4-page Case Study - Posted 11/7/2009

Views: 54

Rate This Evidence:

LFV Group

Airport Operator Improves Services and Reduces Costs with Unified Communications

LFV Group operates airports throughout Sweden. LFV has a highly distributed workforce, and e-mail is the primary source of communication for the group’s 4,000 employees. In 2009, LFV began a program to upgrade its communications infrastructure, including its telephony system and Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003 e-mail solution. LFV wanted a unified messaging solution that could support a common inbox for e-mail and voice-mail messages while maintaining the high reliability that employees had come to expect. After testing Exchange Server 2010 as part of the Microsoft Rapid Deployment Program and with help from Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Logica, LFV has decided to deploy the software for its unified messaging capabilities and improved e-mail access for mobile users. It also expects to reduce server, storage, and other operating costs while providing users with larger mailboxes.

Situation

LFV Group is a state enterprise whose mission is to develop and operate state-owned civil aviation in Sweden, where it currently operates 50 percent of the nation’s airports. It is also responsible for peacetime air navigation services for civilian and military aviation. LFV Group employs more than 4,000 people and has annual revenue of approximately SEK 6 billion (U.S.$865 million).

In 2003, LFV began using Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003 e-mail messaging and collaboration software. The solution requires three servers: one front-end server and two mailbox servers in an active/passive cluster. In all, 4,500 mailboxes are hosted on the servers, and these mailboxes are divided into three tiers of service, with quotas of 50, 250, or 450 megabytes, depending on an employee’s role and requirements. The quotas help LFV contain costs, as the solution uses storage area network (SAN) storage with expensive fiber channel disks to meet the input/output (I/O) performance requirements of Exchange Server 2003. LFV uses a third-party service to provide e-mail access to employees who use mobile phones.

Although the organization is pleased with its Exchange Server 2003 implementation, LFV is looking to modernize its communications infrastructure and deploy a unified communications solution. LFV started by deploying Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 to provide employees with instant messaging, presence, and conferencing capabilities to complement their e-mail. The company also began looking at ways to upgrade its telephony infrastructure and found Exchange Server 2010 to be a good solution that could easily interoperate with telephony systems. As part of the telephony upgrade, LFV will have the possibility to use a unified messaging solution so that voice-mail messages could be delivered to employees’ e-mail inboxes.

LFV had planned to deploy Exchange Server 2007 in 2009, but then it learned about the Microsoft Rapid Deployment Program for Exchange Server 2010. The company took the opportunity to provide its employees with the latest Exchange Server solution.

Solution

LFV worked with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Logica to test Exchange Server 2010 and deploy a pilot for 150 employees. Logica will deploy and operate the solution for LFV, as well.

Logica is taking advantage of Database Availability Groups, a new capability in Exchange Server 2010, to deploy a very cost-effective, high-availability solution for LFV. It is deploying two servers, each containing all of the Exchange Server roles required for the environment, and using the built-in capabilities of Exchange Server 2010 to replicate the mailbox data between the two servers so that each one is always up-to-date. A hardware load balancer will divide the load between the two servers. When Logica has to perform maintenance on one of the servers, the other server can handle the entire workload. LFV will deliver Microsoft Outlook® Web App with Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server in Exchange Server 2010 instead of the earlier front-end server used with Exchange Server 2003.

There are lots of advanced services included in Exchange Server 2010 Unified Messaging, such as speech services, which often cost extra. We think it will be a very good voice-mail solution. Åke Halvdanson CIO, LFV Group

Junehammar says that the group plans to deploy Exchange Server 2010 Unified Messaging to provide voice mail for employees. Exchange Server 2010 Unified Messaging consolidates e-mail and voice mail into one inbox, which employees can access using the Microsoft Office Outlook messaging and collaboration client, Outlook Web App, or a telephone. With Voice-Mail Preview, employees will receive voice-mail messages as text using speech-to-text technology so that they can respond to the messages quickly through the e-mail client without having to access a telephone or computer speaker. LFV is also looking forward to using Outlook Voice Access capabilities when the new phone service is implemented. With Outlook Voice Access, employees can access and control their inbox from their telephone using either the keypad or voice commands. Junehammar explains, “The largest driver for us is speech services in Exchange, so our users can use their telephones to access their e-mail when we have replaced the old phone system.”

LFV is also testing Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync® technology. Mobile devices that incorporate Exchange ActiveSync technology maintain a connection with the e-mail server, receiving any new or updated messages, calendar items, contacts, or tasks as soon as they arrive. Junehammar explains, “We don’t want to have two solutions for the same thing, so we will expand the use of ActiveSync.”

The airport operator expects to have Exchange Server 2010 deployed to its employees by the end of 2009.

Benefits

By upgrading to Exchange Server 2010, LFV will enhance the services it provides to employees through larger mailboxes. The company will also save money by consolidating servers, moving to lower-cost storage, and taking advantage of built-in ActiveSync technology to deliver e-mail to mobile phones.

Improves Access to Messages

When the unified messaging server is implemented, employees will be able to receive voice-mail messages in their inbox both as text and as audio files. The flexibility to choose whether to read or listen to messages will help employees access and respond to messages more quickly. They will also be able to use a telephone to call into their mailbox and access messages and calendar appointments. This capability means that employees can access messages when they are not at their computers or when reading is not an option, such as while driving. “There are lots of advanced services included in Exchange Server 2010 Unified Messaging, such as speech services, which often cost extra. We think it will be a very good voice-mail solution,” explains Åke Halvdanson, CIO at LFV Group.

Employees will also be able to save more of their important e-mail messages in their larger inboxes, rather than deleting or archiving them. They will save time on mailbox management and have better access to the information they need.

Reduces Communications Costs

The e-mail environment at LFV will be less expensive to maintain with the Exchange Server 2010. LFV can reduce its server count from three to two, and it will see a corresponding savings in administration and power. Storage costs also will be reduced. “We will halve the cost of storage when we go to the low-end disks,” notes Junehammar.

Additionally, LFV will be able to reduce the use of its current mobile solution and use native ActiveSync technology in Exchange Server in its place.

Supports Unified Communications

With the deployment of Exchange Server 2010, LFV will benefit from increased interoperability with Microsoft Office Communications Server. Presence information and contact lists are available in Outlook Web App and the Microsoft Outlook 2010 client. Whether they are using Outlook or Office Communicator, employees will have access to presence information and be able to choose the best form of communication for their needs, whether it is through e-mail, instant messaging, or an audio conference.

 
Microsoft Exchange Server 2010
Exchange Server 2010 can help you achieve better business outcomes while controlling the costs of deployment, administration, and compliance. Exchange Server delivers the widest range of deployment options, integrated information leakage protection, and advanced compliance capabilities, which combine to form the best messaging and collaboration solution available.

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

For more information about Microsoft Unified Communications, go to:
www.microsoft.com/uc

For More Information

For 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 Logica products and services visit the Web site at:
www.logica.com

For more information about LFV Group products and services, call (46) 11 192000 or visit the Web site at:
www.lfv.se