Advising companies on the optimal use of products like Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Dynamics NAV is one focus of activity of Halvotec GmbH. Additionally, Halvotec provides customisation, implementation, training, and after sales support. Because more and more customers want to use Microsoft Skype for Business, Halvotec decided to run an in-house implementation as a reference for its customers. Advice was taken from BT. Now, using the AudioCodes One Box, Halvotec staff are able to communicate across company boundaries from a single application and make full use of the advantages of Microsoft Skype for Business. Advice from BT helped Halvotec optimise its use of Microsoft Skype for Business. Case study - Halvotec Information Services GmbH. We are software experts, not communication hardware specialists. That’s why we looked for a partner with the experience to understand our needs and make a sound recommendation. Ulrich Vogl, Managing Director, Halvotec Information Services GmbH
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Advising companies on the optimal use of products like Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Dynamics NAV is one focus of activity of Halvotec GmbH. Additionally, Halvotec provides customisation, implementation, training, and after sales support.
Because more and more customers want to use Microsoft Skype for Business, Halvotec decided to run an in-house implementation as a reference for its customers.
Advice was taken from BT. Now, using the AudioCodes One Box, Halvotec staff are able to communicate across company boundaries from a single application and make full use of the advantages of Microsoft Skype for Business.
Advice from BT helped Halvotec optimise its use of Microsoft Skype for Business.
Case study - Halvotec Information Services GmbH.
We are software experts, not communication hardware specialists. That’s why we looked for a partner with the experience to understand our needs and make a sound recommendation.
Ulrich Vogl, Managing Director, Halvotec Information Services GmbH
In only four days BT helped Halvotec turn Microsoft Skype for Business into a fully-fledged unified communications client.
Case Study - Halvotec Information Services GmbH.
Successful software solutions from Bavaria.Since 1998, Halvotec has provided its customers with successful “Made in Bavaria” software solutions. The company, located in Rosenheim in Upper Bavaria, is managed by two of the founders and privately owned.
Halvotec is a certified Microsoft partner and its portfolio covers proprietary software as well as tailor-made Microsoft solutions.
“One focus of our activity is advising customers on Microsoft SharePoint and helping them with the implementation,” explains Ulrich Vogl, one of the founders and Managing Directors of Halvotec GmbH. “We are also strong in software development which is where we originated. We develop SharePoint apps and sell two market leading proprietary software products for the banking and social economy sectors.”
Through consulting, development, implementation, training and support, forty-five Halvotec people help customers with successful implementations and continued development of their IT solutions.
As IT consultants, Halvotec has been using Microsoft Skype for Business for a long time. “Like many other companies, we haven’t made full use of Skype for Business possibilities,” says Ulrich Vogl. “We were looking for a way to turn the app into a full-fledged unified communications client.” For this, the company took advice from BT.
Quick Start offers new communication dimensions.BT analysed the situation at Halvotec using the BT professional services Quick Start services framework. “We asked BT because we knew that they offer solutions that are affordable for us,” says Ulrich Vogl.
BT professional services offers single-source consulting, integration and managed services encompassing security, unified communications, mobility, network and IT systems and business technology. The Quick Start service starts with a simple checklist that provides the BT experts with the information to develop a tailor-made solution.
The checklist covers voice, email, conferencing (video, audio and web), instant messaging, mobility, document and application sharing and security. Michael Reichenbach, Head of UCC Consulting, BT, confirms: “Our Quick Start service is well suited for smaller companies. From consultation to hardware setup took only four days at Halvotec.”
At Halvotec, the task was clearly outlined. The final Quick Start report contained recommendations for hardware and necessary actions. “Because users would be able to dial into the company network from outside, firewall settings had to be changed and IP address configuration had to be adapted,” says Michael Reichenbach. “Everything was detailed in the report.”
BT recommended AudioCodes One Box, an appliance developed specifically for Microsoft Skype for Business, as the hardware platform.
Perfect Microsoft Skype for Business solution.AudioCodes One Box is highly integrated and supports the full suite of Skype for Business features. It enables up to 5,000 Skype for Business users to communicate with one another as well as via PSTN or mobile phone. Instant messaging, presence, audio-visual, web conferencing and enterprise voice are all fully supported in the single appliance with no loss of functionality.
Thanks to the advice and training in the BT Quick Start framework, we were able to integrate the AudioCodes One Box into our network and configure everything accordingly.
Ulrich VoglManaging DirectorHalvotec Information Services GmbH
Case Study - Halvotec Information Services GmbH.
“AudioCodes One Box contains within a small footprint all servers necessary to run Microsoft Skype for Business, and all optimally tuned,” explains Michael Reichenbach. “It combines, amongst others, a Skype for Business server, an edge server, a proxy server, and a firewall. Additionally, it contains a PSTN gateway as well as one or more session border controllers.”
Companies already using Microsoft Skype for Business can now activate enterprise voice easily and cost effectively. That simplified the architecture, while management software accelerates integration into a Microsoft Office 365 environment. Enterprise voice management is easy, too. New users can be added within a few minutes.
Taken together, this allows companies to make full use of all Microsoft Skype for Business advantages.
Complete unified communications client.As a first step, six Halvotec workplaces were equipped with the new Skype for Business solution. BT was responsible for procurement and installation of the hardware and administrator training.
“This was a prototype installation for testing purposes,” says Ulrich Vogl. “Thanks to the advice and training in the BT Quick Start framework, we were able to integrate the AudioCodes One Box into our network and configure everything accordingly. After we saw the positive outcome, we rolled out the Microsoft Skype for Business solution to all our people.”
With AudioCodes One Box, Microsoft Skype for Business turns into a complete unified communications client environment. Internally, staff can use it for instant messaging or presence, but also make PSTN calls. If they wish to invite an external participant to an internal chat, a simple mouse click does the job. A VoIP connection is established, and internal and external participants can talk, exchange documents and even add video.
The AudioCodes One Box PSTN gateway means even parties without a Skype for Business client can be reached.
“We’ve found BT to be a very good partner and were very satisfied with the advice and the cost benefit ratio,” Ulrich Vogl sums up. “We didn’t get a shopping list but a complete working solution, which was easy to implement and exceeded our expectations.”
Core services.• Professional services: BT Unified Communications
Quick Start
We’ve found BT to be a very good partner and were very satisfied with the advice and the cost benefit ratio. We didn’t get a shopping list but a complete working solution, which was easy to implement and exceeded our expectations.
Ulrich VoglManaging DirectorHalvotec Information Services GmbH
