Microsoft IT Showcase: How Microsoft Uses Lync 2010 to Replace PBX Systems in Seven Worldwide Sites
February 9th, 2011
| Tags: Lync 2010, Lync Server 2010, Microsoft
It’s refreshing to know that Microsoft heavily road test or “dog food” their products before they ship to their customers, what is even more impressive is how transparent they are on their challenges/successes. A quick reference guide detailing the story from a high-level can be downloaded via the Microsoft Download Center.
Excerpt below:
Results:
MSIT offers full IM/presence/conferencing to 160K users (the entire company).
MSIT has deployed:
- EV to 80K users in 66 sites
- Lync 2010 to 28K users. NSAT: 150+!
Keys to Success
- Ensure that 100% of users at seven sites were on Lync and EV prior to decommissioning the PBXs.
- Enforce a minimum client version by using the client version control (CVC) option.
- Take advantage of volunteers instead of doing forced migrations. Volunteers rated the service about 50–80 points higher than users who were forced.
- Provide a rich set of training resources.
- Lync Attendee Client. The Lync Attendee client was slightly confusing to users and there were early problems installing the client due to locked-down desktops. The Lync Web Application has slightly different capabilities than the Lync Attendee Client, which also complicated matters. The Lync Attendee experience is much improved after making small changes to the client and after users have had more practice.
- Firmware gateway upgrades and new SKUs took a while to put in place by OEMs, causing a delay in the schedule.
- Delegation requires sufficient resources. MSIT invested in resources to help onboard the top people and their support teams to ensure a smooth experience.
Challenges:
- Lync Attendee Client. The Lync Attendee client was slightly confusing to users and there were early problems installing the client due to locked-down desktops. The Lync Web Application has slightly different capabilities than the Lync Attendee Client, which also complicated matters. The Lync Attendee experience is much improved after making small changes to the client and after users have had more practice.
- Firmware gateway upgrades and new SKUs took a while to put in place by OEMs, causing a delay in the schedule.
- Delegation requires sufficient resources. MSIT invested in resources to help onboard the top people and their support teams to ensure a smooth experience.
What’s Next?
| Period | Goals |
| January |
|
| Feb—March |
|
Tools
MSIT uses the following tools.
| Tool | Description |
| QoE | Records Office Communicator and UC Desk Phone voice quality |
| Call Detail Reporting (CDR) | Shows the number of phone calls, IM, and Office Live Meeting sessions that take place for each user |
| Perfmon | Gathers performance-monitoring metrics to monitor concurrent connections to the OCS pools |
| SCOM | Used to raise alerts to the reporting and tracking system and to gather other general statistics from the pool |
| In-House Survey Tools | Used to query end users for feedback on features and user satisfaction |
| Helpdesk Ticket-Tracking System | Provides a rich set of backend metrics on ticket volumes |
Source: here (currently unavailable – thanks Peter!) Now back online
That link to the reference guide in the MS Download Center doesn’t seem to be working – I think it’s the correct link, but have MS removed the guide perhaps?