Profile: Aspect – a Leader in
Microsoft Unified Communications Solutions
For more than 35 years, Aspect has
distinguished itself by helping companies with strategic planning
and technology implementations of high-stakes, complex
customer-facing business processes. Headquartered in Chelmsford,
Massachusetts, Aspect is helping organizations turn the potential
of unified communications into real business results across the
enterprise and in the contact center.
Situation: Transform Technical
and Sales Employees into Unified Communications
Experts
Aspect had developed a business
strategy to become the go-to Microsoft Unified Communications (UC)
System Integrator. A very important part of this strategy was
centered around education—transforming technical and sales staff
into UC experts. Training needed to be delivered in five cities on
three continents to approximately 200 participants. The program
would need to include ongoing communication with 100 operational
contacts in North America, Europe, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It
also would need to be centrally planned, executed, and controlled
by expert program managers. The training would need to be
customized to fit the unique needs of Aspect, which included
employee skills development and certification in Microsoft® Active
Directory™, Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Microsoft
Exchange Server 2007, and Voice Ignite. In short, Aspect needed
more than just pre-existing training classes from a learning
provider; It needed a strong training partner that could help it
build a topnotch, tailored learning solution.
Solution: Customized Skills
Development and Certification Training Program Delivered
Globally
The proposed solution scope was vast
and included the need to train and certify hundreds of worldwide
employees on Unified Communications. The UC requirements were based
on recommendations from the Microsoft Unified Communications Group
(UCG) and were mandated as “must have” attributes for any viable
solution. Although the end-results were specific, the
implementation of the solution would be at the discretion of the
Microsoft Certified Partner Learning Solutions (CPLS) provider.
With that in mind, Global Knowledge recommended a solution that was
creative and unique in its range and adaptability.
The solution that both Aspect and
Global Knowledge created was:
- Scalable: It could
support up to 200 employees.
- Global: It would
support training on three continents seamlessly.
- Interactive:
Instructor-led format would be the primary delivery modality
used.
- Prescriptive:
Assessments and pre-learning would help determine students’
needs.
- Concentrated: Course
focused learning on the following topics:
- Windows Server 2008
Active Directory (AD)
- Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS)
- Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 (Exchange)
- Design and deploy voice solutions (Voice Ignite)
• Certification-inclusive: Technology
Specialist (TS) exams were part of the curriculum. In
particular:
- Exam 70-640: TS: Windows
Server 2008 AD, Configuring
- Exam 70-638: TS: OCS 2007, Configuring
- Exam 70-236: TS: Exchange 2007, Configuring
• Immediate: Testing
was done on-site, at the end of each week of a training course.
• Adjustable: The
solution provided feedback throughout the life of the program,
which allowed:
- Tweaking pre-requisites
and assessment model
- Tweaking course format
- Tweaking exam process and timing
- Evaluating metrics
- Providing instant test results
The training solution’s main goal was
to maximize the experience of each attendee regardless of their
prerequisite knowledge. To support this, Global Knowledge launched
an eight-week pre-work program that featured 24/7 access to
resources, including self-paced e-learning courses with
post-assessment tests, Transcender practice exams, and an online
repository of Microsoft reference materials from Books 24x7. The
structured pre-work regimen that Global Knowledge developed
increased each attendee’s assimilation of the material once they
got to class.
The training went above-and-beyond a
typical classroom environment. Global Knowledge integrated its
“Boot Camp” learning style into the solution core. This intense
learning paradigm gave students up to twelve contact hours with
instructors each day and provided additional personal and group
study options outside of those hours. Exams were administered
on-site to optimize the attendee experience and allow for immediate
application of knowledge learned. The Global Knowledge instructors
were passionate about imparting their real-world knowledge and
experiences regarding UC technologies; they understood the
significance of Aspect’s needs and how students would be taking
what they learned and applying it to their jobs.
Results: Skills and
Certification Training Enable Top-Notch Client
Solutions
From Aspect’s perspective, the
training program not only resulted in increasing the number of
certified employees in their organization, but it also allowed
Aspect to provide better services to their clients.
Leveraging the knowledge learned
during the Global Knowledge certification training program, Aspect
was able to make several service impacts including:
1) Launching a UC Services
practice and securing an early customer win
Aspect’s UC Services practice helps
organizations identify the right opportunities for UC across the
enterprise to improve business and communications processes and
navigate implementation obstacles. In its initial client
deployment, Aspect installed and configured Microsoft Office
Communications Server 2007 and integrated its voice capabilities
into the client’s PBX system in less than one week.
2) Introduction of Aspect®
Unified IP™ 6.6 with Ask an Expert feature
With this feature utilizing the
instant messaging and presence technology available in Microsoft
Office Communications Server 2007, agents can identify available
experts in the enterprise based on specific skill sets to address
customer inquiries, therefore streamlining business processes and
improving first-call resolution. This is the first of several
Aspect product releases on the roadmap as part of the
Aspect-Microsoft strategic alliance that will provide tight
platform-level integration with Microsoft Office Communications
Server 2007.
3) Initiation of global
deployment of Office Communications Server 2007 R2
Aspect has completed deployment of
Office Communications Server 2007 R2 at the company’s headquarters
in Chelmsford, Massachusetts and an office site in San Jose,
California. The sites have completely migrated to Office
Communications Server 2007 R2 for all voice and voicemail services,
audio and Web conferencing, instant messaging (IM), and
presence.
Aspect also retired its PBX in these locations for all
employee peer-to-peer and corporate calling services. The company
has seen impressive operational efficiency numbers, including
reduced conference calling costs of $75,000 per month and
additional cost savings resulting from the company’s use of session
initiation protocol (SIP) Trunking.
4) Aspect recognized as one of
the first voice specialized partners for Office Communications
Server 2007 R2
Microsoft has certified Aspect as an
Office Communications Server 2007 Release 2 Voice specialization
partner for the Microsoft Unified Communications Solutions
competency. Aspect received this certification following the
successful completion of the Microsoft Technology Adoption Program
(TAP) internal pilot for Office Communication Server 2007 R2 Voice
specialization.