The Via Group hosts Microsoft’s LYNC University in The Woodlands, TX

(PRWEB) September 20, 2012

Lync University is scheduled to be a dynamic, classroom style event in which attendees may register for classes specific to their interests and educational needs. Because seating is limited, students are encouraged to select and register only for the class or classes they wish to attend. Registration can be completed using the links found on this page:

https://clicktoattend.microsoft.com/en-us/Pages/EventDetails.aspx?EventID=161396

Please visit this page for all additional information on this Lync University event. Additional resources on this page include specific descriptions of classes to be held, schedule updates and more information about the hosting firm, The Via Group.

Event Agenda

Classes to be held at Lync University in The Woodlands, Texas, include the following:

• CloudCom: Server or Service

Integrating the use of Live@edu, MS O365, premise based exchange with onsite PSTN. Engages students with the question of which option is right for their particular organizations: premise, cloud, or hybrid. Focuses on how Microsoft UC folds nicely into any virtualization roadmap.

Speakers:

David Carswell, Sr.
President at The Via Group
David has an extensive technical background based on supporting and designing equipment and manufacturing facilities in the semiconductor industry for IBM, SEMATECH, Intel, Texas Instruments, Motorola, National Semiconductor, etc. He specializes in technology migration consulting.

Jack Lyons
Voice Sales Executive at Microsoft Corporation
Jack plays a critical role driving incremental revenue and profitability to the business. He specializes in bringing focus, strategy and leadership to a team in order to drive UC Communication results. He has been involved in successful implementations in Partner management as well as driving a direct sales team.

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• Telepresence: Room for Collaboration

Focuses on how Polycom HDX enables the uninterrupted flow of team think across the country and around the world as well as how smart boards and directional cameras take the think out of expression and enable quid pro quo. Highlights the significance of video collaboration and the way it has revolutionized communication in all facets of business, from schools and hospitals to conference rooms and manufacturing plants. Face-to-face interaction is achievable in moments anywhere in the world.

Speaker:

Richard Heffelfinger
Sales Engineering Director, South Area Polycom
Richard Heffelfinger has more than 22 years of experience in the various industries associated with high technology as well as extensive experience in promoting more effective revenue growth in sales organizations. As Polycom's Director of Sales Engineering for the South Area, he heads a technical staff covering a 12 state territory and reports over a $100 million revenue responsibility.

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• Q/A: Challenges Around Unified Messaging and Unified Communications

Seasoned OEM and MS engineers speak on overcoming the obstacles around integration and migration. Students are invited to explore common challenges such as how to combine an existing PBX infrastructure with Lync, how to integrate Exchange 2010 with voice mail, fax and web services and much more.

Panel:

Kevin Carswell
CEO at The Via Group
Kevin has more than 20 years as a leader, growing and managing Via. He wrote the code for many of the software applications for its early adopters of Unified Communications and personally assisted with the Unified Messaging projects at Microsoft HQ. He sits on The Microsoft Partner Advisory Council in Redmond, and has been technically certified on many of the Microsoft, AVAYA, etc. platforms since the 1990's.

Josh Leporati
MIS Director at Monroe City Schools
For the last two years, Josh has managed all technology concerns for the Monroe City School system. Prior to this position, he acted as Senior Systems Administrator for the St. Francis Medical Center. Students will have the opportunity to learn more about his Lync integration experience as a customer of Unified Communications through Via.

Dan Greco
Southwest Territory Account Manager at Kemp Technologies
Dan has advised clients with highly available deployments of Microsoft Lync Server, which require deploying multiple servers in front end pools. He specializes in load balancing, a necessary skill when using multiple servers in a pool. Via his experience, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of advanced messaging applications and protocols used by the Microsoft Lync Server.

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• Distance Learning and Lync

Students will discover the significance of integrating Lync services with distance learning systems as well as the most up-to-date specifics on how to enhance distance learning initiatives and remote learner experience.

Speakers:

Ann Murphy
Vice President of Strategic Services at Event Builder
Ann is Vice President of Strategic Services with EventBuilder.com and is a veteran of the high technology and collaborative industries. Ann is a recognized expert in the area of virtual communications and has developed and delivered numerous training classes and seminars on Presenter Excellence and Best Practices within this field.

Bill Hagen
US Education Solution Professional Unified Communication at Microsoft
With a history in Business Development, Bill now focuses on UC Communication solutions for higher education for Microsoft. He has extensive experience with a variety of Lync campus implementations as well as applied expertise with UC integration, distance learning and Cloud Communications.

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• Demystifying SIP

An open session in which students are invited to explore the network component of the total Unified Communications solution, specifically how issues such as E911 on the Microsoft Lync platform are handled by next generation networks. The speaker from Level 3 will also discuss real-life examples of the challenges faced by mid- to large-sized companies when migrating legacy TDM environments to their SIP platform. Additional information will include best practices to ensure successful transitions with minimal impact on end users.

Speaker:

Josh Moormann
Sr. Solutions Architect Level 3
Josh has been with Level 3 for over 12 years, serving in a variety of roles focused on developing solutions to client communications challenges. Josh is the primary technologist supporting Level 3 and Microsoft's worldwide alliance strategies.

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• Lync Call Center

This class focuses on the multimedia nature of Lync's call center Key Performance Indicators, reducing reliance on traditional one-dimensional call support. Students will learn how call center applications work alongside UC and how they can potentially promote Business Process Automation, which result in rapid help desk resolutions, admissions and even emergency notification.

Speaker:

Jim Cubby
Channel Manager - Central Region at Zeacom
Jim Cubby has over 15 years of experience in the telecommunications industry and specializes in contact center applications. His strong product knowledge, expertise, and excellent work ethic have influenced his selection as the top Channel Manager position for 6 out of 7 years with Zeacom. His experience with contact center technologies include PBX, ACD, Process Automation Integrations, IVR, Voice & Screen Recording/Quality Monitoring, E-Learning, WFM – WorkForce Management and Business Intelligence Reporting Packages.

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• Video Recycle: Integrating Existing Video Systems

This course concentrates on the possibilities associated with the integration of Polycom, Tandberg and Lync technologies, as well as the ways in which Lync helps protect business infrastructure investment and enhances Telepresence.

Speakers:

Greg Maynard
Services Manager at The Via Group
Greg serves as a Unified Communications Specialist with experience in Video Integration and is certified in Enterprise Lync Voice. He is involved with several UC-centric groups, including Solution Architects for Unified Communications, Streaming Media Professionals, Juniper Networks Group, and Videoconferencing Professionals.

Richard Heffelfinger
Sales Engineering Director, South Area Polycom
Richard Heffelfinger has more than 22 years of experience in the various industries associated with high technology as well as extensive experience in promoting more effective revenue growth in sales organizations. As Polycom's Director of Sales Engineering for the South Area, he heads a technical staff covering a 12 state territory and reports over a $100 million revenue responsibility.

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• Lync Wave 15 Products Tsunami

Class will focus on the swell of new communication hardware designed with the enhanced functionality of Microsoft's Wave 15. Students will have the opportunity to view live demonstrations of video, audio and handheld collaborative products powered by Microsoft's Unified Communications as well as get a behind-the-scenes look at new technology.

Speakers:

Jeff Goodwin
Voice Technology Solution Professional – Microsoft
For the last three years, Jeff has applied his 15 years of UC products experience to Unified Communication for major accounts with Microsoft. Jeff has served as a leader and member in several Unified Communication knowledge groups for both premise and cloud based communications, including Office 365 and MUC Professionals.

Geoffrey Astill
Account Manager at Polycom
Geoffrey has worked with Polycom for the last 10 years developing customer solutions around Video Conferencing, Voice over IP, Telepresence, Telecommunications, and Unified Communications. He currently holds positions in Telepresence Industry Professionals and Videoconferencing Professionals.

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• Lighting Up Lync

In this class, students will learn the value of recording in the Lync Enterprise as well as how such functionality is used and by what types of companies. Further explore the role of recording in the reduction of information echo and human latency in addition to how it assists in the realization of return on investments.

Speaker:

Paul L. Friedman
Global Director SmartTAP at AUDIOCODES
Paul Friedman has 25 years of experience in communications and is currently the Global Director at AudioCodes for their SmartTAP call recording solution, utilized by Lync and other PBX systems. SmartTAP records conversations in contact centers and other areas of businesses that need compliance and liability protection in the form of recorded telephone calls. Paul was the Director of OEM Sales of Nortel and BT recording solutions for Verint systems.

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• Lync Care, Water and Feeding: A Practical Guide

A fundamental course based on Lync essentials and how to use it most effectively for business. Includes vital information regarding management through System Center, Support Analog Devices and Integrate Fax Support in Lync. Students will learn crucial techniques for managing and using Lync's various applications, as well as keeping IT infrastructure running, reducing server sprawl, moving from a reactive to a proactive state and improving end user productivity.

Speaker:

Patrick Graves
Region Manager at AUDIOCODES
Patrick Graves manages the Central region for AudioCodes and has extensive expertise in the unified communications space. One of his many specialties includes how these solutions connect to the PSTN and integrate with existing PBX environments.

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•Mobility: Dumb Phone, Smart Phone: Tablets Take Over
The institutional pickle is: how do educators and progressive organizations, dedicated to pedagogy and open critical thought, adapt to the collaboration opportunities without driving their technologist into the fetal position? How do cell phones, pads, and laptops (and the various operating systems that those employ) integrate into group intelligence? Where is the pad headed and how will it use Unified Communications? Learn how InTune can level the playing field for Bring Your Own Device. See Microsoft's Mobile Lync plans for smart wireless devices and what impact that can have on Unified Communication. What does h.264 and the new Microsoft Surface mean for managed networks, security, and collaboration?

Speakers:

Erin Romeo
UC Consultant at The Via Group
With years of experience in the Telecommunication and Unified Communication space, Erin has been engaged in consultations with multiple educational institutions around ACD (Automated Call Distribution) and the Jeanne Clery Act compliance (Campus Emergency Notification). He has a back ground in Interactive Voice Response, Call Center Optimization software, and has evolved with the industry into Unified Communications becoming a mobility specialist.

Rick Sant'Angelo
Lync Design Architect at The Via Group
As an active evangelist for the future of communications, Rick pays close attention to the UC Microsoft Roadmap. With decades of experience around PBX and Lync, Rick oversaw the UC integration at Oxnard Union High School District which serves eight high schools and 17,000 students across three cities in central California. The school gained more flexible architecture and hardware options, and emergency service access. Lync helped Oxnard Union continue to reduce costs and improve communication across the district.

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•Migrating from TDM to SIP - Best Practices
Level3 will discuss the network component of the total Unified Communications solution, specifically how issues such as E911 on the Microsoft Lync platform are handled by next generation networks. Level3 will also discuss real life examples of the challenges faced by mid to large size customers in migrating legacy TDM environments to their SIP platform and the best practices they have developed to ensure transitions can happen with minimal impact on the end users.

Speaker:

Josh Moormann
Sr. Solutions Architect Level 3
Josh has been with Level 3 for over 12 years serving in a variety of roles focused on developing solutions to clients communications challenges. Josh is the primary technologist supporting Level 3 and Microsoft¹s worldwide alliance strategies.

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About The Via Group
The Via Group is a globally recognized leader in providing Professional Services supporting Unified Communication solutions. As a leading solution provider and Gold Certified Partner for Microsoft, Via is a premier provider of communications solutions that span the full range of new and established technologies, including Voice, Video, Instant Messaging, Presence, Voice Messaging, Conference and Collaboration, and bringing them together into multi-vendor solutions.

The Via Group takes pride in offering business solutions based on a foundation of IT and Voice experience, technical expertise and solid project management practices. Our Microsoft Certified Engineers, Trainers and Professionals focus on Unified Communications solutions while our Certified Voice Engineers focus on integrations to provide a complete UC solution. Services include Discovery, Consulting, Architecture Design, Deployment and Support in both the IT and Voice environments.

For more information about class schedules, speakers and to register for classes, please visit the registration link and follow the prompts to complete the form.

https://clicktoattend.microsoft.com/en-us/Pages/EventDetails.aspx?EventID=161396