communications Partners throughout the marketplace to leverage and beyond, and Sennheiser is honored to be a for show attendees via social media campaigns
solutions won’t automatically make users embrace the rich feature sets and robust designs in the Microso partner. More enterprises continue through both the global ”Sennheiser
new technologies. Users already have lots of ways Sennheiser portfolio, which add value to a to seek quality components for networking Communications” LinkedIn channel, and a new
to communicate (text, mobile phones, email, apps, sophisticated UC deployment. Sennheiser’s
investments based on Microso ’s evolving global Twitter feed.
Facebook, etc.) Successful organizations choose to line of premium headsets feature advanced
platforms such as Skype for Business, Lync,
More at www.sennheiser.com/cco
be proactive, like in an election campaign, where
the old tech is the incumbent, and the new tech is
the challenger. eir goal is to win users interest Simple Switching
with the vision of how the new tools will improve takes up these requirements, allowing for easier call transfer for employees acting
their lives.
of Multimedia incoming calls to be handled more easily as agents (e.g. main number support).
e key to success is explaining what’s in it for the end user, or what’s known as a “what’s in it for Conversations for Lync / and more e ciently.
The application programmed by Luware
is provided via Windows Azure and
me?” approach. Before the rollout, user marketing SwitchBoard is fully integrated into the user interface of Lync or Skype for Business, runs locally on the user’s computer. This
and communications are delivered early and o en Skype for Business Client
o ering enhanced functionalities such as provision path makes the application highly
with a relevant value message. Interested users one-click blind and consultative transfer, available and georedundant.
willingly come to training, like motivated voters Swiss Software Publisher Luware develops calendar integration, chat hold before
SwitchBoard is available as a free version
are eager to vote on Election Day. eir buy
a switching application for Skype for call forwarding and e-mail templates for for all users of Skype for Business, Lync 2013
in builds internal support, raises adoption, and Business / Lync, providing the full version callback requests.
and 2010 as of now. This version o ers the
ideally, goes viral. Remember, the ALF ice bucket free of charge. This development will allow “SwitchBoard has been developed within full range of functions and updates and bug-
challenge rolled out completely on its own!
multimedia conversations to be transferred thescopeofacustomerevaluationscheme”, xes will be made available automatically.
So if you’re considering investing in Skype easily to another contact or service.
says Michael Jakob, CTO of Luware AG. Future fee-based subscription models will
for Business voice, spend time strategizing on When a customer calls, it is decisive for “Thanks to the deployment on site and remove the advertising banner and add
how to rst ensure user adoption of the current their requests to be handled quickly and direct feedback from our customers, we e-mail support.
features. is approach drastically improves the e ciently in order to achieve customer were able to implement maximum ease of Free Version available at: http://luware.
chances for success with your voice rollout, and satisfaction and maintain good customer use in the rst o cial release.”
net/get-switchboard. In addition to
more o en than not will improve your ROI on relations. At the same time, it is important SwitchBoard is a stand-alone Silverlight SwitchBoard Free Version, two subscription
existing services you’re providing.
for the attendant console to run on user- application that does not have to be models that come with support services
For more tips and best practices getting your friendly and intuitive software. Launched integrated into existing Contact Center and without advertising banners will be
apps to go viral, go to www.adopto ce365.com
recently as an o cial version, SwitchBoard
environments. It provides perfect support
introduced later this month.

Microso may resonate strongly as a consumer bicycle part manufacturer can transition to a is added to an O ce 365 license, you have a Enghouse Interactive Communication Center
brand, but not for communications applications, one-way or two-way video session that allows strong value proposition for customers.
(EICC), which ties SfB to the capabilities
and that is where Skype brings more than just
the manufacturer to show the customer how to Whether customers purchase on-premise needed to provide a great customer experience.
a massive user base. eir applications are very install the part. e key here is using the right servers to manage things in-house or opt for
Examples include call recording, multimedia
consumer-friendly, and SfB brings the best
technology to address the problem in a single a full cloud experience, this provides a turbo- queuing, intelligent routing, announcements,
of both worlds together. e key is that you session, regardless of which mode or how many charged solution that will be hard for other screen pops, wrap-ups and comprehensive
have to combine your SfB environment with a modes are needed to communicate e ectively.
vendors to match. ese pieces combine for a reporting.
well-integrated contact center application that powerful UC solution. How can this add value To illustrate, consider a scenario where an
leverages the features of SfB, without “dumbing 2. SECURITY WITHOUT COMPROMISES. to the contact center? Queue email and other agent needs help during a customer session.
them down.” To better understand this, here are Privacy and security are top concerns, especially O ce 365 interactions to agents alongside With EICC, a quick mouse click triggers an
three things to consider when bringing SfB into in regulated industries such as banking and voice; integrate O ce 365 and SfB presence and alert to the supervisor who can then monitor
the contact center:
healthcare. To address this, SfB uses TLS collaboration into the agent’s work ow – it’s a the session passively or actively. Depending on
(Transport Layer Security), a protocol that powerful combination.
the need, the supervisor and agent can run a
1. SEAMLESS ESCALATION.
ensures privacy on the Internet when using ere is no doubt that omni-channel needs concurrent private chat, or have the supervisor
We’re now living in the “Age of the Customer”, these communications applications. Unlike to be part of today’s contact center experience, join the session – or even have the supervisor
where creating a good customer experience is a other security protocols, such as VPN (Virtual and SfB brings many of the elements needed source a visibly available expert to bring into
must. While using multiple channels to deliver Private Network), TLS doesn’t require separate for agents to engage e ectively with customers. the call.
customer service is essential, it’s also a struggle so ware, so it’s less complex to set up, and e UC capabilities embedded in SfB are just By doing all this in real time, and leveraging
a variety of communications modes, the contact
for many, especially those using legacy contact center platforms. Increasingly, customers
doesn’t interfere with agents trying to solve customer problems in real time. Furthermore, it as valuable in the contact center as in the o ce, but and the real power is when contact center center has far greater capability to engage with
want to change channels midway through a doesn’t tax users’ CPU, memory, or bandwidth and UC capabilities and work ow are truly customers on their terms and get their problems
conversation, and this must NEVER require the way other security protocols are known to combined. at’s where Enghouse Interactive solved in a single session.
them to end a chat session, call a toll-free do. But your contact center application must enters the picture.
When all these pieces come together, you
number and start all over. When technology support this same level of network security; the Microso may be the most ubiquitous name truly have a complete contact center solution,
creates more problems than solutions, changes system is only as secure as its weakest link.
in tech, and Skype has an unparalleled user and we believe this is a powerful way to extend
are necessary.
base, but neither has a native contact center your Microso business with customers. e
e combination of SfB and a good contact 3. PART OF THE OFFICE 365 ECOSYSTEM.
solution. SfB brings many core pieces, but as
SfB contact center opportunity is particularly
center application solves this challenge by How o en do you begin a sales conversation a Microso Gold Certi ed Partner and TAP promising because the Skype platform continues
enabling customers to seamlessly switch from with, “I’d like to talk to you about a solution that (Technology Adoption Program) Partner, to evolve, and will create even richer synergies
chat to a voice or video call. Let’s say a bicycle you’re already paying for, but not yet using?” As Enghouse Interactive helps customers get the with Microso ’s UC applications so agents can
enthusiast orders a part for his road bike but your customers continue migrating to the cloud, most from Microso Exchange, Microso engage more e ectively with customers.
needs help installing it. He starts a chat with the this is the kind of conversation you should
Outlook, CRM Dynamics, SharePoint, Whether deploying UC in the o ce or the
part manufacturer, but realizes a few minutes be having with them now. SfB is included in
Microso O ce Communications Server and contact center – ideally both – SfB can be more
into the call that he still doesn’t know what to the Microso O ce 365 Business Premium now Skype for Business.
than a big deal; it can be your best deal for
do. With a click of a button the customer and
subscription, and when rich voice functionality
Speci c to the contact center, we have
success going forward.

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