Practical Productivity – The Power of “Presence”

Where is he?
Is he at his desk?
Is he on the phone?
Is he even at the office today?
Can he answer one quick question?

Have you ever asked any of the above about a fellow employee? These kinds of questions can become real productivity blockers in today’s fast-paced work environment. I’ve stopped asking those questions since we installed Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) and Microsoft Communicator clients at our office. Our company is now “presence-enabled” with OCS. When I open Communicator, I can see at a glance who is working at their desk by a green button next to their name. If they are away from their computer for 5 minutes, the button turns yellow. If they are offline, their name is grayed out. When a fellow worker is across the building or maybe even in another location this simple list becomes a big help. For example, I can hover over someone’s name during the middle of the day. If they show away for 45 minutes, I can make the assumption that I will see them back from lunch in the next 15 minutes. If their button is green, I can type in an instant message that pops up on their desktop.

Because Communicator and OCS are closely integrated, I can get even more useful information. If someone in the office has a meeting that they have noted in Outlook, their button turns red with a message “In a Meeting”. If they’ve marked an appointment on their calendar that doesn’t involve someone else in the office, they show as “Busy”. When someone turns on “Out of Office” in Outlook, I can read their message by hovering over a tiny post-it note to the right of their name.

So, what does all this get me?

• First, it lowers my frustration level. If I see that someone is out of the office or off-line, I don’t chase them down through phone calls, heading downstairs or calling someone else who sits nearby.
• Second, it save me time. Think of Communicator as a secure instant message application like AOL or Live Messenger. I type a quick question, I receive a quick response and move on to complete the task at hand.
• Third, it makes me more productive. When I am on the phone, someone can message me that an important client is waiting downstairs or the vendor I called yesterday is on the other line for me. I’m not spending time on return calls or missed appointments because I happen to be unreachable by phone at that very moment. Employees appreciate it as well because they can receive the answers to their questions without waiting for the phone light button next to my name to go off.

Microsoft OCS and Communicator are great examples of practical productivity – call us today to find out more.