Guest contributor |


07 November 2023

Microsoft Teams now has over 280 million each day energetic customers. The market has spoken, when staff collaborate, it’s ceaselessly not executed head to head anymore. Technology is advancing and company cultures are shifting to make hybrid work the brand new regular. It’s now not a query of whether or not staff members might be allowed to work from wherever, however how usually. And extra importantly, how will the enterprise allow it? 

Lenovo, a long-standing Microsoft associate, is delivering options that help one of the important traits within the digital transformation of the enterprise – enabling hybrid work with smarter unified communications (UC) know-how.  

Digital transformation has by no means been simple, however within the case of hybrid work, it’s not often been as pressing. To meet the realities of managing distributed groups and help staff with the pliability they demand, corporations are more and more shifting to a three-two mannequin, with three days working within the workplace and two from wherever. And all this was catalysed by the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, which examined the restrictions of what’s doable with UC know-how.  

But how does the enterprise shift to the brand new mannequin and preserve fairness for its staff so that everybody has a seat on the desk (even whether it is digital), in addition to a voice that may be heard? There’s no single path to attain these targets. Legacy know-how burdens, the dimensions of workplace footprints, and funds constraints are realities each enterprise face. 

Enterprises are in search of inclusive UC options that present a seamless expertise from wherever, whereas nonetheless upholding reliability and safety to make sure it really works each time.  

According to the Remote Work Statistics And Trends In 2023 by Forbes, 98 per cent of staff expressed the will to work remotely, at the least a part of the time. And 56 per cent of staff would search for a brand new job if their present firm didn’t enable distant work. The enterprise wants UC options that work within the workplace and at dwelling, in addition to in different places. Businesses will search hyper-flexible, scalable options that enable staff to collaborate from wherever. These options also needs to supply a well-known consumer expertise in order that staff can simply be part of a Teams assembly. 

Effective collaboration permits numerous groups to be taught, downside remedy and innovate collectively. But one in 5 individuals worries about not feeling heard in hybrid conferences, and almost 50 per cent don’t communicate in any respect. For staff to remain linked, know-how should make everybody really feel included within the dialog. Solutions utilizing synthetic intelligence-enabled cameras with automated focus and framing, together with extra immersive, clever audio experiences, assist guarantee each assembly participant is seen and heard. And AI-driven options like transcription, chat, polling, hand-gesture help and whiteboarding let everybody have interaction. 

In addition, making each second productive is important for hybrid conferences. That means having the ability to begin and be part of conferences with out time-consuming know-how points. Collaboration options should even be easy to make use of and simple for IT to handle for a constantly constructive expertise. World-class reliability – together with simple intuitive interfaces and normal software program purposes – lets staff and the IT personnel supporting them keep away from the productivity-killing refrain of “How does this work?”, “Can you hear me?” and “Do you see my screen?” 

Leveraging a long time of enterprise IT expertise throughout greater than 180 world markets, Lenovo is rising to the problem of aiding clients in remodeling their assembly areas with a variety of purpose-built collaboration options for Teams Rooms. For instance, ThinkSmart Core Kits are modular kits scalable to any measurement room with or with out audio and video already put in, whereas the ThinkSmart One + Controller is an built-in front-of-room collaboration system for simplified assembly areas. 

With computing now on the core of the UC, Lenovo presents the ThinkSmart Hub, an all-in-one touchscreen management with laptop and audio for excellent consumer experiences. The ThinkSmart Hub additionally options totally immersive 360-degree sound with 4 built-in full duplex audio system and 4 built-in twin array microphones.  

Lenovo’s newest resolution is the ThinkSmart View Plus, a stand-alone collaboration machine with premium audio, video and whiteboarding options that runs Teams Display. The sensible collaboration resolution is purpose-built for warm desking, telephone cubicles, government desks and home-office use instances. 

In addition, Lenovo collaborates with Microsoft, Biamp, Jabra, Logitech, Q-SYS and others to mix the perfect audio and visible applied sciences with its computing experience to allow it to repeatedly tackle clients’ wants with superior UC experiences.  

As corporations construct the brand new hybrid working mannequin, collaboration stays an important a part of organisational success. Teams require the pliability to collaborate anytime and wherever, bodily areas for in-person connections with colleagues, and the know-how to help all of it.  

Shannon MacKay is basic supervisor of worldwide sensible collaboration enterprise at Lenovo 

This article was initially printed within the Autumn 2023 issue of Technology Record. To get future points delivered on to your inbox, sign up for a free subscription