Communications Serv/Live Meeting/Roundtable

[Bakedgoods]

Have any of you used/implemented any of the above and do you think they have actually proven to be useful?

I can see them being pretty good for very mobile workers or companeis that are very dispersed and need to collaborate frequently, but what about the rest?

What about when people are generally fairly stationary, is there much benefit to be had?

I'm not sure if I can see THAT much of a benefit in that sort of scenario, it's nothing that an e-mail or phone call can't fix...

Any thoughts?

 

[oddjob62]

We're just testing OCS, our new phone system (being installed in our new office) will plug into it, so you can phone people directly from OCS.

Presence also is available in lots of places, including outlook and sharepoint.

 

[bigredshark]

I'm not convinced by the need for small companies, if you have 100+ users in multiple offices I think it has a use but otherwise I'd just prefer to wonder round to someone's desk.

I'm especially unconvinced by Microsoft's offerings in this area. I think unified presence is the future but it needs to be a lot better than it is first...

 

[TheKnat]

Installed Live Communications Server and was using it to integrate with an Avaya telephone system. Was useful across multiple sites, as well as the basic video/tele conferencing it can do.

I was personally introducing the system to try and get away from the "quick email" culture that had struck our company. So many mailboxes had been filled with stupid little notes which could have been dealt with by post-it. The idea was that people would start to use LCS instead, but I left the company before I got to that point.

 

[Bakedgoods]

I'm not convinced by the need for small companies, if you have 100+ users in multiple offices I think it has a use but otherwise I'd just prefer to wonder round to someone's desk.

That's pretty much how i'm looking at it.

Unless there is a large number of users that are spread out by quite some distance, is there really much point in it?

You could just as easily ring them, walk to their desk or e-mail them.

Fair enough it may make it a little easier when trying to contact someone because you know if they are at their PC/Desk or not, but besides that..?