Fujitsu Services

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Fujitsu Services - VoIP

Customer's Challenge

Fujitsu Services is one of the leading IT services companies in Europe, Middle East and Africa. It has an annual turnover of £1.99 billion, (€2.86 billion) employs 15,200 people and operates in over 20 countries.

In order to support the effective delivery of its services, Fujitsu's voice and data network infrastructures were both due to be upgraded to provide staff with the best available systems. However, the cost of upgrading its existing Private Branch Exchange (PBX) system would have been prohibitively high, as Mark Wright, Network Implementation Engineer and IP Telephony Specialist, Fujitsu Services, explains, “We were planning to consolidate our sites in Solihull and Birmingham and open new offices in Manchester, so a large proportion of any investment in a new PBX would have gone to waste. Instead, we recognised that this was an ideal opportunity to rationalise our voice and data networks and create a central Voice over IP (VoIP) system that would not only provide complete organisational flexibility, but which would also reduce our operating costs significantly.”

Fujitsu's Solution

As a Cisco Gold Partner, Fujitsu chose to create a VoIP solution using CallManager, a software-based call-processing component of the Cisco IP telephony solution that extends enterprise telephony features and functions to packet telephony network devices such as IP phones. Additional data, voice, and video services such as unified messaging, multimedia videoconferencing, collaborative contact centres, and interactive multimedia response systems can interact with the IP telephony solution through Cisco CallManager's open telephony application programming interface (API).

Fujitsu exploited the capabilities of its existing carrier class ATM network to deliver Voice, Video and Data services over a fully converged Network Service. Call processing systems to support a 210 user VoIP pilot in its network management centre in Solihull were located in a remote datacentre. The service also integrated with the legacy PBX systems and centralised PSTN gateways proving both the benefits of the added functionality and that a phased migration to VoIP could be delivered without loss of functionality.

Subsequently, 12 additional users were moved on to the VoIP system in Fujitsu's Nottingham offices along with a further 70 users in its Newcastle office.

“The pilot systems enabled us to iron out any issues and optimise performance,” says Mark Wright. “As a result, Fujitsu has gained a considerable amount of experience in how to deploy and manage VoIP systems and we now have a very reliable system that's been working for two years with no significant problems.”

Fujitsu is currently migrating its new campus site in Manchester, with around 1,600 users, onto the new VoIP system and is also rebuilding its existing server systems in order to increase the overall capacity of the service. Fujitsu has also implemented an integrated VoIP helpdesk in Finland that provides a unified IP communications architecture throughout its nation-wide corporate network. Furthermore, as part of its new organisational model, which centralises the company's operations and supporting infrastructure, Fujitsu is now looking to roll-out the VoIP system to its remaining 40 offices in the UK, together with 40 offices in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Clive Wiggett, Chief Information Officer, Fujitsu Services, says, “Moving to a centralised VoIP-based service is an important step in supporting Fujitsu's business strategy of organisationally integrating operations across EMEA, rationalising and modernising sites and driving out operational cost. It provides the benefits of a converged data/voice approach in terms of flexibility, centralised control and cost-effectiveness, while enabling future opportunities for productivity gains using emerging SOHO and mobile technologies and functionality.”

Benefits to our Customer

Fujitsu's deployment of VoIP technology across its business has lead to significant benefits in four key areas:

• Major reduction in operational costs which is saving over 13.5% on capital expenditure and 37% (over five years) on operational expenditure:
  
  • Eliminates capital expenditure and maintenance costs for a separate telephone infrastructure
  • Consolidates network administration and support
  • Simplifies management of third party suppliers
  • Radically reduces the time and cost overheads of staff moves and changes
  • Cuts call costs using local and/or central break-out, 'toll by-pass' on all internal calls and intelligent routing of mobile phone calls
  • Will deliver telephone services to home-workers, which is planned to save Fujitsu £0.5 million a year
  • Avoids private circuit/Centrex costs
  • Provides a clear roadmap to a future proof network
  • Improves space utilisation compared to PBX
  • Lowers power consumption
• Greater organisational flexibility as IP Phones carry the user profile:
  
  • Telephone and voicemail services are accessible anywhere
  • There is no delay in set-up ie. you can literally 'plug & go', so staff can be quickly relocated
  • Avoids the need for any major investment in new telephone systems
  • Assets are not lost when offices are closed (unlike a PBX which usually remains as part of the building infrastructure)
• Increased staff productivity with access to a wide range of new and improved support tools:
  
  • Voice and video conferencing
  • Integrated e-mail and voicemail
  • Internet access from XML enabled phones
  • Softphones (headsets) can be used with PCs
• Enhanced customer service with a high performance and fully integrated network:
  
  • Excellent sound clarity
  • A highly secure working environment.

“The VoIP system is not only saving Fujitsu nearly 40% of our operational expenditure, but we also now have complete flexibility in when, where and how our staff are deployed,” explains Mark Wright.

Our Aproach

Having amassed considerable experience and skills in deploying and managing VoIP systems, Fujitsu now offers its customers a choice of tried and tested solutions.

In particular, Fujitsu provides a low-cost VoIP managed service that is piped in on a pay per user basis, so it requires no capital investment, is easy to adopt and is virtually risk free. Fujitsu can also deliver a custom-built VoIP solution and services, with supporting design and project services for transitioning existing services and creating a converged network infrastructure.

Mark Wright says, “As well as offering a choice of tried and tested VoIP solutions, from a single supplier, the major advantage that Fujitsu gives our customers is that no Telco has our service management skills and culture and no systems integrator has our networking expertise.”

Our Expertise

Fujitsu has over 30 years experience in providing consultancy and project services to help organisations design, deploy and manage advanced IT infrastructures and gain maximum benefit from the latest technologies.

“Fujitsu's ability to deliver high performance, resilient, secure VoIP solutions is underpinned by more than 500 experienced specialists and our state of the art MPLS Backbone Network, which already delivers mission critical network services to many of our customers,” adds Mark Wright.