A tobacco manufacturer has signed a five-year contract with Orange Business Services to replace its unified communications system to one based on Microsoft Lync.
Japan Tobacco International (JTI), which has 104 offices in 40 countries, said the new system will unify instant messaging and web conferencing services for its 20,000 employees as Orange manages the hosted architecture, Sonus gateways and Polycom VVX business media phones.
The system will also unify Lync’s enterprise voice and desktop video services for 12,000 employees, but only 3,000 mobile devices and tablets will be fully Lync enabled.
JTI, headquarted in Geneva, said the system will improve decision-making and the collaboration between team members, customers and partners, while its mobile workforce will have access to the same tools on any device wherever they are.
Guilain Rogg, the VP of the global technical centre at JTI, said: "To ensure the success of this major initiative, we selected Orange because of their expertise and knowledge about the existing environment to create a long-term strategy and associated roadmap.
"Their global capabilities support our geographical footprint and they have the ability to deliver end-to-end services, from transformation to operation, including management of all underlying service blocks."
Brian Riggs, an analyst at Ovum. "Companies deploying Microsoft Lync have a strong need for comprehensive consulting services, such as those offered by Orange Business Services, that create the best-suited UC solution with the highest level of security and expertise at the critical crossroads of networks, devices and IT."
