Beyond Blue boosts collaboration with Microsoft Teams upgrade

ThingsAt has partnered with Beyond Blue to upgrade the mental health organisation's communications infrastructure with a Microsoft Teams deployment and new meeting room technology.

Beyond Blue sought to move away from its existing telephony system, citing the need for improved collaboration and digital communication. Craig Jameson, Technology Operations and Performance Manager at Beyond Blue, said, "The previous communication solution was, put simply, unreliable. We regularly experienced delayed connections, and as the product was not used by many other companies; external parties had to download software or join calls via a web client- it was messy and unproductive. We also experienced connectivity issues with our meeting rooms and our hybrid working approach meant quick meetings and effective full company Town Halls were a challenge."

Jameson explained that Beyond Blue reviewed its options in the marketplace before choosing Microsoft Teams as its new platform. "Implementing MS Teams absolutely made sense for us," said Jameson. "We already had a well-established Microsoft environment, and we were licensed for Teams. These days, most people are on MS Teams, and there was going to be a clear benefit in the ease and convenience of collaborating internally and externally. The majority of our contacts and partners were already operating on MS Teams so the productivity and customer experience gains were going to be a game-changer."

The partnership with ThingsAt resulted in the deployment of Microsoft Teams organisation-wide and the enablement of all meeting rooms for Teams usage. Ruy Franco, Chief Executive Officer at ThingsAt, said, "We are proud to be working with Beyond Blue. We took the company from an unreliable bespoke communications product to an industry leading MS Teams deployment which has meant reduced training and coaching, as Teams is a solution everyone knows and is familiar with."

Alongside the Teams rollout, ThingsAt upgraded 15 meeting rooms at Beyond Blue's Melbourne headquarters with new equipment from HP and Poly. Franco said, "We've delivered a state-of-the-art managed meeting room solution using HP/Poly equipment that supports the Beyond Blue team to be fully productive."

The main meeting space at Beyond Blue has also been enhanced to facilitate Town Hall meetings more efficiently, featuring multiple cameras that highlight speakers, audiences, and presentations. The enhancements aim to ensure remote staff can participate alongside those attending in person.

Franco noted the alignment between the organisations, "The values of our organisations are completely aligned, and we are looking for new ways we can add value to their business and support Beyond Blue from a community perspective as well."

Jameson highlighted that the choice of ThingsAt was influenced by both the technical fit and organisational values, saying, "We chose ThingsAt because the proposed solution was a best fit with our needs, and their values aligned with Beyond Blue values, which was a big plus.

We were also conscious of not working with too big a player. We are not a huge organisation, and we didn't want to get lost within a big corporation."

Laurie Meerwald, Head of Information Technology at Beyond Blue, outlined the immediate impact of the implementation. "The key benefit that Beyond Blue has realised from the implementation of MS Teams has been the enhanced collaboration and communication across the organisation. As Teams is an integrated platform for chat, video conferencing and document sharing, staff can work together more effectively with seamless coordination across teams and departments. As for meeting room management, the system works with simplicity and ease – staff walk into a meeting room, select 'Join' and they are into their meeting without the previous hassle or wasting of time."

Jameson added, "I'm really happy with the support we are getting, they understand our business and everyone I deal with is professional and easy to talk to. The work they have done has been really good and the service quality is excellent. They are responsive when I raise issues and they have the knowledge to be able to solve those issues."