If you live in the UK, you may have noticed the trend for merchandise based on the old Keep Calm And Carry On propaganda poster produced by the British government in 1939. Indeed, on at my desk at home my mug is resting on a ‘Keep Calm And Have A Cuppa’ coaster. In the kitchen we have a canvas stating ‘Keep Calm And Walk The Dog’.

Some members of the British public found it difficult to keep calm last week. The primeval sheep instincts kicked in as the threat (not the actual occurrence) of a petrol tanker strike took hold and caused people to queue up, readying themselves for a crisis which may not happen (and now looks like it won’t). Our government showed their leadership by suggesting that people stockpile fuel in jerrycans, although they later considered it bad advice (mainly because it was). We’re not yet suffering the disintegration of society that created the dystopian world of Mad Max, but you can see how it starts. The day that the last drop of petrol is sold there’ll probably be some trouble kicking off towards the back of the queue.

Our team’s manager was quick to act with better advice – that being to work from home if there was no real need to come into the office. Well, I tend to roll with that flexible working strategy anyway- not because it affords me a lie-in (I wish), but because I can start work at 07:30, avoid the traffic and work undisturbed (apart from the dog barking and Mrs A pushing the vacuum cleaner around, but I can close the door). True, there are some days when it’s useful to be in the office to meet people, but I can plan to do this on particular days.

Key to Microsoft’s flexible working culture is the use of our own technology… Direct Access for access to the Microsoft intranet, and Lync for unified communications. From where I’m sitting now I see five (yes, five) Lync devices… the ThinkPad running Windows 7, the Acer tablet running Windows 8, the iMac (Lync for OS X), the Nokia Lumia 800 (Windows Phone) and finally the iPod touch. Depending on what I’m doing I tend to use the ThinkPad with a speakerphone or the iMac (which doesn’t need any additional equipment), but as was the case yesterday I sometimes use a wireless headset with the tablet. My frolleague Lewis will testify this makes for a great demo – although it isn’t really something a home user would utilise much, it can be a great working model for office workers moving between meetings and locations, and mobile workers who are on-site, in a depot, on the factory floor, on the shop floor, or even using 3G and outside dealing with an issue somewhere.

As flexible workers we have a telephony solution which provides one-to-one and one-to-many telephony, instant conference call set-up and access (none of that “who just joined?” nonsense), video, white-boarding, and application sharing. And of course the presence awareness is embedded in e-mail, collaborative places, search results and web applications for instant access. It’s part of the working culture and we all trust in it.

We live in a world where competitive advantage and speedy resolution of issues are critical to success. Companies need to continue running their businesses without disruption. But disruptions come their way… two years ago it was a volcano (and who’d have seen that coming?), last Winter it was an extended period of snow, and this year we’ve seen that a strike (or even the threat of one) has the potential to disrupt. Yet I still talk to customers who have no unified communications strategy, or have major pieces of the puzzle missing. Unified communications is a major factor for flexible working, and flexible working creates a workforce that is agile, responsive and can continue working through adverse situations. I’ll leave you with two words: business continuity.

Last year I attended the UC Expo at London’s Olympia sharing a stand with an IBM business partner. From our stand most of my field of vision was taken up by Microsoft’s presence… not a stand, more like a small village. There was a customer immersion zone, a theatre demonstrating Lync 2010 (which was full and overflowing all day) and stands manned by a number of Microsoft Unified Communication partners such as Polycom. I remembered feeling dwarfed and slightly embarrased – IBM were barely there at all. I took some photos and back at the office complained bitterly.

Ironically, this year, IBM have a keynote speaker in the form of Luis Suarez and they’re a sponsor, so maybe someone listened (I don’t know if I can take the credit). Anyway, Microsoft are also a sponsor this year, we’ll once more have a huge presence (showing Lync and also Exchange, Office 365 and mobile solutions), representation from a number of partners, and a number of theatre speaker slots featuring some of my learned colleagues. I have it on good authority that Nokia will also be there showing the much-praised Lumia phones.

Dates are 6th and 7th of March – you can register here, which is a good idea because it’ll cost £30 if you just turn up on the day. And one other tip, take a packed lunch because the price of sandwiches in the venue is something to gasp at.

A couple of weeks ago Microsoft launched the Anywhere Working initiative in conjunction with Business in the Community, Vodafone, Transport for London, Nokia, Regus and Nuffield Health. This group initiative is designed to demonstrate to businesses and individuals how much money, time and carbon can be saved by working more flexibly and finding alternatives to travel. The site (see link above) provides a savings calculator which provides a calculation of money, CO² and time saved by not travelling to your place of work – two days per week working from home rather than making my way from Camberley to Thames Valley Park results in an annual saving of £416, 1.29 tonnes of CO² (crikey) and 5.8 days. Mind you, there’s no such thing as an average week for me, and I will eat into my own supply of tea bags and Jaffa Cakes. The site also provides some case studies for flexible working.

Obviously the viability of working from home depends on your job role, but advancements in technology (such as broadband and corporate-grade real-time collaboration incorporating document / desktop sharing and co-authoring) have made the premise of working from home more realistic and achievable over the past few years. A business adopting unified communications – offering integrated telephony, video and embedded presence awareness – further promotes the experience for home or mobile workers.

Anywhere Working isn’t just about working from home, it’s about working from wherever you find yourself, and therefore support for portable devices is also an important aspect. Last week I was at an off-site team meeting but had to join a customer call, so I used the venue’s WiFi, my Windows 7 tablet, and Lync telephony (and video) to join the meeting from a quiet corner. Anywhere Working is achievable with the right tools and infrastructure (and a connection).

The week commencing 27th of February has been designated Anywhere Working Week, during which businesses and individuals are invited to give flexible working a chance to make an impact. Stay tuned to the Anywhere Working site and also the Facebook page for more information. On the Anywhere Working Twitter account (@Anywhere_Work) you have the opportunity to win a Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse (that’s gotta be worth it).

Following on from last year’s look at Microsoft Lync for Windows Phone, let’s have a look at Lync for iOS. Lync supports the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, but as I only have an iPod I’ll have to leave the iPad interface for another time. As usual, click on the small images to see the full versions

After logging in I see My Info, where I can set my status and message, change the call-forwarding and simultaneous ring options, and change a number of other options for multiple phone numbrs, meetings, contacts and credentials.

The next screen shows Contacts, which as you’d expect are a direct mirror of those set up in the desktop-based Lync client. Clicking on one of the group expands it, allowing me to see the contacts within and their staus (and optionally their photo). Clicking on a contact (not pictured) shows the various methods of interacting with the contact (instant message, phone, e-mail, text message) and the person’s contact details. The search bar at the top allows me to search the entire company directory (and it’s extremely quick).

The next screen shows conversations in progress and the last line of conversation. The Edit button allows me to select conversations to delete. Clicking on one of the conversations opens it, allowing me to continue or select one of the many options (delete it, view the contact’s card, call the contact, invite others, send my location and send the conversation as an e-mail).

Not pictured here, but visible as options in the screenshots… I can view the day’s meetings and, if applicable, attend them from the device, and using the Phone option I can place a call. As the iPod isn’t a phone, my mobile will be called and after answering I’ll be connected to the dialled number.

Lync for iOS is available from the iTunes app store – it’s free, but of course you need to attach to a Lync server and infrastructure. Give me a call and I can sell you one.

Upon joining Microsoft I was extremely impressed by the fact that Microsoft Lync 2010 with telephony was rolled out right across the whole organisation. There’s no phones on any desks (other than some demo SIP phones) and a headset is part of the standard ‘welcome pack’ along with a new laptop and a Windows Phone. No-one asks if someone can take a Lync call, it just happens. All conference calls use Lync (unless it’s set up by an external party). It’s a way of life and it just works.

However, as a ex-Sametime user, there was something missing… a mobile client, something to use to stay connected in real-time while the laptop is in my bag. But now that’s been addressed, and within the space of a couple of weeks Microsoft have released Lync clients for Windows Phone, iOS (iPhone, iPod and iPad) and Android.

Let’s have a look at the Windows Phone client first (as usual, click on the small images to view the larger versions). It uses the Windows Phone ‘panorama’ user interface (swiping left or right moves to different screens) – the first shows my info and allows me to change my status message (which is immediately reflected in the Windows client), set my availability, and change the options for call forwarding.

The next screen, if I move to the right (by swiping to the left), is the contact list. It shows the groups which can be expanded to show the contacts, their photo (optional) and their current status. Clicking on a contact shows their status message (which can be their out-of-office message from Exchange), phone number, e-mail address and location. It also provides options to start an instant message conversation, a phone call or send them an e-mail.

The next screen shows conversations in progress – any new conversations will be coloured blue (not illustrated here). From here I can enter the conversation and invite other people into it, call the other participant, and forward the conversation as an e-mail. Note also that new conversations are indicated on the Lync tile on the phone’s start screen (see first image above) and a Windows Phone ‘toast’ notification will alert me to a new conversation.

The final image here shows a conversation in progress – until the conversation is deleted I can to go back to it and continue the chat session. In this example, I was chatting with Lewis and his special festive photo, and celebrates the fact that my first ever Lync Mobile conversation took place using Starbucks’ free wi-fi on 6th Avenue in New York.

More soon… specifically the iOS Lync client.