The way that workers collaborate, perform and communicate has changed significantly over the past two years. While desk-based workers have had their working lives revolutionised by collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams, frontline workers have not had access to the same communication platforms.
In order to overcome this challenge, enterprise mobility solutions provider Spectralink has announced the integration of its DECT infrastructure with Microsoft Teams Phone. The organisation believes that the move will improve communication and collaboration between frontline and desk-based workers.
UC Today spoke to Spectralink’s Business Development Director Andy Macqueen to discuss the importance of the move, and what it could mean for frontline workers and their organisations.
Putting frontline workers at the centre of business
As a market leader in the mobile connectivity space, Spectralink has championed the importance of robust communications infrastructure for more than three decades. While the pandemic has undoubtedly brought the discourse around communications into sharp focus, Andy believes that frontline workers are often overlooked.
“The people that we’ve really relied on over the past two years have been the ones that have had to go to a specific location to do their job, such as nurses and doctors, as well as manufacturing staff and retail workers. Until recently, the discussion around UCaaS and its benefits has typically centred on hybrid workers, but there’s a growing realisation that the people that have kept companies going – the frontline workers – need to be connected too”
In January this year it was reported that Microsoft Teams topped 270 million monthly active users. But the ability for DECT-based workers to communicate with desk-based employees through Teams and other similar platforms has been hampered by legacy Private Brance Exachanges (PBX) and third party Session Border Controllers (SBC).
Andy explained that direct integration between Spectralink’s DECT servers and Microsoft Teams Phone means that PBXs and SBCs are no longer required to provide voice to frontline workers. Instead, DECT devices are visible within the Microsoft Teams admin centre, just like Microsoft Teams Phone devices.
“We’ve swept that incremental and legacy technology away by connecting critical employees into the same platform their hybrid colleagues are using,” he explained.
Breaking down barriers
In the past, infrequent communication between frontline and desk-based workers has contributed to the creation of siloed, segregated cultures within organisations. By plugging mobile workers into the same collaboration environment as their desk-based colleagues, Andy believes that barriers can be torn down.
“In the past a lot of people have been hobbled by the way that they have been connected, but that’s now going away and they’re becoming an integral part of the team and the organisation. We’re enabling employees to communicate with each other horizontally across all parts of the company, enabling organisations to create a holistic team experience”
