Following on from Michael’s post earlier, the most recent headsets from Plantronics have great features in them that promote better efficiency whilst collaborating.
For me, presence is an absolute boon for communications within the company. I can’t remember the last time I had to deal with an internal voicemail because people can see whether you are available, and don’t try to call you if they see you aren’t available. The problem is that getting presence right still requires some manual intervention – especially if you are using multiple phones. If I’m using my mobile for a call, how does my PC based software know that I’m not available?
We’ve started including sensors in our headsets, so that we can communicate a status automatically. Combined with our software we can now share that status with other programs.
Now, my presence on Lync is automatically set to busy when I’m using my mobile for a call – the link is provided by our VoyagerPro UC headset, in conjunction with the software. Also, the software sets your Skype presence automatically based on Lync or mobile usage.
There is also a manual element allows you to control your presence indication – the software allows you to chose the presence status displayed when you put the headset on. For example, putting the headset on can change your status to available (saying you are ready to take calls), or do not disturb (saying you don’t want to take any calls).
The combination of the sensors in the headset, plus the software with wide integration really adds up to more accurate presence across the enterprise. And with accurate presence comes more people trusting in, and using the systems.