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Microsoft Teams Adoption Spikes 50% in the Last 4 Months

CMMA Blog

Microsoft Teams has reached 20M daily active users, up 50% in just 4 months. With this rapid adoption, it is obvious that teams all over the world know the value of easily accessible collaboration and communication tools. But Teams isn’t the only player in this field. The competition in the market is fierce .

Building a team is no easy task and creating an environment where all team members have a voice, where discussions can happen in real time, regardless of geography or language barriers and where teams can make business-critical decisions is even harder. That’s why more and more organizations are adopting Microsoft Teams. They know the value of uniting their dispersed workforce to strengthen culture, maximize engagement and, most importantly, increase productivity.

If you have ever been a part of a thriving, balanced and successful team, you know how amazing that can be. Along with their growth announcement, Microsoft has put in time and resources on some very compelling research on “The Art of Teamwork”. Microsoft Teams is designed to help every team achieve it. By following Microsoft’s Art of Teamwork Guide , your team can achieve the following benefits:

  • Team Purpose: Keeps teams focused, fulfilled, and aligned on achieving their objectives.
  • Collective Identity: Fosters a sense of belonging and helps team members work together as a unit.
  • Awareness and Inclusion: Enables teams to navigate interpersonal dynamics and value everyone’s perspective.
  • Trust and Vulnerability: Encourages interpersonal risk-taking in teams.
  • Constructive Tension: Serves as a generative force for new ideas, driving better outcomes.

The overall idea being, if you can achieve those five things within your own team when tensions or conflict arise, rather than pulling the team apart, it will lead to innovation and transformational outcomes including a thriving company culture, enhanced decision making and more engaged team members. And who doesn’t want all of that? If you haven’t already, get your team up and running on Microsoft Teams and put these “Art of Teamwork” ideas into practice.

Are you concerned that Teams adoption and an increase in Live Events will increase the load on your network? That’s where Kollective comes in – easy to demo, easy to try and easy to buy we will help offload up to 99% of the bandwidth used running live events via Microsoft Teams. Get started today for free!!

The post Microsoft Teams Adoption Spikes 50% in the Last 4 Months appeared first on Kollective Technology .

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Live from Microsoft Ignite: New Browser-Based Peering Solution Demos

CMMA Blog

Whoa! That was a long and wonderful week. It was fantastic to be with my colleagues, our customers, partners, hopefully some new customers and all the other Humans of IT (#HumansofIT) last week in Orlando. Right before the show, Kollective announced our new browser-based peering solution.

The world’s biggest brands have trusted Kollective to deliver their live and on-demand videos to all their employees no matter where they are located for many years now. They have done this by installing the Kollective Agent. Today, no agent or download is required to instantly broadcast your Live Events in Microsoft Teams and Stream.

In case you weren’t at Ignite and missed our demos of our new peering solution, don’t worry, we filmed them on the show floor last week. These demos star our amazing Director of Product Management, Garrett Gladden (rocking his MS Ignite 2019 Tee).

In the first video, watch a demo of our new Browser-Based Peering Solution at work:

In the second video, Garrett demonstrates how Kollective IQ, our analytics product can instantly serve up the insights you need to ensure your videos are delivered and the content is being well-received:

See for yourself how our peering works by taking our self-service demo. 

Want to take Kollective’s peering solutions for a spin?

Deploy live video events in Microsoft Teams and Stream instantly. Live Video Streaming has never been so Simple, Fast, and Easy.

The post Live from Microsoft Ignite: New Browser-Based Peering Solution Demos appeared first on Kollective Technology .

To view our Partner blog, click here

Skype to Microsoft Teams: Adopt & Accelerate

CMMA Blog

There is a major shift coming for companies currently using Skype for Business – ready or not, Microsoft Teams is taking over. By July 2021, Skype for Business will reach its end of life, and Microsoft is encouraging users to migrate to Teams as soon as possible.

For any organization, big or small, adopting new technology is a challenge. For Microsoft customers, the transition from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams means changing how employees communicate and collaborate. This is no small task and could cause concern and quite possibly some backlash for S4B loyalists. Understanding the why and the how will hopefully make that transition a bit smoother.

Why Should I Migrate from Skype to Microsoft Teams?

In a constantly evolving and dispersed workplace, collaboration among companies, teams and departments has become increasingly essential to maintaining a connected, engaged and productive workforce. Microsoft Teams seamlessly integrates communication into a single application, utilizing fully integrated file sharing, chat, voice and video, making for a more robust communications platform that seamlessly integrates with the M365 applications you are already running, such as Stream and Yammer.

See how easy it is to set up a Microsoft 365 Live Event in Teams with this short video from Kollective’s Chris Gower: How to set up a Live Event in Teams

Is My Network Ready To Migrate To Microsoft Teams?

What may be preventing some enterprises from leveraging Microsoft Teams and enterprise video is the uncertainty around their networks. There are concerns that by democratizing video communications and increasing consumption of video, that their infrastructure will not be able to handle the bandwidth required. Kollective’s ECDN integration with Microsoft scales Microsoft 365 Live Events in Teams, Stream or Yammer. We give our customers the confidence that they can run live video streaming events to remote offices, to 10,000+ users and develop a VoD (Video on Demand) strategy without experiencing buffering or connection issues.

Optimize Bandwidth Usage With Kollective Technology

One of Microsoft’s biggest customers has achieved tremendous success implementing an internal video streaming strategy. They have adopted video for regional and functional broadcasts and implemented enterprise-wide webcasts across the organization. Over the past 2 years this company has seen a 6000% increase in video usage to 425 endpoints in 52 countries and 200+ offices at the same time. They are seeing 94% peering efficiency and their users are experiencing an unmatched user experience so much that they are rolling out Teams to a wider group of event producers. Watch Brad Anderson’s The Shiproom Episode 9 to enjoy a lively discussion with Accenture’s CIO Andrew Wilson on shifting to a modern workplace with Microsoft 365.

Start A Microsoft Teams Pilot Today

Although the deadline to transition from Skype for Business to Teams is over a year away, there is no reason to wait. In this phenomenal podcast Running Modern Meetings with Microsoft Teams , Tony Leraris comments “it’s better to get on the train when it’s moving slow, so that as it starts to speed up, you’re ready.”

Get started with Microsoft 365 Live Events in Teams with the Free Kollective and Teams Pilot.

Kollective’s integration ensures your broadcasts will be delivered to where it needs to be.

The post Skype to Microsoft Teams: Adopt & Accelerate appeared first on Kollective Technology .

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AVI-SPL and JLL Guide Companies Into the Future of Work

AV Everywhere

We’ve just shared a video about the future of work on the AVI-SPL YouTube channel that shows the efforts of JLL , AVI-SPL and other partners to help companies open up their value by improving how they work. The members of the Project and Development Services Strategic Council also include Interface, Interior Architects, Wiedenbach Brown, and Steelcase.

In this video, produced by VideoLink VLCreative , you’ll see how JLL’s preferred vendors support its “future of work” initiative, which focuses on helping companies find better ways to innovate and collaborate so they lead to better business outcomes.

AVI-SPL contributes by providing its expertise with the AV and collaboration technology solutions and services that improve the worker experience and help them perform their jobs at a high level.

Watch the video and tell AVI-SPL about your company’s goals for being a part of the future of work.

To view our Partner blog, click here

Work With the AV Partner That Understands What Your Business Needs

AV Everywhere

Dan Newman’s recent article for Commercial Integrator isn’t just a warning to commercial AV businesses; it’s a set of criteria that companies should use when shopping for an AV and unified communications provider.

Dan covers a handful of mistakes that AV integrators need to overcome if they want to remain competitive. Those mistakes include being too slow, incomplete service, and working with the wrong manufacturers.

AVI-SPL  isn’t making those mistakes.

Rather, AVI-SPL embodies traits and abilities that companies should look for in a partner that provides digital workplace solutions and services.

  • AVI-SPL Smart Spaces is a catalog of ready-to-deploy meeting rooms that allows for easy collaboration and presentation using the latest in AV and UC technology, including video collaboration and wireless presentation systems.
  • Our research and development team is always improving AVI-SPL’s Symphony managed services platform , which is the cornerstone of its award-winning video managed services . Symphony automates the scheduling, launching, and management of your meetings, gives you the ability to monitor and manage your AV and UC estate (including rooms and devices), and generates the reports you need to guide your AV and UC investment.
  • AVI-SPL is the only AV and UC solutions provider that is part of JLL’s Workplace Strategy Council . To share its commitment to workplace transformation, AVI-SPL hosts educational events throughout North America. JLL, a global professional services company that specializes in real estate, is a valuable partner with us in delivering these events, because they help explain the future of work and how companies must adjust to attract and retain the best employees. I frequently share insights from JLL on this blog, including this one on the 3-30-300 rule .
  • AVI-SPL meets with Fortune 500 companies in its Customer Advisory Board to understand what they need to improve collaboration in the future workplace . These meetings have helped us understand the issues these companies want us to help them solve, including voice control in meeting rooms, workplace flexibility, and the need for video collaboration systems that are reliable and easy to use.

I’d like to hear about your challenges when it comes to improving the workplace experience. Comment below or send me an email. I may use your insight for a future post, and I’ll help guide you toward resources that address those challenges.

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Read AVI-SPL’s Smart Spaces Catalog for 2018

AV Everywhere

AVI-SPL’s new Smart Spaces catalog is here, and it’s your source for empowering your organization’s employees with the ability to share ideas and be productive, whether they’re in the same collaboration space or working from remote locations. The core of this new publication is AVI-SPL’s Smart Spaces offering, which is our system for the quick deployment of collaboration spaces that are outfitted with AV and UC technology. This 2018 issue covers:

  • AVI-SPL’s value as a partner in your digital workplace transformation
  • Four keys to success in the digital workplace
  • How to create the collaborative workplace
  • Unify ME Symphony managed services platform
  • Two case studies

Read the Smart Spaces catalog >

To view our Partner blog, click here