Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell Brings Work to the People with Global Unified Communications Strategy

In 2006, Royal Dutch Shell announced a multiyear program to transform its communication and collaboration tool set and provide software-powered unified communications to more than 100,000 users worldwide. To deliver this system, Shell selected Microsoft and its partner Nortel, who together form the Innovative Communications Alliance. Shell deployed a pilot involving 800 users of Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007, of whom more than 200 used voice over IP (VoIP). Participating users can access colleagues easily using voice, presence awareness, instant messaging, and other channels from a single intuitive interface. The next phase will involve replacing the current telephony solution for all users with a combination of Office Communications Server 2007 VoIP and Nortel telephony solutions. When fully implemented, the solution will reduce operating costs and business travel.

Situation

Our primary aim in deploying Office Communications Server 2007 is to give greater flexibility to our key employees and add value to what they do through a better working environment.  Johan Krebbers Group IT Architect Royal Dutch Shell

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Royal Dutch Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies. One of the world’s largest private-sector energy corporations, it had annual revenues of U.S. $318.8 billion in 2006. Shell believes that oil and gas will be integral to the global energy needs for economic development for many decades to come. The company’s aim is to extract and deliver those resources profitably and in environmentally and socially responsible ways.

Shell also produces bitumen and refined products and chemicals, transports natural gas, trades gas and electricity, and develops renewable energy sources. It has the largest retail network in the world with 45,000 Shell service stations in more than 90 countries serving millions of customers each day.

Innovative communication and collaboration solutions are critical to the company’s work force of 108,000 people, who work in more than 130 countries and territories in locations as diverse as upstream exploration sites, refineries, and trading floors. Large projects depend on teamwork between individuals as far afield as the Netherlands, Siberia, and Houston, Texas, in the United States. And recent years have seen the company focus increasingly on collaboration and partnership with third-party organizations.

When it comes to telephony and voice communications, Shell relies on a traditional Private Branch Exchange (PBX) infrastructure. Until recently, the company recommended PBX vendors to its worldwide subsidiaries, but local decisions were based on the availability and cost of equipment. As a result, the company now has hundreds of disparate PBX systems from many vendors.

The Shell IT infrastructure reveals a more consolidated approach. The company has succeeded in standardizing largely on Microsoft® software; its business systems run the Microsoft Windows® 2000 Server, operating system while most desktops run Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Office 2000. Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 supports e-mail and scheduling for all users. The Active Directory® service is used for central authentication and authorization services.

For audio, video, and Web conferencing, the company depends on a number of vendors. It has many Web conferencing rooms in sites worldwide. But many employees find it too time-consuming to set up a Web conference, and many prefer audio conferencing services. 

So many technologies inevitably contribute to the company’s overall costs. Says Johan Krebbers, Group IT Architect, Royal Dutch Shell, “With recent advances in VoIP technology, it no longer makes sense to run two separate systems for voice communications and computing.”

But he is keen to stress that the company’s communications policy focuses on more than just cost. “One of our greatest challenges is the need to access unique experts, including third-party consultants and joint ventures, whenever and wherever they may be,” says Krebbers.

Shell also wants to reduce the need for travel. For example, scientists, petroleum exploration experts, and executives take trips to hard-to-reach locations such as Sakhalin―a far eastern Russian territory―and Nigeria. Says Krebbers, “Our whole desire is to bring the work to our people, rather than bring people to the work, by deploying an enterprise wide unified communications solution. Whether people are inside or outside Shell, there should be no difference.”

The company has already taken the first steps toward the integration of its voice and IT infrastructures. At the beginning of 2006, it concluded a tendering process that was won by a partnership made up of Microsoft and Nortel, who call their combined offering the Innovative Communications Alliance (ICA).

Approximately 1,000 Shell employees were transferred to the new system, where they used one of two voice environments:

• Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 on client devices, hosted by Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005.
• Nortel IP hard phones managed by Nortel Communication Server 1000 IP PBXs.

These employees were also able to take advantage of presence awareness and instant messaging (IM) hosted by Live Communications Server 2005.

The company is now taking the next steps for the deployment of a true unified communications environment that will make both real-time communications and unified messaging accessible from a single intuitive interface.

Solution

By using Office Communicator 2007, an employee in Nigeria will know instantly if a coworker in Siberia or the Netherlands is available and the best way to contact him or her. It is a single, transparent environment for the user.  Johan Krebbers Group IT Architect Royal Dutch Shell

Toward the end of 2007, Shell started the deployment of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 to about 800 users. This real-time communications and presence awareness server software builds on the success of Live Communications Server 2005, offering more advanced presence awareness, true enterprise IM, and conferencing (audio, video, and Web). Critically for Shell, Office Communications Server 2007 also has fully integrated soft-phone functionality, which means that end users can click-to-call within the familiar Microsoft Office system environment.

In this early deployment, Office Communications Server 2007 was connected to the company’s Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) system through an AudioCodes Mediant 2000 voice over IP (VoIP) gateway and an Office Communications Server 2007 Mediation Server. Both Microsoft and Nortel hard-phone endpoints operated under a single dial plan, based on Active Directory.

Employees used Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 client software on their PCs or laptops to initiate conversations and conferences with IM, voice, and video. By using state-of-the-art presence awareness features, they were able to ascertain the availability of colleagues and the best channel of communication at any given time.

The pilot also examined the viability of different options for remote access. Employees equipped with laptops running Office Communicator 2007 were able to access presence awareness, voice, and IM capabilities through an Internet connection or a wireless hotspot without needing to establish a virtual private network (VPN) connection. Participants were also able to use any Internet-enabled PC or laptop to connect to Office Communications Server 2007 through the Microsoft Office Communicator Web Access client. Using this browser-based application, they were able to participate in IM conversations and take advantage of presence awareness functionality.

Based on the success of this deployment and feedback from users, Shell now considers Office Communications Server 2007 stable enough to play a significant role in the company’s global unified communications strategy. Over the coming years, Shell hopes to progressively retire local PBXs and instead host all real-time communications from the company’s three global data centers in Houston; Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Each data center will host the Microsoft servers and will handle all VoIP control for more than 40,000 IP Nortel hard phones and soft phones based on Office Communicator 2007. Nortel IP gateways will be used to connect the three data centers to the PSTN.

In tandem, Shell will deploy Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 to complete its unified communications solution. The Unified Messaging functionality of this software ensures that voice messages, faxes, e-mail, appointments, and contacts all appear together in the user’s inbox based on the Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 messaging and collaboration client. Full integration with Office Communications Server 2007 means that real-time communications and unified messaging will all be available from the same technology foundation. This will provide users with a seamless communications experience and gives the business a fully integrated communications infrastructure. Above all, it means that they will no longer need to access voice mail from a separate system using a traditional hard phone. Other advantages over traditional voice mail include the ability to see how many messages have been received, and from whom, at a glance.

At the same time, Shell has been deploying Nortel telephony solutions integrated with Office Communications Server 2007. Under the ICA, most local Shell offices will deploy Nortel Communication Server 1000 IP PBXs into their national telephone networks. For example, global communications out of the Shell New Zealand office will be managed by the Malaysia data center, while local calls will be managed through a Nortel gateway into the PSTN. In addition, Nortel will support Shell in the deployment of analog exchanges where the company is required by law to maintain this service.

Benefits

The early deployment of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007 to 800 users gives Shell staff and external experts an easy-to-use interface with a set of powerful communications tools. They include IM, voice over IP, and conferencing (audio and Web). The pilot has shown that employees can work more flexibly and communicate effectively on the move and from remote sites. Employees have also responded positively to enhanced presence awareness, and they are using this feature to reduce unanswered messages and accelerate communications. In the longer term, Shell expects to reduce operating costs and the financial and time burden of business travel with a centralized VoIP, messaging, and collaboration infrastructure based on Microsoft technology. It also expects to reduce costs by gradually retiring its PBX system and migrating entirely to VoIP telephony.

Employees appreciate being able to use Office Communications Server 2007 to place phone calls whether they are at home or traveling—and at no cost.  Johan Krebbers Group IT Architect Royal Dutch Shell

Effective, Simplified Communications Increase Productivity

Shell employees can now access all their communications tools from Office Communicator 2007, the preferred client for Office Communications Server 2007. Voice, IM, and conferencing (audio and Web) discussions are all conducted using a familiar, intuitive interface. “Our primary aim in deploying Office Communications Server 2007 is to give greater flexibility to our key employees and add value to what they do through a better working environment,” says Krebbers.

What’s more, it becomes much easier for Shell employees to switch from one communications channel to another. If an IM conversation develops into a more detailed discussion, for example, a user can initiate a voice call simply by clicking on the icon of the person that the employee wants to speak with.

Office Communications Server 2007 also creates a more efficient working environment because employees’ phone numbers and voice mail aren’t fixed to a specific phone device. Now, employees just click on the icon of the person they want to contact and Office Communications Server 2007 routes the call to wherever that person is logged on. “Employees appreciate being able to use Office Communications Server 2007 to place phone calls whether they are at home or traveling—and at no cost,” says Krebbers.

Remote Access Promotes Flexible Workplace Culture

“The challenge we have with exploration is that we explore globally for oil and gas,” says Krebbers. “We have people all over the world doing that kind of business.”

Critically, Office Communications Server 2007 will bring the full benefits of unified communications to the majority of employees, from staff working in these remote locations to those based in headquarters and regional offices. Employees traveling with laptops will be able to use the full range of voice, IM, and presence functions, as long as they have an Internet or wireless connection through which they will connect to one of the global data centers.

Web access also plays a vital role in more remote locations. All that employees need to do is open a Web browser and enter the appropriate URL, user name, and password to access the presence awareness and IM functionality of Office Communications Server 2007 through the Office Communicator Web Access client.

Presence Awareness Accelerates Global Communications

With Shell employees working in different time zones and locations, it is essential that they can contact and communicate with colleagues effectively. With Office Communications Server 2007, employees know whether a colleague is “online,” “out of office,” or “busy,” indicated by the presence icon next to people’s names in Office Communicator 2007. This helps staff to reach each other on the first try, and it shows an employee the best way of reaching a coworker before even initiating contact.

Krebbers says, “By using Office Communicator 2007, an employee in Nigeria will know instantly if a coworker in Siberia or the Netherlands is available and the best way to contact him or her. It is a single, transparent environment for the user.” Users have responded positively to this enhanced capability. “Presence awareness in Office Communications Server 2007 is one of the most heavily used features,” he says.

Communications Tools Improve Collaboration with Third Parties

Krebbers points out that unified communications for Shell means much more than simply greater collaboration between the company’s employees. For it to be truly successful, it must support a growing number of partnerships with energy industry partners, consultancies, and individual experts.

This is especially important as the quest for oil and gas steers upstream activities and exploration to increasingly remote locations where the company must call on local expertise and other specialists. Partnerships also play a critical role in the search for alternative energy sources, where expertise and knowledge reside in smaller businesses and new players in the energy industry.

The federation features of Office Communications Server 2007 play a valuable role here. People from other organizations, using non Microsoft IM solutions, can engage in IM conversations and use the presence awareness features of Office Communications Server 2007.

Centralized Infrastructure Reduces Costs

A centralized VoIP system for Shell, based on Microsoft servers, will reduce the cost and complexity of managing multiple PBXs at global offices. It will centralize all call control, collaboration, and management servers into three data centers.

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For more information about Royal Dutch Shell products and services, visit the Web site at:
www.shell.com

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Document published February 2008