Gunnebo

Skype for Business (Lync) and Competella Unified Communication Suite replaced 15 legacy PBX’s

Gunnebo is a global security group, which provides bank security, cash handling, secure storage and entrance control solutions and services developed in close collaboration with customers and business partners worldwide.

In 2007, the company implemented Microsoft Office Communications Server to improve communication between its multiple IT departments around the world. Initially the key feature for the users was Instant Messaging.

In 2009, Gunnebo decided to do something about its complex telephony environment in order to better serve its customers. The company’s mixed telephony environment with numerous PBX’s and phone numbers was causing challenges, especially for its contact center when it came to putting a phone call through to the right person within the company.

After evaluating various solutions on the market Gunnebo decided to deploy Competella Unified Communication Suite for Skype for Business (Lync). The Competella system is Skype for Business (Lync) native and includes Attendant Console, Contact Center Enterprise, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Instant Messaging (IM).

Gunnebo estimates that it has saved approximately €235,000 annually by replacing their 15 PBX’s with Skype for Business (Lync) based on four servers.

“Competella Unified Communication Suite gave us rich features and a user-friendly solution,” says Björn Nilson, CTO at Gunnebo.

Asplan Viak

Skype for Business (Lync) and Competella Unified Communication Suite replace legacy Aastra PBX’s

Asplan Viak AS is one of the leading consulting companies in Norway with more than 700 employees in 20 locations. The business areas includes planning and analysis, architecture and landscaping, construction, installations, transport, energy and environmental solutions. With projects not only in Norway but all over the world Asplan Viak deployed Skype for Business (Lync) in 2011 for instant messaging, desktop sharing and video conferencing to be able to work more efficiently and to reduce the need for travelling. Asplan Viak wanted to move forward and create a fully integrated communications solution for the employees, including Enterprise Voice. In Q3 2012, they replaced their legacy Aastra PBX’s with a complete Skype for Business (Lync) system. They had a need for a native Skype for Business (Lync) advanced attendant console solution. After evaluating different systems on the market, they decided to deploy the Competella Attendant Console. To be able to present mobile phone status in Skype for Business (Lync) and for integration with Exchange Calendar and Mail they also deployed some additional applications from the Competella Unified Communication Suite.

“After the introduction of Skype for Business (Lync) and the Competella solution we have a complete communication system. Many of the meetings can now take place via Skype for Business (Lync) and we have been able to reduce the cost of travelling says Per Steinar Longfjeld – responsible for the Skype for Business (Lync) system at Asplan Viak.

Horten

Horten is the 5th largest ”Full Service” law firm in Denmark, with special focus on business and public law. Horten consist of approx. 250 employees and moved to new office buildings in Hellerup by mid November 2009.

During the movement, Horten decided not to bring along their old legacy PBX; Ericsson Business Phone to their new office building, so from the very first day at their new business address, they also activated a brand new telecom system from Microsoft.

The challenge

Even though Horten was able to implement a bunch of new telecom features into their new office building, it was still very important that Horten was able to continuously deliver their well known customer service; physically when customers was visiting Horten in Hellerup, as well as when clients calling Horten directly by phone.

”It has always been very important for us to be able to deliver a high degree of personal touch to our clients, including over the phone from the very first second they call us. Our main business is of cause to deliver first class legal advice, but if it is not done “hand-in-hand” with a solid service experience, we might face a problem quite fast” states Mr. Nicholas Hansen, IT Manager at Horten. “For us it is very important to have the right tools for i.e. our switchboard/receptionists, as they are by far the most important interface toward our customers and business Partners. But it was not that easy to find a professional attendant application that could fulfill our expectations in that area” Nicholas Hansen continue.

Horten implemented from the start Microsoft’s own attendant solution; Lync Attendant 2010, even lack of some features when it comes to fast and flexible call handling. Due to that, a process was initiated to find and evaluate suitable alternatives.

The solution

The telephony implementation at Horten today consist of a pure Skype for Business (Lync) in conjunction with the employers cell phone. And as the Attendant solution, Horten chose a solution from Competella based on the product; Competella Attendant Console.

”I had for long time been looking for a switchboard/attendant product that was 100 % integrated with Skype for Business platform, delivering at the same time a maximum utilization of i.e. the MS Exchange, but also allowing a smooth integration to other external systems, having the administration of the complete Telco system as nice and easy as possible. And as far as I could see, Competella was the only supplier able delivering this” explains Nicholas Hansen.

Together with the Competella solution, Horten has achieved following improvements compared to their previous product:

• Improved queue-functions
• Calendar integration (i.e. showing current absence and future meetings)
• Improved mail integration
• New search features
• New and additional info (about the Horten employees)
• New service functions (improving the service level at Horten)
• Improved response time
• Less waiting time

Statement

”The improvements with Competella Attendant Console are obvious, and today we have a flexible solution that exceed our expectations and requirements for a modern attendant solution. The implementation and especially having Competella as our sparing was an extraordinary positive experience. As we see it, we have got a unique and future proof solution from a supplier we believe in” states Nicholas Hansen; IT-manager – Horten

Fertin Pharma

Fertin Pharma is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the world, when it comes to pharmaceutical chewing gum. Especially chewing gum to prevent smoking is core focus for the company. Fertin Pharma is located in Vejle, with approximately 400 employees.

The challenge

In connection with a technology face-out of an old analogue PABC (Philips IS3000), and the transformation toward a voice/telephony platform based on Skype for Business (MS Lync), Fertin Pharma had to replace their existing PC based attendant solution, due to a poor integration to Skype for Business (Lync). It was key to the company, that they continued to have a high level of traditional attendant features, even though they would get some new features “out of the box” with Skype for Business (MS Lync). “Quite quickly we had a list of features that was essential for or reception and attendants in Vejle. These functions were a necessity when we should go live with the Skype for Busines (MS Lync) system” explains IT Manager Thomas Bøge Mikkelsen. “We evaluated several switchboard attendant systems from different 3rd party vendors, but quite quickly it became clear for us, that the way Competella - on the technology side - , had developed and implemented their application directly onto Skype for Business (Lync) via the Microsoft API; UCMA (Unified Communication Manager API), was quite unique. From our point of view it should lead to several benefits, i.e. that the deployment and system management would easy and transparent, as the Competella system would act and respond as an integrated part of our Skype for Business (Lync) system in a pure and native Windows environment. And when it turns out, that Competella Attendant Console matched (and even went above) our system feature “check list”, the decision was easy” Thomas Bøge Mikkelsen continued.

The solution

In the beginning of April 2011, Fertin Pharma implemented their present Lync 2010 as a voice enabled platform together with Competella, in parallel with their old Phillips system, which continued to be in daily operation. During a 6 months transition period, some users were on the MS Lync voice platform, while some users were still on the Phillips platform. But as of today (February 2012); all users has been converted and moved onto a pure MS Lync platform.

Today Fertin Pharma operates with a Competella Attendant Console system for 2 attendants and has service for approx. 375 telephony users in the company. In comparison with old attendant system, Fertin Pharma have got following benefits with the Competella solution:

• Improved queue possibilities (i.e. “Camp-on-busy”)
• E-calendar integration (direct Exchange integration with Presence information)
• New searching tools (witch improve the service level for customer to Fertin Pharma)
• Statistics
• More updated information on the employees (via the Active Directory integration)

The conclusion

“The implementation of Competella went as expected. There were a few smaller adjustments we had to get in place the first day, but that was anticipated as both Competella and Skype for Business (MS Lync) was generally new in the marketplace in the spring 2011. After the deployment, new features and functions was developed from Competella, and after normal testing procedure, they went into live on our Skype for Business /Competella system” explains Thomas Bøge Mikkelsen.

”We have been in close cooperation with Competella, and in October 2011 we took a new step forward and agreed to test the next major release of Competella and even before it became general available for other Competella customers. That was a “calculated” move from our side, as we might be able to prioritize some of the coming features in general, and might even be able to influent Competella to make some features “customized” for Fertin Pharma. And I think it has been the benefit of both parties, as we today have a very good system that turned out to be the right choice for us with a good daily operation for our attendants” finalized Thomas Bøge Mikkelsen.

Info

Today Fertin Pharma use the Competella Attendant Console R2 for Skype for Business Server and have since April 2011 been using the system for approx. 375 Skype for Business voice users and 2 concurrent attendants.

Whom to contact

Thomas Bøge Mikkelsen
IT-Manager – Fertin Pharma
 

or

Thomas Frederiksen
IT consultant (operation)