Whether you love them or hate them, holding meetings is an essential part of any business. However, the way we manage and conduct those meetings has changed for the better thanks to unified communications technology.
Unified communications, abbreviated UC, is the collective integration of collaboration tools such as chat, email, phone systems, and in this case meeting/event features, under one integrated application.
Stand-alone online meeting packages are fine in and of themselves, but we aren’t talking solely about the benefits of virtual meetings. Instead, we are addressing the use of meeting collaboration tools as part of a unified solution that provides reliability and convenience.
In this post, we describe three ways users benefit when using the ShoreTel UC solution as the platform of choice for conducting and attending meetings. We will use real life examples that illustrate the practicality of how today’s technology can positively impact the way business is conducted throughout the day, in or out of the office.
ShoreTel Communicator Allows Multiple Meeting Sessions
When a company employs a unified communications solution, such as the ShoreTel solution we specialize in, users have the ability to attend meetings with greater flexibility and ease.
Since ShoreTel is a true UC solution, everything is within easy grasp (or rather click) meaning we aren’t dealing with various interoperability issues with 3rd party add-ons.
Why is this important?
Let’s suppose an employee is attending a particular meeting via phone with upper management that is running a bit over. Without being rude, they have to stay on the call until their boss officially ends the meeting. However, they can see in their communicator app that they have another meeting expected to start right at that moment.
Do they just join the second meeting late without notifying anyone? Do they cut out of the current meeting with their boss thereby sending off a bad impression?
Neither of these is an ideal solution.
With ShoreTel, your employee can conveniently stay in the first meeting while simultaneously joining the second meeting using their screen share software.
A little awkward being in two meetings at the same time? Not at all!
They can send a chat message to those in the second meeting, or to a particular attendee, notifying them they’ve joined the screen share, have their mic muted, and are finishing up the current call they are on.
All that an employee might need to use in situations like this such as dial-in phone number, attendee names, meeting/event schedule list, chat, etc. are all housed in the same application making the process fluid, easy, and insanely streamlined.
With Communicator You can Use Dial Out to Bring Absent Attendees In
ShoreTel understands the importance of mobility, not because everyone wants to use their mobile devices for meetings, but rather as a matter of practicality.
Do we as ShoreTel consultants advocate that businesses should replace face to face boardroom meetings for virtual meetings instead?
Hardly at all.
The old fashioned idea of meeting around a table in an office isn’t as old fashioned as some might assume. In fact, a ShoreTel survey found that over 50% of Millennials who were surveyed tends to prefer meetings held in conference rooms.
Virtual meetings still have their place at the table…literally.
The case for adding mobility and virtual meeting functionality into your UC solution becomes stronger as it relates to organizational efficiency… for example the reliability it offers for conducting timely meetings in the office.
Let’s give a classic example to which we all can probably relate. You have a meeting set for your staff or team, and it’s to review everyone’s weekly progress. It’s set for 8 AM so everyone can meet and get on with their day. However, one of your team members is stuck in traffic and won’t get in for another 20 minutes.
The dilemma you face is, do you wait and start the meeting late thereby having less time to meet? Or maybe you reschedule forcing everyone to juggle their schedules to accommodate.
All because one person wasn’t in the office by 8.
With ShoreTel, it’s easy to overcome this by using the Events feature by simply creating a conference meeting and then clicking the name of the contact and use the Dial Out feature to ring their cell and add them to the meeting.
Whether you choose to use a conference phone in the boardroom or simply use a team member’s mobile device to place them on speaker, the result is the same.
The absent attendee is now present, the morning coffee is still hot, the donuts are still fresh, and everyone can communicate without missing a beat.
With ShoreTel’s Mobility App You Can Attend Meetings from Anywhere
ShoreTel’s time-saving mobility app makes it obnoxiously simple to conduct over-the-phone meetings while unexpectedly out of the office.
Without a good unified communications tool, you are restricted to setting up and conducting meetings only while physically in the office – not when you’re out and about. (Check out our case study on this exact topic).
Such restrictions are old school setups that slow productivity and certainly make accomplishing simple tasks much more complicated and drawn out than necessary.
Let’s illustrate our point with another real life example.
All of us are busy. Perhaps your days are consumed with attending trade shows, driving to various client’s locations, or heading out early to make it your kid’s intermural soccer game across town.
You finally find some time for an interview with a potential new employee whom you want to talk with over the phone before bringing them in for a face to face meeting.
Unfortunately, on the day of the preliminary interview you find out your child is sick at school and you have to go pick him up and take him home.
What do you do? Do you reschedule?
If you don’t have a mobile-enabled unified communications phone system, then yes, odds are you’d need to reschedule. This causes delays in hiring, delays in moving your business forward, and hinders you from completing your tasks at hand.
That’s old school and no longer needs to be the case.
As your ShoreTel provider, we make sure your mobile ShoreTel app is active on your cell phone, or another mobile device like the iPad, and that you’re fully versed in how to use these tools to your advantage properly.
When using the mobility app, whether cloud based or on-premise, you have the same communication tools you’d have on your desktop in the office. Conference bridges, chat, and even your CRM to pull up the applicant’s resume.
When your meeting time comes simply click a single button to join the conference bridge you already configured previously. The interviewee never even knows you’re out of the office at home taking care of your sick child.
Now you have one more item you’re able to check off your to-do list rather than push off to another day, thanks to mobility.
It’s time to revamp the way we view meetings. It no longer needs to be a struggle to set up and coordinate meetings. With the right UC solution, your meetings will remain on-time, productive, and hassle and headache free, regardless of your location or situation.
As ShoreTel networking and UC consultants, we work with all types of businesses, both regionally and globally that are looking for a truly unified communication solution. Without fail, our ShoreTel installs beat expectations every time for our customers hands down.
To Learn how ShoreTel can help your business, contact us today.
Useful Links:
Case Study: Read how CT-Pros helped a successful Milwaukee law firm implement ShoreTel Connect Cloud with advanced mobility features to improve office communications and work productivity.