For consultants, it’s absolutely critical to be able to quickly communicate with anyone at any time. Both revenue and customer satisfaction often depend on getting in touch with the right person right away – or on ensuring that they can get in touch with you.

And with the combination of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Quintum Technologies’ Tenor VoIP gateway, German IT consultancy Plan-B has been able to do exactly that. In fact, by enabling its consultants to overcome the constraints of space and time, Plan-B’s state-of-the-art communications environment has significantly boosted staff productivity while helping the company save thousands in telecommunications costs.

Plan-B’s consultants all have Office Communicator and Outlook running on their personal computing devices, which include laptops and PDAs. Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 will be running on a server in the company’s main office. A Quintum Tenor BX gateway sits between that server and the company’s PBX.

This setup allows consultants to use their computing devices as phones. For audio input/output, they use Bluetooth headsets, USB-connected headsets, or the speakers and microphone built into their laptops. Communicator acts as a VoIP client, allowing voice traffic to travel over the office LAN or the Internet to the Office Communications Server 2007.

This server connects to the Quintum gateway, which in turn connects to the PBX. This allows voice traffic to move freely between the company’s LAN and the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Voice traffic can also move between the company’s LAN and the Internet via its router. This simple yet effective combination enables a wide range of high value communications capabilities that enable Plan-B to perform at tremendous efficiency.

These capabilities include:

ultimate mobility. The client’s staff can answer their office phones from anywhere in the world, as long as they have an Internet connection. Staff can have one phone number, and any calls coming in from the PSTN are passed through the Tenor VoIP gateway to Office Communication Server 2007. Office Communication Server 2007 can be configured to call a staff member via a Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 client running on their laptop or PDA, or to a telephone on a PBX voice network, or a landline or cell phone connected through the PSTN.

Least cost routing. The client’s staff can reach their company’s local offices from anywhere in the world via the Internet – which means they can call domestic and international locations from anywhere in the world and only pay the in-country rate. The Tenor VoIP gateways can then switch the calls to the local PBX or PSTN.

Plan-B selected Quintum’s Tenor VoIP gateway solution for a variety of reasons, including its support for ISDN (a must for interfacing with European PBXs) and its ease of installation. Quintum gateways also provide failover and compression features that are invaluable for ensuring the reliability, efficiency and quality of its VoIP calls.

“Quintum gave us a fast, simple way to add voice to our Microsoft-enabled communications and collaboration environment,” says Alan Dutton, head of Plan-B’s unified communications practice. “As a result, we can work smarter and faster than ever with significantly reduced telecommunications costs.”

Central Telecom has helped Cambridgeshire County Council to transform its working environment by providing its employees with fast, simple, 'always on', access communications. Using an Avaya Unified Communications solution the Council is building a converged IP network which will improve the delivery of services to a population of over 560,000 citizens.

The new converged IP network has allowed the Council to achieve a true business transformation, helping meet its objective to develop an empowered and responsive workforce, whilst delivering more than 20% (£1.2m) savings over a three year period.

The communications industry is evolving with lightning speed. As the dream of convergence – from bundled voice, data, and video services to integrated wireline and wireless technologies – becomes a reality, the pressure on domestic and global market players is reaching unprecedented levels. To keep up with next generation demands, communications companies must be innovators – not only with what they offer to their customers, but also with how they run their internal operations.

Diagnostic Products Corporation (DPC) is a worldwide provider of medical immunodiagnostic tests and equipment.

Newcastle NHS Trust's upgrade to Siemens HiPath 8000 delivers scalability and an Open Communications philosophy with an open standards-based platform on which to integrate new applications and devices. Users now have the portability to work anywhere within the corporate network without losing their phone number of voice preferences. The OpenScape application lets users locate and collaborate more easily resulting in greater productivity, plus in a hospital environment being able to assemble teams of doctors rapidly can also save lives. As a result, the Trust now has one of the most advanced communications network in the NHS, applications can be easily integrated into the Trust's new SIP-based communications platform, carrier grade resilience ensures that even calls in progress are not lost and Newcastle NHS Trust has a partner in Siemens that it can rely upon.

Carolyn Walker, Deutsche Bank's Chief Operating Officer of North American Equity Sales, finds herself in a dilemma many of today's organizations share - how to keep costs low and productivity high. Her solution? Implementing Avistar Video Conferencing to keep her Sales team connected without the expense of travel between remote offices and without the disconnect one feels on a standard telephone conference call.

"The presence provided by desktop video is unequaled for creating a cost-effective person-to-person interface for managing outsourcing - it ensures proper communication of requirements and issues, helps develop trust, transfer knowledge, define performance requirements and bridge the pitfalls of cultural differences".

Puma is one of the world’s leading sports and lifestyle companies, and has a long-term mission of becoming the most desirable Sportlifestyle brand. This case studye descripes how the SwyxWare solution was installed at all of Puma’s offices and interconnected via the company’s Intranet, connecting its three UK operations together in a single network.

With one of the largest and most robust enterprise network infrastructures in the world, Nortel connects its 30,000+ global and extremely mobile workforce, along with hundreds of external partner companies, and uses its own unified communications solution to enhance employee quality of experience and drive down total cost of ownership.

Tayside Fire and Rescue provides emergency services to 400,000 people in Scotland. The organization spends most of its budget on its people and equipment—with only a small percentage available for information communications technology (ICT). Although employees used e-mail and the telephone to communicate, the organization did not have voice mail. In addition, high PBX support costs significantly affected the ICT budget. In 2007, Tayside Fire and Rescue took control of its telephony and deployed a unified communications solution built on Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007, Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007. As a result of its solution, the organization is raising the competency of its firefighters, accelerating communications, facilitating mobility, providing voice mail, and reducing costs through increased operational control. Read more at: http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000000362

PGGM is the second largest pension fund in the Netherlands, providing pension packages for 2 million former and current employees working in the healthcare sector. Many of its 1,000 employees spend several hours each week commuting by car. The company wanted to make e-mail and voice mail messages available to these employees while they were traveling. It has achieved this by deploying Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging. With Microsoft Office Outlook® Voice Access, and hands-free mobile devices, employees now use simple voice prompts to access e-mail messages that are read back by the new software. They can also respond with voice mail messages, answer meeting requests, and listen to new appointments. The integration of voice and e-mail took just two days. Employees will save hundreds of hours a year and improve their work-life balance. For more information: http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000000463

Oregon-based Columbia Sportswear is a leading manufacturer of outdoor apparel. Its employees conduct business with suppliers and retailers around the world, and the company frequently searches for ways to increase the efficiency and productivity of its workers who travel. Columbia had already deployed Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 with Unified Messaging and Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 for instant messaging (IM) and presence awareness. It sought to expand its employees’ communications options by upgrading to Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and deploying IP-based devices from LG-Nortel and GN. Now employees have enhanced real-time communications capabilities, including audio, video, and Web con-ferencing and software-powered voice over IP (VoIP). Columbia also avoided the cost of an upgrade to VoIP networks and eliminated the use of public IM applications.

More information at: http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/casestudy.aspx?casestudyid=4000000787

Although many enterprises are eager to deploy converged voice and data

applications and services over IP, they see their legacy PBX systems and

upfront costs as roadblocks to the enhanced capabilities that IP would

bring. This paper demonstrates that legacy PBX equipment does not

have to be replaced for enterprises to begin a phased migration to IP

convergence. Dialogic® media gateway appliances make the

implementation of IP technology in PBX systems possible right

now, and with low upfront investment costs.

Hosted PBX Solutions by Cosmics Unified Communications plc.
As a complement to conventional direct sales methods, Cosmics Unified Communications (www.cosmics.com) have developed a complete on line business ordering communications service for smaller business owners and start up companies for simple transition from the traditional hard phone environment into the world of Fortune 500 Hosted Voice over IP Telephony.
The service is activated and administered through the web with a simple pay as you go model by logging in to our website www.sweetch.co.uk.
Users with a ‘single’ existing DSL line can select multiple numbers, IP phones and services and a range of low cost preconfigured IP handsets, ATA phone adapters and soft phones.
Businesses and staff no matter where they are located can be up and trading in a matter of days accessing all their communications through the inbox - with access to free peer-to-peer calls and free conference calls and huge off-net call savings.
Cosmics solution is hosted in our secure datacenters, and will move and grow with your business no matter how many people you may have. Whatever your business, choose an IP telephony solution from Cosmics. It will be the last telephone system you'll ever need.
Channel reseller opportunities’ are available for virtual or full partition to our IPCENTRIX billing platform as well as Interconnect and white-labeling of our sweetch.com ordering website.

Why choose Cosmics
- Benefit from a high quality combined IP/ATM international network with 24/7 support and worldwide coverage.
- Integrate your telephony and computer networks in your headquarters, branch or affiliate offices.
- Perform all your communications e.g. phone, email, SMS, IM, customer profile access, database interrogation, CRM, etc. from your office LAN.
- Integrate your mobile phones with your office LAN for record keeping and centralized billing.
- Manage your Voicemail from your PC with total control over phone, through email, and online.
- Acquire international phone numbers in 60 countries as you grow.
- Integrate your off site workers in your telephony network no matter where they live.
- Reduce your communication costs and increase your productivity.
- Ensure a pleasant customer experience with efficient business processes.

Cosmics Unified Communications PLC
Hosted IP Telephony'Wholesale' Service Provider
Coppergate House
16 Brune Street
London
E1 7NJ England
Main Tel: +44-(0)203 031 8200
Fax: +44-(0)207 953 8485
Website: www.cosmics.com
Email: sales@cosmics.com

Coleg Glan Hafren is Cardiff’s largest further education college, spread over four sites serving 600 staff and 13,000 students. The college has transformed its communications network by replacing an ageing managed voice system with ShoreTel’s IP Unified Communications system. This distributed phone system with integrated voice applications and intuitive management interface, has enabled the College to increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve the caller experience.

DayMen International designs and distributes photographic equipment. IP connectivity between locations has led to both improved customer service and cost savings, with minimal training needed to achieve high user satisfaction.

Click here to view customer experiences (less than 5 minutes) http://www.shoretel.com/resources/customer_satisfaction/

Care Telecom enabled world leader in professional dance wear to unify communications across all of their UK locations.

Key advantages included: centralised call handling for all offices from one location, WiFi extensions, cost savings, nationwide extension visibility and VoIP functionality with PSTN failover.