Headset Solutions, the authorised Plantronics importer and distributor since 1990, has streamlined its communications by implementing Microsoft's Unified Communications (UC). Galdon Data, a Microsoft Gold Partner and 'Partner of the Year' for Unified Communications Solutions Competency, implemented the solution.
Microsoft unified communications gives Headset Solutions more choice for the way it connects and collaborates within the workplace. By combining voicemail, e-mail, phone and video with the power of 'presence', unified communications offers users a single point of contact and makes it easier for Headset Solutions staff to connect with colleagues, suppliers and partners worldwide.
According to Headset Solutions financial manager Nielle Truter, unified communications allows people to be more productive. “UC makes it possible to contact colleagues for information more quickly, to perform project-oriented work more effectively without delays, and to make decisions more rapidly. Operational teams are able to convene the necessary skills and resolve issues much more quickly.”
Headset Solutions offers headsets for the cordless and mobile phone market. It also offers next-generation computer audio headset products for computer applications and corded and cordless headsets for the office, small office, home office and contact centre.
Along with efficiency and productivity gains, reducing costs is another key reason why Headset Solutions has adopted collaborative communications. UC capabilities can connect participants with meetings when they do not necessarily need to be physically present.
“Sales staff can be more productive when they are talking to customers and potential customers via conferencing, versus spending a significant amount of time travelling. Clearly some personal interaction is required, but conferencing and communications solutions enable sales persons to reach more people more rapidly and to close more deals than ever before,” he explains.
Truter says they can now resolve issues faster and at a lower cost. “Customer enquiries can be responded to immediately. The ability for customer service personnel to see the presence of their colleagues and instantly bring them into a meeting or launch a multi-party conference with subject matter experts, allows customer issues to be resolved more quickly, which in turn reduces the cost of maintaining the customer.”
Galdon Data director Garry Ackerman says companies that use these capabilities report achieving measurable improvements in their corporate performance, including increased business efficiencies and total cost savings. “In today's economy, where companies need to communicate in real-time with globally distributed teams and a multinational customer base, conferencing has become a mainstream tool for communication and collaboration. Businesses are finding significant value in terms of desirable business outcomes, cost savings, and environmental sustainability.”
Office Communications Server 2007 provides advanced presence capabilities such as group availability management and custom presence searching to find the best available resource for problem resolution at any time. It also provides a full range of communication options for problem resolution when the appropriate resources have been identified.
These functions can be integrated into business applications such as service, logistics, sales, or enterprise support functions (IT, finance, HR) to accelerate the process completion, removing the delays associated with messaging, message queues, call backs and other latency factors. By analysing the most critical processes for the communication “hot spots”, it is possible to accelerate transactions and problem resolution for significant return on investment.
Headset Solutions is also realising vast cost savings on voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) functionality accessible through Office Communicator. Whenever Office Communications Server 2007 VOIP calls are made between offices countrywide, a cost savings will accrue. Office Communications Server 2007 R2 enables its users to “click to call” other users and is proving to be a popular application with a good return on investment.
“Furthermore, it can improve the seamlessness of information provided to mobile and remote workers. With these new tools, our sales team spend less time searching for information or support resources and are able to resolve customer or project issues in much less time, usually with less travel time and fewer return visits,” he explains.
“Working with the top Microsoft Unified Communications solutions provider, Galdon Data, has been a fruitful experience and has been a huge success. They provided excellent service; their staff are highly competent and have extensive UC skills. Furthermore, the quick response time proves that Galdon Data is committed to providing superior customer service,” concludes Truter.
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