Jones Lang LaSalle Global Real Estate Firm Boosts Productivity by 15 Percent and Cuts Travel Costs

Jones Lang LaSalle provides professional real estate services from 750 locations in 60 countries. Many of its 30,000 employees work in outsourced arrangements, managing customer properties on-site, and many others work remotely. Mergers and acquisitions had resulted in a multivendor patchwork of voice communications systems, and workers used a range of instant messaging (IM) applications. To unify communications, the company integrated the existing infrastructure with Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 with Unified Messaging. With a single click, users can now call one another, initiate IM sessions, and set up conferences. They can also manage their e-mail and voice-mail messages from a single inbox. Productivity has risen 15 percent, executives travel less, and workgroups are realizing 30–40 percent in office space cost savings.

Situation

Jones Lang LaSalle is a growing, global company of more than 30,000 people working in 750 locations across 60 countries. Based in Chicago, it provides financial and professional services focused on real estate, including asset acquisition, management, and sales. Customers span both public and private sectors, with many of the world’s largest multinational enterprises outsourcing management of their locations to on-site Jones Lang LaSalle employees.

The ability of Office Communications Server 2007 to help users take advantage of IM, make calls from their computers, and do everything else they can do has improved productivity by at least 15 percent.  Paul Nielander Executive Vice President and Director of Global IT Operations Jones Lang LaSalle

The company wanted to improve productivity and support the communications needs of its workers, says Paul Nielander, Executive Vice President and Director of Global IT Operations for Jones Lang LaSalle. “For example, as a real estate leader,” he says, “we are heavily into alternative workplace strategies, so we need to enhance the communications capabilities for employees working remotely and give them greater connectivity.”

Growth, both internally and through acquisitions, has also driven connectivity requirements for Jones Lang LaSalle. “Most of our acquisitions are adding offices in many cities, and we also have normal, organic growth through expansion into regions like the Middle East, Russia, China, and India,” Nielander says. “We need to expand into markets quickly and cost-effectively, without buying a PBX [Private Branch Exchange] system every time we open an office.”
Jones Lang LaSalle wanted a solution that would improve and standardize employee communications while preserving the company’s extensive investments in existing infrastructure. “We wanted consistency so that our employees had a similar user experience no matter where they were within the company,” Nielander says.

Solution

Jones Lang LaSalle evaluated unified communications solutions from a number of its existing vendors: Microsoft, Avaya, Cisco, and Nortel along with its U.S. telecommunications providers SBC and Verizon. In the end, it chose to deploy a solution based on Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 for integrated presence, IM, software-powered voice over IP (VoIP), and conferencing. The company, which had used Microsoft software for many years, also decided to upgrade from Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 with Unified Messaging to deliver e-mail and voice messages to the same inbox.

“With our disparate systems worldwide,” says Nielander, “we needed an approach that could do two things. One was to integrate with existing infrastructure; the other was to become my primary solution when the depreciation on my underlying assets runs out. The hands-down winner was Office Communications Server 2007.”

In January 2008, Jones Lang LaSalle began planning for a pilot of 250 users, working with Microsoft Services consultants, who helped document requirements and specifications. In May 2008, Nielander brought in PointBridge, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and expert in unified communications that had worked with Jones Lang LaSalle on previous projects. PointBridge focused on voice integration, which required a software upgrade to the company’s Nortel CS 1000 PBX to Release 4.0 and the deployment of a Quintum Tenor DX2030 gateway.

The pilot began in June 2008. Users included members of the IT staff, the account services team, and the marketing group. Although most were based in different buildings at the company’s Chicago headquarters, many were in international locations including London, Singapore, Sydney, and Warsaw.

When the pilot phase successfully concluded in November 2008, Nielander approved the solution’s general rollout across Jones Lang LaSalle. The company has migrated all employees to Exchange Server 2007 with Unified Messaging, and administrators are deploying Office Communications Server 2007 to 100 new users each month, with a goal of migrating all 30,000 employees by 2011.

As time progresses, users are disconnecting themselves from their handsets and using only their USB headsets. So their PCs are truly becoming their communications devices.  Paul Nielander Executive Vice President and Director of Global IT Operations Jones Lang LaSalle

On the client side, Nielander says deployment went smoothly, too, with users downloading and installing the Office Communicator 2007 client themselves. After installation, a 10-minute tutorial was all they needed to get started. “The great part about Office Communicator 2007 is that no training was required,” he says. “It really has not been a support burden either.”

Users of the company’s new unified communications infrastructure now get all their e-mail, voice mail, and missed-call alerts in a single inbox accessible on their workstations, portable computers, or mobile devices. From within their Office Communicator 2007 client application, they can start an IM chat with a colleague, invite more people to join, share documents, switch to voice, and add video—all with simple one-click actions.

Mobile employees use wireless Plantronics USB headsets for their voice communications, while office workers use the headsets and Nortel desktop handsets. “As time progresses, users are disconnecting themselves from their handsets and using only their USB headsets,” Nielander reports. “So their PCs are truly becoming their communications devices.”

To facilitate group video conferencing, Jones Lang LaSalle deployed several Microsoft RoundTable™ conferencing and collaboration devices. Each device includes a built-in 360-degree camera to help mobile and home-based workers take part in group meetings as if they were in the same room. What’s more, they can easily record discussions and presentations for later reference.

Nielander is especially excited about the solution’s presence capability, which shows which users are on the network, their availability, and how to best communicate with them. For example, a needed expert may be on a teleconference but still accessible through IM. The feature integrates with Microsoft Office applications such as a user’s Microsoft Office Outlook® messaging and collaboration client. Jones Lang LaSalle also integrated presence into its Microsoft Dynamics® CRM software, its Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 portal, and the company’s newly launched intranet.

“Presence, thanks to Office Communications Server 2007, has been fantastic for us,” Nielander says. “Our intranet features a lot of people spaces with profiles, messages from management, and so forth, so if you find something interesting, you can just right-click and connect with the person by e-mail or IM.”

Benefits

The Microsoft unified communications solution has helped Jones Lang LaSalle increase productivity by 15 percent while providing working flexibility. It has also helped the company save workgroup real estate costs. Executives have avoided expensive, time-consuming travel by taking part in virtual meetings. The company is also saving on video conferencing and long-distance phone charges. Lastly, Jones Lang LaSalle can now open new offices faster and less expensively than it could with traditional premises-based hardware approaches. “Office Communications Server 2007 is strategic to our company’s future, and users are so endeared to it that I could never take it away,” says Nielander.

Office Communications Server 2007 is strategic to our company’s future, and users are so endeared to it that I could never take it away.  Paul Nielander Executive Vice President and Director of Global IT Operations Jones Lang LaSalle

Boosts Productivity by 15 Percent While Providing User Flexibility

With the new solution, Jones Lang LaSalle employees can switch effortlessly among voice, IM, and video. They can also see others’ availability and preferred contact modes, so they avoid making repeated attempts to reach someone. These capabilities add up to big gains in productivity. “The ability of Office Communications Server 2007 to help users take advantage of IM, make calls from their computers, and do everything else they can do has improved productivity by at least 15 percent,” Nielander says. 

Flexibility is also an important benefit. “Individuals can carry their phone number with them no matter where they are with full Office Communications Server 2007 integration, so they can accept a call, redirect it to a mobile device, use a PC as a phone, or even redirect calls to their homes,” Nielander says. “This has provided a lot of flexibility that benefits employees greatly, especially those who travel.”

Saves 30–40 Percent in Workgroup Office Space Costs

Nielander firmly believes that Office Communications Server 2007 will facilitate the company’s efforts to implement alternative workplace strategies. Its tools fully support remote workers, whether they are traveling, working from home, or operating day-to-day from a customer site. “For example,” he says, “in my IT group, we have desks for only 60–70 percent occupancy, so we’re saving 30–40 percent of the real estate that we’d otherwise need because we’re using Office Communications Server 2007.” With 800 employees in the company’s global headquarters in downtown Chicago, this space savings can translate into U.S.$150,000 per year in related real estate expenses.

Reduces Travel for Busy Executives

Given that Jones Lang LaSalle is a widely distributed global enterprise, travel is a big part of the job for thousands of its employees and also a big part of the company’s cost structure.

Project teams and executives already use the video conferencing capabilities of Office Communications Server 2007 to help cut travel. For example, the company’s global executive committee used Office Communications Server 2007 and a RoundTable device for three meetings in the past few months. This saved the time and cost of three committee members traveling from London and Singapore to the company’s Chicago headquarters. Not only did it save each executive a long travel day each way, but it also saved the company almost $65,000 in airfare alone, based on average nonstop, business-class fares.

Nielander says that the more users migrate to the Office Communications Server 2007 environment, the more travel savings he expects.

Cuts Video Conferencing and Long-Distance Phone Costs

Nielander has found that Office Communications Server 2007 and a webcam on his computer have made desktop video conferencing an everyday tool to help him build close relationships with his team members located in London, Singapore, and Sydney. “I need to be in touch with my individual team members if not daily, at least every couple of days, and using video with Office Communications Server 2007 has brought us closer as a team,” he says.

He compares that with the cost and complexity of previous video conferencing setups. “You had to schedule a conference room. Then you had to go to that room and get the other person to go into another conference room. And then you’d be scrutinized for having a video conference for just two people and the costs associated with that because you have all that dedicated equipment.”

The solution also helps save long-distance phone charges because employees can converse with international colleagues through their Office Communicator 2007 clients. Nielander estimates the savings in toll charges to be $50,000 a year.

Improves Security of IM Communications

Jones Lang LaSalle is eliminating the various IM applications used by its employees and standardizing on IM provided by Office Communications Server 2007. This has helped the company improve network security by reducing its vulnerability to IM-borne viruses and spam. Jones Lang LaSalle also has boosted the security of confidential information that could otherwise be compromised in transit. “IM in Office Communications Server 2007 can be used not only internally but externally with our customers,” Nielander says. “Employees can communicate with customers who use public IM services, or through federated connections, which is important because that’s how we do a portion of our business communications.”

Speeds the Opening of New Offices

Jones Lang LaSalle needs to expand into markets quickly and cost-effectively. When mergers or acquisitions occur, the IT team must integrate as many as 40 offices at a time. In recent years, the company also expanded into emerging markets such as China, India, Russia, and the Middle East. The new solution streamlines opening or integrating offices. “We can get an office up and running without having to go through all the expense of buying and installing a traditional phone system,” Nielander says. “We can implement 5-person to 15-person offices very quickly by simply allowing them to have the software version of their communications tools with Office Communications Server 2007.”

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 PointBridge products and services, call (312) 334-1900 or visit the Web site at:
www.pointbridge.com

For more information about Jones Lang LaSalle services, call (312) 782-5800 or visit the Web site at:
www.joneslanglasalle.com

Microsoft Office System

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Document published May 2009