Microsoft Lync Server 2010Customer Solution Case Study

Investment Firm Adopts Communications Solution to Strengthen Business Productivity

OverviewCountry or Region: United StatesIndustry: Financial services

Customer ProfileHeadquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, Morgan Keegan & Company is a full-service investment firm with 300 locations and 4,400 employees in 19 states.

Business SituationMorgan Keegan wanted to provide a more integrated communications platform that would interact dynamically with applications employees use to collaborate and to provide financial services for customers.

SolutionMorgan Keegan deployed a pilot of Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to evaluate the instant messaging and presence capabilities, as well as the rich application programming interfaces (APIs) that could help it integrate communications capabilities into its other Microsoft solutions to help increase business productivity.

Benefits Improved communication Provided strong foundation to expand

communications Reduced projected costs

“Microsoft has really taken the time to understand the next generation of the desktop. They understand how to take collaboration and communication and make it an integral part of the solution.”

Dan Evans, Senior Vice President of Messaging and Collaboration, Morgan Keegan & Company

Morgan Keegan & Company, founded in 1969 in Memphis, Tennessee, is one of the nation’s largest regional investment firms, offering full-service investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth and asset management. Although the firm has long relied on email and instant messaging to communicate both internally and with clients, it wanted to develop a more integrated solution that would help move it away from disparate legacy technologies. Morgan Keegan decided to deploy Microsoft Lync Server 2010, formerly Microsoft Office Communications Server, to see how this technology would integrate with other Microsoft solutions in its network and provide communication capabilities such as presence, instant messaging, ad hoc conferencing and collaboration, and enterprise voice that could help make its workforce more productive.

SituationWith U.S.$135 billion in assets, Morgan Keegan & Company is one of the nation’s largest regional brokerage and investment banking firms. The firm has 4,400 employees working at over 300 locations across the South and the Midwest to provide a variety of financial services for consumers and commercial organizations.

The financial industry was quick to adopt instant messaging (IM) as a communication tool, and Morgan Keegan was no exception, adopting the technology as early as 1999. Used primarily as a real-time communication tool, instant messaging has been the most popular form of communication at Morgan Keegan. While its current solution from Reuters Messaging offered strong authentication and the ability for employees to communicate with people using public IM programs, the firm could not integrate this solution with the rest of its communications infrastructure.

For email messaging, the firm deployed Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 in late 2009. Employees rely on the Microsoft Outlook 2007 messaging and collaboration client to manage email, but with Reuters as their instant messaging client, they were unable to view presence information for colleagues or start a chat through Outlook, so they spent valuable time switching between applications—and managing two contact lists. For voice communications, it uses a private-branch exchange (PBX) telephony system.

Morgan Keegan wanted to create a solid communications infrastructure based around IM, presence, and conferencing, but it also wanted a solution that would work

well with its existing Microsoft solutions. In addition to Exchange Server for messaging, the firm uses Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 to manage customer service and sales solutions. It also uses Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 internally to help its financial advisors stay up-to-date on projects by keeping project documents in a central location and network with their colleagues. Dan Evans, Senior Vice President of Messaging and Collaboration at Morgan Keegan, explains, “What we realized is that communication has many points of intersection: instant messaging, conferencing, voice. The focal point for us was how to deliver unified communication to our users on a daily basis.”

SolutionMorgan Keegan looked at various communications solution providers to help it understand what was available. As Morgan Keegan formed a clear vision for what it wanted to offer employees, it ultimately decided to deploy Microsoft Lync Server 2010. Lync Server provides enhanced versions of the communications capabilities provided by Office Communications Server 2007 R2—presence, instant messaging, robust conferencing, and enterprise voice—as well as improvements in topology, deployment, and management tools. “Microsoft has really taken the time to understand the next generation of the desktop,” says Evans. “They understand how to take collaboration and communication and make it an integral part of the solution, really blending solutions on the desktop so they work for any kind of user: information workers, remote groups, mobile workers, or people who work from home.”

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“We expect a 20 to 30 percent increase in productivity. We think that Lync Server 2010 will get users to think about how they can do their jobs better with technology.”

Dan Evans, Senior Vice President of Messaging and Collaboration, Morgan

Keegan & Company

Along with an enterprise pool for high availability, Morgan Keegan deployed an edge server to support ad hoc collaboration and online meetings and communication over the Internet and with public IM clients. All employees using the Microsoft Lync 2010 client will have access to IM, presence, and conferencing capabilities. Employees can also continue to communicate with colleagues, partners, and customers who use public IM programs such as Yahoo or even legacy applications like AOL, because Lync Server allows for authentication that ensures the level of security and compliance Morgan Keegan must maintain to meet industry guidelines. The company will also federate with partners and customers, so employees can see presence and calendar information for federated colleagues and easily connect with them through instant messaging and eventually voice calls.

The firm is evaluating voice hardware designed specifically for Lync Server to replace traditional desk phones as it considers deploying an enterprise voice solution. Individuals can choose between the Polycom CX600 IP desk phone, which provides access to calendar, Outlook contacts, directory search, and presence information, or a Plantronics Voyager PRO headset they can use to place and manage calls and conferences through the Lync client on the desktop. For common areas such as lobbies, break rooms, and smaller conference rooms, the firm is piloting the Polycom CX500 IP phone, which also provides directory search, presence information, and extended conferencing capabilities.

Employees will have access to internal audio conferencing and online meetings from day one. Morgan Keegan also plans to integrate Lync Server capabilities with its Polycom video conferencing equipment in conference rooms to provide a richer meeting experience for employees. The company is also testing the Microsoft HD LifeCam Cinema, so it can provide video conferencing capabilities for all employees to use at their desks rather than depending on video conferencing rooms.

Morgan Keegan will enable Lync Server to work with its other Microsoft solutions, including Exchange, SharePoint, and Dynamics CRM. Through Outlook and SharePoint sites, employees can view presence information or click to start a chat session or place a phone call to a colleague. Employees can use the Skill Search feature in the Lync client to find subject matter experts and click to view MySites or start a conversation. For Dynamics CRM, the firm wants to use the Lync application programming interfaces (APIs) to build customer contact cards that will appear when a call comes in to a financial advisor. The cards would include specific customer information, such as customer history and notes from previous calls. It will also provide presence information, so that customers who log on to the support site can see immediately if their advisor is available to answer questions.

Through the Lync client, employees can also provide and view enhanced presence information for colleagues. Using the Activity Feed, they can provide a brief description of what they are working on each day, and with the Location feature, they can let people know their

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“Competitors offering VoIP don’t understand the desktop the way Microsoft does. Having the interoperation with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, having click-to-communicate capabilities, things like that will help us tremendously.”

Dan Evans, Senior Vice President of Messaging and Collaboration, Morgan

Keegan & Company

whereabouts, making it easier for coworkers to locate them. When they see colleagues are available, they can easily start an instant messaging session, share a desktop, or hold an audio conference to collaborate in real time.

BenefitsBy deploying Lync Server 2010, Morgan Keegan can provide a more comprehensive communications solution that helps employees be more productive at their jobs. It will also lay the foundation to deploy an enterprise voice solution that will help it take communication to the next level.

Improved Productivity“We expect a 20 to 30 percent increase in productivity,” says Evans. “We think that Lync Server 2010 will get users to think about how they can do their jobs better with technology.” The firm sees productivity gains for several operational groups. Operations managers at branch offices, for example, can more quickly reach out to people at the corporate office to get information or quick answers, without having to pick up the phone. New employees can ramp up quickly because they can easily use the Skill Search feature to search for subject matter experts, or better understand teams and reporting structures with the Rich Contact Card.

The IT and engineering staff can more easily multitask, because they can resolve issues for more than one person at a time through Lync instant messaging and desktop sharing sessions, instead of having to take a phone call or walk across the building to help someone. For IT especially,

desktop sharing is a key feature, particularly for holding ad hoc meetings. Evans explains, “We can share a Microsoft Visio document and update it, or talk about architecture and design. We can easily pull people into meetings and let them jump right back out again when they have answered a question. No one has to sit through a meeting just to answer one question, which improves productivity.”

The new communications hardware will also positively impact productivity. Employees no longer have to switch between applications to search for contact information and place calls. People using the USB headset in particular have much more freedom to talk and roam. “With the headset, it’s easy to walk to a meeting with my laptop and keep talking. It makes the day much more fluid,” says Evans.

By taking advantage of interoperation between applications or powerful APIs, Morgan Keegan can provide a more dynamic communications solution for employees. With presence information incorporated into applications people use daily, such as SharePoint, Outlook, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM, employees no longer waste time moving between applications to get things accomplished.

Provided a Strong Foundation to Expand CommunicationsBy deploying Lync Server, Morgan Keegan can more easily take communications to the next level. In addition to powerful IM and conferencing capabilities, employees can extend ad hoc conferencing and collaboration capabilities outside the walls of the business. And with enterprise voice, the firm can retire its aging PBX systems.

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“Lync is already on the desktop, and we are already getting a great benefit from it,” explains Evans. “Competitors offering VoIP don’t understand the desktop the way Microsoft does. Having the interoperation with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, having click-to-communicate capabilities, things like that will help us tremendously.”

Reduced Projected CostsMorgan Keegan sees many ways it can reduce costs with the deployment of Lync Server 2010. The most obvious reduction in cost will come from retiring its PBX systems, but it will also see cost reductions and avoidance from an IT perspective. “A lot of our IT staff is constantly mobile,” says Evans. “Now they can remotely connect through conferencing or desktop sharing for training sessions, instead of having to travel.” Researchers and analysts can also travel less, instead using video conferencing to hold meetings.

By deploying a communications solution based around Lync Server 2010, Morgan Keegan is making its vision a reality.

Microsoft Lync Server 2010Microsoft Lync Server 2010 ushers in a new connected user experience transforming every communication into an interaction that is more collaborative, engaging, and accessible from anywhere. For IT, the benefits are equally powerful, with a highly secure and reliable system that works with

existing tools and systems for easier management, lower cost of ownership, smoother deployment and migration, and greater choice and flexibility.

For more information about Microsoft Lync Server 2010, go to:www.microsoft.com/lync

For more information about Microsoft Unified Communications, go to:www.microsoft.com/uc

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This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published January 2011

For More InformationFor more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the United States and Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:www.microsoft.com

For more information about Morgan Keegan & Company products and services, call (800) 366-7246 or visit the website at:www.morgankeegan.com

For more information about Plantronics products and services, call (800) Plantronics or visit the website at: www.plantronics.com

For more information about Polycom products and services, call (800) Polycom or visit the website at:www.polycom.com

For more information about NET products and services, call (800) 234-4638 or visit the website at: www.net.com

Software and Services Microsoft Dynamics− Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

Microsoft Office− Microsoft Lync 2010− Microsoft Office SharePoint Server

2007

Microsoft Server Product Portfolio− Microsoft Lync Server 2010− Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

Hardware Plantronics Voyager PRO Headset Polycom CX600 IP Phones Polycom CX500 IP Phones