Australian case studies on Unified Communications

We are all pleased locally what an important part Australian companies are playing in the world wide launch of Office Communications Server 2007. A big thank you to Data#3. Dimension Data and Hewlett Packard who helped make these happen. Great examples of PABX integration with Cisco & Polycom

Lion Nathan, a maker of fine alcoholic beverages in Australia and New Zealand, wanted to enhance its collaboration tools. Geographically dispersed team members needed a faster way to locate one another and to share information. To improve communication, the company became an early adopter of Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft RoundTable™. The company integrated its existing voice over IP (VoIP) telephony system with the new solution, and pilot users now can manage voice, e-mail, instant messaging, and conferencing through a single interface. These users are more efficient because they can locate one another faster and because integrated technologies mean more connections and fewer missed calls. Enhanced conferencing features improve internal collaboration, and the company looks forward to improving communication with external parties as well.

Eastern Health is the second largest healthcare provider in the State of Victoria, Australia. It provides public healthcare services to a population of 800,000 people across an area of 2,800 square kilometers. With more than 7,000 staff working in five hospitals, Eastern Health relied on e-mail and voice mail to contact its practitioners. The organization wanted an integrated messaging solution to streamline collaboration and cut operating costs. Using Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 with Unified Messaging in conjunction with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Eastern Health has created a unified communications environment that offers extended capabilities and improves patient outreach. The new system provides a one-stop gateway for collaboration that is scalable for future expansion, is cost-effective, and helps improve patient care.

BHP Billiton Global Commodities Company Saves on Travel Costs with Unified Communications

BHP Billiton is the world’s largest diversified resources company. It has 39,000 employees working in 25 countries worldwide and returned a profit of U.S.$13.7 billion (excluding exceptional items) in fiscal year 2007. With global operations demanding frequent inter-office communications, the company found itself hindered by a range of different systems and protocols, and poor call quality from its many remote offices. To consolidate its online meetings solutions worldwide, the company turned to Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 to deliver an integrated communications solution to improve collaboration and communication for its employees. With highly secure content sharing, software-based voice over IP capability, and integrated presence management, the new environment creates a unified communications solution that helps reduce long-distance call costs and travel budgets, and removes company dependence on hardware-based IP telephony solutions.

University of Sydney Major Research University Increases Productivity with Unified Communications

Founded in 1850, the University of Sydney is a leading research institute that operates in multiple campus locations worldwide. Over the years, the university’s many departments had adopted a diverse range of incompatible technology solutions—including various e-mail systems. To provide a common messaging solution enterprise wide, the IT department deployed Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003 in January 2006. In December of 2006, the university took the next step toward unified communications when it launched a pilot program with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. By using built-in instant messaging and presence capabilities, employees now have real-time access to their colleagues’ availability. With instant messaging and sophisticated Web conferencing capabilities, users also have a variety of ways to contact colleagues quickly and work collaboratively on local or global projects.

Staff in the geographically dispersed coal division of QRNational needed to travel extensively to meet and make critical decisions. As part of the Microsoft Queensland Spotlight 2007 program, QRNational worked with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Data#3 to create a prototype online collaboration portal based on Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007. This has the potential to increase productivity, streamline order management, improve timely decision making and enhance strategic planning.