How J. Lauritzen reduced interruptions and increased productivity by bringing Teams presence into the physical office
Industry:
International shipping
Team size:
200+ users
Rollout approach:
Moving from desk phones to softphones
Platform:
Microsoft Teams
Higher productivity.
Better protection of uninterrupted work time in open-plan teams.
Fewer interruptions.
“Busy vs available” became visible at a glance, right where interruptions happen.
Stronger Teams behaviour.
Presence became a shared habit. Staff became more aware of their own and colleagues’ status.
“We had to bring presence out into the physical world. That’s when behaviour actually changed.”
01 – The situation
Softphones replaced desk phones. Presence had to work in real life.
J. Lauritzen replaced desk phones with softphones and wanted to make full use of Microsoft Teams, especially presence. Their Copenhagen office has around 200 employees working in open-plan groups of 8 to 10 people. In that setup, collaboration is easy. So are interruptions.
02 – The problem
If people don’t notice presence, it doesn’t change anything.
On-screen presence is often ignored. In an open office, the interruption happens in the physical world. People walk up, tap shoulders, and assume availability. The result is fragmented days and constant context switching.
Presence was invisible at the moment it mattered
Teams presence only works when colleagues actually notice it. In open-plan clusters, on-screen status was too easy to miss.
Softphone call handling needed to feel reliable
Without desk phones, call alerts, and pickup behaviour had to work smoothly. Missed or misrouted calls quickly become a daily annoyance.
03 – The solution
Presence on the monitor. Clear etiquette in the room.
Visual presence indicator
Mounted on each monitor, Busylight made Teams presence visible in the line of sight of colleagues. Busy vs available became physical.
Reinforced shared behaviour
Busylight helped turn presence from a Teams feature into a workplace norm. The signal was clear. The etiquette followed.
Silent call alerts for softphones
Flashing alerts supported the softphone setup. Employees could see their own calls. Colleagues could understand which call was being answered.
kuando® Busylight
| Connection | USB |
| Platform | Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Cisco +40 |
| Setup time | Under 2 minutes |
| Deployment ready | Mass deployment via MSI |
“We saw the potential of presence in Teams to improve the work environment and increase productivity.
We wanted to make ‘presence’ a part of everybody’s mind-set. And it quickly became clear that we had to bring presence out into the physical world.”
04 – Rollout
How it was deployed
Company-wide. Simple rule. Easy to scale beyond HQ.
01
Deployed to all staff at Copenhagen HQ
Busylight was rolled out to all employees in the Copenhagen office. More than 200 users adopted it as part of daily work.
02
Anchored in one clear norm
If the light indicates busy, don’t interrupt. Time the question. The simplicity kept the signal consistent and trusted.
03
Expanded beyond HQ
After establishing the habit at headquarters, the rollout extended to the Singapore office as well.
05 – RESULTS
What changed across 200+ desks
More uninterrupted work time
Interruptions dropped, and productivity improved because employees could protect focus when needed.
Presence became a real workplace signal
Presence moved “onto the agenda.” Employees became more aware of both their own status and colleagues’ availability.
Better call handling in the open office
Silent call alerts reduced missed calls and confusion during pickup, supporting a smoother softphone experience.
If you want Teams presence to actually change behaviour, you need to make it visible in the room.
Busylight turns presence from a setting into an everyday workplace habit. Busylight has led to fewer interruptions and an increase in productivity. When people want to work uninterrupted, they can.
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Busylight.com is the sales and marketing department for Plenom A/S, the creator of Kuando Busylight.
Our mission is to increase awareness of Kuando Busylight products, ensuring workplaces worldwide understand the significance and value of implementing our products in the office environment.
We take pride in our products and enjoy inspiring our customers to explore and make use of the diverse features that these small indicator lights offer.