leveraging unified communications for a...
TRANSCRIPT
Leveraging Unified
Communications for a Competitive
Advantage Event Code: TECH11
Session Presenters:
Jeffrey Mina Information Technology Director Meager & Geer PLLP
Ben Weinberger (Former) Director of IT & Facilities Bond Pearce LLP
Ed Jorczyk Information Technology Director Bowman and Brooke LLP
Leveraging Unified
Communications for a
Competitive Advantage
The Future of Communications is Now
Will Your Firm Fall Behind?
Jeffrey Mina
Information Technology Director
Meager & Geer PLLP
Competitive Advantage?
Can technology provide a true competitive advantage at
a law firm? KM, “deal space”, Extranets, eDiscovery?
Failure to provide tools creates a disadvantage
Efficiency, ease of use, quality of life
Attorney productivity? Reduce time spent…
Adoption is key
Background Information
Jeff Mina, IT Director, 20+ Years in Legal IT
Meagher & Geer, PLLP, 80 Attorneys, 150 Users, 2 Offices
Experience at firms with 800+ attorneys
Worked with Seimans, Octel, AT&T and NEC
Technical Environemnt
All Virtual, VSphere 5.1
VMware Horizon View 5.2
EMC VNX5300
Exchange 2010
Lync 2010
Windows 7/Office 2010
Lync Environment
Lync Servers
Lync Edge Server; UAG
Lync Monitoring Server, SQL
Sonus (NET) UX2000, UX1000 Gateways/SBA
PRI from carriers not SIP
Lync vs. ?
Cisco?
ShoreTel?
Avaya?
Mitel?
Bueller, Bueller, Bueller?
UM/UC History
Exchange UM in 2010 - I must have someone answer the
phone; what is this funny voicemail preview; I must be
able to dial into my voicemail…
Lync 2010 in 2012 – NEC End of Support
Lync 2013 in 2014 – iPhone/iPad App; VDI Support
Introduction of UM
Introduction of Lync
Devices
Lync Optimized
PolyCom CX600, CX500, CX3000
Jabra M930
Plantronics Voyager Legend
Plantronics Calisto
No more $500 NEC ten-button phones!
Devices
Devices
Policies
Instant messaging – Not saved, transitory like a phone
call, more is less
Your picture will be displayed
Missed calls do not mean you need to call back
No inappropriate status updates
Must enter billing numbers when billable
What do attorneys like?
Presence
IM
Conference Calls without hanging up on someone
Click and call from websites and SharePoint
Desktop sharing
Call forwarding; simultaneous ring
What do attorneys like?
Conference room access. Now it all works the same.
Local clients on home computers and macs
No more paper directory
Contact integration
What is Presence?
Difficult to describe
Train by example, example, example
Is big brother watching?
Can’t get by without it after one week
Concerns?
Is anyone considering a traditional phone system?
Sound quality? Too good if anything. (PRIs not SIP?)
Bandwidth usage? No one uses video conferencing much
anyway.
Is IM one too many communications methods? Actually
relives pressure by taking incidental communications out
of email.
Concerns?
Headsets instead of phones? After a few hair issues,
more productive, easier than handsets. Wearing styles
were key.
Open Federation? Still reviewing.
Other security issues? Edge, UAG? Too much stuff.
Faxing (Please kill me)
Scenarios
Conference calls – “Just call me and I will handle it”
Unlimited “WebEx/GoTo Meeting”
Video? “I’ve got my laptop, no problem”
“I don’t need my secretary to set this up”
“My attorneys call your firm and can do…”
“The client saw me checking the lead partner’s
Presence”
Leveraging Unified
Communications for a
Competitive Advantage
Ben Weinberger
(Former) Director of IT & Facilities
Bond Pearce LLP
About Bond Pearce
Ben Weinberger
(former) Director of IT and Facilities
Bond Pearce Solicitors
350 fee earners, 650 total personnel, 5 sites
System in Use: Lync 2010, USB headsets,
some HP 4110 handsets (100)
System replaced: Nortel CS1000/OCS
Other Systems: vSphere, NetApp, Cisco UCS
Windows 2008r2, Exchange 2010
Windows 7, Office 2010
LYNCFE01
Enterprise Edition
LYNCFE02
Enterprise Edition
LYNCEDGE01
LYNCPOOL1
HLB
Internet
LYNC Server Layout
M G 1 0 0 0
NET Gateway
On each site
with internal SBA
PSTN
USERS
COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL
NETWORK
SQLVMBRI01
Report server
LYNCMON01
Monitor / ArchiveReverse Proxy
LYNCWEB1
Web Services
About – Other Stuff
Very progressive law firm, open to change, appreciative
and accepting of new systems and tools (YMMV)
All IMs are logged, pictures are in AD, no call accounting
Did not deploy handsets unless requested
How Do You Measure
Competitive Advantage?
Reduced costs
How Do You Measure
Competitive Advantage?
Better client service
How Do You Measure
Competitive Advantage?
Improved
client
retention
How Do You Measure
Competitive Advantage?
Improved lawyer
retention
“My last firm…”
How Do You Measure
Competitive Advantage?
Improved Efficiency = More Profit
Especially for fixed fee work
“If you could just email the faxes of the photocopies of the
transcripts of the fifteen phone messages, that would probably be
the simplest. And then, please print-out my email for me to read.”
How Do You Measure
Competitive Advantage?
“Value Add” (common in UK panel appointments) Example: Use of A/V or web conferencing
Business Case
IM
Presence (calendar info)
Audio/Video Conference
Phone (headsets only)
UM
Business Case
Already own Lync
Already running
This was merely an upgrade
to OCS and the elimination
of Nortel
With
Business Case
Enables true mobility across firm
Business Case
Eliminate OpEx from CS1000 maintenance (£30k)
SIP trunking, improved local number DR
Eliminated most handsets (£75k)
Ease/cost of expansion
Benefits
The Larger The Firm, the Larger The Benefit
IM and Presence (especially for calendars)
Desktop sharing – for collaboration and training
A/V Conferencing (no external service needed)
Mobility (all laptops use MS DA and have headsets)
Open federation with clients and vendors
Some Hiccups Along The Way
VM announcement “sounds like Stephen Hawking’s sister”
Found circuit and local network QoS issues in London
No group call pickup function – needed an add-on product,
but it now exists in
Interrupted V/C capability for laptop users with OCS
Leveraging Unified
Communications for a
Competitive Advantage
At Least That's What The Microsoft Rep Said
Ed Jorczyk
Information Technology Director
Bowman and Brooke LLP
Ed Jorczyk
Director of IT, Bowman and Brooke 2011 – Present
Director of IT, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, 2009 – 2011
Director of Global Technology, Morrison & Foerster LLP
Bowman and Brooke LLP
200 Attorneys, 500 total
Trial litigators, highly mobile
Nine Offices, coast to coast
Product Liability Group of the Year
Technical Environment
Legacy
Dual Data Centers – MSP & PHX
Highly Virtualized, vSphere 5.1
Dell blades, XIO,
Hitachi BlueArc
Windows 2008 R2
SQL 2008
Exchange 2010
Lync 2010
Windows 7, Office 2010
Future
Centralized Co-Location
Fully Virtualized
Cisco NetApp FlexPod
Windows 2008 R2 / 2012
SQL 2008 / 2012
Exchange 2013
Lync 2013
Windows 7, Office 2010
History
Microsoft Office Communications Server - 2010
Microsoft Lync 2010 Pilot - Q1/2011
Microsoft Lync 2010 Rollout – Q2/2011
Usage
Voice
Presence
Desktop Sharing
Conferencing
Current Lync Topology
Receptionists
Very comfortable with console
Receptionists
Very comfortable with console
Dedicated PC for Lync Attendant
Transferring Calls takes practice
After hours and holiday announcements
Overhead Paging
It just worked with Nortel
Option 1 – Lync SIP endpoint with Bogen amplifiers
Option 2 - Desk microphone
Handsets
Aastra 6725ip
Provides pass through NIC for
connection to PC
USB cable for control from Lync
Handsets for everyone
Call Coverage
No line appearances
Forward or Simultaneous Ring
Delegates or Team-Call Groups
Conferencing
Lync vs Intercall - Capacity
Delays in switching to a conference call
Help Desk
Geographically dispersed help desk
Response Groups
Round Robin
Longest Idle
Serial
Parallel
Limited Reporting
Conference Room Integration
Polycom CX 3000
Polycom Sound Structure
Polycom HDX Video
Trial Site War Rooms
CradlePoint
Wireless Routers
Aastra phones
Lync on laptops
Support
Windows Server
Lync Patches
Phone Firmware
Updates
Sonus Gateway Update
Managed
Services
Issues
Echo
Dropped Calls
Call quality
Questions?
Jeffrey Mina Information Technology Director Meagher & Geer PLLP [email protected]
Ed Jorczyk Information Technology Director Bowman and Brooke LLP [email protected]
Ben Weinberger (Former) Director of IT & Facilities Bond Pearce LLP [email protected]
Thank you!