West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service wanted to consolidate multiple communications platforms and provide employees with a new vision of work as an activity, not a location. The organisation implemented Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software to facilitate real-time communication and on-demand training. It benefits from improved employee communication and effectiveness—and significant cost savings.

Business Needs
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It has 48 fire stations, several administrative sites, and 2,200 employees. Its staff includes 1,600 full-time and 145 part-time firefighters, with the remainder being support staff.

WYFRS sought a highly secure and reliable solution to address employees’ needs for more efficient communication, while reducing costs related to mobile phone usage and travel expenses. “We’ve had challenges with the so-called telephone tag or email tag,” says Darren Stone, IT Manager of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. “We wanted ways to communicate more efficiently and to support work as an activity that can be performed anywhere an individual requires it to be done.”

In addition, WYFRS conducts training exercises in which they manufacture disaster scenarios to teach firefighters how to respond, and employees using e-learning tools needed more efficient ways to get answers to questions, which often took days. WYFRS wanted a communications infrastructure that could support on-demand training and federation with external agencies that participate in the drills.

Unified communications—especially presence—enables us to reduce mobile phone and travel costs and helps make our employees be more productive and connected. Darren Stone IT Manager, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

The telephony platform that WYFRS used did not interoperate with the organisation’s other business solutions. And communication channels weren’t integrated, so employees had to use different tools to access different information, from voice calls to email messages to instant messages. WYFRS wanted a solution that would combine telephony, instant messaging, and video conferencing and improved productivity.

“Employees asked us to support social media and collaboration tools, which our existing systems couldn’t cope with,” says Stone. “As IT professionals, we were the gatekeepers holding back new technology. We wanted employees to be able to use technology in ways that they’re accustomed to in their personal lives.”

Solution
For help with upgrading its infrastructure, WYFRS turned to POSTcti, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, which specializes in integrating voice with desktop and networking environments. After an extensive review of options, WYFRS settled on a short list that included solutions by Cisco, Novell, and Microsoft.

WYFRS decided to implement Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software. Lync brings together the different technologies people use to communicate—instant messaging, calling, audio and video conferencing, whiteboards, desktop and application sharing, and recording—in a single user interface.

Following a short pilot program in September 2010, WYFRS adopted Lync Server 2010 and deployed it to its central data centre with voice communication delivered over the organisation’s existing network. By using this approach, WYFRS can use Lync to connect to other fire services, emergency services, and government agencies through the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

“Lync is flexible enough to be deployed as a standalone PBX [private branch exchange],” says Adrian Sturdy, Senior Unified Communications Specialist at POSTcti. “This gives WYFRS the option to replace its PBX and use Lync to perform the majority of telephony tasks.”

Employees began using the presence capabilities in the Microsoft Lync 2010 client immediately. Presence establishes a user’s personal status through the use of states such as “Available” or “Busy.” If a contact is unavailable, users can tag the contact so that they will be notified automatically when the contact’s status changes. WYFRS also uses video conferencing tools in Lync to record training exercises, which they then make available to employees.

“Lync features a user-friendly interface that accesses information from many different starting points,” says Sturdy. “WYFRS employees at different sites can participate in online trainings, share desktops, and collaborate on documents. Lync is the glue that brings together all of the organisation’s communications solutions.”

Benefits
By deploying Lync Server 2010, WYFRS benefits from improved employee communication and productivity. These benefits result in a significant cost savings. “Now that we’ve implemented Lync along with integrated Microsoft technologies, we have a robust and reliable system to provide to our staff and the community of West Yorkshire,” says Stone. “Unified communications—especially presence—enables us to reduce mobile phone and travel costs and helps make our employees be more productive and connected.”

Improved Communication
WYFRS employees adapted quickly to the rich and familiar experience of the Lync 2010 client user interface. “We realized that we could train people in five minutes,” says Stone. “Effectively, if you need to communicate, click a name.”

Employees can use presence to communicate in real time and avoid the costs of traveling to meetings. “By using Lync, employees working at different sites can communicate with ease and immediacy,” says Stone.

Increased Effectiveness
Employees are more productive because they can approach colleagues at the right time in the way that is most effective for them. “We expect a 35 percent increase in productivity because of instant messaging and presence,” says Stone. “This is a huge benefit for a public sector organisation.”

WYFRS employees now bring portable computers to meetings and use presence and instant messaging to address issues right away. When working in the community, they can use mobile devices to manage email and securely access and enter information. “For fire investigators, mobile access to technology is crucial,” says Chris Clarke, Fire Investigation Team Leader at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. “While at the site of an incident, we can securely download information from fire safety databases around the world, 24 hours a day. This technology saves lives.”

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