Bell Technical Solutions (BTS) is a full service telecommunications, networking construction and project management firm. BTS required a new intranet and extranet solution that made it easier for its dispersed 3,200 employees to communicate and work together, and ensure information was easily accessible and up-to-date. Working with Microsoft® certified partner, AlphaMosaïk, the IT and communications department at BTS created a central portal for all employees, leveraging SQL Server™ 2005 and Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2007. As a result, BTS has transformed staff communication and strengthened its workplace culture.

Nortel is a telecommunications leader that found itself facing a distinctly changed business landscape in the new millennium. In this new market, its sales force needed to work more productively to generate the same revenue. Also, with diverse sales tools, Nortel management needed a more accurate view of its business with global customers. To improve sales productivity and visibility into accounts, Nortel created a new, consistent global sales process and rolled out Microsoft Dynamics® CRM, a customer relationship management solution. By involving the sales team throughout the process, Nortel experienced a smooth, rapid, and highly successful rollout of its new CRM system.

Based in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, Lypp provides teleconferencing services to more than 300 customers. With experience in telephony, Lypp leaders understood the business could easily support phone systems as well, but the company needed a product that offered a price point and feature set that would benefit small-business customers. To meet this need, the company began providing deployment and support services for Microsoft® Response Point™ phone system software. Lypp found that the solution met customer needs, making it a perfect platform for building customer relationships and, ultimately, to drive revenue and traffic to the company’s other offerings. Further, the solution has proved easy to support for customers and Lypp alike, letting the company easily add a new line of business without the need for extensive support resources.

As Canada’s largest telecommunications company, Bell wants to create a more integrated, easy-to-navigate, and cost-efficient real-time communications environment for its workers. The initial results of testing the unified communications functionality in Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 show the potential to increase productivity within remote and local teams and avoid costs associated with administration, hardware, and travel.

Companies are looking for ways to improve their communications infrastructure to shorten sales cycles, improve customer service, and drive overall business performance. Responding to this need, Nortel, a leading telecommunications equipment manufacturer, and Microsoft established the Innovative Communications Alliance to help customers move from stand-alone communications methods to unified communications solutions. The Alliance is a joint effort encompassing research and development, go-to-market activities, and systems integration services. The effort unites e-mail, voice mail, instant messaging, and voice communications to create one streamlined user experience. The solutions integrate Microsoft® unified communications technologies with Nortel business-grade telephony, conferencing, and data networking strengths to streamline communications and enhance critical business capabilities.

Glentel, a provider of wireless communications solutions in Canada, wanted to improve collaboration methods for its employees. To stay competitive, the company needed its work force to quickly and effectively share information and plan business strategies. However, existing communications tools were time consuming and awkward to use. In addition, a growing reliance on hosted Web conferencing services was becoming costly and raised security concerns. Glentel implemented a unified communications solution based on Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Now employees collaborate and use their time more efficiently with streamlined communications tools, and a more controlled communications environment strengthens security and regulatory compliance. The company will reduce costs by eliminating the need for external conferencing services.

Canada-based MTS Allstream is an IT software solution provider that develops IP-based communication solutions. The company’s managers and other employees spend much of their time on the road, visiting with customers and training staff members. As a result, these workers are heavily dependent on e-mail, voice mail, and online conferencing. Because it wanted to provide these workers with more flexible ways to communicate, Allstream sought a new solution. In mid-2007, the company deployed Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 to integrate messaging, conferencing, presence, and voice capabilities. As a result, Allstream has simplified communications, improved collaboration, and decreased travel time. The company has also consolidated IT tasks and can communicate more easily and more securely internally, as well as with partners and customers.

Since its inception 125 years ago, one of the largest telecommunications companies has been contributing to technology innovation and economic development. The company is looking to improve its research and development (R&D) processes, develop innovative products and services to meet customer needs, and shorten the time required to get products to market. To improve its ability to capture and share knowledge the company chose the 2007 Microsoft® Office system. Based on the first phase of a pilot program for a Microsoft-based knowledge management environment, the company expects to reduce time to market , decrease operating costs by U.S.$150,000 in the first year, and increase its R&D tax credit by 15 percent. The company plans to deploy the knowledge management solution in late 2007.