MTS Allstream Delivers New World of Work with Microsoft Unified Communications

What is the New World of Work? When it comes to the future of financial services, communication and collaboration tools are positioned to play a vital role. Developing a cost-effective system that leverages an extensible platform can give Canadian organizations the flexibility and control they need to manage their communications infrastructure more efficiently.

As a leading communication and collaboration solutions provider, MTS Allstream has developed a methodology – known as Work Place 2.0 – that combines People, Process and Microsoft’s unified communications (UC) platform to deliver a ubiquitous next-generation workplace. The Microsoft technology partner recently developed an internal proof of concept based on VOIP and Microsoft UC software that delivered $1 million in immediate savings. This pilot has set the stage to provide a significant hard cost savings based on eliminating a five year lease on five floors of prime real estate in downtown Toronto.

We interviewed Dean Nellis, Director Sales Professional Services, Central and Western Regions, MTS Allstream to learn about the business drivers behind the solution, and the role Microsoft software plays in the platform.

Q: So how can Canadian financial services firms develop a business case for Work Place 2.0?

A: The business case has two key dimensions, technology and user community. We recommend a review of the current IT environment to assess the technology gap and then assess user suitability alignment. You need enough users to get on board in the first phase to meet the pilot ROI objectives.

Further, companies should identify a technology champion – someone within the organization who understands and can articulate the ROI benefits and business value of a next-generation collaboration infrastructure such as Work Place 2.0.

Q: What questions should companies be asking themselves?

In looking at developing a business case there are certain issues to consider: What’s the value you would place on bringing in the best new talent by offering a progressive work place? What is the value of green IT as it pertains to your corporate branding? What value do you place on the business disruption during a snowstorm? If 20,000 people are stuck in traffic and miss three hours of the work day it’s a potential $2 million productivity hit. What value would you place on your employees being able to service customers or operate your receivables department during an extended disruption?

These are the questions today’s financial services firms should be asking when contemplating UC technology – ensuring timely access to people and information to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace.

Q: How can improving collaboration between teams and clients be a competitive driver for today’s financial services organizations?

A: I think that this applies differently to the respective sectors within the financial services marketplace. In the wealth management model, I believe collaboration can dramatically change the way clients engage their advisor team and create an enhanced user experience. This is an on demand advisory service using presence and collaboration tools to expose the availability status for your financial team.

In a more traditional setup, collaboration can drive cross-selling financial services products by using presence to identify subject matter experts who are available to loop into a discussion. In both cases, collaboration tools can accelerate influence by allowing advisory experts and customers to connect in real-time.

Q: What new and existing IT tools do firms need to facilitate this New World of Work?

Companies should be looking at VoIP telephony, a web collaboration platform, presence, instant messaging and desktop conferencing tools. Many organizations already have the required assets through their existing Microsoft infrastructure and telecom environment. Others might need upgrades to more current versions of VoIP Phone systems, solutions such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, Microsoft Office Communications Server or require QoS upgrades to enable their wide area network.

In our case, we internally connected our existing VoIP assets to our Microsoft OCS infrastructure and we were able to get the technical side running quite easily within the walls of the organization. Extending the solution to incorporate a wider community required us upgrade to our network to enable the quality of service features necessary to deliver telecom-grade voice communication through high-speed internet access points.

Q: Why should firms leverage UC technologies to help financial advisors and brokers?

Today’s organizations are looking to improve customer service and sales, and UC can help shorten cycle times, improve cross-selling of financial products and provide instant access to financial experts. In short it can act as a business enablement platform for financial services delivery and customer origination.

I’ll use an example to illustrate: say a company was using My Site functionality in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server as a secure, personal finance landing zone. A customer would input their current assets and future retirement plans into a web application. From that we would build a total view of a customer’s long-term financial plan. We could then segment these users according to their financial plan and use presence to extend a virtual advisor the goal of helping users meet their goals. We would manage content delivery based on the goal of moving customers through their financial plan and be available to discuss in real time through instant messaging, web conferencing or a voice call. It should be seen as an improved method to attract and retain customers.

Q: What Work Place 2.0 advice would you give to Canadian firms?

A: In terms of best practices, we recommend that financial services organizations ensure that there is first strong executive buy-in and a clear and concise communication plan. This begins with training managers and employees around operational expectation of the remote work environment and a mutual understanding of a remote worker service level agreement. We also make sure there is training on the IP phones, router and remote work management tools. Further, understand the segments within the organization and how many roles are suited to this model. Lastly, working with a communications solutions partner is key – why reinvent the wheel?

Q: Where do you see the market heading with respect to UC adoption?

A: The industry is evolving towards consolidation of end-to-end UC toolsets with the desktop as the user end-point. With that convergence vision in mind, from an enterprise perspective, we could likely see a big increase in existing VoIP switch integration into Web conferencing, application sharing, instant messaging and conferencing applications. This first phase will potentially function as a gateway approach to the technology.

We’re also seeing financial services start to use UC and collaboration technologies together to potentially deliver a whole new customer experience.