VoiceCon Orlando: It's a Wrap

We just wrapped up VoiceCon Orlando 2009. It was another exciting year at the event – we participated in numerous customer panels and sessions, several partner announcements, and Gurdeep Singh Pall delivered a keynote that highlighted customers and partner successes with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007.

As part of the keynote, Gurdeep talked about a big customer win for our Unified Communications Group. Recently, Burlington Northern Sante Fe (BNSF) looked for a UC solution to replace its aging PBX system. With a whopping 40% of its current workforce entering retirement over the next few years, BNSF needed a modern communications platform that could help attract and retain a younger workforce. BNSF tested solutions from Microsoft competitors, including Cisco and IBM, but chose Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 for its software-powered platform. You can find out more about the BNSF solution in an article posted by Ina Fried/CNET, Microsoft's telephony software gains railroad ties.

Sprint and Swisscom also joined Gurdeep on stage. Sprint is dramatically reducing costs and greenhouse gas emissions by replacing their network of PBX systems with a centralized Office Communications Server deployment, and Swisscom responds to sales opportunities twenty percent more quickly because of the employee efficiency promoted by Microsoft UC.

These customer examples were the highlight of Gurdeep’s keynote for me, and in fact, the highlight of Voicecon. Architectures and features are fine, but business results really talk.

Want more information about Microsoft VoiceCon activities? See a replay of Gurdeep’s keynote at www.voicecon.com/orlando, and check out our partner announcements with Polycom and Aspect.

BJ Haberkorn
UC Senior Product Manager