The modern workplace is no longer defined by a desk, an office, or even a traditional phone system. Employees need to communicate and collaborate seamlessly, whether they are working from the office, at home, in a meeting room, or on the road.
At Lai and Associates Inc. (LAI), we believe the next generation of IT services needs to bring communications, collaboration, devices, cloud services, and ongoing support together.
That is why we are excited to add Logitech to our growing technology partner ecosystem.
For LAI, becoming a Logitech partner is about much more than selling headsets, webcams, or conference room equipment. It is another step in our strategy to help small and medium-sized organizations build a true Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) environment centred around Microsoft Teams.
From Microsoft 365 to a Complete Communications Platform
As a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), LAI already helps organizations adopt, manage, secure, and support Microsoft cloud technologies.
We now want to help more of our clients take the next step by bringing their business communications into that same ecosystem.
Instead of managing separate systems for email, collaboration, meetings, office phones, conference rooms, and remote workers, organizations can work toward a more integrated environment built around Microsoft Teams.
Our UCaaS approach can bring together:
- Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365
- Teams Phone solutions
- Existing business number porting and migration
- Cloud-based and virtual PBX/PABX solutions
- Teams-compatible desk phones and devices
- Professional headsets, cameras, and collaboration equipment
- Microsoft Teams Rooms solutions
- Meeting room audio and video
- Configuration, deployment, training, and ongoing IT support
The objective is simple: make communication easier for employees and easier for the business to manage.
Why Logitech Fits into LAI’s UCaaS Strategy
Software is only part of the modern workplace experience. Employees can have access to powerful collaboration technology, but the overall experience still depends heavily on the devices they use to interact with it.
That is where Logitech becomes an important part of our strategy.
From individual workstations to meeting and collaboration spaces, we want to help clients create a consistent user experience across their organization. Rather than treating meeting room technology, Teams, telephony, endpoints, and IT support as completely separate projects, LAI can help clients consider how all of these components fit together.
For an SME without a large internal IT department, having one technology partner helping coordinate that environment can make modernization significantly easier.
Bringing Business Phone Systems into Microsoft Teams
One of the biggest opportunities we see for our SME clients is modernizing the traditional business telephone system.
Many organizations still operate separate phone systems alongside Microsoft 365 and Teams. Our goal is to help clients evaluate how they can consolidate more of their communications environment around Microsoft Teams, including transitioning existing business telephone numbers and legacy or virtual PBX/PABX environments where appropriate.
Instead of thinking about Teams as simply a video conferencing application, we want clients to start thinking about it as part of their broader business communications platform.
Making the Meeting Room Part of the Digital Workplace
There is another important piece of the communications puzzle: the meeting room itself.
Hybrid meetings can quickly become frustrating when employees are struggling with cables, cameras, microphones, speakers, laptops, display connections, and unfamiliar conferencing equipment.
Our goal is to help organizations develop meeting spaces that feel like a natural extension of their Microsoft environment. Through our expanding partnership ecosystem, LAI can help clients assess their meeting spaces and develop solutions incorporating Teams Rooms, displays, cameras, microphones, controllers, speakers, and other collaboration hardware appropriate for their requirements.
Whether it is a small collaboration space, boardroom, training room, executive office, or larger meeting environment, the technology should support the conversation rather than become the focus of it.
One Partner, From Planning to Support
For many SMEs, the challenge isn’t simply choosing another technology product. The challenge is figuring out how everything works together.
That is where we want LAI to provide greater value.
Our vision is to support clients throughout the communications modernization journey:
Assess → Design → License → Migrate → Deploy → Train → Manage → Support
This can include assessing an organization’s existing telephone and communications environment, helping determine an appropriate Microsoft licensing strategy, planning migrations, coordinating number porting, deploying endpoints and meeting room technology, supporting users, and managing the environment after deployment.
This approach also allows clients to think about their communication systems as part of their wider technology strategy, including identity, cybersecurity, endpoint management, Microsoft 365, cloud infrastructure, business continuity, and employee training.
Ready to Modernize Your Business Communications?
If your organization is considering replacing an aging phone system, moving business calling into Microsoft Teams, modernizing meeting rooms, or creating a more integrated communications environment, LAI can help you develop a roadmap for the transition.
Let’s turn Microsoft Teams into more than another application. Let’s make it part of the communications foundation for your digital workplace.
