Consolidating Communications Channels
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Unless we come up with something new, my gut feel is that Exchange + Skype + Sharepoint might be enough for all internal communications. Each piece isn't the most efficient, but it is only three pieces and covers the main bases without overwhelming us with different tools for different things. Only one of each, as a starting point.
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I think we need to streamline how we use SharePoint for this.
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@Minion-Queen said:
I think we need to streamline how we use SharePoint for this.
In the "client" site there is a discussion group that can be used. It's for nothing but discussion of client projects, needs, issues, etc.
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We use Lync for our PBX here but I know for a fact we're using a Lync server and not Office365. However, I remember when I was at NTG and Alex was too, he was talking about having Office365 Lync being used as a PBX. That could consolidate two systems to one. I guess I need to understand what you mean by communication channels. Communication internally? Communication between employees and clients?
Sharepoint would be a great place to have an internal page for announcements, etc. Then it becomes everyone's responsibility to monitor that intranet site (even though it's on Office365). Yammer should always be purely social. Basically, instead of trying this and that and everything, find what works and just stick with it.
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@thanksaj said:
We use Lync for our PBX here but I know for a fact we're using a Lync server and not Office365. However, I remember when I was at NTG and Alex was too, he was talking about having Office365 Lync being used as a PBX. That could consolidate two systems to one.
Problem there is that Lync is unstable and the reason that Skype is being used it because Lync is unreliable. It would be a great idea to consolidate the PBX and Lync but we need the reliability of Asterisk and Lync just can't pull that off. The Lync software is just so buggy. It freezes, crashes and goes offline constantly. Can't even use it reliably for IM let alone voice, video and if we hooked it to a SIP trunk we can just imagine the disaster.
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@thanksaj said:
Sharepoint would be a great place to have an internal page for announcements, etc. Then it becomes everyone's responsibility to monitor that intranet site (even though it's on Office365).
You can subscribe to things too, which makes it far easier to use. You don't have to watch it all day, every day, to know when things are happening.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksaj said:
We use Lync for our PBX here but I know for a fact we're using a Lync server and not Office365. However, I remember when I was at NTG and Alex was too, he was talking about having Office365 Lync being used as a PBX. That could consolidate two systems to one.
Problem there is that Lync is unstable and the reason that Skype is being used it because Lync is unreliable. It would be a great idea to consolidate the PBX and Lync but we need the reliability of Asterisk and Lync just can't pull that off. The Lync software is just so buggy. It freezes, crashes and goes offline constantly. Can't even use it reliably for IM let alone voice, video and if we hooked it to a SIP trunk we can just imagine the disaster.
Lync on Office365 is not stable. Lync in a non-hosted solution is EXTREMELY stable! We use it here with ZERO problems.
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@thanksaj said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksaj said:
We use Lync for our PBX here but I know for a fact we're using a Lync server and not Office365. However, I remember when I was at NTG and Alex was too, he was talking about having Office365 Lync being used as a PBX. That could consolidate two systems to one.
Problem there is that Lync is unstable and the reason that Skype is being used it because Lync is unreliable. It would be a great idea to consolidate the PBX and Lync but we need the reliability of Asterisk and Lync just can't pull that off. The Lync software is just so buggy. It freezes, crashes and goes offline constantly. Can't even use it reliably for IM let alone voice, video and if we hooked it to a SIP trunk we can just imagine the disaster.
Lync on Office365 is not stable. Lync in a non-hosted solution is EXTREMELY stable! We use it here with ZERO problems.
And we're spread out just as much as NTG and also have quite a few more people.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksaj said:
Sharepoint would be a great place to have an internal page for announcements, etc. Then it becomes everyone's responsibility to monitor that intranet site (even though it's on Office365).
You can subscribe to things too, which makes it far easier to use. You don't have to watch it all day, every day, to know when things are happening.
Yup. I think Sharepoint is going to be your best solution.
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@thanksaj said:
Lync on Office365 is not stable. Lync in a non-hosted solution is EXTREMELY stable! We use it here with ZERO problems.
I've used it at a few massive companies and it wasn't stable there either. Always major issues. Office 365 behaves exactly as I've seen it in the enterprise space.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksaj said:
Lync on Office365 is not stable. Lync in a non-hosted solution is EXTREMELY stable! We use it here with ZERO problems.
I've used it at a few massive companies and it wasn't stable there either. Always major issues. Office 365 behaves exactly as I've seen it in the enterprise space.
The standard solution we roll out to our clients for phone systems is Lync, which then doubles as their internal IMing system, etc. It's stable with zero issues for tons of clients and us internally. McAfee had issues with their Lync but their whole network was buggy as hell, so it wasn't really Lync as much as their network.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksaj said:
Lync on Office365 is not stable. Lync in a non-hosted solution is EXTREMELY stable! We use it here with ZERO problems.
I've used it at a few massive companies and it wasn't stable there either. Always major issues. Office 365 behaves exactly as I've seen it in the enterprise space.
I've been talking with two different companies who use Lync on-site. One is a large international company and their exec staff swears by it, makes it easy to get a hold of people without having to call them and is perceived as more professional then SMS, the IT person I've been talking to hasn't mentioned any stability issues (although that's understandable). The second is a significantly smaller company who uses it for ad-hoc one off communications... they apparently have had nothing but problems with it.
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I had a meeting a few weeks ago with Microsoft people and they don't use Lync themselves because of stability issues. They use Skype as well.
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@Minion-Queen said:
I had a meeting a few weeks ago with Microsoft people and they don't use Lync themselves because of stability issues. They use Skype as well.
I thought Skype was going to be branded as the new Lync? http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/11/7192929/skype-for-business-lync-replacement Not sure if this is relevant or not.
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@coliver said:
@Minion-Queen said:
I had a meeting a few weeks ago with Microsoft people and they don't use Lync themselves because of stability issues. They use Skype as well.
I thought Skype was going to be branded as the new Lync? http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/11/7192929/skype-for-business-lync-replacement Not sure if this is relevant or not.
That's what I was told.
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Yes it is from what I am hearing in all my partner meetings. Skype business is slated to be on the market this next year. They are moving away from the Lync Platform and to the Skype one.
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I think you guys have Elastix as your PBX would a jabber/xmpp client work for that type of communication? Or would that be just another method of communication that people would be confused over?
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Elastics used to have open fire in it (not sure now). It was more stable than Lync but wasn't as robust as Skype for things like video and screen sharing.
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@coliver said:
I think you guys have Elastix as your PBX would a jabber/xmpp client work for that type of communication? Or would that be just another method of communication that people would be confused over?
Used to. We have FreePBX now. We used to run OpenFire commercial as an IM hoster. It's a great product and we could totally use that and integrate it with AD and everything, but we need something a bit "more" than just that and, while I hate Skype, Skype seems to fit the bill better for the broader scope.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@coliver said:
I think you guys have Elastix as your PBX would a jabber/xmpp client work for that type of communication? Or would that be just another method of communication that people would be confused over?
Used to. We have FreePBX now. We used to run OpenFire commercial as an IM hoster. It's a great product and we could totally use that and integrate it with AD and everything, but we need something a bit "more" than just that and, while I hate Skype, Skype seems to fit the bill better for the broader scope.
Ah, good to know. I know openfire is a solid product but if you need something "more" as you said then Skype may be your only option for IM/Video/Screen Sharing... at least without having three different products to fill those niches. I just don't like Skype... too much of a resource hog for me.
