Lync Case Studies The value of Lync through a variety of verticals

1. Lync Case StudiesThe value of Lync through a variety of verticals

2. Healthcare - AstraZeneca AstraZeneca Reduces Training Time by 75 Percent with Communications Solution AstraZeneca is a global research-based biopharmaceutical company with operations in more than 100 countries. The company needed a sophisticated tool to enable seamless collaboration among global team members and external partners for drug research, inventing new molecules and compounds. AstraZeneca deployed Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to 4,300 users globally and has reduced training time by 75 percent, among other benefits. Click here to see the video case study

3. Government- Scottish Borders Council Scottish Borders Council Expects £1 Million Saving from Unified Communications Over Three Years Scottish Borders Council faced severe budget pressures and wanted to cut costs by minimising travel and giving its employees tools for flexible and remote working. The council replaced its telephony system with Microsoft Lync 2010 and now plans to extend the solution to 10,000 users. The Lync 2010 deployment to the entire corporate staff is expected to save the authority £1 million over the next three years. Click here to view the case study

4. Government – Argyll & Bute Council Council Meets Budgetary Challenges Head-on Through Flexible Working Programme Effective communication is a challenge for Argyll and Bute Council in Scotland, which needed to improve workforce productivity through unified communications. It introduced flexible working and replaced its Cisco phones with Microsoft Lync 2010. With each user expected to gain 20 minutes of working time a day through greater efficiency, the Council expects a significant contribution towards the savings required to meet budgetary pressures. Click here to view the case study

5. Education – Benenden School U.K. School Deploys Unified Communications Saving 40 Per Cent on Cost of New PBX Leading United Kingdom (U.K.) girls school Benenden School needed to replace its private branch exchange (PBX) telephony system. Having considered offers from four different PBX vendors, the school chose Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Standard Edition for telephony and unified communications. The Microsoft solution cost 40 per cent less than any of the competing offerings. Plus, it is scalable, easily accommodating new accounts for staff and students. Click here to view the case study

6. Education – Open University Open University: Open University Makes Major Saving over Five Years with Unified Communications The Open University (OU)—which specialises in distance learning—is the biggest university in the United Kingdom (U.K.). It needed to reduce costs and improve communication among its 5,000 office-based academic and administrative staff, giving them access to features such as instant messaging and presence awareness. The OU is deploying Microsoft Lync 2010, which will save the university around £2 million over the next five years, as well as substantially cutting travel and subsistence costs. Click here to view the case study

7. Finance – Metro Bank Revolutionizing banking by putting customers first Metro Bank was founded on a simple precept: to offer the best customer experience, how, when and where the customer wants it. Its motto is "no stupid bank rules" and its focus is on bringing back traditional retail banking, supported by flexible technology. With Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Office 365 and Yammer, Metro Bank gives its people the apps they need to support the personalized interactions that are the hallmark of its business, and be operationally flexible so that they can take a best practice from one location and implement it across all locations. For a company like Metro Bank – where customer experience is everything – Dynamics CRM is essential to its business. Click here to view the video case study

8. Public Sector- West Yorkshire Fire& Rescue Service Fire Service Adopts Unified Communications Solution, Increases Productivity 35 Percent West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service wanted to consolidate multiple communications platforms and provide employees with a new vision of work as an activity, not a location. The organisation implemented Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software to facilitate real-time communication and on-demand training. It benefits from improved employee communication and effectiveness—and significant cost savings. Click here to view the case study

9. Retail- Helly Hansen Apparel Manufacturer Accelerates Business with Cloud Solution Helly Hansen is known for its innovative blend of technology and design to produce high-performance outdoor gear. However, it was not providing innovative communications capabilities to employees. It was relying on outdated, unreliable email and telephony systems. To revitalize its IT capabilities, Helly Hansen adopted Microsoft Office 365, licensing the E4 plan, which provides access to hosted communication and collaboration solutions. By using the capabilities in Microsoft Lync Online, lengthy email messages, business trips, and mobile phone calls will be primarily replaced by instant messaging, online meetings, and voice over IP calls. Helly Hansen accelerated business processes and reduced travel costs by 10 to 15 percent and mobile call charges by more than 10 percent. It has recently deployed Microsoft Lync Server 2013 to supplement Office 365 with enterprise voice capabilities. Click here to view the case study

10. Employment - Total Jobs Online Job Advertiser Moves Email to the Cloud for Cost-Effective Communications Online job advertisement company Totaljobs Group wanted to move its email system to the cloud following its acquisition by StepStone Group in 2012. Working with Microsoft Gold Partner Core, the firm migrated its corporate email infrastructure to Microsoft Office 365. This has given staff access to larger mailboxes, avoided the significant costs of a new physical infrastructure, and equipped employees with the latest unified communications tools. Click here to view the case study

11. Entertainment- London Symphony Orchestra Leading Orchestra Works and Tours Smarter with Communication and Productivity Tools The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) decided to upgrade its productivity and communication tools to support fund-raising and up to 25 tours a year. The LSO also needed to replace an ageing telephone exchange with a more integrated system. Click here to view the case study

12. Retail and Hospitality- LA Fitness Fitness Giant Upgrades Conferencing Solution to Improve Communications and Collaboration LA Fitness helps its customers achieve their goals for personal improvement by providing excellent facilities and highly motivated trainers. Internally, LA Fitness also has goals to provide excellent service. One way it has achieved this goal is by continually improving its communications capabilities so staff members in the clubs have access to the right information and systems to handle customer interactions professionally and efficiently. LA Fitness uses Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide voice, conferencing, instant messaging, and presence. It recently tested Microsoft Lync Server 2013 to understand how it can continue to improve employee communications and collaboration. With the deployment, LA Fitness plans to improve mobility support, add conferencing capabilities, and use advanced high-availability options. Click here to view the case study

13. Automotive- Aston Martin Luxury Sports Car Manufacturer Drives Collaboration and Speeds Business Processes Aston Martin builds beautiful sports cars. Its employees are passionate about their work and challenge themselves to stretch the limits of automotive performance. Equally passionate about the business, the IT staff at Aston Martin wanted to focus on strategic projects and work more proactively to improve processes and technologies. To free IT resources from routine administration tasks while still providing the latest communications and collaboration capabilities, Aston Martin chose Microsoft Office 365. The cloud-based solution provides employees with familiar Office applications, plus enterprise-grade email, conferencing, and collaboration solutions. By providing easy access to business-critical productivity tools, enhanced security, and reliability through Office 365, Aston Martin is able to foster collaboration and improve business processes while reducing IT administration. Click here to view the case study

14. Construction - Pisani Construction Firm Saves £200,000 Over Three Years with Unified Communications Pisani Group wanted to replace its existing telephony system with unified communications to improve agility, increase efficiency, and cut costs. Microsoft Partner alwaysON deployed a hosted Microsoft Lync solution, integrated with Microsoft Exchange Online. As a result, Pisani Group is boosting productivity by 1,488 hours a year to achieve savings of £165,000 and will reduce travel costs by £27,000. Click here to view the case study

15. Energy and Utilities - Shell Shell Improves Global Team Collaboration, Reduces Costs with Communications Solution Shell depends on teams of employees and partners who work together effectively from any location. The company wanted to deploy a flexible communications solution that would maximize collaboration by enabling employees to quickly find colleagues virtually and then select a method of communication. Shell found this solution in Microsoft Lync. Lync provides instant messaging, presence information, voice, and conferencing all from a single, intuitive user interface. Employees can reach one another by using the same methods of communication independent of their location and are able to use Lync via an Internet connection, available either on their computers or from their mobile devices. By deploying Lync, Shell has increased collaboration by facilitating communications among dispersed team members. Click here to view the case study

16. CPG and process - Eden Springs Water Company Trims Costs, Improves Flexibility with Communications Solution Eden Springs, one of Europe’s leading providers for water solutions in the workplace, felt it was overly dependent on expensive international phone calls and conferencing services. It wanted to deploy a solution that would reduce these costs and provide additional methods for communications. Eden Springs deployed Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to take advantage of its voice over IP capabilities to reduce call charges and begin to retiring its private-branch exchange systems. Recently, Eden Springs deployed a pilot of Microsoft Lync Server 2013 and is looking forward to more robust conferencing, multiple mobile clients, and Skype federation to enhance its current communications solution. Click here to view the case study

17. Non-profit - International institute for Environment and Development Research Institute Improves Business Agility and Flexibility with Unified Communications The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) in the United Kingdom (UK) wanted to improve productivity and business agility while lowering telephony costs with unified communications. Microsoft Gold Partner Outsourcery deployed Microsoft Lync Server 2010 for IIED in just three weeks. As a result, the institute avoided buying a new private branch exchange (PBX), and is now offering employees more productive ways of working at home and abroad. Click here to view the case study

18. Infographic Want to see some of these case studies in an easy to read and creative format? Why not take a closer look at our new Lync Infographic