Optimizing Collaboration for the New Workplace – Webinar Recap – Part 2

On Thursday June 4th, Vyopta hosted a UC panel discussion on Optimizing Collaboration for the New Workplace: COVID-19 & Beyond! The panelists included UC experts Regan Earl, Sr. Unified Communications Engineer at Abbvie, Richard Bugbee, IT Manager for Voice and Video at Charter Communications, and Matt Stevenson, Sr. Solutions Engineer at Vyopta. The panel was focused on sharing their knowledge about collaboration technology – endpoints, infrastructure and architecture of video, voice and UC in the enterprise and predictions about what the new collaboration workplace will look like after COVID-19.

Read Part 1 (Questions #1 – 4) of the Panel Questions here

Panel Questions

5. How do you measure the quality of experience and that workers are happy?

1. 1. Regan with Abbvie: We do 2 things – we do our internal roundtables to sit down with them and hear their challenges. Vyopta! Tool to get that user experience from the calls. I am able to do a call quality report to figure out the bad calls.
   2. Richard with Charter Communications: Vyopta is one to leverage our tools. I can easily look at a tool and make sure it’s in the green. I gauge if a user is happy off of conversation. Sometimes you have to go hunting for feedback.

6. What is one thing that is missing from your data tool set that would make your job easier?

1. 1. Regan with Abbvie: Search for the one-pane of glass.
   2. Matt: One tool to rule them all! I will say, I hear from this a lot.
   3. Richard with Charter Communications: Feed all these tools into one window. I have no idea how many active participants happened at 1pm. If I wanted to bring my platform on-prem I wouldn’t be able to know that.

7. What piece of advice would you give to fellow collab architects?

1. 1. Richard with Charter Communications: Preemptively strike with training. Don’t assume everyone knows how to use video or their laptop. Our team also sends out tips and tricks weekly by email to keep everyone up to date with training.
   2. Regan with Abbvie: Keep it simple and easy to use. Don’t be afraid to say no! At Abbvie we take little snippits of video on how to do something.

Follow up Q&A

• Are you getting any pressure from your user base to switch tools?
  • As people sit in their homes people tend to google different tools they could be using. Making sure your users understand these are your standard base for tools is the key. Expectation to let them know what’s supported. I do like to engage with those customers and have them explain and then Richard explains why we’re not. You have to have leadership to back you.
• How do you deal with interoperability?
  • Regan is going through that right now. It’s a challenge. I wish all these partners would play nice. I am waiting for when they support each other. Educating everyone on calendar invites is a big one.
• Are conference rooms going to be used less? How will conference room strategy change?
  • Touchless meeting rooms. Where things automatically open… voice activated video technology. Where a user doesn’t have to touch anything. Yes conference room usage is down. But we still have the mindset that users are coming back. Rooms that fit 22 people should now fit 10. We have 2,000+ rooms to account for and we don’t have the budget to flip everything over. We do already go wireless. I don’t know if I have that forecast. As of now we are still working on installing rooms. Interesting times.

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Taylor Tachovsky is a passionate marketing coordinator with 4+ years of brand building experience directing campaigns and improving company results through social media content, strategic marketing campaigns, event planning, and outreach expertise. She has experience in many different branches of business including events, logistics, communications, and public relations. She holds a B.S in Management Communication from North Dakota State University and writes about topics related to technology and the event marketing industry.