Case studies

Founded in 1994, 013 NetVision was Israel’s earliest Internet service provider. Today it provides a wide array of communications solutions including domestic and international telephony, information security services, hosting services, anti-virus services, and telephony equipment. To help its employees communicate better internally and reduce costs, 013 NetVision had deployed messaging and collaboration solutions based on Microsoft technologies. As a part of that deployment, the company enabled enterprise voice services for 100 of its employees. With that success, 013 NetVision decided to upgrade its solution by deploying Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide enterprise voice, in addition to presence, instant messaging, and conferencing capabilities, to help improve communication. It will also take advantage of more flexible architecture in Lync Server to help simplify administration.

A.T. Kearney is a global team of innovative, insightful, and collaborative experts who deliver creative, meaningful, and sustainable results to their clients. Its consultants offer services such as complexity management, strategic IT, mergers and acquisitions, supply chain management, and procurement and analytical solutions. Its consultants are highly mobile, working with clients around the world, so A.T. Kearney relies heavily on a communications, collaboration, and messaging infrastructure built around Microsoft technologies to help consultants provide the best possible service and complete projects on time and on budget. The company constantly strives to provide the latest technology to help employees be successful at their jobs, so it decided to upgrade to Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide enhanced communication capabilities in a more stable, flexible environment that is easier to manage.

The Boeing Company is the world’s leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Boeing employs more than 158,000 people in 70 countries. Boeing’s global teams depend on effective communication to build some of the world’s most complex products. To provide communications capabilities to help global teams and mobile workers collaborate better, Boeing deployed Microsoft Lync Server 2010. Boeing’s employees are taking advantage of the instant messaging, ad hoc conferencing, and voice capabilities to improve knowledge sharing and avoid conferencing costs.

Bosera is a large financial services firm in China, with 6 offices located throughout the country. Bosera wanted to help employees to communicate and collaborate efficiently so they could improve customer service and drive business agility. It achieved these goals by deploying a Microsoft communications solution that the workforce used for presence information, instant messaging, web conferencing, and enterprise voice capabilities. To improve staff productivity even more, Bosera deployed Microsoft Lync Server 2010, the latest communications solution from Microsoft. Bosera employees gain seamless access to all Lync Server 2010 technologies using the Microsoft Lync 2010 client, and IT staffers can use centralized tools to save time managing the communications solution. When it is fully deployed on Lync Server 2010, Bosera expects to reduce long distance phone charges by 50 percent.

Bouygues Telecom wanted to improve collaboration among its employees, who are dispersed across many locations. The company’s open source unified communications solution didn’t integrate well with existing applications, so Bouygues replaced it with Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007. With real-time presence information, employees now can instantly find people, check their availability, and decide the best way to contact them. Bouygues is also deploying the solution’s voice over IP features to 3,000 employees. The solution is fully integrated with Microsoft e-mail and calendaring software, so employees can use their PCs or desk phones to manage incoming and outgoing messages, including instant messages. Bouygues Telecom now has an integrated communications solution that has improved productivity and reduced travel and will easily expand with the company’s growth.

CDW provides technology solutions for business, government, education, and healthcare. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and as a Microsoft customer, CDW understands the importance of a robust, reliable communications infrastructure. In the past, the company has relied on technologies such as Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Office Communications Server to keep its software technology specialists in continuous contact with customers and with each other through capabilities such as email, instant messaging, audio and web conferencing, and voice over IP connections. CDW recently upgraded the communications infrastructure of its Software Sales division with Microsoft Lync Server 2010. The company believes this upgrade will help it ease IT management, provide better voice quality, and reduce costs internally while also offering more robust capabilities to its customers.

Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) provides fixed network, mobile, Internet services, and enterprise telecom services. As one of the largest integrated telecommunications operators in Taiwan, CHT relies on timely communication between its employees and partners to keep operations running smoothly for its subscribers. CHT relied on a Microsoft communications solution, along with voice over IP and web conferencing services from other vendors. CHT felt its employees could be more productive with a single solution that offered an integrated, complete experience, so it decided to upgrade its current solution by deploying Microsoft Lync Server 2010. With this deployment, CHT can offer employees a single communications and collaboration client that will help employees be more productive and help the company reduce travel costs.

The city of Växjö, Sweden was maintaining a complex communications environment. Each of its departments had a different solution, which did not foster collaboration among employees and was expensive to maintain. The city launched its One IT program to provide one centralized service for employees that includes communications, collaboration, intranet, and networking. It deployed a Microsoft communications and collaboration solution including Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 for email and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 for its Intranet, document management, and collaboration sites. Most recently, it deployed Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide a single communications solution including instant messaging, presence, conferencing, and voice. With Lync, Växjö will reduce costs by more than 5 million SEK (US$750,000) and improve employee productivity by 10 percent.

Colmédica is a healthcare insurance and management firm that was founded in 1990, is headquartered in Bogotá, Colombia, and has been part of the Chile-based Banmédica Group since 1996. Colmédica needed a more robust communications solution for employees at its 18 branch offices around Colombia. To address that challenge, the company is upgrading from Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 to Microsoft Lync Server 2010 and the Lync 2010 client. With this upgrade, Colmédica anticipates reducing private-branch exchange, server, and management costs and strengthening strategic relationships.

Creation Technologies provides specialized electronics manufacturing services to original equipment manufacturers. Based in Canada, Creation employs 2,200 people in 13 locations around the world. In the past, Creation relied on multiple solutions, including Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Express, for communications and collaboration. With many solutions to learn, team members often ran into problems, which severely impacted efficiency and generated many IT support calls. In August 2010, Creation deployed Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide a single communications solution that worked seamlessly with people’s existing email and calendar accounts on Microsoft Outlook 2010. In addition to significantly improving efficiency and productivity, Creation will avoid future IT support costs related to communications and avoid CDN$100,000 (U.S.$98,000) in third-party communications product costs.

Damovo Group has 35 years of experience deploying solutions and services across the complete information communication technology spectrum. As a Microsoft Gold Partner, Damovo facilitates business process efficiency improvements for its customers through the provision, management, and support of Microsoft communications solutions. It delivers a range of conferencing, collaboration, and messaging technologies to help organizations of all sizes to standardize communications and offer employees the tools they need to be more productive at their jobs. In November 2010, Damovo began deploying Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide customers with presence, instant messaging, robust conferencing, and enterprise voice capabilities to help them simplify deployment, reduce costs, and improve productivity.

For more than 26 years, customers have trusted Dell to deliver technology solutions that help them do and achieve more, whether they are at home, work, school, or anywhere in their world. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Dell Canada designs and implements unified communications solutions built around Microsoft technologies. Dell Canada most recently added Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to the list of Microsoft technologies it supports to provide presence, instant messaging, robust conferencing, and enterprise voice capabilities, and to help customers transform the way they communicate

Dow Corning has been inventing products, creating markets, and innovating new ways to serve customers since pioneering the silicone industry in 1943. Headquartered in Midland, Michigan, Dow Corning offers more than 7,000 products and services to more than 25,000 customers worldwide. The company depends on effective communications among its global workforce to develop innovative products. To improve existing capabilities for instant messaging, presence, and ad hoc collaboration and online meetings the company deployed Microsoft Lync Server 2010 as part of the Technology Adoption Program (TAP). In addition to facilitating its employees’ ability to share expertise while developing innovative products, Dow Corning expects to reduce costs, including training costs by 20 percent.

Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, EDB Business Partner provides IT services including IT outsourcing and application development. It has 34 offices throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. EDB has acquired many businesses over the past several years, resulting in a diversified communications infrastructure. Employees use many different communications systems, leading to inefficiencies when they try to work together. EDB also faced high costs for audio conferencing and mobile phone charges. A few years ago, EDB began to unify its systems and recently deployed Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide an integrated communications solution for the entire company. With this solution, EBD can reduce audio conferencing charges, mobile phone charges, and eventually retire its PBX systems.

The GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft has more than 20,000 employees who focus on process technology and components for demanding production processes in markets such as the food and energy industries. With more than 250 companies in 50 countries, GEA has a very distributed workforce. Employees had problems communicating because the group had not standardized its communications environment. Each office procured solutions for telephony, conferencing, and any other communications needs. To improve communications, the group chose Lync Server 2010 as its companywide communications solution and will deploy it to 15,000 users. After deployment, GEA expects to improve productivity and to significantly reduce costs for mobile and fixed-line telephony, audio conferencing, and travel. A standard communications solution will help the group’s offices and companies work better together.

Founded in 1879, Georgia Military College provides approximately 5,000 junior college students with a liberal arts–based two-year undergraduate curriculum. Its main campus is located in Milledgeville, Georgia, and it has five additional locations in the state. In 2009, the college deployed the voice capabilities of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 for 450 employees. Georgia Military College upgraded to Microsoft Lync Server 2010 in September 2010 to help simplify the administration and management of its voice environment. The solution now requires 50 percent less hardware. By taking advantage of Response Groups and Desktop Sharing, the college is resolving students’ problems and IT issues faster. IT technicians have also reduced travel to remote locations by 30 percent, saving U.S.$9,000 per year.

Based in Germany, Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Glück & Kanja Consulting AG is one of Germany’s leading communications consulting partners. Glück & Kanja focuses on enterprise IT infrastructures and communications solutions based on Microsoft communications, collaboration, and messaging technologies. In November 2010, it began deploying Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to customers—with presence, instant messaging, robust conferencing, and enterprise voice capabilities—to help them reduce costs.

Gunnebo helps keep banks, prisons, and other institutions secure with products such as safes and blast-resistant doors. Gunnebo has 100 office locations in 30 countries around the world and is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. Because it has such a geographically diverse workforce, the company wanted to help its employees communicate more efficiently and also reduce its telephony costs. With the advanced instant messaging, presence, conferencing, and voice capabilities in Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Gunnebo employees have become more efficient, generating sales proposals and resolving customer issues faster. The company is also saving U.S.$255,000 from reduced telephony costs and avoided hardware costs.

Herrenknecht AG orchestrates and provides mechanized equipment for large tunneling projects. Based in Allmannsweier, Germany, the company employs 3,165 people and includes 65 subsidiaries and associated companies in related sectors in Germany and abroad. With projects spread across Asia, Australia, and North America, Herrenknecht needed a more efficient, cost-effective way for employees to connect to one another, especially through voice. The company also wanted to deploy cost-effective, redundant voice solutions at its subsidiaries that are easy to manage. Working with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Glück & Kanja, it deployed Microsoft Lync Server 2010 for its flexible architecture and enhanced communication capabilities. With this solution, Herrenknecht expects to reduce mobile phone roaming charges by 50 percent, and experience gains in employee productivity.

Founded in 1989, JJ Food Service is a leading independent food and catering equipment distributor in the United Kingdom, with revenue of more than £134 million (U.S.$216 million) in 2009. With 700 employees working around the clock to ensure order and distribution systems function properly, communication and collaboration are critical to the company’s operations. Looking to add instant messaging, presence, and voice capabilities, it deployed Office Communications Server 2007 R2 in 2008. The solution integrated easily with its Microsoft messaging and business productivity solutions, and helped its employees be more productive at their jobs. In 2010, JJ decided to upgrade the solution with Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide ad hoc collaboration and online meeting capabilities and enhanced presence information that will further improve employee productivity.

Lionbridge is a leading provider of translation, testing, and development solutions. The company has more than 4,500 employees across 26 countries. In 2010, Lionbridge upgraded to Microsoft Lync Server 2010. With more cost-effective enterprise voice hardware options available with Lync Server, Lionbridge can move aggressively to significantly reduce its legacy telephony systems, increase global communications, and reduce costs.

Marquette University is the largest private college in the state of Wisconsin. Founded in 1881, the nationally ranked university provides education for 11,500 undergraduate and graduate students. In 2006, the university embarked on a plan to replace its aging telephony system and provide a more comprehensive communications solution for faculty, staff, and students. After piloting a voice over IP solution from Cisco, the university ultimately settled on a communications solution from Microsoft. In November 2010, Marquette deployed Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to upgrade its enterprise voice service and to provide enhanced presence, instant messaging, and conferencing capabilities. With its Microsoft solution in place, the university has substantially reduced telephony costs and created programs and applications that help it offer better service to students.

MedcoEnergi is an Indonesia-based organization, engaged in the energy sector. Founded in 1980, it was the first national drilling company in Indonesia. With remote sites around the world, the right communication tools are critical for MedcoEnergi employees to collaborate on complex projects. The company had deployed a robust Microsoft communications solution that included email, unified messaging, presence information, instant messaging, conferencing, and desktop sharing capabilities. It also began phasing out its aging PBX telephony system and deploying an enterprise voice solution. MedcoEnergi wanted to expand this voice solution even further, ensuring that every employee could stay connected and reducing costs across the organization. It deployed Microsoft Lync Server 2010 for its flexible architecture and hardware solutions, which will help it improve communication and reduce costs.

Morgan Keegan & Company, founded in 1969 in Memphis, Tennessee, is one of the nation’s largest regional investment firms, offering full-service investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth and asset management. Although the firm has long relied on email and instant messaging to communicate both internally and with clients, it wanted to develop a more integrated solution that would help move it away from disparate legacy technologies. Morgan Keegan decided to deploy Microsoft Lync Server 2010, formerly Microsoft Office Communications Server, to see how this technology would integrate with other Microsoft solutions in its network and provide communication capabilities such as presence, instant messaging, ad hoc conferencing and collaboration, and enterprise voice that could help make its workforce more productive

Founded in 1989, NDS Group Ltd. provide the security, enabling technologies, and interactive applications that give TV platform operators, content owners and broadcast channels the ability to deliver the best content, generating revenues while reducing churn—the keys to success in today’s TV industry. With 26 offices around the world and 5,000 employees who must work together across great distances, communications is vital to the company’s success. NDS wanted to replace an aging audio conferencing solution it maintained in house, but it also wanted to extend more robust communication capabilities like presence, instant messaging, and enterprise voice that would integrate with its other Microsoft applications. NDS decided to deploy Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide enterprise voice and ad hoc collaboration and online meeting capabilities to reduce costs and boost employee productivity.

Nikon Corporation is known worldwide for cameras and digital imaging products. To remain competitive in the fast-paced optics market, Nikon employees must communicate and collaborate easily with one another. Nikon had deployed an ad hoc solution that relied on different platforms for messaging, conferencing, and telephony. Although the company provided presence and instant messaging capabilities, employees continued to primarily use the phone and email to communicate. Nikon believed a more comprehensive solution would increase employees’ responsiveness to customers, expedite business-critical decisions, and encourage collaboration between its member companies. To achieve these goals, Nikon is planning to deploy Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide a centralized communications solution to help employees maintain their focus on “Trustworthiness and Creativity,” the main tenets of the company’s core philosophy.

Oxnard Union High School District serves eight high schools and 17,000 students across three cities in central California. The district wanted to replace its private-branch exchange system with a more sophisticated communications solution that also included voice over IP. After considering solutions from vendors such as Cisco, Oxnard Union worked with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Dell to deploy a communications solution from Microsoft to provide presence, instant messaging, enterprise voice, conferencing, and voice mail for employees. It recently decided to upgrade its solution by deploying Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to take advantage of enhanced ad hoc collaboration and online meeting capabilities, more flexible architecture and hardware options, and emergency service access, which will help Oxnard Union continue to reduce costs and improve communication across the district.

The Penza Federal Center for Cardiovascular Surgery opened in 2008 as part of the national project “Health” and provides high-tech medical services to cardiovascular patients in Russia. Some of the best Russian specialists from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan and Krasnodar were involved in the work of the Cardio Center, as well as physicians from Penza, who received advanced training at leading Russian clinics in Moscow. About 2,800 surgeries are performed for residents from 13 constituencies of the Russian Federation serving a population of 10 million people. The clinic is facing the challenge of using innovative technologies and methods of treatment. One of the steps to overcome this challenge was a regional initiative to provide the center with conferencing technologies for remote online patient consultation and service. This technology solution was implemented across the entire region.

Based in England, Preferred One Stop Technologies (POSTcti) develops and deploys communications solutions for government agencies, financial services companies, and other organizations. As a Microsoft Gold Partner, POSTcti delivers a range of conferencing, collaboration, and messaging technologies from Microsoft that help companies of all sizes to lower operational costs and support flexible work programs designed to increase worker productivity. In November 2010, POSTcti began deploying Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide its customers with presence, instant messaging, robust conferencing, and enterprise voice capabilities to help them simplify deployment, reduce costs, and support more flexible work programs.

Salford City Council provides services including aspects of education, social services and health, land use planning, libraries, physical communications and community safety to the community of Salford, part of the greater Manchester metropolitan area. Because many of these services are critical to citizens’ daily welfare, it requires a robust communications solution that promotes collaboration. Working with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner POSTcti, Salford deployed a Microsoft communications solution for 1,600 employees, which helped it increase productivity, reduce travel, and create a more agile workforce. It decided to upgrade its solution with Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to extend communications capabilities to 4,500 employees, supporting its initiative to reduce office space, ease management, and provide a more unified solution for its agile workforce.

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) is a government agency founded in Mexico in 2000 to promote conservation of ecosystems and to develop national policy for natural resources and environmental quality. SEMARNAT employee must work closely with other government agencies, as well as with colleagues at the agency’s 32 branch offices around the country. The environmental agency was eager to use technology to reduce travel and the associated carbon emissions. It had deployed Microsoft solutions for messaging and instant messaging, but it wanted to provide more ways for employees to securely communicate about projects without having to travel. SEMARNAT decided to deploy Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide additional capabilities such as federation and Unified Messaging for employees, but also to provide a more central solution that contained enhanced security features and was easier to manage.

Headquartered in Osaka, Japan, Sharp Corporation delivers an ever-evolving product line that includes revolutionary multifunction business products, renewable energy-creating solar panels, energy-efficient televisions, and LED lighting. With a globally dispersed workforce, the company relies heavily on audio and video conferencing to help bring teams together to develop and sell products. To provide a better solution for ad hoc collaboration that also included presence awareness, instant messaging, desktop sharing, and enterprise voice, Sharp is planning to deploy Microsoft Lync Server 2010. With this technology, the company expects to improve communication between teams while also reducing costs for hardware, travel, and phone charges.

Sporton International provides testing and certification services to major hardware and mobile communications companies. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, Sporton employs 450 people across 12 locations in three countries. In the past the company relied on multiple providers for conferencing and telephony, which did not integrate with its email and instant messaging solutions from Microsoft. It wanted to provide a more robust, cost-effective solution to help employees work together and with customers around the world. In March 2010, Sporton upgraded its communications solution to Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide enterprise voice and ad hoc collaboration and online meeting capabilities. Sporton found that the new solution would help it greatly reduce costs and boost employee productivity by as much as 30 percent.

Ohio-based Stoneridge designs and produces highly engineered electrical systems and components that are used in automobiles, commercial trucks, and agricultural vehicles. The company depends on its communications solutions to bring together teams around the world to collaborate on design projects. In 2009, Stoneridge invested significantly in its communications infrastructure to provide presence, instant messaging, conferencing, and enterprise voice capabilities for its employees. In August 2010, it extended those capabilities by deploying Microsoft Lync Server 2010, taking advantage of more flexible architecture and make enterprise voice its primary telephony solution across the business.

The Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (bfu) works to improve safety in the fields of road traffic, leisure, and sport. Most of its 130 employees work in Berne, with the remainder in nine regional offices. All rely on the communications capabilities inherent in Microsoft unified communications solutions. bfu recently upgraded its solution by deploying Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to take advantage of more flexible architecture and voice hardware and capabilities that help employees be more productive.

Telecom Italia is the leading provider of telecommunications services in Italy and one of Europe’s largest operators of fiber optic networks. Working with Microsoft Italy, Telecom Italia has helped to deploy Microsoft communications solutions to some of the largest companies inside Italy. To stay up-to-date with the latest technology offerings from Microsoft, the telecommunications firm deployed a proof-of-concept of Microsoft Lync Server 2010 for 100 marketing employees to evaluate the latest capabilities and provide demonstrations for customers. Telecom Italia believes that Lync Server will help employees be more productive and strengthen their relationships with each other and with partners and customers.

The Telenor Group is a leading telecommunications company that provides mobile and fixed line telephony services, as well as Internet access, across Europe and Asia. A few years ago, the group initiated an organization-wide program called Way of Work to improve employee productivity through better communication and collaboration. After making significant progress with a Microsoft solution that includes Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, now called Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Telenor is taking the next step by deploying a consolidated communications platform including voice, conferencing, instant messaging, and presence. By deploying Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Telenor can link its mobile and desktop communications, improve collaboration, and reduce costs.

"Based in Finland, Tieto is the largest computer services and software solution provider in the Nordic region of Northern Europe. Most of the company’s employees are located in separate offices and collaborate virtually on customer projects. The company has been rapidly expanding its deployment of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, now called Microsoft Lync Server with the 2010 edition. To continue to provide employees with the latest voice technology and gain experience to use with its customers, Tieto has now deployed Lync Server 2010. Tieto expects Lync to provide an improved user experience through Lync client, which is now the single user interface for all Lync Server communications. Lync Server also requires less hardware in many instances, which will help Tieto and its customers reduce the cost of supplying communications capabilities. "

Warsaw-based Telekomunikacja Polska (TP Group) is the top telecommunications company in Poland and the largest communications company in Central Europe. With over 29,000 employees across Poland, TP Group serves over 25 million fixed-line, broadband, and mobile customers. To continue to provide employees with the latest in telecommunication and productivity technology and gain experience to use with its customers, TP Group has deployed a pilot of Microsoft Lync Server 2010. TP Group expects Lync to provide an improved user experience through the Microsoft Lync 2010 client, which is the single user interface for all Lync communications. It can also reduce costs by retiring legacy telephony systems.

The University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE Bristol) has around 30,000 students and 3,500 employees. Like all universities in England, UWE Bristol faced decreased government funding due to the economic climate. Though it was confronted with the challenge of reducing costs by 25 percent, the university saw an opportunity to enhance its business processes and increase academic opportunities for student by improving its use of technology. UWE Bristol partnered with HP, a member of the Microsoft Partner Network, to understand how it could take advantage of its existing Microsoft solutions to achieve its goals. After upgrading its Microsoft communications and collaboration platform and implementing new programs developed jointly with HP, the university found it could reduce costs, improve collaboration, and create new academic opportunities.

Yapı Kredi, the first national private bank of Turkey, is a leader in setting standards for the Turkish banking sector through the introduction of new products and services. To help employees communicate and collaborate, the bank had deployed a Microsoft communications solution to provide presence, instant messaging, conferencing, and enterprise voice capabilities. In November 2010, it will extend those capabilities by deploying Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to take advantage of more flexible architecture that will enable it to expand enterprise voice, provide redundancy in case of network failure or disaster, and help to increase employee efficiency.