Skype for Business and the University

Plethora of service centers in higher education

Independent Schools

Athletics

Academic departments

Student Services

Student Health

Admissions

Financial Aid

Registrar

IT Help Desk

Response groups (RGS) aren’t enough

1. RGS limited to voice

• People prefer to communicate via IM, webchat and email

• Other communication channels enable collaboration

2. RGS has limited functionality and no real intelligence

• Modern contact center software is the upgrade that many need

3. Limited Reporting

• You can’t manage what you don’t measure.

• RGS offers almost no management functionality – either monitoring or reporting.

Ad Hoc CommunicationsSkype for Business is an AMAZING tool for ad-hoc communications

Where’s My Order?

Invoice Payment Status?

Client

Vendor

Managed Communications

Bring structure where it’s needed

Client

Vendor

CLARITY

CONNECT

Use Case: Financial Aid OfficeCall center without UC

Use Case: Financial Aid Office The Collaborative Contact Center

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Demo

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Marquette University case study

“Our help desk, the student health center, dental school, and student housing all use Clarity for ACD functionality—it’s integrated tightly with Skype for Business.”

“Switching to Clarity Connect was the bestdecision we could have made for our contact center. Everything from deployment, to user experience, to support has helped to solve our business needs and leverage Skype for Business to the fullest.”

Dan Smith, Deputy Chief Information Officer, ITS, Marquette University

Skype for Business for the contact centerMulti-channel communications

• Voice will be in the minority as compared to new channels by 2017

• e.g., IM, web chat

• Skype for Business consolidates these channels

• Effectively enables collaboration

• Speeds up the learning curve for new agents

• Lowers the time and costs for support by unifying the platforms used

• Non-integrated solutions may

• Force users to use separate software for each channel

• Can make agents less effective at customer service

• Lead to agent frustration and high turnover

The Skype for Business contact centerCloud contact centers

• 61% of companies plan to move contact center to the cloud*

• Only 23% plan to retain technology platform

• Cloud functionality like MS Cloud PBX makes it easier for companies to switch from on-premises deployment to the cloud in the future

• Keep options open

* 2016 Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report, Dimension Data

The Skype for Business contact centerMobility and business continuity

• It’s becoming more important to enable people to takecalls at multiple locations with several devices

• Especially for subject-matter experts who may not take calls full time

• Skype for Business has seamless and secure external access

• Native contact center platforms leverage these capabilities

• Huge implications for:

• Speedy user onboarding

• Disaster recovery

• Remote workers

• Workers who move around or aren’t easily reachable on a desk phone

The Skype for Business contact centerSignificant cost savings for a native solution

• Native contact center does not duplicate Skype for Business’:

• Core call connectivity

• Media processing

• Security infrastructure

• Non-native infrastructure is often complex, specialized, and difficult to maintain

• Native solutions eliminate additional maintenance, staffing, planning, etc. for mostly duplicate infrastructure

• Native solutions eliminate the risk of cross-platform errors and outages

• Native contact centers may be available at a lower price point

Who is The Via Group

• Now a Logicalis company

• Logicalis is an International IT solutions and managed services provider

• 25 years of focus and expertise in Unified Communications

• Comprehensive UC services:

• Design and deployment

• Tier 1/Tier 2 support, monitoring and escalation to OEM Tier 3 and optimization

• Uniquely skilled in migrating legacy telephony to Microsoft Skype for Business

• Microsoft Gold Certified Partner

• Microsoft Premier Support Lync Partner (PSLP)

• Clarity Connect Partner, AudioCodes Platinum Partner, Sonus & other UC-related product-specific certifications

Questions?

• Contact

• connect.claritycon.com/hello

• connect@claritycon.com

• Follow @nativeconnect, @bowtieguy_cc and @TheViaGroup

• Resources

• Replay link will be sent to all attendees

• Marquette case study: bit.ly/1ZvAwaP

• Native vs. non-native white paper bit.ly/1rbWgwC

• 5 reasons Skype for Business is a natural fit for the contact center bit.ly/22I4ZTm

• Blog: connect.claritycon.com/ucpractice