Exeter, RI, October 9, 2014 — NWN Carousel, a leader in unified communications, IT managed services, data center solutions and visual communications, invited experts from Microsoft and SMART Technologies to contribute to a roundtable discussion with Carousel on ‘The Future of Collaboration’ last week. The webinar, which was open to Carousel partners and customers, took place on October 2nd and discussed how companies of all sizes can significantly improve business communications across a broad range of end user devices and multiple vendor environments.
According to Carousel, companies that integrate a sound unified communications platform have the potential to raise the value of every business interaction. New communication technologies such as Microsoft’s Lync 2013 and SMART Room systems enable employees to remain active contributors throughout the entire day, no matter what their location is or which devices they are using.
The event was hosted by Ed Wadbrook, VP Applications and Collaboration, NWN Carousel, and also included Jason Moortgat, Business Development Manager, Partner Practice Recruit Team, Microsoft; and Jeff Lowe, VP Sales & Marketing, SMART Technologies.
“We are entering a ‘golden age’ of collaboration in which videoconferencing technology, along with continually evolving unified communication applications and platforms, is having a measurable impact on how employees and partners can engage to achieve optimal business results,” said Ed Wadbrook. “Microsoft’s Lync Room Systems and SMART Technologies’ SMART Room solutions, combined with Carousel’s unmatched systems integration, training and maintenance expertise, represent a paradigm shift in how companies are able to leverage video — not just as a measure to lower travel expenses but as a means to create more intimate face-to-face communications among stakeholders.”
A New Vision for Collaboration Among Small and Large Businesses
Launched in 2011, Microsoft Lync has evolved to become an industry standard communications solution for enterprises of all sizes, connecting users and groups across a wide variety of locations and disciplines. Through its traditional office applications, chat capabilities, videoconferencing and other technologies, Lync helps businesses remove traditional communication barriers while empowering individuals and groups to become more proactive contributors.
During the webinar last week, presenters from each company explained how Lync Room Systems and SMART Technologies’ SMART Room are revolutionizing the archteypal concept of the meeting room with powerful new capabilities, and in a range of sizes and package levels to suit just about any budget and business need. The technology for each conference room, which Carousel handles implementation and maintenance support, enables reliable Lync-based communication in a desktop-like environment that is likely to be familiar to most users. Meanwhile, SMART Room makes meeting set up and management much easier with its ‘one-touch’ functionality and powerful collaboration and whiteboarding features.
During the webinar, Carousel announced that it is able to deliver complete Lync Room Systems in a range of six possible sizes:
The Future of Collaboration Among the Fortune 100 and Beyond
Among the companies Carousel has worked with to install several Lync Room Systems is one of the nation’s oldest and most prominent insurance companies. Since the installation was completed this year, the company has increased the productivity of its workers while significantly reducing its audio conferencing costs — which were based on using more than 40 million minutes per year. Additionally, since the technology enables meeting attendees to participate over just about any device and anywhere in the world, the company can more easily comply with regulatory requirements requiring board members to be present during certain meetings.
Ed Wadbrook of Carousel neatly summarized how an effective collaboration strategy can ‘move the dial’ in just about any business: “Now, true collaboration has no boundaries, yet is secure. Companies that deploy effective Lync-based video conferencing solutions will not only make their own workforces more productive, but can create more intimate and loyal relationships with partners and customers.”
About Carousel
NWN Carousel consults, integrates, and manages technology solutions that solve business problems and contribute to your organizations’ growth. This includes unified communications, managed services, virtualization, Voice over IP (VoIP), video conferencing and collaboration and data infrastructure solutions.
Today we have over 6,000 customers, including 35 of the Fortune 100. Carousel has been recognized by both VAR and CRN Magazines as one of the top technology integrators in the US and we’ve been listed in the Inc. 500/5000 seven times. Carousel is headquartered in Exeter, RI, with over 1,000 employees working from offices in 30 locations across the US, including over 250 service technicians deployed across the country. For more information visit: https://nwncarousel.com
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Jeff Touzeau
Public Relations2Hummingbird Media, Inc.
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jeff@hummingbirdmedia.com