The Top Ten Things I Like About Microsoft Lync
by Mike Butts on April 20th, 2011
With Microsoft unified communications technology, you really don’t know what you’re missing till you use it on everyday daily basis. Sort of like watching the Super Bowl on a big screen HD TV; once you see the Super Bowl in high definition, can you really go back to standard TV?
So following a cue from David Letterman’s Top Ten List, I thought I’d share my Top Ten Things I Like about Microsoft Lync from a user experience. …Read more >
Are you empowering your contact center and enterprise to serve next-generation consumers?
by Mike Butts on March 24th, 2011
Last week Forrester’s Diane Clarkson wrote a blog that introduced the concept of agile commerce, defined as “an approach to commerce that enables businesses to optimize their people, processes and technology to serve customers across all touchpoints.”
All I can say is, “Thank you, Forrester” for validating Microsoft Lync and what we at Aspect call the “next generation of customer contact.” Regardless of the name, the basic premise is that customers now expect service when they wish across a multitude of different channels, including voice, Web chat, mobile device, social sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and instant messaging. (We refer to these customers as Consumer 2.0.) And we find they expect a higher level of service from everyone they touch in the enterprise, not just customer service. …Read more >
Four keys to achieving the full benefits of unified communications
by Jamie Ryan on March 15th, 2011
With the potential to transform the way employees interact and collaborate with one another, unified communications represents a valuable opportunity for companies to capture significant value. To do so, however, executives must ensure that the implementation effort extends beyond IT.
When Aspect migrated to OCS several years ago and then to Lync at the end of 2010, we understood that to maximize the impact of these technologies entailed far more than integrating existing systems. We had to take a more holistic approach that encompassed processes, organizational structures, and company culture. …Read more >
Outlook today…Lync tomorrow?
by Mike Butts on February 17th, 2011
Plain and simple Microsoft Lync is changing my work routine. And in doing so, a question keeps racing through my mind. Can Microsoft Lync replace Microsoft Outlook as the preferred corporate communications interface tool? I am aware that Microsoft Lync is tightly integrated into Outlook but I find myself slowly migrating to prefer Lync over Outlook.
Please allow me to explain.
For the past 15 years or so, the very first program I fire up in the morning, after my Diet Coke, is Microsoft Outlook. It’s there I catch up on all the news, requests and calendar invites that happened across the company and the globe while I was catching my beauty sleep. …Read more >
Microsoft Lync shines on latest Miercom research report
by Mike Butts on February 9th, 2011
Miercom, a leading and well-respected privately held consulting firm that specializes in communications-related product testing and analysis, released a detailed research report on January 25, 2011, analyzing Microsoft Lync from a voice, resiliency, and security perspective.
Concerns anyone has about whether Microsoft Lync is a viable option for businesses looking to update or replace their traditional communications platform can now be laid to rest. Microsoft Lync 2010 provides Microsoft everything it needs to be the leader in the enterprise unified communications market. …Read more >
Colossal snowstorm? Lync has you covered
by Mike Butts on February 2nd, 2011
OK, I’ll admit it. I am just mature (old) enough to remember how I used to lay awake at night before a big snowstorm forecast wondering how long it was going to take me to travel into the office or if I should waste a vacation day on a snow day. I remember once it took me eight hours – yes, eight hours – to travel a distance of 21 miles because of a little snow on the highway. Some might say these thoughts are crazy, but I like to think of it as professional dedication.
So as all the so-called meteorologists were forecasting gloom and doom for this week’s colossal Midwest blizzard, with snow up to 20 inches, a calm feeling came over me as I watched the various forecasts scroll across the bottom of my high-definition TV screen. …Read more >
The pre-Lync conference call: A horror story
by Mike Butts on January 25th, 2011
Sometimes, no matter how good things are, I find myself nostalgic for the way things used to be. This must be part of the human condition; what explanation could there be for otherwise rational suburban men to so romanticize the idea of camping and “roughing it” in the semi-tamed wilderness of midstate recreational parks?
Overcome by one of these waves of nostalgia in the office recently, I started thinking back to the “good old days” of face-to-face meetings. Before Lync revolutionized the way our company communicated and made sharing so effortless, team members would break away from the isolation of their respective offices to huddle shoulder to shoulder around a conference table, pass around printed handouts, and take handwritten notes on paper and whiteboards. …Read more >
Aspect Unified IP 7 – Enterprise Routing, Unified Command and Control, & High Availability
by Serge Hyppolite on January 11th, 2011
Aspect’s Serge Hyppolite discusses the Contextual Enterprise Routing, Unified Command and Control, and High Availability capabilities in Aspect Unified IP 7.
The potential of social media to increase customer loyalty
by Lynne Levy on January 11th, 2011
Aspect is celebrating its global sales kickoff this week in Las Vegas with four days of discussions and activities. I just heard a fabulous talk from customer experience guru Bruce Temkin. Some interesting facts:
- People spend a total of 700 billion minutes each month on Facebook
- 30 percent of consumers use social media several times a day.
- The fastest-growing category of social media users are over 55 years old.
Social Media is becoming the primary means for consumers to choose the products they purchase as well as the channel they prefer for customer service. …Read more >
Flipping the switch: Lync speeds collaboration 2.0 in the workplace
by Mike Butts on December 23rd, 2010
Do you ever turn on a light and marvel at the surge of electricity, the mechanics and engineering of intricate wiring and fuses that came together to generate the miracle of this illumination? Okay, I do, but I’ll admit my mind works in slightly different ways than most of the population.
Most of the time, a light switch isn’t something you think about. Needing light in the room is. Similarly, I’m not thinking about how to press each key of the keyboard I’m typing on, I’m just thinking about what I want to say, and the words are appearing on my screen. The best tools, the ones that become part of everyday life, are the ones you don’t have to think about how to use. …Read more >
Improving the way companies communicate internally and externally with their customers is an important objective for all organizations. This blog is focused on levaraging the collective knowledge withing Aspect.