All signs point to Microsoft Teams

Until spring 2021, an old telephone system and Contact Center platformwere in use at the headquarters of the Andreas Schmid Group. Since the system‘s software was no longer up to date and the service was in danger of expiring, the  logistics company urgently needed to take action. Updating the system would have been very costly. Therefore, the IT managers of the Andreas Schmid Group began to sound out the market and look for alternatives. A pure cloud solution was not an option for technical reasons, as there were still too many DECT devices in use.

IP Dynamics made an attractive offer to switch to Microsoft Teams as a telephony solution with a connection to the Voxtron Communication Center (VCC). “The offer from IP Dynamics convinced us all around. We immediately had a positive feeling and were encouraged in this by the clear recommendation of a reference customer,” recalls Christian Treml, IT project manager at the  Andreas Schmid Group.

After the order was placed, the task was to replace the old system without affecting ongoing operations. The Joint project started in March 2021. Andreas Schmid generally attaches great importance to good planning and preparation. The parties involved developed a project plan together, which was then worked through step by step. “We had some bad experiences with previous projects in the IT sector. There were always unplanned delays or problems, which meant that schedules were not met,” says Christian Treml. “With IP Dynamics, all schedules were met and we received excellent support. If there was ever a problem, a competent technician was immediately on Hand to help.”

After the planning and design phase, IP Dynamics initially installed an Anynode Session Border Controller (SBC) from the manufacturer TE-Systems in order to be able to operate the Avaya system and Microsoft Teams in parallel. However, before the telephone System was changed, the new Voxtron Communication Center was first installed and configured by the specialists from IP Dynamics according to the requirements of the Andreas Schmid Group. This enabled a smooth Migration from the legacy system to the new solution. This was followed by the setup of Direct Routing and the Enterprise Voice functionalities of Microsoft Teams. Thanks to the Teams Media Adapter from IP Dynamics, service agents can easily answer and control all calls in Microsoft Teams that come in through the Contact Center. In addition, IP Dynamics has deployed its Dynamic Attendant software solution, providing the full functionality of an attendant console.

Andreas Schmid‘s IT colleagues then independently managed the ongoing migration and go-live of the new system. One particular challenge was the initial concerns of some employees about the new solution. Many of the logistics company‘s employees had always been used to working with traditional desk telephones. The complete switch to headsets and soft clients was initially difficult to imagine for many.

IP Dynamics was able to facilitate the change process at Andreas Schmid by accompanying the system change with a targeted training concept. Following the “train the trainer” approach, an experienced IP Dynamics trainer instructed individual employees of the Andreas Schmid Group, who then in turn shared their newly acquired Knowledge with all future users. “Thanks to the trainings, we succeeded in breaking down the skepticism,” says Christian Treml. “Since the Corona pandemic and the switch to mobile working, everyone really recognized the advantages of the new solution.”

The Microsoft Teams infrastructure enables location-independent working and thus flexible organization of the working day. The thirty Contact Center agents can also work from home easily thanks to Microsoft Teams integration.

A total of 500 classic desk telephones were exchanged for Microsoft Teams licenses. The old telephone system was sent into hardware retirement. Today, all employees of the Andreas Schmid Group use Microsoft Teams as a unified telephony solution for internal and external calls. This allows employees to make unrestricted use of Unified Communication functions, such as presence display. “Contact Center operations also run smoothly with the Microsoft Teams integration,” Christian Treml sums up. “It has a great value for our colleagues to now be able to use one system for everything.”

Depending on requirements, the solution can be flexibly adapted and expanded at any time. According to Treml, however, the initial focus is on minor adjustments: For example, the installed Session Border Controllers are currently still running on premises. In the future, however, they will be moved to the Microsoft Azure environment. Since the solution works very well and cloud use has also proven itself, this is the next logical step to ensure optimum availability of telecommunications. No matter what comes next: The Andreas Schmid Group is already prepared for the future thanks to its modern communication solution.

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