This document discusses how Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and unified communications solutions can help organizations overcome common challenges by improving communication and collaboration. It provides examples of how unified communications allows businesses to better manage globalization, staff effectiveness, diversity, meetings, messaging and more. Specific benefits highlighted include increased productivity, reduced costs, improved customer service and compliance.

1. Office Communications Server 2007Finding and connecting people with the right tools

2. Unified Communications for Business GrowthYour budget is tied to economic cycles and shareholders interests … but service expectations steadily increase.

3. Staff Effectiveness MacroSlide 3Globalization

4. New partnership modelsProcter & Gamble expects half their innovationsto come from outside the company (Wikinomics 2005)Broader networks and dependencies

5. Knowledge management challengesEmployees get 50 – 75% of their relevant information directly from other people (Gartner 2002)

6. Staff Effectiveness MicroSlide 4Staff get too many messages from too many places, dramatically increasing “Human Latency” ... and it is killing productivity with time wasted waiting for email and voice responses

7. By 2009, an estimated 331 billion emails will be sent each day worldwide (the Radicati Group 2006)

8. There are 1.4 million people “tele-working” in Canada right now (Statistics Canada 2008)

9. By 2010 more than 95% of mid-sized and large organizations will have started the convergence of voice and data into a single network (Gartner 2007)UC is Crucial Managing DiversitySlide 5Business supports a myriad of departments, people and infrastructure This diversity may extend geographically, culturally and even into multiple time zones. Microsoft Unified Communications gives government workers the flexibility to reach their colleagues, collaborate and access needed information anywhere, anytime. Simplify communicationsEliminate conference costsEnabled effective collaboration in highly dispersed workforceReduce travel and carbon emissionsEnable remote eLearningEnable secure and compliant business communicationsIncrease productivityReduce projects completion timeIncrease revenue, profit and shareholder value

10. The Power of PresenceSlide 6Know availability BEFORE you communicateEmbedded Presence (i.e. an email, a document, a meeting, a Work Space)Helps determine the best way to communicate (i.e. why call if they are in a meeting or on the phone)Automatic Presence based on behavior (i.e. Away, In a meeting, on the phone, Out of office, Do not disturb)

11. Simplify CommunicationsSlide 7Click to CommunicateFind the right person at the right time with “Presence” Transition seamlessly between email, IM, voice, and videoEmail/voicemail/fax into a single inbox with UMEnhance Collaboration with ConferencingIn House A/V/Web conferencing with Office integrationBring together geographically dispersed teamsProvide rich secure eLearning environment“Anywhere access” from Mobile DevicesUse a familiar Outlook experience on mobile devicesMulti lingual Voice Access to OutlookProvide “VPN-less” access to e-mail, IM and Sharepoint

12. Innovative MeetingsSlide 8Easy to use with Outlook integrationWeb and Video conference integrationActive speaker and panorama viewsRecord and playback meetings400kbps bandwidth requirements

13. Unified MessagingSlide 9Email, Voice Mail, Fax, IM, Missed calls in your InboxConsolidated inbox (Email, Voice Mail, Fax, IM, missed calls)Playback voice mails directly in Outlook or on PhoneAuto Attendant with full multi lingual speech recognitionVoice access from regular phoneOWA support

14. Supply ChainSlide 10Challenges:• Finding team members , suppliers and partners quickly• Locating critical information and resources• Visibility, agility and accuracy• Poor communication of fluctuations or disruption to stakeholders Businesses are increasingly looking outside their walls, and often outside the country, to lower their production, service and operations costs. The need for real-time visibility, agility and accuracy for everyone at every step of the supply chain is of paramount importance for dealing with fluctuations in demand, disruption in the supply chain, and the expectation of keeping customers well-informed. Benefits:• The Microsoft unified communications platform gives businesses real-time insight across the supply chain, and enables them to bring SME’s, staff, Suppliers and partners together, regardless of their location, so critical decisions can be made the moment they are needed. • If departments or staff wish to collaborate with their colleagues using videoconferencing technology, Live Meeting and RoundTable provides meeting participants, including those in remote locations, with a panoramic view of everyone in the conference room and a close-up view of individual participants, triggered by the voice of the active speaker. • Office Communications Server 2007 is designed as a “presence engine” behind Microsoft Office system applications, servers and services. This design enables the viewing of presence information directly from Office system. For example, when staff receive an e-mail message in Outlook, they can see instantly whether the sender is online and available and, if so, initiate an instant message with the sender from within the e-mail message. Results:• Increases visibility, accountability and builds high-value predictable relationships with suppliers • Minimize bottlenecks and delays with increased efficiencies from RFP through delivery and billing stages

15. Operational PerformanceSlide 11Challenges:• Eliminate waste and inefficiencies from the production system• Increase visibility and access to SME’s (Subject Matter Experts)• Increase tracking and visibility of all processes To combat these challenges and create leaner production and service delivery, that helps businesses bring products and services to market on time and on budget, companies need more information in real time, more visibility into plant floor operations, and the ability to gather and aggregate data from many disparate sources. Benefits:• Microsoft unified communications solutions help people share feedback on the plant floor’s operations in real time. OCS 2007’s voice capabilities, call management, multiparty video, on-premise web conferencing and presence-enhanced enterprise-IM features make it easier for a plant floor supervisor to quickly and effectively collaborate with an operator. This real-time, unified communications experience can help synchronize activity throughout the production sequence, as plant floor supervisors can relay up-to-date instructions to groups of line workers.• UC allows manufacturing companies to easily link production activity to sales in the marketplace. Now, when manufacturers receive orders, they can use security-enhanced e-mail, IM tools and OCS 2007’s “soft phone” (users can make and receive calls from their PC) to begin just-in-time production.• OCS 2007 gives workers the convenience of one identity to view a person’s presence information (a display of the level of availability for a person or device to be able to communicate) and helps the user initiate the best means of communication, such as phone, e-mail or IM. With this functionality, communication across the organization can be immediate. Work can be stopped instantly when defects occur to prevent the further production of defective items. Supervisors and repair crews can be alerted and mobilized in seconds.Results:• Increased efficiencies reduce wasted time and inventory control problems • Improved tracking and visibility enables an agile, more proactive production and delivery process

16. Sales and Customer ServiceSlide 12Challenges:• Competition – Customers have more options (value difficult to define)• Expectations – Responsive, proactive, low cost service• Retention – Customers are increasingly difficult to retain Improving customer service is another constant concern for businesses, as today’s customers drive ever-increasing demands that require faster responses. Consumers have more options for where they purchase goods and services, so they can afford to be selective about where they spend their money. They expect effective customer service, high-quality and reasonable prices … when they don’t get them, they seldom return for additional purchases. Benefits: OCS 2007 improves the speed and effectiveness of communications between all layers – Customer, Sales, Service, Production , Delivery and Admin – with Enterprise class communication and collaboration tools to reduce time and costs for proposal preparation and presentation.

17. Communicator Mobile extends the reach of Office Communications Server 2007 to mobile devices, enabling real-time communication between the plant and field representatives and allowing mobile workers to see presence information, initiate voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) conversations and view contacts’ schedule information.

18. Mobile workers can communicate quickly with the help of these technologies for faster problem resolution.

19. OCS allows federation to other OCS users and public IM clients such as MSN or Yahoo. Results:Better communications builds and strengthens, durable, predictable and profitable relationships.

20. Regulatory Change and GovernanceSlide 13Challenges:• Access to paper based exposes businesses to inflated costs, missedrevenue opportunities and risk associated with non-complianceBusinesses can lose up to 60 days of productivity a year resolving nonconformance investigations. Without the proper systems in place, complying with increasing government regulations can consume up to 25 percent of revenue.http://www.microsoft.com/office/showcase/manufacturingintelBenefits:• Microsoft’s UC solutions provide businesses with an effective means to fine-tune processes, optimize performance and better respond to regulatory and market demands.New collaboration technologies can help businessesmeet regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Exchange 2007 and OCS 2007 help companies meet regulatory requirements with features such as logging and archiving of electronic communications via IM and e-mail. Employees can have a record of all interactions with customers, partners and colleagues, and can quickly gather past communications for audits or any other needs related to proving compliance.• In addition, today’s work force is mobile, global and always on, requiring new modes for sharing information and interacting with colleagues. Exchange Server 2007 delivers functionality to help protect and secure the mobile messaging environment. The ActiveSync® feature also enables users to manage the process of remotely erasing lost, stolen or otherwise compromised mobile devices. • An employee’s user identity and authentication can be controlled across companies and networks, as the IT administrator can grant specific access rights and permissions to people, computers and resources such as rooms and videoconference equipment. This information is tied to specific users, whether they are logging in from the company desktop, via a mobile device or remotely via the Internet. Results:Microsoft UC solutions assist businesses with current and coming regulatory environments with sophisticated, policy based, tools for logging and archiving electronic communications

21. Teleworker TrendsSlide 14Communication can be streamlined between people, whether down the hall, across provinces, or while constantly on the go. Businesses face challenges on many fronts, making a compelling case for Teleworker initiatives.Higher fuel and energy costs directly impact agency budgets. Office space and parking are top concerns for many companies as costs for real estate continue to rise. Continuity of Operations Planning

22. Efficiencies During Economic Downturns

23. Superior Management of Energy Costs

24. Attracting and Keeping Quality People

25. Promotion of a Flexible Work Culture Crisis and Security ManagementSlide 15Safety and Security are primary functions of business operations.Microsoft UC extends full communications functions to the entire enterprise and with federation supports full connectivity to other agencies, partners and consultants. Regardless of the nature, critical communications functions are maintained before, during and after the crisis. Situational Awareness – Extends real-time information and multiple communications methods to the best possible decision makers and participating agencies.

26. Emergency Response – Full communications functions for remote teams via laptop, integrated with cellular and conventional radio technologies.

27. Operational Readiness – The production platform IS the crisis platform. No training delays or user adoption issues with local and remote teams having anywhere, anytime access.Unified communications helps enterprises combat bird flu"There is a huge burden on communication because so many people conduct day-to-day activities from almost anywhere," said Ken McGee, Gartner vice president and Gartner fellow. McGee said that -- based on recent poll findings -- 99% of businesses "will not be able to respond to an avian influenza outbreak because of a lack of planning today."This is because almost all business continuity plans today focus on overcoming disruptions to infrastructure and systems. Almost no companies have developed plans for overcoming massive disruptions to the workforce, he said.Amanda Mitchell, News Editor08 Aug 2006 | SearchNetworking.co

28. Leveraging Existing InfrastructureSlide 17As an organization with a Microsoft® license agreement, you already own some of the most powerful enterprise solutions on the market. The question is — are you maximizing the value of it? If you are like many organizations, the answer is probably not. Fortunately, Microsoft UC integrates with the entire Office platform, most API capable LOB applications and conventional PBX platforms (even the older legacy systems). No need to rip and replace! Instant Messaging

29. Rich Presence

30. Enterprise IP Voice

31. Collaboration

32. Document Sharing

33. Audio and Video Conferencing

34. Live MeetingMinimizing Restructuring Costs and ImpactSlide 18Businesses restructure and change constantly. Demand for new products and services or budget overhauls require changes and reallocation of resources as a matter of course. Microsoft UC adapts to change with remarkable efficiency. Dependence on 3rd party specialists are reduced or eliminated for Moves, Adds and Changes … even between buildings.User credentials and settings are centrally managed with Active Directory

35. No need to change wires to activate users extensions. Login credentials bind user settings to locations dynamically regardless of physical location

36. Training new users is a breeze with a familiar interface and desktop tools that assist with step by step guidance to all UC functionsKey DriversImprove User & Team Productivity OutcomeReduce time to Complete ProjectsIncreaseEfficiencyLeverage existing assets Improve Communication Processes Improved Crisis ManagementOperational Efficiencies enabled by Unified CommunicationsReduce Travel & Training costsReduce Telecommunications CostsDecreaseCostsReduce Cost of SaleReduce Total of OwnershipImprove Compliance / E-discoveryImpact of UC

37. Next Steps UC AssessmentSlide 20Process and DeliverablesAssist in a collaborative design and delivery of a high-level Unified Communications Plan interview 5 key stakeholders to determine unique and common pain points

38. business scenarios showing how UC can play a vital roll

39. technical design including architectural drawing

40. budget for implementation

41. licensing, hardware and professional service requirements