Indiana University

IT Services Firm Helps University Improve Communication, Cut Costs with New Solution

Indiana University, with eight campuses, is one of the largest universities in the United States. Thousands of university employees, including the school’s IT staff, rely on voice mail and e-mail to communicate and perform their jobs. Over the last several years, however, the number of mobile employees has grown dramatically. In an effort to help those workers communicate more effectively, the school sought to integrate its voice network and computer applications. In late 2007, Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner Enabling Technologies helped the school implement a unified communications solution based on Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging. This growing solution has streamlined and enhanced communications for employees and increased their productivity. It has also reduced travel time and costs and simplified IT administration.

Situation

Indiana University is a large university system with more than 110,000 students, faculty, and staff on eight campuses. It is one of the biggest universities in the United States, as well as one of the oldest state universities in the Midwest.

I can communicate much better…. I can instantly see if someone is on a call or in a meeting, and then I just click on his or her name in Office Communicator 2007 to call or send an instant message.  Michael Lucas Director of Telecommunications Infrastructure Indiana University

More than 36,000 faculty, staff, and students on all eight campuses use a Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 e-mail messaging account Faculty and administrative employees depend on e-mail to schedule appointments and communicate with each other. Until recently, they also relied solely on the university’s Private Branch Exchange (PBX) phone system to communicate through voice mail.

However, communicating effectively through e-mail and voice mail had become increasingly challenging as more IT employees began working away from their offices. Employees are using laptops and mobile devices more often, and collaboration between the various campuses is growing. “Mobility is definitely on the rise within the IT department,” says Michael Lucas, Director of Telecommunications Infrastructure, Indiana University. “Many of us work on different campuses over the course of a week. For example, I work on the Indianapolis campus up to three days a week, but I still need to stay in touch with the main office in Bloomington. I really need to be reachable no matter where I am.”

The need for IT staff members to be mobile makes it challenging for them to meet regularly. “We’re supposed to have monthly meetings,” says Paul Clegg, Manager of Voice Networks, Indiana University. “But I have staff located in four different buildings on two separate campuses. It’s hard getting them all together in a central place, even with our existing video conferencing environment.

Using rooms for a video conference in several buildings means we tie up several conference rooms with one meeting. Staff members also like having access to their office, e-mail, and phone while away from their offices, so they don’t miss important phone calls or urgent e-mail messages. ”

In an effort to improve communications and collaboration for its increasingly mobile IT staff, Indiana University decided to implement a software solution that would provide more flexibility and increased functionality. The school determined that it needed a solution that would build on its telephony capabilities while seamlessly integrating with the university’s investments in Windows®-based IT infrastructure. “We use the Active Directory® service to manage the network, and the majority of our users now have the 2007 Microsoft Office system applications on their computers,” says Lucas. “In terms of growing our telephony and e-communications infrastructure, we needed better integration. Specifically, we needed to be able to better integrate our IP PBX communication capabilities with the Microsoft applications people use every day.” 

Solution

In October 2007, on behalf of Indiana University, Microsoft enlisted the help of its Gold Certified Partner Enabling Technologies, a global IT consulting company based in Baltimore, Maryland. The organization specializes in implementing integrated unified communications solutions based on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging gives employees a unified inbox in which they can receive voice-mail messages and e-mail messages through Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 messaging and collaboration client. Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 provides a single user interface to combine telephony, conferencing, presence, and instant messaging functions directly from employees’ PCs. They can also use it to perform remote call control for any desk phone connected to an IP-PBX.

Microsoft contracted with Enabling Technologies to integrate Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging and Office Communications Server 2007 to the existing IP-PBX phone system through a direct SIP connection, a process that took two weeks to complete. “We largely provided technical expertise for the Office Communications Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging installations,” says Brian Vrieze, Project Manager, Enabling Technologies.

Every user in the university already has an account set up through Active Directory.... As we scale the solution, it will be simple for us to activate existing accounts for Office Communications Server 2007.  Michael Lucas Director of Telecommunications Infrastructure Indiana University

Enabling also installed Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging software, set the solution’s dial plans, and integrated Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging with Office Communications Server 2007. The Enabling deployment team also configured the Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging auto attendants, which give users the ability to listen to their e-mail messages over their phones. 

Additionally, Enabling implemented the Office Communications Server 2007 Edge Server role, which provides federation capabilities and lets Indiana University users access Office Communications Server 2007 through a virtual private network (VPN) connection. The Edge Server role also gives university employees the ability to use Web conferencing with outside organizations.
 
The university initially deployed Office Communications Server 2007 to a user group of 50 IT employees. “Our goal was to build a resilient environment with scalability and failover capabilities,” says Matt Dixon, Messaging Systems Engineer, Indiana University. The deployment team also implemented Office Outlook 2007.

With the new solution, Indiana University faculty members and IT professionals can send and receive e-mail messages and instant messages; place and answer phone calls; and initiate audio, video, and Web conferences from their Microsoft Office applications. They can also use Office Communicator 2007 or any desktop phone to place calls, and can easily communicate with other internal IP-PBX users by dialing five-digit internal phone extensions. Additionally, employees can use the Office Communicator 2007 client to answer calls made to their desk phone, even if they’re working remotely. 

In February 2008, Indiana University expanded the solution to 400 users at both the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses. The university plans to further expand the user group across all of its campuses, with the idea that all 36,000 accounts on the network will be offered the same unified communications capabilities.

Benefits

The capabilities provided through the new Office Communications Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging solution greatly improve Indiana University IT employee communication and make it easier for them to conduct regular meetings. The solution ultimately saves time and money and significantly enhances employee productivity. With its single integrated architecture, it also simplifies overall IT management and reduces costs for the university.

Improves Communication for Mobile Workers

With the new solution’s unified communications capabilities, mobile IT employees at Indiana University now have a better ability to get in touch with each other. Using Office Communications Server 2007 features like presence awareness, employees can quickly and easily see whether a colleague is available. “I can communicate much better with my colleagues,” says Lucas. “I can instantly see if someone is on a call or in a meeting, and then I just click on his or her name in Office Communicator 2007 to call or send an instant message. I don’t have to use more than one client to do all that.”

Using Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging, employees can easily receive both voice-mail and e-mail messages on their computers through Office Outlook 2007. As a result, they can communicate effectively without being tied to their offices. This gives some employees a greater ability to telecommute. “I can work from anywhere now,” says Jennifer Van Horn, Manager of Network Distribution, Indiana University. “Recently, we’ve had some heating and cooling issues in our main Bloomington building, and I was able to take my laptop and go to another part of the building and continue taking phone calls and e-mail messages.”

Organizing meetings through Office Communications Server 2007 and scheduling them through Office Outlook 2007 is very easy. No matter where employees are located, they can join a Microsoft Office Live Meeting.  Paul Clegg Manager of Voice Networks Indiana University

By using the solution’s voice features, Indiana University employees have much better integrated and enhanced call functionality than before. “With Office Communicator 2007, placing and receiving calls is so much easier,” says Lucas. “When my IP-PBX phone rings, I get a message on my computer screen with the caller’s number and name. At that point, I can choose to answer the call on my computer or on my desk phone. Or, if I’m rushing out the door, I can forward the call to my cell phone.”

Increases IT Staff’s Ability to Meet Regularly

Because they now have integrated communication tools, IT employees at the university can meet more easily and regularly. “Organizing meetings through Office Communications Server 2007 and scheduling them through Office Outlook 2007 is very easy,” says Clegg. “No matter where employees are located, they can join a Microsoft Office Live Meeting on their computer. They only need a video camera and USB headset, and we can conduct a meeting as if we were in the same room. That has given us the opportunity to meet anytime we choose.”

Lucas reports that impromptu meetings are also on the rise as a result of this technology. “My boss was in a hotel in California recently while I was in Indianapolis,” he says. “Using Office Communicator 2007, he sent me an instant message to ask if I had time for a phone call to discuss some work issues, and we were able to take care of that business very quickly. If we had wanted to, we could also have easily escalated that call to a video conference. It’s remarkably flexible.”

Saves Time and Money

Indiana University may also be able to reduce travel time to handle specific kinds of employee training thanks to Office Communicator 2007. “We just hired an IT person in Bloomington, and I needed to train him even though I was on the Indianapolis campus,” Clegg says. “All I had to do was open Office Communicator 2007 to demonstrate everything to him in real time. What might have taken a full day, considering the travel time, only took a few minutes.”

Lucas adds, “By not driving so much between campuses, there’s no doubt we’ll reduce travel costs,” says Lucas. “That’s a very big advantage, considering how fuel prices keep going up.”

Increases Employee Productivity

With the ability to take advantage of integrated voice and computer functions, university IT employees can be more efficient and productive at work. For instance, by using Active Directory as the single directory for contacts, employees can quickly and easily find colleagues. “I no longer have to spend time looking for a person in an outdated online directory,” remarks Van Horn. “That actually means I can get more accomplished during my day.”

The presence awareness feature in Office Communications Server 2007 will help boost employee productivity. “By using this solution, I can see that my boss is on another call,” says Lucas. “All I need to do is send him an instant message telling him to call me when he’s free. So I don’t have to put effort into leaving voice-mail messages or trying to track him down. I can keep working until he calls me back.”

Uses a Single, Complementary Architecture to Simplify IT Management

The unified communications solution is based on a single, complementary technology architecture, which means that there are fewer components to deploy, operate, and support. In addition, the system uses Active Directory as the single directory for the IT and telephony environment, which simplifies management for Indiana University IT managers. “Every user in the university already has an account set up through Active Directory,” says Lucas. “Students, IT staff, and faculty are all in the directory. That is one of the keys to this solution for us, because it simplifies administration. As we scale the solution, it will be easy for us to activate existing accounts for Office Communications Server 2007.”

The single architecture also means that IT administrators will not have to work on more than one system as the number of online meetings and conferences grows. “More and more, we will be doing conference calls through Office Communications Server 2007,” says Clegg. “We won’t have to expand the ports on our existing conferencing systems. It really streamlines everything for us.”

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:
http://www.microsoft.com/

For more information about Enabling Technologies products and services, call (443) 625-5100 or visit the Web site at:
http://www.enablingtechcorp.com/

For more information about Indiana University products and services, call (812) 855-4848 or visit the Web site at:
http://www.indiana.edu/

Microsoft Office System

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For more information about the Microsoft Office system, go to:
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Document published September 2008