Educational Institutions Make Smart Decisions with Unified Communications

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Each month, we look at different organizations across various industries to see how unified communications is transforming their businesses. This month we highlight academic institutions, from school districts to colleges and universities, and how these educational establishments are using Microsoft’s UC software to change the ways they communicate and collaborate.

The University of Kentucky

With over 44,000 faculty and students, the University of Kentucky (UK) is the state’s primary public institute of higher education. UK offers over 200 degree programs to students at its main campus in Lexington, and through distance learning programs.

Like any bustling business with thousands of employees in hundreds of departments working from dozens of locations, the University needed a solution to facilitate easier, real-time communication for its staff and students.

The UK implemented Office Communications Server 2007 to meet the challenge. With presence, instant messaging, and audio, video, and Web conferencing integrated into its core administrative, IT and educational applications, the university streamlined communications across the learning community. Just a few of the results include:

· Improved productivity and an estimated 15 minutes saved per day per user

· Reduced travel costs associated with meetings throughout the university system

For additional details on the University of Kentucky’s use of Office Communications Server 2007, see this Microsoft case study: University Adopts Unified Communications to Improve Education, Streamline Operations.

Gartner Research also recently completed a case study that reveals how the University of Kentucky benefits from Microsoft’s unified communications solutions. Read more here:  Case Study: University of Kentucky Uses Unified Communications to Enhance Communication and Cut Costs. (Gartner Inc., Jay Lassman, March, 2009)

Other educational organizations across the globe are choosing Microsoft Unified Communications too. Check out these Microsoft Case Studies for more details: 

 

· Manteca Unified School District: School District Standardizes IT Environment, Saves More Than $100,000 in Costs

· Mercer University: University Reduces Costs and Creates New Opportunities with Unified Communications

· Lemon Grove School District: School District Extends PBX System with Unified Communications Solution

· Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Informatics: State-of-The-Art Communication in Third-Level Education

A collection of case studies can be found at the Microsoft Case Study website: www.microsoft.com/casestudies.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    The Microsoft Team Blogs directory has been updated today (5th May), the changes are as follows: General