The Hungarian Water Resource Service (HWRS) is a great example of how implementing a communications system can improve service and save money at the same time.  Headquarter Vízimentők Magyarországi Szakszolgálata) is a public sector organization providing first-response lifesaving and rescue operations across Hungary with a staff of 350 swimmers, lifeguards and rescue technicians – the majority working as volunteers.

HWRS grew from 30 volunteers to over 300 in just a few yeas.  But this kind of organic growth and the extensive network of volunteers and sponsors posed great challenges to the communications and back-office infrastructure at HWRS command center in Zánka.  They turned to Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Central Europe On-Demand (CEOD) to provide a cloud-based software-plus-services platform to bring their communications full circle, without breaking the bank

CEOD rolled out a suite of tightly integrated services around Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Office Outlook with Communication Services, Live Meeting and Sharepoint that could also accommodate pre-existing IT infrastructure and solutions.

 

“Within only six months of implementing our hosted Microsoft Outlook with Communication Services solution, we managed to integrate our staff communications, save tens of thousands of euros in travel costs, and free up over 1,500 man-days in staff resources to do what we do best – saving lives on our country’s lakes and rivers.”  says Sandor Bagyo, President, Hungarian Water Rescue Service.