Microsoft Lync Server 2010Customer Solution Case Study

Security Company Saves $255,000 in IT and Telephony Costs with Communications Solution

OverviewCountry or Region: SwedenIndustry: Professional services—Security

Customer ProfileHeadquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, Gunnebo delivers security solutions. Areas of expertise for its 5,900 employees include bank security and cash handling, entrance control, secure storage, and related services.

Business SituationGunnebo wanted to improve the efficiency of its employees’ communication and reduce its telephony costs.

SolutionGunnebo deployed the enterprise voice capabilities of Microsoft Lync Server 2010. Employees also use Lync for instant messaging, presence, desktop sharing, and online conferencing capabilities.

Benefits Reduced telephony costs Avoided hardware costs Improved employee efficiency

“With Lync, an answer is never far away.”Björn Nilson, Group IT Manager, Gunnebo

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.

SituationFounded in 1764, Gunnebo has 5,900 employees who deliver security solutions such as safes, vaults, safe deposit lockers, solutions for efficient cash handling, solutions for entrance control, and related services. Targeted customers include retail banks, central banks, retail trade, mass-transit companies, and other customers in need of efficient, high-security protection.

Headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, Gunnebo has 100 offices in 30 countries around the world. Its offices range in size from 5 to 1,000 employees. Many employees are in time-sensitive roles such as sales and post-sales customer support, and they must communicate effectively to resolve customer issues and support sales activities such as writing proposals for security solutions. To complete these tasks efficiently, employees must be able to find and contact internal experts around the world easily.

To streamline its communications capabilities between offices, Gunnebo deployed Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 in 2007. Employees began using the instant messaging (IM), presence, desktop sharing, and video conferencing capabilities to connect with colleagues to solve problems. Gunnebo also wanted to deploy enterprise voice capabilities to help employees become more efficient. “Office Communications Server helped connect our global teams,” says Björn Nilson, Group IT Manager at Gunnebo. “But we wanted to make communication even easier for our employees. We want people to be able to escalate IM chats to calls, and we do not want employees wasting time to call

someone who is in a meeting or already on a call.”

The company believed that deploying enterprise voice could also help it to reduce spending on private branch exchange (PBX) and international call charges at its branch offices, but it was worried about bandwidth constraints at many of these office locations. “We thought enterprise voice would be possible for our European offices, but not for locations such as central India and parts of China where the infrastructure is poor,” says Nilson.

SolutionIn October 2010, Gunnebo began deployment of Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to provide its employees with enterprise voice capabilities. “We feel that Lync Server provides a great alternative to using PBX equipment,” explains Nilson. With Lync Server, employees can take advantage of improved IM, presence, desktop sharing, and video conferencing capabilities as well. Gunnebo expects to complete deployment to its 4,500 information workers in 2011.

Gunnebo is currently deploying voice capabilities to 3,300 employees located in Europe, which is facilitated by the fact that Lync Server only requires a single mediation server for all of Europe. “We are located in twenty countries in Europe and with Office Communications Server 2007 R2, we would have had to install one mediation server in each country. With Lync Server 2010, we can have a single mediation server for all of the trunk connections,” says Nilson. The organization will retire its PBX system in each country after it completes the deployment.

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To connect the Lync Server mediation server to the phone network, Gunnebo is connected to Telenor for SIP Trunking services in Sweden and to Interoute for SIP trunking services in the rest of Europe. SIP trunking uses the session initiation protocol (SIP) and real-time transport protocol (RTP) to pass network traffic from Lync Server directly to a network service provider over an IP connection.

To deploy voice in offices outside of Europe, the company will use AudioCodes Mediant Survivable Branch Appliances (SBAs). The SBA is based on cost-effective media gateways hosting the Microsoft Survivable Branch Appliance software package. The SBA provides a connection to the public-switched telephone network that continues to provide communications capabilities in the event of WAN failure. Gunnebo plans to use SBAs at its branch offices to provide a redundant voice connection in the case of a network outage. “We will deploy our first AudioCodes SBA in Shanghai, China. With SBAs, we can deploy voice and other Lync capabilities to our offices in Asia and other locations where we cannot afford to run redundant networks,” says Nilson.

Most employees will use Plantronics Voyager PRO headsets plugged into their computers to make and receive calls through Microsoft Lync 2010. “Employees are happy with the Plantronics headsets, especially because they can control their mobile phones with the same device,” notes Nilson. Gunnebo is using Polycom CX600 IP desk phones, which provide directory search and presence information, for common area phones

Gunnebo used the Response Group Service in Lync Server 2010 to configure workflows that route and queue incoming calls for its contact center in Sweden. Through Lync, contact center employees can place outbound calls to customers using the response group number. Customer information is also registered in the Active Directory service, so customers are identified in Lync when they call. This gives agents a head start on resolving customer issues. In the near future, Gunnebo plans to connect Lync to its Microsoft Dynamics AX enterprise resource planning (ERP) software so that contact center employees can automatically see customers’ information when they call.

Gunnebo employees are using Microsoft HD LifeCam high-definition web cameras to hold video conferences through Lync. Gunnebo expects to use video conferencing frequently to help reduce travel. “The other month, we bid on a security project for an airport. We used video conferencing during the sales process to get a better understanding of the customer’s requirements without traveling,” explains Nilson.

With the unified Lync 2010 client, employees can start an IM chat and escalate to a call or desktop sharing session with a single click. Several enhancements to the Lync client also provide more of a social networking experience for employees. Through the Rich Contact Card, they can see people’s managers and direct reports. “The user interface of the Lync client has been simplified and is much easier to use. Also, the photos make communication more personal, especially with people from

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“We feel that Lync provides a great alternative to using PBX equipment.”

Björn Nilson, Group IT Manager, Gunnebo

different offices who don't know each other,” says Nilson.

BenefitsBy deploying Lync Server 2010, Gunnebo has improved the efficiency of its sales and customer support. It also expects to save significant costs related to telephony and hardware.

Improved Employee EfficiencyWith the upgrade to Lync, Gunnebo employees have a single client to manage their instant messaging, presence, desktop sharing, video conferencing, and voice. “From one interface, our sales personnel can execute tasks such as initiating IM chats, sharing their desktop, starting video conferences, and making phone calls. Sales personnel can more quickly reach out to experts to get product or pricing information needed to create high quality proposals quickly,” explains Nilson.

Customer service personnel depend on Lync to help them resolve customer issues more quickly. With the response group service, contact center agents know which customer is calling when they answer the phone. Customer service representatives can quickly communicate issues to subject matter experts such as product engineers through desktop sharing. These capabilities help them resolve issues faster, which helps increase customer satisfaction.

Reduced Telephony CostsAfter voice capabilities are deployed to groups of users, Gunnebo will retire its PBX systems that previously supported them. The company plans to retire the PBX equipment in Sweden and Finland in December 2010. “With more than 15 PBX

systems in Sweden alone, our savings on PBX maintenance plans will exceed SEK225,000 [U.S.$34,000] annually,” says Nilson.

Gunnebo can also reduce long distance charges with its Lync enterprise voice deployment. “Because Interoute transports calls over their own network, they can offer low call rates. We have already decreased our charges for international calls by 30 percent,” says Nilson.

Avoided Hardware CostsWith Lync Server, Gunnebo can avoid deploying extra hardware to provide voice capabilities at its European offices. If Gunnebo had deployed enterprise voice with Office Communications Server 2007 R2, it would have needed a separate Mediation Server for each gateway. “We do not need as much hardware with the Lync deployment, so we can keep costs down. We would have needed 19 additional servers for Europe. But with Lync Server, we only need one mediation server,” explains Nilson. With an average cost of SEK37,000 [U.S.$5,500] per server, Gunnebo avoids SEK700,000 [U.S.$105,000] in hardware costs.

Gunnebo depends on the capabilities of Lync to help its employees grow and become more efficient. “Gunnebo was built through many acquisitions and an effective communications solution is the glue that keeps the company together by sharing information on people, products, policies, and cultures,” says Nilson. “With Lync, an answer is never far away.”

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“We do not need as much hardware with the Lync deployment, so we can keep costs down.”

Björn Nilson, Group IT Manager, Gunnebo

Microsoft Lync Server 2010Microsoft Lync Server 2010 ushers in a new connected user experience that transforms every communication into an interaction that is more collaborative, and engaging; and that is accessible from anywhere. For IT, the benefits are equally powerful, with a highly secure and reliable communications system that works with existing tools and systems for easier management, lower cost of ownership, smoother deployment and migration, and greater choice and flexibility.

For more information about Microsoft Lync Server 2010, go to: www.microsoft.com/lync

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This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published November 2010

For More InformationFor more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the United States and Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:www.microsoft.com

For more information about Gunnebo products and services, call (46) 31 83 68 00 or visit the website at: www.gunnebo.com

For more information about Polycom products and services, call (800) Polycom or visit the website at: www.polycom.com

For more information about AudioCodes products and services, call (972) 3-976-4000 or visit the website at: www.audiocodes.com

For more information about Plantronics products and services, call (800) Plantronics or visit the website at: www.plantronics.com

Software and Services Microsoft Office− Microsoft Lync 2010− Microsoft Office Professional 2007− Microsoft Office SharePoint Server

2007 Microsoft Server Product Portfolio− Microsoft Lync Server 2010− Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

Hardware Polycom CX Series IP Phones Plantronics Voyager PRO Headsets AudioCodes Survivable Branch

Appliances