4-page Case Study - Posted 11/5/2006

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Newport Communications

Consulting Firm Employees Are Never Out of Touch with New Messaging Solution

Newport Communications, a systems integration consulting company, provides business and technical solutions to a diverse range of government and commercial clients in France. As a forward-thinking company, Newport wanted to give its employees powerful tools for sharing information and accessing e-mail and voice-mail messages anytime, anywhere. To achieve this goal, Newport upgraded to a 64-bit messaging infrastructure with Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 and the Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 messaging and collaboration client. Employees who travel frequently have Windows Mobile® powered smartphones. With Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access and Outlook Anywhere in Exchange Server 2007, employees now have secure, reliable access to messages from almost any location. The new solution helps Newport cut costs, increase productivity, and maintain its advantage in a highly competitive market.

Situation

Founded in 1993, Newport Communications is a consulting, engineering, and training firm that specializes in network and system infrastructures. Based in Aix en Provence, France, the company has 30 employees and operates one of the largest training centers in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of France.

As a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner with nine gold certifications in various fields, Newport Communications is a progressive firm that strives to maintain a competitive advantage. The company wanted to help employees become more efficient by giving them the tools to access e-mail, voice-mail, and calendar data at all times. It also wanted to create a corporate portal where employees could share and access information collaboratively. Security, along with maximum performance and availability, were absolute requirements for a new messaging solution.

Solution

Newport recently made a strategic decision to overhaul its computer systems and imple¬ment Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 with the Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 messaging and collaboration client.

Newport replaced its aging server computers with 64-bit servers and deployed Exchange Server 2007 and Office Outlook 2007 during the third quarter of 2006. For employees on the go, Newport Communications provided Windows Mobile® powered smartphones. The IT staff drafted the project specifications in just one day, and the new setup features in Exchange Server 2007 made it possible to configure the messaging system quickly.

To ensure optimal security of the computer system and of confidential data, Newport also deployed Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004. And to give employees the ability to share information between work groups, Newport also implemented Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007. Both products integrate seamlessly with Exchange Server 2007.

Benefits

The new messaging solution at Newport has helped the company lower costs, increase employee productivity, and simplify management. And by adopting and mastering the features of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Newport is a step ahead of its competitors when it comes to implementing messaging solutions for its customers.

Increased Productivity

Newport successfully accomplished its goal of providing employees with anytime, anywhere access to messages and calendar information, which directly

[Scheduling Assistant] has let us move to dynamic management of employee date books and resources that make it possible to plan a meeting with a few clicks of the mouse.  Stephen Roux Technical Director, Consulting Division Newport Communications

Employees who travel rely on Windows Mobile powered smartphones as a convenient tool for staying in touch. Through Direct Push Technology in Exchange Server 2007 and ActiveSync® technology on their mobile devices, employees now receive updated e-mail messages and calendar information in real time.

In addition, with enhanced support in Exchange Server 2007 for Outlook Anywhere (formerly remote procedure call over HTTP) and Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access, Newport employees now have a variety of ways to access their Outlook information through the Web. With the Outlook Anywhere function of Exchange Server 2007, employees can use their portable computers when they are away from the office to access their Outlook inboxes directly over the Internet. Before deploying Exchange Server 2007, Newport maintained a virtual private network (VPN) to provide remote users with full access to their Outlook inboxes. Now, remote users no longer have to log in to the corporate network through a VPN.

When employees don’t have their portable computers, they can still connect to their Outlook inboxes from any Internet browser using Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access. Stephen Roux, Technical Director of the Consulting Division of Newport Communications, explains why this is an important feature, particularly for the company’s trainers. “Though it does offer Internet connections, the local network available in our training rooms is dissociated from our production computer system for safety reasons,” says Roux. “This tool [Outlook Web Access] allows trainers as well as all of our traveling employees to consult their e-mail and voice-mail messages from any Web access point.”

When Internet access isn’t available, employees can still gain access to e-mail and voice messages simply by placing a telephone call, thanks to new features of Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging. “Each employee types in his or her password. The tool reproduces messages stored in the voice-mail box and converts e-mail messages to voice messages via the text[-to-speech] recognition tool,” says Roux. Whether employees are meeting with a customer or are in a training room, at home, in the car, in a hotel, in a cafe, or even on the street, with just a telephone, they have immediate access to their Outlook information.

With these new products, Newport achieves its goal of providing a variety of options for employees to stay in touch. “Exchange Server 2007 revolutionizes the idea of mobility by offering a complete range of access to personal tools through ActiveSync clients, Outlook Web Access, and the Outlook Anywhere function,” says Roux.

Improved Organizational Efficiency

Employees at Newport especially appreciate how easily they can schedule meetings with Exchange Server 2007. The Scheduling Assistant automates the formerly tedious task of comparing calendars to find out the availability of individuals and rooms. With the Scheduling Assistant, users see a graphical representation of the reservation schedule for meeting rooms and equipment, such as video projectors. “[Scheduling Assistant] has let us move to dynamic management of employee date books and resources that make it possible to plan a meeting with a few clicks of the mouse,” says Roux. “All we need to do is enter the employee names and the type of resource needed, and the tool provides the first available date.”

Cost Savings

Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging represents a three-fold cost savings for Newport. First, the firm avoided the expense of purchasing a voice-mail system. “In addition to the functional benefits of a single access point to e-mail and voice-mail boxes, there is a significant financial gain. Our telephone switchboard did not offer a voice-mail system, and this tool [Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging] allowed us to save on the expense of a new PBX (Private Branch Exchange) or telephone switchboard.” Second, Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging made it possible for Newport to eliminate its dedicated voice-mail server and the expense of managing it. Third, using Windows Mobile powered smartphones made it possible for Newport to do away with the dedicated server that was required to support mobile devices from other vendors.

Improved System Management

IT administrators at Newport appreciate the enhancements to the administration tools in Exchange Server 2007. “The previous version of Exchange Server showed all administration functions on the same screen, which increased the risk of manipulation errors by new users,” says Roux. Now, the streamlined graphical interface only shows essential management functions, such as creation and deletion of mailboxes, contact files, and message distribution groups.

“Advanced functions such as definition of e-mail account rights and configuration of the anti spam tool are only accessible through the Windows® PowerShell, reserved for the administrator,” says Roux. This separation of management functions makes it possible for IT administrators to delegate daily operation of the tool to non-specialized personnel. And with the Exchange Management Shell, the administrator now has access to new and extremely powerful functions. “With a few lines of commands, all company e-mail addresses can be changed to replace, for example, the initials with the complete last and first names of the employees,” says Roux.

Enhanced System Availability

Until it implemented Exchange Server 2007, the IT staff at Newport performed daily backups of Exchange Server data. But that routine has changed now with Local Continuous Replication, a feature in Exchange Server 2007 that stores a duplicate copy of the production database and keeps it up-to-date. “Now, the Local Continuous Replication feature guarantees maximum security of mailbox data by duplicating it in real time on a server interfaced with the central Exchange [Server] platform,” says Roux.

In the event of server breakdown, administrators can quickly and easily switch to the replica database. This feature prevents the possibility of extended mailbox downtime, which would be detrimental to the activities of the computer engineering service company.

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 who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. 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 Newport Communications products and services, call +33 (04) 42394697 or visit the Web site at:
www.newport-com.com

Microsoft Server Product Portfolio

For more information about the Microsoft server product portfolio, go to:
www.microsoft.com/servers/default.mspx

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

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. 

Document published November 2006