Managing availability with Microsoft Teams is made easy

Paul Kiveal — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 12:43:17 +0000

After the PM’s announcement in March; those of us who were still office based grabbed our screens, laptops, desk phones and, for those with big enough cars, their office chairs. For us, we were up and running within an hour or so, in our widely dispersed, virtual WebPorch Solution office.

We were all still very connected. We had email, video calling, our office phones, our mobile phones, texts, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Communicating with my remote colleagues couldn’t have been easier. In fact it was too easy: If someone didn’t answer their office phone, try their mobile. If that didn’t work, email and text them. With so many ways of connecting to each other it very quickly started to become a bit, well, chaotic. On numerous occasions I’d be answering my mobile, while on a Teams video call and checking my inbox.

We had become too connected. When we were in the office; if you couldn’t get hold of someone, and their diary said they were free; you’d just pop round to their office to see if they were available. In the world of home working, that option was abruptly removed. Something needed to be done, and the answer was simple…

Managing availability with Microsoft Teams

Simple? Well yes, we ‘simply’ told everyone to use Microsoft Teams, and only Microsoft Teams. As long as your diary is up to date, and accurately reflects what you are doing; then the Presence functionality does its job perfectly. If you need somebody, you’ll be able to see if they are ‘busy’ or ‘in a call’ by their status icon. It’ll display red, green or yellow based on their availability. Managing availability with Microsoft Teams is as easy as that, it’s all done for you. Or you can update your availability manually from the command box. So if you’re working on something and don’t want to be disturbed, you can let your colleagues now by simply selecting you preferred status option.

Status Options

Available is when you’re active in Teams and don’t have anything in your calendar (no meetings or calls, for example). Note that Teams will automatically set your status from Available to Away when you lock your computer or when it enters idle or sleep mode. On mobile, this will happen when the Teams app is in the background.
Busy is when you want to focus on something, and you do want notifications to pop up. If you’re in a meeting or call, Teams will automatically change your status to In a meeting or In a call (Busy) when not set to Do not disturb.
Do not disturb is when you want to focus or present your screen and don’t want notifications to pop up.
Be right back is when you want to say you’re temporarily away. It’s never set automatically.
Appear away is when you need to work without responding right away.
Appear offline is when you want to indicate that you’re not signed in to Teams, so will not be responding until you’re back online. You’ll still receive notifications if anyone messages you.

Of course, Teams didn’t just provide a way of dealing with over connectivity. By using all the features available, such as telephony, automated transcription, white boards, screen sharing and forms; we’ve found that the whole WebPorch Solution team have become more productive and engaged.

It’s one thing to create marketing material that tells prospective clients how we can help their colleagues to become more productive and engaged; it’s another thing to find yourselves absolutely reliant on the same technology to function. We’re just grateful that our solution portfolio places Microsoft Teams at the forefront of our offering, and that we can say, with absolute confidence, that the technology works.

If you’re feeling ‘too connected’, or worse, not connected enough; why not take a look at our Microsoft Modern Workplace solution here.

As always, stay safe and stay connected.

Chelsea tells us about starting a new role in a pandemic

Steve Pickering — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 13:55:05 +0000

So back in February, we recruited for a position of sales and marketing administrator and then all hell let loose. This craziness has even seen the Prime Minister in intensive care and I really hope he pulls through. Regardless of your political beliefs, the country needs a strong leader at the helm and nobody can deny him that! But this left us wondering, what must it be like starting a new role in a pandemic?

To be honest, once the COVID-19 story gathered momentum, we did question (for a millisecond) if starting anybody was the right thing to do. It didn’t take us long though to work out that sales and marketing was the one thing we needed to absolutely do more of if we were going to see the other side of this fitter and ‘stringer’ than we were going into it.

So let me introduce you to Chelsea Andrews, our latest member of the team, she’ll tell you how starting a new role in a pandemic went for her! Chelsea spent a month travelling before starting with us in what has to be the most bizarre of circumstances. Lock down. We asked Chelsea to put in her own words, a blog of her first week with us at WebPorch Solution and you can read how she got on below.

We knew we had made the right decision, even at the interview stage, so just how do you start a new team member without meeting them. Remotely of course!

Let’s Talk First Day Strangeness Starting Virtually at a new Job Role – Chelsea Andrews 1st April 2020

Just think back to when you started at your current position now, all the things running around in your head, What do I wear?, Where will I be sitting?, I wonder what the office properly looks like?, ‘Who are my new colleagues? I had none of these things to worry about as I have started my new role here at WebPorch Solution without having set foot in the office! By far it was the strangest first day I have ever experienced and I’m sure I will be retelling my story for many years to come. Looking back now I have one thought which sticks in my mind and that is just surreal… did I really meet the Managing Director for the first time via video chat from my kitchen? Yes, in fact that is how I have met all my new colleagues, completed any training, as well as attending meetings. I think without the systems that WebPorch Solution have put into place within the office and the amazing team of engineers they have; it honestly wouldn’t have been possible for me to be able to start at another company.

Microsoft Modern Workplace is how we have been able to make all this possible and it has shown to be such a vital tool to use. Using Microsoft Teams we had the facility for users to share their desktop screens with others in a call, this has proven crucial for me and my line manager to complete training. Through this I have been able to show I have understood requirements and even complete tasks given to me all whilst Fran is in another town viewing my every move. That sounds like he is spying on me, but it’s not like that I promise.

We have an end-of-day video chat called the Water Cooler, which I attended from my first day. It is open to everyone in the company and was my first opportunity to meet most of the team for the first time. With this in mind, it was a peculiar event to see everyone dressed as Harry Potter characters, but it did make clear to me that the people I have now joined don’t always talk ‘shop’ and have the ability to laugh together. I absolutely love this idea as we can just let off a little steam from the days work as if we were together in the office, it is a brilliant idea which is keeping the office moral alive in these crazy times of lock down. Now I am excited to meet each one of the people I see on my screen at 5pm, and I know it will be as if we have been working together for as long as we have been working remotely from our homes.

Of course, this hasn’t been easy in the slightest, I have still had to learn new systems, virtually meet new people with the hope they like me, l am completing virtual training and pray I don’t mess everything up but it has all been worth it to say I started my exciting adventure in the strangest way.

I have quickly learnt that the people who work for WebPorch Solution are more than just colleagues, they are a family, they are Webporch ians, I am now a Webporch ian!

So it turns out starting a new role in a pandemic isn’t all that bad…

Platforms & Places – WebPorch Solution

Managing availability with Microsoft Teams is made easy

Chelsea tells us about starting a new role in a pandemic