ilta 2010 project of the year
TRANSCRIPT
Unified Communications at
McInnes Cooper
• Remove barriers to communication among the
firm’s seven offices
• Deliver technology that can enhance client
service and provide a competitive advantage
Objectives
• Implement Microsoft OCS 2007 R2 firm-wide
• Integrate or replace legacy telephone systems
– 1 hybrid IP/TDM PBX
– 1 pure IP PBX
– 1 Norstar key system
– 4 Centrex offices
• Train ~200 lawyers and ~300 staff in seven
locations
Scope
Deliverables
• Presence
• Instant Messaging
• Audio conferencing
• Web conferencing
• Desktop video
conferencing
• Desktop sharing
• Unified messaging
• Desktop-integrated
telephony
• New telephone
hardware
• Training
• Capital: ~$325K
– Software was largely included in our EA
• Operating: ~$125K annual savings
• Payback of less than 3 years in hard costs
alone
• An example: combination of presence, desktop
sharing and conferencing on one call resulted in
real additional revenue of $17,500.
Budget
• May 2009 Business case presented to
CEO/COO
• Jun 2009 First “promotional tour”/started
gathering requirements:
• Dec 2009 Phase 1 rollout (all but voice)
• Apr 2010 Second “promotional tour
• May 2010 Phase 2 rollout (enterprise voice)
Timeline
• Initiated by MC’s Communication Services Leader
• Management backing (IT Director, COO, CEO)
• The entire firm had the opportunity to see the
concept and participate in its development
• Two pilot groups of 50 users each
• Contracted training (in cooperation with MC staff)
• Admin staff outside IT were heavily involved in
training rollout and immediate post-launch support
People
• Conceptualized by Communication Services Leader, who basically sold it to the IT Director
• IT Director and Communication Services Leader jointly sold it to the COO/CEO
• Did a conceptual design
• Did a face-to-face “tour” of all offices to present the concept and get feedback
• Began the detailed design, with some consulting assistance
Process
• Built the infrastructure, and tested with IT
• Ran a pilot group of 50, then doubled it
• Did another face-to-face “tour” of all offices to
demonstrate the production solution and set
expectation for implementation
• Issued phone sets in parallel to allow people to
become familiar with the technology before the
actual telephone cutover
Process
• Provided classroom training to the entire firm
(90 min) in close proximity to live cutover
• Live cutover included removing the existing
phone system – no overlap.
• Provided deskside support for the first couple of
days to quickly deal with any minor issues
• Followup communications as each office went
live, and following completion in all offices
Process
• A fully desktop-integrated, zero-PBX, voice, text
and video communications solution delivered to
the entire firm.
• Examples of additional revenue as a direct
result of the capabilities delivered. In the first
week!
• Lawyers excited about technology!
Results