Connecting people without the internet - PSTN Conferencing

Introduction:

In a world of technology there’s things we use on a daily basis that’s integrated into our lives and have been around for years, from the humble telephone, the internet, faxes to mobile phones. And with all new the announcements around the Skype for Business offerings it’s always good to know that the simple things in life are always still there.

Although the world of the internet allows us to connect with a single application to people both inside and outside the organisation, what happens if you don’t have an internet connection. Consider being in a premises without broadband, as there are 17% of UK premises without superfast broadband, let’s include the simple things…

Office 365 has had third party voice conferencing for a number of years and the evolution of multi-party conferencing has reached the next evolution with built-in features into the E5 licensing suite.

Connecting to that opportunity without the internet:

Alongside your Skype for Business Enterprise Voice system you need an ally. Enter PSTN conferencing… Consider your sales team trying to arrange a key meeting with a new customer, they might not have good devices or good connectivity, so dial in can be very useful in these very common scenarios.

Ease of use:

Dial-in/PSTN audio conferencing allows for you to schedule a meeting and not only allow people to connect via a normal web browser or Skype for Business client but also through a UK based telephone number and unique PIN to connect to your meetings.  Excellent for those that don’t have a reliable internet connection or are unable to connect, say while driving to their next appointment (Using their hands-free of course).

PIC: Joined up collaboration

Here’s what it looks like. I’ve schedule a normal meeting with my Outlook and pressed the Skype Meeting button. Invited my internal and external attendees and they choose how they want to connect.

PIC: One place to connect people:

 

Join the meeting either via the web link shown below as: "Join Skype Meeting" or call the telephone number. *numbers shown are fictitious.

Once your Office 365 administrator has assigned the correct license to you, within minutes you’ll be able to send out your personalised meeting requests with traditional voice dial-in details.

Other Advantages:

Let’s consider just some of the other advantages of having PSTN conferencing:

• One Place – You only need to schedule meeting through Outlook. Nowhere else to go or setup.
• Pricing – One supplier to manage. There’s no need to have 3^rd party or long term contracts.
• Granularity – You may find that not all staff members need this, so you choose who is setup for these features.
• Time to implement – Within minutes this can be setup and allocated to staff members. Automated and easy to use.
• Training - Minimal training is required as staff are already used to Outlook. No need to search for the details next time your in a meeting.

Conclusion:

There’s a few options in how to get PSTN conferencing so speak to your Microsoft account manager or licensing partner. Skype for Business is much more than just a telephone system replacement, by expanding the possible options for your staff to connect to the outside world will ultimately also extend your businesses reach. Whether you’re a small business with a handful of staff or a large enterprise, make sure you’re trialing Skype for Business.

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