Kuepers Inc. Architects & Builders. Architecting Success Through Mitel s IP Telephony Platform integrated with Microsoft s Live Communications Server

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1 Kuepers Inc. Architects & Builders Architecting Success Through Mitel s IP Telephony Platform integrated with Microsoft s Live Communications Server

2 CASE STUDY Kuepers Inc. Architects & Builders Architecting Success Through Mitel s IP Telephony Platform Integrated with Microsoft s Live Communications Server Sponsored by: Mitel February 2007 Situation Overview For more than thirty years, Kuepers Inc. has provided exceptional design and construction services throughout the rapidly growing Brainerd, Minnesota area located about 130 miles from Minneapolis. Although the company has built many award winning residential and commercial structures, its real business is fueled on building lasting client relationships that provide continued growth and a reputation for responsiveness and outstanding quality. Kuepers saw a huge growth opportunity in the booming Minnesota economy, but it needed a way to grow rapidly while maintaining its passion for quality workmanship. Over the past four years, Kuepers payroll has grown from 70 to 280 employees a four fold increase. As more employees were being hired and as more construction bids were being won, the company needed to improve the flow of information and communications with its clients and between its rapidly growing workforce. Four years ago, when employees would leave the office to go to a construction site, visit a customer, or get materials, they would simply move a peg on the sign in/sign out board located near the receptionist s desk indicating they were out. Managers did not know where they were or what project they were working on. Furthermore, customers needing to speak with a project manager or foreman often had to wait until the employee returned to the office. Additionally, as new employees were hired and as employees changed offices, the company had to log a service call to its telephony provider for each move, add, or change. Every time the service provider came on site to make a change, it cost between $70 and $110 in addition to the productivity delay while waiting for the provider to arrive. As leading architects and builders in the construction industry, Kuepers knew it would have to architect and build a new and different communications system, one that would allow it to more rapidly respond to client needs and speed up the flow of information within the rapidly growing company. Solution Overview Customer Profile Kuepers Inc. Baxter, Minnesota. Business Situation As a rapidly growing company, Kuepers needed a way to accelerate the flow of information between clients and employees and between managers and workers. Kuepers real business is customer service through architecting and building residential and commercial structures. Solution New communications system based on integrating Mitel s IP telephony solutions with Microsoft s Live Communications Server. Benefits Enabled a four-fold growth rate More rapid information exchange between employees Faster change orders Managers know employee status Customers accessibility to managers and job foreman Solution Components Mitel 3300 ICP IP PBX Live Business Gateway Messaging Server Quick Conference Mobile Extension Microsoft Live Communications Server Office Communicator Office 2003 Exchange Server

3 Options Kuepers Considered Kuepers had a seven year old Nortel PBX, and a significant investment in Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project, Exchange, and Active Directory. The company used Citrix to manage its desktop software deployment. Due to its rapid growth, Kuepers was planning a move to a new facility. Prior to moving, Kuepers launched a trial deployment of Live Communications Server and the Communicator client to a handful of key users; these users liked Live Communications Server very much, particularly since it integrated tightly with Outlook. Kuepers has a culture of using Outlook not just of , but for calendaring as well. As the company considered the pending move in light of its need to better communicate with its clients and to accelerate communication within the company, Kuepers determined that it wanted a total solution that would a) leverage its existing investment in Microsoft software and infrastructure, b) eliminate the cost of telephone moves, adds, and changes, c) grow as the company grew, and d) provide expansion capability so that custom functionality could be developed as needed. The company also had a one-person phone and IT department, so the solution had to be easy to implement and maintain. Finally, the existing telephone system did not support integration with Live Communications Server, and it was too small to support the anticipated growth. Mitel was heads and shoulders above the others in features and modularity. Kuepers invited small business spokespersons from Avaya, Cisco, Mitel, and Nortel to its headquarters. Each vendor presented its solution and discussed how it would meet Kuepers communication needs and how it would integrate with Kuepers software environment. After carefully considering each solution option, Kuepers chose a Mitel business telephony solution Wainhouse Research 2

4 Why Mitel and Live Communications Server Kuepers owners, Doug and Steve Kuepers, were intimately involved in the selection of the new communications system as it would be their life blood supporting the company s growth. Marco, a Minnesota-based Mitel partner, brought in a Mitel 3300 ICP IP PBX configured with Mitel s unified messaging system and integrated with Microsoft Outlook. They also brought in two flat panel displays to show how easily customized greetings could be made for welcoming clients entering the company s reception area. As the owners were looking at the Mitel solution, they appreciated the customized customer greeting capabilities the PBX pushed to the flat panel displays. They then noticed real voice messages appearing in the Marco representative s Outlook inbox. As they asked the Marco representative about this capability, it took only about five minutes of demonstration time for them to decide that Kuepers really needed this functionality. During this demonstration, they saw how Mitel s Messaging Server could read messages over the telephone, a capability the Kuepers managers found very appealing. They also learned about Mitel s mobile extension functionality, which would allow Kuepers employees to avoid missing client calls by easily routing incoming calls to their mobile phone. Throughout the evaluation period, the Kuepers IT manager, Devante Vargas, studied the Mitel solution and found it compelling because of how easily Mitel s IP PBX integrated with Live Communications Server via the Mitel Live Business Gateway. He knew that the manual sign in/sign out procedure employees were using had to change, and that one key to its business transformation would be the presence awareness Live Communications Server offered through integration with Outlook calendars and the telephone system. As Kuepers owners saw Mitel s unified messaging integration and Mitel s Mobile Extension, it took only five minutes to sell it to them. Mitel s features, modularity, and close ties with Microsoft sold the system to the Kuepers IT manager. He knew that he could easily add any capability the company needed because the software was based on open protocols including SIP and XML Wainhouse Research 3

5 The Solution Kuepers Implemented Kuepers decided to roll out a new communications solution based on Mitel s 3300 ICP IP PBX and Microsoft s Live Communications Server. Mitel s PBX easily integrates with Live Communications Server through the Live Business Gateway as shown in the figure below. Active Directory & Exchange Server Live Communications Server Mitel Messaging Server (Unified Messaging) Mitel Quick Conference Audio Bridge PSTN Network Mitel 3300 ICP PBX with Applications Processor Card Live Business Gateway & Mobile Extension run on the PBX Mitel 5550 IP Console Desktops with Microsoft Office Communicator & Mitel IP Phones Figure 1: The full Kuepers unified communications solution. This powerful and robust solution gives Kuepers employees the following communications capabilities: 1) Telephony presence (on-hook/off-hook) and computer presence 2) Click-to-dial from the computer (any Microsoft Office application) 3) Escalate an instant message to a phone call 4) Call control from the PC interface (transfer, hold, conference, etc.) 5) Click to audio conference 6) Inbound caller popup notifications 7) Missed call notification via 8) Setup and status on forwarded calls 9) Call deflection (deflect inbound calls to another phone) 10) Set do not disturb from the computer interface 11) Alerts to know when someone becomes available 12) Integration with MS Office applications 13) Mitel Mobile Extension (incoming calls ring the user s mobile phone) 14) Calendar integration (presence status shows a person s calendar entries useful to know if someone is gone to a meeting, at a project site, etc.) 15) Unified Messaging ( , voic , and FAX messages all appear in the Outlook inbox) 16) Ability to set up custom mail box greetings based on who is calling and the time of day when someone calls 17) Audio conferencing (meet-me audio conferencing for up to 32 people) Mitel and Microsoft make technology accessible to the people Wainhouse Research 4

6 When the new Mitel/Microsoft integrated solution was rolled out, Kuepers installed the Mitel 5550 IP Attendant Console. This console is an advanced display and receptionist administration application that integrates with Live Communications Server and Outlook to give the Kuepers receptionist instant visibility into the presence and status of each office employee (up to 5,000 employees!). When customers or suppliers call in, the receptionist is able to see if the person the customer needs to speak with is present, busy, in a meeting, on already on the phone. If that person is present, but busy or on the phone, the receptionist can send either a canned message or type an IM to the person telling them that a call is waiting. When Live Communications Server delivers the receptionist s message to the employee s computer, the message is automatically accompanied by the caller ID information of the customer or supplier who is calling. The 5550 IP Attendant Console has solved Kuepers sign in/sign out challenge as well. Because Kuepers employees use Microsoft Outlook calendaring consistently, the receptionist is able to see when people are out of the office, where they are going, and when they plan to be back simply by hovering the mouse over the presence icon next to each employee s name. Staying in Touch While Out of the Office Kuepers employees are on the move, often leaving the office to visit a job site, customer, or supplier. To help employees avoid missing important calls while on the road, Kuepers is rolling out Mitel Mobile Extension, an application that allows the PBX to simultaneously ring both the office phone and a cell phone (this capability is called twinning ). Mobile Extension gives Kuepers several advantages: Employees can give customers and suppliers a single contact phone number. Employees only have to check a single voice mailbox because unanswered calls go to Kuepers voice messaging system (no more checking both the office and the mobile phone for voice messages). Mobile Extension changes a user s Live Communications Server presence status to in a call even when the mobile phone is answered; thus the receptionist and others can instantly see when a person may busy and or be able to answer a call. Employees can save mobile air time. If they start a call on their mobile phone and return to the office before the call is completed, they can easily transfer the call back to their desk phone or any other phone in the organization that supports hot desking. Moving calls seamlessly between mobile and desk phones is particularly useful for multiparty conversations because it avoids the need for everyone to hang up and redial into a meeting. All the while, as the employee changes phones, Live Communications Server continues to display the person s presence status as in a call. Mitel Mobile Extension is making Kuepers employees more responsive while saving the company money and improving the flow of communications throughout the organization Wainhouse Research 5

7 Lessons Kuepers Learned Kuepers reported that they really had very few issues dealing with configuration or installation of the Mitel telephony solution and its integration with Live Communications Server. The company moved to its new building beginning on Friday afternoon after work, and the new system, complete with the new IP PBX and Live Communications Server, was ready to go by Monday morning. One minor challenge was with telephone number formats. Live Communications Server and Active Directory expect telephone numbers, even extensions, to be in a particular format. Thus, administrators must assure telephone numbers are in this format for the system to work. The good news is that Microsoft has a script file that an administrator can run that will convert telephone numbers in Active Directory to the proper format. Kuepers does suggest that companies installing a Mitel/Microsoft solution will want someone familiar with a Mitel telephone system available to help configure the system. Mitel s reseller, Marco, did this for Kuepers. The integration between the telephone system and Live Communications Server is straight forward. Kuepers reported that The Mitel guys got it up and running in only 30 minutes! An advantage Kuepers found as it integrated Microsoft Live Communications Server with the Mitel telephone system was that some of the employees were already familiar with the presence and IM features of Live Communications server. As a result, employees needed very little training on the new system. Once the integrated system was up, they found out by themselves how to forward calls and how to automatically forward calls based on their presence status. Live Communications Server when implemented with Mitel s telephony solution didn t need to be taught to the employees they caught on to it right away. Get it. It s well worth it. Your employees will be amazed at the simplicity of it Wainhouse Research 6

8 Impacting Kuepers Business Kuepers has rolled out Mitel IP phones to all of their office workers and Live Communications Server to approximately 50 employees. The receptionist has the 5550 IP console for employee presence status and for directing inbound telephone traffic. Another 30 Live Communications Server licenses will be added in the near future. Kuepers executives used to wonder where employees were and what projects they were working on. Now they know where the employees are and which projects they are working on because Live Communications Server integrates with the Outlook calendar, which contains scheduling information. This allows the executives to see what employees are working on and where they are if they are out of the office. In the past, contacting employees was sometimes difficult and could be embarrassing for the company when a client urgently needed to speak to an employee or job foreman who was out of the office. Now, when an employee leaves the office, the communications system automatically forwards calls to that employee s mobile phone. Kuepers has enabled job foreman to VPN into the communications system right from the construction site, making them immediately accessible. Managers and other employees immediately know from the foreman s presence status if they are available to communicate or not. Drawings and other changes are made much more quickly and these changes can be implemented at the job site faster. Often if an employee finds that a colleague is on the phone, they can shoot that person an instant message and get an answer to a quick question. None of these rapid communications capabilities were available before. The Kuepers receptionist can easily see the presence and status for all of the office employees, including telephone status and the calendar information displayed with that status. She now receives a pop up notification indicating who is calling. Based on the caller ID on her console, she can see the presence and availability of the company management and office employees and route the call to someone who can immediately help the customer. Moves, adds, and changes occur rapidly now, because the system is IP based. Not only are outside services costs eliminated, but new employees or employees changing offices can be immediately productive because their communications tools plug in and play. We can focus on the people side of our business. This is our formula for success. This solution gives accessibility to everyone. The bottom line for Kuepers is that business has more than quadrupled in size over the past four years. The company is winning market share and attracting new clients because people know they will have immediate accessibility to Kuepers staff. Customers have learned that Kuepers will take care of them. While Kuepers continues to design and build award winning buildings, it can also focus on the people side of its business, building lasting, responsive relationships with its clients Wainhouse Research 7

9 About Mitel Mitel is a leading provider of unified communications solutions and services for business customers. Mitel s voice-centric IP-based communications solutions consist of a combination of telephony hardware and software that integrate voice, video and data communications with business applications and processes. These solutions enable customers to realize significant cost benefits and to conduct business more efficiently and effectively by enabling enhanced communications, information sharing and collaboration within a business and with customers, partners and suppliers. Mitel is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with offices, partners and resellers worldwide. For more information, visit About Wainhouse Research Wainhouse Research ( is an independent market research firm that focuses on critical issues in unified communications and collaborative technologies including IM, presence, audio conferencing, web conferencing, mobility, videoconferencing, and streaming media. The company conducts multiclient and custom research studies, consults with end users on key implementation issues, publishes white papers and market statistics, and delivers public and private seminars as well as speaker presentations at industry group meetings. Wainhouse Research publishes a free newsletter, The Wainhouse Research Bulletin, as well as a number of reports detailing the current market trends and major vendor strategies including Microsoft s Real-Time Presence-Enabled Communications Strategy and Telephony-based Unified Communications About the Author E. Brent Kelly is a Senior Analyst and Partner at Wainhouse Research. He has authored numerous reports and articles on IP communications, has spoken at industry events and trade shows, and has developed seminars on implementing unified communications technologies. Mr. Kelly has a Ph.D. in engineering from Texas A&M and a B.S. in engineering from Brigham Young University. He can be reached at bkelly@wainhouse.com. Author s Note: All quotes in this article are real and unsolicited. They are extracted from an unrehearsed interview with a Kuepers employee on 9 January, Wainhouse Research 8