The Future Of Communications Presentation
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Presentation on the future of communications for business. Presented at the recent House of Commons event hosted by Freedom Communications & Microsoft.
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The Future Of Communications Presentation
- 1. The Future of Communication and Collaboration 16th May 2013
- 2. The Future of Communication and Collaboration for Local Authorities and the Community Chris Luff – Director, Freedom David Hipwell – Voice Lead, Public Sector, Microsoft
- 4. The Centre of the Community
- 5. Constantly Evolving Challenges Challenges that Local Authorities face: • Engaging the community • Changing citizen behaviours • Changing technologies and media channels • Changing community expectations • Changing employee expectations • An erosion of capacity, resources and service delivery
- 6. Today we have 3 main objectives 1. Set the scene – not preach about “doing MORE with LESS” 2. Build a picture of how technology can help you achieve a complex job against the toughest economic landscape Local Authorities have faced 3. Create a Think Tank – Providing collaboration, driving systemic change So why are we here
- 8. Children’s Centre 1 Meeting 136 Teas and Coffees 1020 Miles Travelled 17 Attendees 4 Times Per year 16 Packs of Biscuits
- 10. Children’s Centre 3507 Meetings £155,650 Travel Cost 59619 Attendees 4 Times Per year £179,558 Packs of Biscuits £9,539 Tea and Coffee
- 12. Trends in Local and Regional Gov. • Reduced budgets • Reduction in headcount • Building consolidation • Introduction of flexible and mobile working ‘Every Pound Counts’ • Not just a need to maintain the status quo BUT • Also a need to innovate to • Attract new talent to the organisation • Continue to improve efficiency • Move to a ‘market driven’ approach - citizen centric and provide excellent value for money services
- 13. What does it take to drive Innovation? 2. Employees must be personally and collectively productive - individual contribution AND team working to avoid duplication 3. Collaborate and communicate with others across the organisation 4. An innovation culture is enhanced by cross organisation collaboration and by diversity of participants and their points of view. outline 4 main factors: 1. Employees must be allowed and be capable of making good decisions - move from a siloed approach
- 14. The Challenge
- 15. So what has really changed?
- 16. How we Actually Communicate 2 days later? Need to start to move away from asynchronous to synchronous communication ‘Harness the Internet’ as in private life
- 19. An example of innovation from Healthcare
- 20. Live Collaboration in Practice Greig Valentine – Solutions Consultancy, Freedom Charlotte Copley – Business Consultant, Freedom
- 21. The Future is Here….
- 22. Looks Simple Doesn’t it
- 23. The Core High Availability ADExchangeUMLync Contact Centre Call Logging Legacy PBX
- 24. Wired Network Voice Video User Experience
- 25. Wireless TabletsSmart Phones Voice and Video
- 27. SIP & Data Connectivity Federation Skype External Conferencing
- 28. END TO END
- 29. Unified Communications (UC) Rochdale – Our Vision Julian Massel - Head of ICT, Rochdale
- 30. Unified Communications (UC) Rochdale – Our Vision ROCHDALE METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL 1. My history and Unified Comms 2. Rochdale Council – The Vision 3. Rochdale – What to consider? 4. Rochdale’s Deployment 5. Next steps and the future
- 31. ME: Julian Massel • Degree in Humberside in Electronics and Communications – Also worked as a Microsoft Engineer specialising in Networking and Exchange server in Humberside schools, collages and government departments – An IT Geek • 2003 – 2010: Head of ICT for a few central government bodies including the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) and Equality Human Rights Commission (EHRC) – Implemented 2 VOIP solutions, Video Conferencing and Office Communications Server • Last 2 years: Head of ICT Services @ Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC).
- 32. ME: Disability Rights Commission UC installation 2002 to 2004 • Back in early 2002/3 at the DRC we installed a VOIP system - CISCO Call Manager. – Business case was predicated on the basis that it would be ground breaking technology to enable disabled staff and support modern, flexible working practices
- 33. ME: Disability Rights Commission UC installation 2002 to 2004
- 35. ME: Disability Rights Commission UC installation 2002 to 2004 KEY FUNCTIONALITY • Roaming users (follow me numbers) • Voice mail in mailboxes (unified messaging) • Dial from a computer (i.e. Look up and click dial) • Softphones (phone app on the PC) NEW FUNCTIONALITY • Instant Messaging • Presence • Conferencing and workspace sharing
- 36. Unified Communication: 2000 to 2013
- 37. A Vision for Rochdale Council • 3500 users across 150 offices • Rationalising the building estates to 130 buildings • 1800 moving into 1 new office with 1500 desks.
- 38. A Vision for Rochdale Council • Anyone to sit anywhere…..at any time • Anyone to work from home or a partners office • Anyone to work remotely or in transit • Online meetings (paperless office) – virtual meetings • Finding people and information effortlessly..and connecting to them • Promoting seamless collaboration • Reducing support and administration… time and costs
- 39. A Vision for Rochdale Council - what I found… • Large Council – little strategy around UC or even telephony • Traditional PBX phone systems - part analogue, part digital, part VOIP – different PBX systems scattered around e.g. across partners in same buildings • A ‘systems’ team and a ‘Network and telephone team’. Four dedicated telephone engineers plus other field engineers. • Culture ...behaviour...not what you want in a modern Council ...
- 40. Rochdale and Microsoft Lync - What to buy? What we tendered for… • VOIP systems that promotes flexible working • …with all the features of a modern VOIP solution • ….and must work with Microsoft Lync Major consideration… • Do you buy a hybrid solution? (VOIP + Lync) • Do you buy a Lync enterprise Voice solution • Licenses Next consideration • Handsets Vs Headsets • Transition from existing system to Lync
- 41. Rochdale and Microsoft Lync Licenses
- 42. Rochdale and Microsoft Lync Hybrid - Licenses
- 45. Rochdale and Microsoft Lync - The Licenses
- 46. Rochdale and Microsoft Lync Handsets and Headsets • Handsets Vs Headsets
- 47. Rochdale and Microsoft Lync Implement and Deliver
- 48. Rochdale and Microsoft Lync What did we buy - Transition Lync Client Lync Handset N1R Edge Switch Stack N1R Core Updata MPLS Inside FW Interface Outside FW Interface N1R SBC Updata CE SIP Router Updata PE SIP Router Virgin Media VPLS into Zen MPLS Zen Core Inside FW Interface Outside FW Interface Zen SBC Updata CE SIP Router Virgin Media VPLS into Zen MPLS Updata SIP Cloud N1RSIPOutside ZenSIPOutside Alcatel at MO Freedom Extreme Switch Black Diamond Core MO JV Network – Cisco 3750 Switch Town Hall JV Network – Cisco 3750 Switch 1Gbit Dark Fibre 3600 MPLS Switch 3600 MPLS Switch Updata MPLS MunicipalOffices N1R Zen Primary ISDN Circuit Incoming Calls via 3 x ISDN 30s Alcatel at Town Hall TownHall Secondary ISDN Circuit Incoming Calls via 3 x ISDN 30s 12th Floor LAN Switch Lync Mediation Server Pool Exchange UM Server med01 med02 Lync Standard Edition Server Exchange UM Server
- 49. Rochdale and Microsoft Lync What did we buy - Servers Roles in Green run on Virtual Servers - Roles in blue are Physical Production Site Lync Front End Server x 3 – the front end role is responsible for IM and A/V conferencing Mediation Server x 2 – the mediation servers are responsible for handling inbound and outbound external calls Directors x 2 – The Lync Directors offload user logon traffic from the Front End Servers and provide protection from DoS attacks from the outside world Archiving and monitoring server – Logs Call Detail Report and Quality of Experience data for Lync calls Lync Edge Server x 2 – The Lync Edge Servers provide external users with access to Lync as though they were in the office, they also facilitate federation with 3rd party organisations. ForeFront Threat Management Gateway – provides web access to online meetings (similar to Webex) Two Node SQL Server 2008 R2 Cluster – SQL cluster shared with other applications – hosts Lync configuration databases and Archiving/Reporting DBs Exchange 2010 Unified Messaging Server – provides users with subscriber access to their voicemail, and Outlook Voice Access
- 50. Roles in Green run on Virtual Servers - Roles in blue are Physical Disaster Recovery (Failover) Site Standard Edition Lync Server – Hosts all roles on single physical box, used in the event of loss of primary datacentre Exchange 2010 Unified Messaging Server – provides users with Exchange UM features during failover Single Lync Edge Server – Used for remote access to Lync during failover ForeFront Threat Management Gateway – Used for remote access to web conferences during failover Rochdale and Microsoft Lync What did we buy - Servers
- 51. Rochdale and Microsoft Lync Universal – flexible desktop PC or Laptop
- 52. • They love the Lync client • Better staff directory • Availability information • Tagging status changes Rochdale and Microsoft Lync What do users think?
- 53. • They love the Lync client • Better staff directory • Availability information • Tagging status changes • Local administration Rochdale and Microsoft Lync What do users think?
- 54. • They love the Lync client • Better staff directory • Availability information • Tagging status changes • Local administration • Unified messaging – missed calls and notes in email box Rochdale and Microsoft Lync What do users think?
- 55. Rochdale and Microsoft Lync Still to do in Rochdale • Photos • Launch of the mobile phones (edge servers) • Launch of external conferencing (edge servers) • AGMA federation (edge servers) • Contact Centre • Upgrade to 2013
- 56. Rochdale and Microsoft Lync Quick Recap and Questions • Tender – make sure you are clear about Lync • Hybrid – watch out for the licenses • Headset Vs Handsets (consider POE and USB connection) • Users and ICT – this is different (lots of support) • Transition (old to new) – technical back office • Transition (old to new) – Users –call groups, pick up groups etc.. QUESTIONS?
- 57. Summation Pat Botting – Managing Director, Freedom
- 58. The World We Live In • More People – Less Money • Higher Expectations • Disparate Services • Changing Behaviours, Changing Communication Media Technology is the Enabler Unified Communications is Driving the New Way of Working
- 59. Unifiedcommunicationsplatform Microsoft unified communications Enterprise-ready Rochdale is ‘the’ example……. It’s Real!
- 60. Where Do We Go Now • Microsoft and Freedom have the: • Technology • Skill Sets • Credentials However…………. Its down to you to drive the Innovation and we would like to help
- 61. Proof of Concept
Hinweis der Redaktion
- . TODAY SET THE SCENE WITH A NUMBER OF STATICS AND FACTS SHOW OF HANDS DIGIT USED FOE PHONE DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS ...... NATIVES THERE ARE NO SURPRISES HERE PRESSURE ON THE PUBLIC SECTOR IS DRIVEN BY AN INCREASING POPULATION WITH A NEED TO DRAMATICALLY CUT COSTS WE ARE LIVING LONGER FACT .... LAST FIVE YEARS THE OVER 65s UP 16 % THE OVER 80s UP 40% THATS A GOOD THING RIGHT ...............WE ARE LIVING LONGER HAS ANYONE READ MARK STEVENSON AN OPTIMISTS TOUR OF THE FUTURE .......HES EXPLORES TRANSHUMANISM - NANO TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY AND ITS EFFECTS ON OUR FUTURES HOW THEY ARE TESTING RIGHT NOW TISSUE SPECIFIC STEMCELLS SELF HEALING OUR LIFE EXPECTANCY OVER THE LAST 30 HAS INCREASED BY AN ESTIMATED 3 MONTHS PER ANNUM .... WITH NEW TECHNOLOGIES THERE ARE ESTIMATES THAT PEOPLE APPROACHING THEIR 50 s WILL LIVE FOR OVER 200 years WHEN I TOLD LIZZI MY WIFE THIS SHE STARTED WATCHING OUR WEDDING VIDEO .... WHY ..I ASKED .... JUST WANTED TO SEE IF I SAID TILL DEATH DO US PART IN OUR VOWS .. IT IS CLEAR THAT THIS CANNOT GO ON – WE HAVE TO FIND WAYS OF COPING – WE HAVE TO USE INNOVATION TO DRIVE SYSTEMIC CHANGE
- GENERALLY PEOPLE DO NOT APPRECIATE THE VAST ARRAY OF SERVICES DELIVERED BY LOCAL AND REGIONAL COUNCILS WE HAVE JUST TALKED ABOUT THE AGING POPLTATION WHAT ABOUT SOCIAL SERVICES BENEFITS HEALTH AND WELL BEING CHILD PROTECTION DISABILITIES TRANSPORT NAME A FEW ANOTHER FEW STATS ……I WAS BLOWN AWAY WHEN A CEO TOLD ME HOW MUCH WAS SPENT ON MINI CABS DISPARATE GROUPS ALL NEEDING TRANSPORT SERVICES 18m WHAT IS THE AVERAGE WEEKLY MILAGE OF A CHARITY MINI BUS - LESS THAN 20 SEEMS SO SIMPLE RIGHT ….WRONG A MANAMENT NIGHTMARE YOU PEOPLE HAVE GOT IT TOUGH. ..AND HAVING SAID ALL THAT ... AND PEOPLE ONLY REMEMBER THE BINS AND THE POT HOLES THE TRUTH IS THAT LOCAL AUTHORITIES ARE THE CORE OF THE COMMUNITY IT IS TAKEN FOR GRANTED THAT ALL THESE SERVICES ARE JUST THERE , NOONE CARES OR EVEN CONSIDERS THE CONSTRAINTS OR THE COMPLEXITIES IN DELIVERING THEM IT IS A LOGISTICAL AND A FINACIAL NIGHTMARE TO MANAGEWE STILL EXPECT TO SEE THE DUSTMAN EVERY WEDNESDAY AND WE STILL WANT THAT POT HOLE FILLING TOMMORROWWE HAVE TO RE INVENT OUR SERVICES WE HAVE TO INNOVATE THERE IS NO CHOICE
- ENGAGING WITH THE COMMUNITY WHETHER THEY WANT TO OR NOT FINDING THE HARD TO REACH WILL GET HARDER THE CHANGING BEHAVIOURS. AT ALL AGES .... I CAN'T THINK WHAT I WILL BE LIKE AT 149 yearsWHAT WILL WE DO WITH THE KIDS WHO CAN ONLY SPEAK WITH THER THUMBS TECHNOLOGY..... Adoption should get easier keeping up will be interesting SOCIAL SERVICES COULD BECOME SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES IF I HAVE TO WORK UNTIL I AM 149 I AM GOING TO NEED MORE SUPPORT AT WORK .... HR WILL HAVE A NIGHT MAREWe have to change
- QUITE SIMPLY WE HAVE 3 CORE OBJECTIVES 1…..NOT TO PREACH DO MORE WITH LESS ITS NOT ALL ABOUT CUTTING COSTS IT'S ABOUT INNOVATION SYSTEMIC CHANGE IT'S ABOUT TAKING STOCK OF AN INCREDIBLY COMPLEX AND VITAL JOB IS TO DELIVER EFFECTIVE PUBLIC SERVICES 2……TO EXPLORE HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN BE USED AS AN ENABLER TO CREATE NEW WAYS OF WORKING AND NEW INNOVATIVE SERVICES 3……. WE WANT TO USE THE COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE IN THIS ROOM TO FIND NEW WAYS OF WORKING - TO DEVELOP COLLABORATION BETWEEN COMMUNITY SERVING AGENCIES
- BEFORE I HAND YOU OVER TO DAVID I HAVE A FEW MORE STATISTIC S
- THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE COME TO THIS EVENT IS PROOF THAT THERE IS A REAL APPETITE FIR CHANGE WE WOULD LIKE TO CREARE A FORUM WHERE WE CAN COLLABORATE SHARE EXPERIENCE AND FIND NEW WAYS OF WORKING ENGAGE WITH COMMUNITY GROUPS AND SHARE IDEAS AND LEARN FROM OUR PEERS WE WILL BE HOLDING SEVERAL OTHER EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR COVERING OTHER PUBLIC SERVICES HEALTH , EDUCATION , VOLUNTEERING PLEASE LOOK OUT FOR FUTURE COMMUNICATION AND JOIN OUR COLLABORATION LYNC TANK HELP TO EXPLOIT INNOVATION TO DRIVE CHANGE
- So we want to help you drive innovation within your sector and that’s the crux of what this day is about, recognising the Future of Communication and Collaboration for Local Authorities means new ways of working which benefit work the workforce, the network of support bodies and the community served by all involved.As Chris outlined the need for change is vital even if its just focusing on budget constraints, let alone making sure you have the latest tools and techniques to attract today’s workforce and keep them. Innovating and finding new ways of working is essential to sustainably deliver the services Local Authorities are their to provide.So what does it take to drive innovation and change:Gartner outline 4 Main factors:Employees must be allowed and be capable of making good decisionsYou will have experts in there own field, people who really know their particular area but are often diligently working in a silo, not supporting or unsupported by similar entities servicing the same citizens. So it about empowering all areas of the Authority to harness expertise.Employees must be personally and collectively productive- Employees must be productive but again this is augmented if they are connected to those around them, not just diligently working away unaware they may be duplicating effort.3. Collaborate and communicate with other across the organisationEmployees must be able to communicate and collaborate with each other, this sounds simple enough but by what means, and is it the most effective method? Do you they have the time? As Chris outlined earlier it can take significant time effort and cost to pull individuals together and as we all get busier and have greater expectations placed upon us the opportunity to come together becomes scarce.An innovation culture is enhanced by cross organisation collaboration and by diversity of participants and their points of view.Accepting and harnessing different skills, expertise and view points generates new/better ways of working that benefit all. Rather than changes “innovations” being made in isolation which in fact can only help individuals or departments and do not consider the wider world within which they exists can be harmful to ultimately doing what any innovation is supposed to and that’s support and provide better services to the community.
- So we want to help you drive innovation within your sector and that’s the crux of what this day is about, recognising the Future of Communication and Collaboration for Local Authorities means new ways of working which benefit work the workforce, the network of support bodies and the community served by all involved.As Chris outlined the need for change is vital even if its just focusing on budget constraints, let alone making sure you have the latest tools and techniques to attract today’s workforce and keep them. Innovating and finding new ways of working is essential to sustainably deliver the services Local Authorities are their to provide.So what does it take to drive innovation and change:Gartner outline 4 Main factors:Employees must be allowed and be capable of making good decisionsYou will have experts in there own field, people who really know their particular area but are often diligently working in a silo, not supporting or unsupported by similar entities servicing the same citizens. So it about empowering all areas of the Authority to harness expertise.Employees must be personally and collectively productive- Employees must be productive but again this is augmented if they are connected to those around them, not just diligently working away unaware they may be duplicating effort.3. Collaborate and communicate with other across the organisationEmployees must be able to communicate and collaborate with each other, this sounds simple enough but by what means, and is it the most effective method? Do you they have the time? As Chris outlined earlier it can take significant time effort and cost to pull individuals together and as we all get busier and have greater expectations placed upon us the opportunity to come together becomes scarce.An innovation culture is enhanced by cross organisation collaboration and by diversity of participants and their points of view.Accepting and harnessing different skills, expertise and view points generates new/better ways of working that benefit all. Rather than changes “innovations” being made in isolation which in fact can only help individuals or departments and do not consider the wider world within which they exists can be harmful to ultimately doing what any innovation is supposed to and that’s support and provide better services to the community.
- So this is essentially the challenge to those in this room, you are here because you are in a position of responsibility to be the enabler of innovation, you are the individuals who will shape the Future of Communication and Collaboration for Local Authorities and the Community. It will be you who provides the foundations to drive innovation.Sounds simple enough?!?
- So we have seen what it takes to drive Innovation but what has really changed in the communications we use everyday to enable us to be those innovators.Fundamentally it can be argued that actually many still work in very much the same way we always have. Yes things have got much faster…….
- …….we use email and smart phones which now enable us to be more connected and enable the “always on generation” There will be 15 Billion networked devices by 201556% of employees spend time working outside the office¾ of employees use multiple devices BYOD is a very over used term but it is a reality, it is a driver and in truth many people use better devices in their personal lives that they use at work and so naturally want to bring them to workThis results in 100% of IT staff constantly battling to keep up with mobile demands of employees.
- So at work the reality is most still communicate in quite a uniform way. Day to day we predominantly use email and phone, we might do a bit of voice and web conferencing but generally this has to be set up in advance.So we have email and voicemail tennis bouncing around the organisation where we often ask simple questions which we then wait for a response, which in turn may or may not even come back. And worse still some even use these means of communication to hide behind, sending an email often means the relinquishing of responsibility to get tasks done “well I sent an email about it” as though the baton of responsibility has been passed and the onus is now on someone else.
- Slide Objective:Set context, discuss the status quo of enterprise communications, the impact consumerization has on the discussion and present the Microsoft vision for Unified Communications.Initial Build - Communications Today, Talking Points:Technology has brought us a very long way in terms of how we communicate in the business world. But as communication and collaboration technologies have evolved, they have done so independently, in parallel with one another, creating communication silos. In the meantime, the way we work is changing; business is operating at a faster pace and frequently across time zones. As a society we are more mobile, have greater access to technology outside of the workplace and have expectations to match. Today’s Information Workers are using a variety of products and services to meet all of these needs in their professional and personal lives. For most companies today, telephony and voice mail, e-mail, IM, audio conferencing, video conferencing, Web conferencing, and group communication tools all live in their own disconnected silos. Each has evolved a separate operating platform—often with proprietary third-party technology—separate clients,authentication, separate administration, and separate storage and compliance. Add to that all of the consumer oriented tools and services we are using in our daily lives - the result is an enormous headache for the end user, who has to remember separate phone numbers, account names, and passwords. Plus, these users have limited communication with each device—for example, not being able to make audio calls from their computers. Ultimately, their communication is disconnected, and their collaboration and innovation are hindered. These independent silos, which now encompass enterprise and consumer, have led to redundancies and inefficiencies for the IT administrator as well. It has become difficult and expensive to maintain them and to ensure each is in compliance with business and government regulations, is secure and manageable in the long term. Final Build - The Microsoft Unified Communications Vision, Talking Points:Microsoft® Lync® 2013 is an enterprise-ready unified communications platform. Lync connects hundreds of millions of people everywhere, on Windows 8 and other devices, as part of their everyday productivity experience. Lyncreduces complexity by putting people at the center of the communications experience. Our goal is to integrate all of the ways we contact each other in a single environment— using a single client, identity – while providing businesses with the power to choose how they provision those services—whether on their own premises, as cloud services, or in a hybrid mode.Lync provides a consistent, single client experience for presence, instant messaging, voice, video and a great meeting experience. Lync delivers an experience that is differentiated from any other Unified Communications solution in the industry with best-of-breed integration in the Office family of apps. Lync users focus less on how to use the tools and direct their energy to meeting the needs of their business. With Lync as the UC platform, IT administrators are able to modernize their operations and simplify administration with Active Directory, common data store, and a shared set of archive and compliance tools, across multiple UC components (e.g. email and instant messaging).
- Slide Objective:Set context, discuss the status quo of enterprise communications, the impact consumerization has on the discussion and present the Microsoft vision for Unified Communications.Initial Build - Communications Today, Talking Points:Technology has brought us a very long way in terms of how we communicate in the business world. But as communication and collaboration technologies have evolved, they have done so independently, in parallel with one another, creating communication silos. In the meantime, the way we work is changing; business is operating at a faster pace and frequently across time zones. As a society we are more mobile, have greater access to technology outside of the workplace and have expectations to match. Today’s Information Workers are using a variety of products and services to meet all of these needs in their professional and personal lives. For most companies today, telephony and voice mail, e-mail, IM, audio conferencing, video conferencing, Web conferencing, and group communication tools all live in their own disconnected silos. Each has evolved a separate operating platform—often with proprietary third-party technology—separate clients,authentication, separate administration, and separate storage and compliance. Add to that all of the consumer oriented tools and services we are using in our daily lives - the result is an enormous headache for the end user, who has to remember separate phone numbers, account names, and passwords. Plus, these users have limited communication with each device—for example, not being able to make audio calls from their computers. Ultimately, their communication is disconnected, and their collaboration and innovation are hindered. These independent silos, which now encompass enterprise and consumer, have led to redundancies and inefficiencies for the IT administrator as well. It has become difficult and expensive to maintain them and to ensure each is in compliance with business and government regulations, is secure and manageable in the long term. Final Build - The Microsoft Unified Communications Vision, Talking Points:Microsoft® Lync® 2013 is an enterprise-ready unified communications platform. Lync connects hundreds of millions of people everywhere, on Windows 8 and other devices, as part of their everyday productivity experience. Lyncreduces complexity by putting people at the center of the communications experience. Our goal is to integrate all of the ways we contact each other in a single environment— using a single client, identity – while providing businesses with the power to choose how they provision those services—whether on their own premises, as cloud services, or in a hybrid mode.Lync provides a consistent, single client experience for presence, instant messaging, voice, video and a great meeting experience. Lync delivers an experience that is differentiated from any other Unified Communications solution in the industry with best-of-breed integration in the Office family of apps. Lync users focus less on how to use the tools and direct their energy to meeting the needs of their business. With Lync as the UC platform, IT administrators are able to modernize their operations and simplify administration with Active Directory, common data store, and a shared set of archive and compliance tools, across multiple UC components (e.g. email and instant messaging).