Sprint Success Story
Overview
Country or Region: United States
Industry: Telecommunications
Customer Profile
Sprint Nextel is a leading provider of wireless and wireline communications services. Headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, Sprint has approximately 50,000 employees located around the globe.
Business Situation
The company wanted to improve the effectiveness of communication for employees, while reducing expensive local carrier and Private Branch Exchange (PBX) maintenance costs.
Solution
Sprint deployed Microsoft® unified communications technologies, leveraging its own Sprint Global MPLS network and SIP Trunking, which unify voice over IP, conferencing, presence, instant messaging, e-mail, and voice mail.
Benefits
· Potential savings of U.S.$6 million a year in local carrier charges
· Reduced yearly PBX upgrades and maintenance costs by $1.2 million
· Environmental sustainability savings of $1.5 million a year
· Replacement of 18 voice mail systems saving $675,000 annually
“When Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 is fully deployed, the company expects to save $6million per year in local carrier charges alone.” Joe Hamblin, Manager of Unified Communications for Client Services, Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel wanted to improve communications options for its mobile work force and reduce expensive local carrier connection fees and Private Branch Exchange maintenance costs. To meet its goals, Sprint invested in a Microsoft® unified communications solution that provides integrated voice over IP, conferencing, instant messaging and presence, e-mail, and unified messaging capabilities. Sprint deployed Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Office Communications Server 2007 on more than 66,000 devices and is in the process of deploying voice capabilities to nearly 500 offices nationwide. When the solution is fully deployed, Sprint expects to see annual benefits of more than U.S.$9.3 million. In addition to deploying this solution for its own internal use, Sprint is one of the first U.S.-based providers of SIP Trunking services qualified for use with Office Communications Server 2007 R2.
Situation
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services that bring the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses, and government users. Sprint is widely recognized for developing, engineering, and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving nearly 50 million customers at the end of the fourth quarter 2008; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, Sprint employs approximately 50,000 people.
Sprint employees tend to be very mobile, with operations and customers spread around the globe. Within office locations, high employee mobility often leads to inefficiencies with physical office spaces and utilities. The company’s current communications solutions, based around 489 Private Branch Exchange (PBX) systems deployed at each location, were not supporting these mobile employees because most communications were tied to a desk phone. “As Sprint employees have become increasingly mobile, the limitations of traditional PBX systems have become increasingly clear. We realized that we need a solution that provides rich communications to our employees not just in their office, but wherever they are working,” explains Joe Hamblin, Manager of Unified Communications for Client Services in Sprint’s IT organization.
The 489 PBX systems were also costly to operate. Each PBX has trunk connections to Local Exchange Carriers (LEC), which incur ongoing connection charges, and each requires on-site maintenance and annual upgrades.
Sprint first looked at hardware-based voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solutions. It quickly realized that a stand-alone VoIP solution did not solve its mobility goal because users were still required to communicate from their desks. As Hamblin explains, “There was no business case to replace our existing phones, that work really very well, with a VoIP phone that basically does the same thing.”
After deciding that a traditional hardware-centric VoIP solution would not meet its needs, Sprint began to research alternatives. With a software-powered approach from Microsoft and Sprint Global Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and SIP Trunking, the company immediately saw an opportunity to provide the mobile communications solution required by the business. SIP Trunking is the use of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) to pass telephony traffic from the enterprise network directly to a network service provider over an IP connection. Sprint Global MPLS is a network-based IP virtual private network (VPN) available globally across the Sprint global tier 1 internet backbone.
Solution
Sprint decided on a Microsoft® solution because it saw that Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 e-mail messaging and collaboration software could provide all of the communications capabilities required by the organization. The solution integrates with existing infrastructure, is easy to use, and can scale to meet future needs. Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (the successor to Live Communications Server 2005) is one of the cornerstones of the Microsoft unified communications platform, powering the workloads for software-powered VoIP, instant messaging and presence, and audio, video, and Web conferencing. The other cornerstone, Exchange Server 2007, provides integrated e-mail and unified messaging capabilites.
“We selected Microsoft because we believe a communications solution must not only handle voice, but must also be well integrated with e-mail and calendaring,” explains Hamblin. “Since we use Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 for e-mail, Microsoft was able to unify our communications when you look at the whole solution. Our goal was to minimize the number of vendors for client and server applications.”
Office Communications Server 2007 R2
Even before the deployment of Office Communications Server 2007 was complete, Sprint decided to test Office Communications Server 2007 R2, which includes a host of new features and enhancements to streamline communications, increase flexibility, and incorporate communications into business processes. Sprint’s testing began in late 2008 and the upgrade will be fully deployed by March 2009. Sprint plans to immediately take advantage of three specific enhancements: Sprint Global MPLS and SIP Trunking, Office Communicator Attendant, and server-based audio conferencing.
At the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 launch in February 2009, Michael Browne, Director of IT Client Services at Sprint, was quoted in the Seattle Post Intelligencer as saying that Sprint uses so many Microsoft offerings that the integration makes the solution very cost effective.
Instant Messaging and Presence
In early 2007, the Sprint IT Desktop team had deployed Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 and Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 for enterprise instant messaging (IM). This IM and presence solution gave Sprint encrypted and authenticated IM, and enabled users to see colleagues’ presence information—that is, their availability and contact preferences.
In 2008, Sprint deployed Office Communicator 2007 instant messaging and presence capabilities to all of its employees on more than 66,000 devices. “We are a big IM community. Using advanced presence capabilities and integration with Microsoft Office, we can quickly locate the right people and handle questions or issues instantly,” says Hamblin. Users are taking advantage of new capabilities, such as multi-user chat, to facilitate improved communications.
Voice
Sprint then began replacing PBX systems at local offices. The company deployed the voice capabilities in Microsoft Office Communications Server to three to five sites a week. By March 2009, 5,000 employees were using Office Communications Server as their primary voice solution and more than 40 PBXs and circuits had been replaced by the centralized Office Communications Server deployment. To deploy the solution, Sprint sends a technician to each site, who ports the number over to the enterprise trunking services, deploys the headsets, trains the end users, shuts down the PBX, and puts in the disconnect orders to the LEC. Sprint uses a Nortel CS2100 switch to route calls from the Sprint SIP Trunking service to Office Communications Server.
The 5,000 Sprint employees with Office Communications Server voice capabilities now receive their office phone calls on their computer, whenever the computer is connected to the Internet. They use Plantronics Supra Plus QD headsets that have been optimized for Microsoft Office Communicator. In addition to dedicated mute buttons and quick disconnect connectivity, features that were critical to end-user satisfaction, these headsets have been tested and qualified by Microsoft to offer high quality audio and lower overall deployment risk and costs through “just works” installation. With its large percentage of mobile employees, Sprint takes advantage of the call-forwarding capabilities of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. Calls coming in to employees’ office numbers can be forwarded to their cell phones when they are away from their desks.
Beginning in March 2009, Sprint will use SIP Trunking to connect Office Communications Server directly to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The solution will centralize its telephony connections into the data center, making it possible to shut down the Nortel CS2100 switch that was previously required for voice connectivity. By making this change, Sprint will save a significant amount of money in equipment, telephony connection charges, and administration costs.
Sprint will also take advantage of Office Communicator Attendant, an intuitive, integrated call management application (attendant console) that facilitates accurate and rapid call handling and routing for front-line business professionals. “These features in Office Communications Server 2007 R2 are critical for Sprint’s administration staff to manage phone coverage on behalf of their teams and provide more responsive customer service,” says Hamblin. The Office Communicator Attendant also takes advantage of presence information to indicate individual availability and the best means of contact.
Unified Messaging
When employees receive access to the capabilities in Office Communications Server, they are also moved onto Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging. Exchange Unified Messaging provides Sprint employees with voice and FAX messages through Microsoft Office Outlook® messaging and collaboration client. Sprint has 18 voice mail systems that are being phased out in 2009 as Unified Messaging is deployed.
Conferencing
As part of Sprint’s Office Communications Server 2007 deployment, Sprint employees will also begin using the Web conferencing capabilities, replacing NetMeeting, which is currently used. “It’s more convenient for users to have conferencing capabilities integrated into their existing Communicator or Outlook client,” explains Hamblin.
Sprint also plans to deploy 12 Microsoft RoundTable™ communications and archival systems this year. Microsoft RoundTable offers synchronized voice and video conferencing with a 360-degree panoramic view of everyone in the conference room. Any remote participants using Office Communicator 2007 or the Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 Web conferencing service and a webcam can see side-by-side images of all of the people in the conference room.
With Office Communicator 2007 R2, Sprint can also host audio conferences available to both internal and external users. When scheduling an audio conference, an organizer can add a conference call number to the conference. Invitees can use any phone to dial into the conference and participate in the audio portion of the conference. “Conferencing is as easy as point and click. If you want to add someone to your call, you can click on their name and easily drag and drop them into your conference,” Hamblin explains. “Using this solution is a lot quicker and more efficient than trying to invite people through separate e-mail invitations or gather a bunch of people in a conference room huddled around a speaker phone.”
Solution Costs
Since the deployment began, Sprint has lowered its original estimates for deployment costs by 42 percent to approximately U.S.$9 million. Sprint has spent $7 million to date and predicts another $2 million by the time deployment is complete in 2010. A significant reason for this lower cost estimate is the fact that more people than originally expected are comfortable with headsets. Sprint had originally factored in more expensive IP-phones. “What we are finding out is our people are comfortable using less expensive headsets that are optimized for the Microsoft Office Communicator environment,” says Hamblin. “If they need an actual IP-phone, there are also more inexpensive options on the market than when we created the business case.”
Benefits
Using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007, integrated with Exchange Server 2007 and the Microsoft Office 2007 suites, Sprint is providing its staff with a familiar and easy-to-use solution to improve end-user productivity, while eliminating costs associated with expensive local carrier fees and yearly PBX maintenance and upgrades. With the solution, Sprint employees find that they can work from anywhere and reach one another more quickly and easily. Overall, Sprint estimates the project will have an internal rate of return of 90 percent, annual benefits of $9.4 million and pay for itself in 10 months (Figure 1). This return is based on hard dollar cost savings. Sprint expects significant productivity gains as well but did not quantify these benefits.
Reduced Local Carrier Costs
Sprint is in the process of shutting down a large percentage of its PBXs nationwide. For each site, Sprint saves an average of $2,000 a month in connection fees and maintenance costs. Hamblin says, “When Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 is fully deployed, the company expects to save $6 million per year in local carrier charges alone.”
Reduced Maintenance and Upgrade Costs
Sprint will decrease yearly PBX upgrade and maintenance fees by an estimated $1.2 million a year. “We looked at all of the PBXs we had out there and factored in the yearly costs to maintain them and keep them on the current release, including labor, travel, support, hardware, software, and any other costs. When you manage that many PBXs in the field, it’s not only a difficult task, the costs add up quickly,” explains Hamblin.
The move to Exchange Unified Messaging will also save about $675,000 a year in maintenance and upgrade costs on the company’s 18 voice mail systems. These systems will be phased out as employees receive unified messaging capabilities.
Added Environmental Savings
Sprint is fully engaged in ensuring that it does its part to incorporate sustainability into every part of its business. It will replace PBXs at 489 sites around the country with Office Communications Server 2007. Sprint conducted a study to calculate the environmental savings. “We basically looked at the kilowatt hours and found as a by-product of taking all of that equipment out of our environment, we would save roughly another $1.5 million a year, just in electricity,” notes Hamblin.
Improved End-User Productivity and Mobility
A key driver of moving forward with the Microsoft unified communications solution was Sprint’s continued goal to streamline communications between people, organizations, and customers. Sprint saw that using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007 would simplify communication by enabling the end user to communicate via VoIP, audio, video and Web conferencing, and IM—all from a familiar and easy-to-use Microsoft interface.
“With Microsoft’s vision utilizing a single platform for voice, e-mail, IM, and conferencing, Sprint can deploy a true unified communications solution. Our end users can see if a contact is available through the presence information and then click on the name to initiate a voice call or conference call, from anywhere they are working. All they need is their laptop, headset, and an Internet connection, no wires or external devices tethered to the wall—that’s improved mobility,” explains Hamblin.
“For the first time, users can forward a voice mail and add a text message to it all within Outlook, which they are using all the time,” continues Hamblin. “The other piece is that I can check my calendar when I’m on the road and let people know if I’m running behind. It’s all about integrating all of my applications and being able to access them no matter where I am.”
Giving this type of control and flexibility to end users also improves mobility. Hamblin explains, “What Sprint was looking for was the mobility factor. People can conduct and receive calls from wherever they are sitting. My enterprise work phone is no longer back on the desk.” While Sprint employees are seeing productivity savings, Sprint has not yet quantified these benefits and therefore did not include them in the return-on-investment (ROI) analysis.
Optimized Office Space
With the more flexible communications capabilities provided by Office Communications Server, Sprint is able to use office space more efficiently. In some areas, Sprint implemented open seating policies. “Our floor now seats 160 employees. Two years ago it only sat 100 employees. We all gave up our desks. I come in the office everyday with my briefcase, find an open desk, and that’s where I work,” says Hamblin. With employees out of the office working with customers, in training, working from home, or in meetings in other locations, the company can really take advantage of office space. “Start by taking this Microsoft unified communications technology and how it supports this mobility concept, then couple it with flexible work environments and office space reductions and you can start putting together a powerful financial story, especially in these economic times,” Hamblin explains.
By investing in the Microsoft unified communications solution, Sprint has provided an interoperable and extensible foundation to simplify its communications, now and into the future. As Sprint continues to deploy this unified communications solution across the organization, the company expects to realize cost savings in additional areas as well.
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Sprint Expects Annual Savings of More Than $9.3 Million from Unified Communications
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