University Reduces Costs and Creates New Opportunities With Unified Communications

Mercer University wanted to provide faculty and staff with up-to-date communication and collaboration tools. The university's e-mail, voice-mail, and calendaring applications were difficult to use, lacked functionality, or were at the end of their life cycles. Mercer also wanted to provide for more large-group Web conferences, and give employees access to Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony and Web conferencing from their workstations. In 2007, Mercer decided to deploy a unified communications solution built on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. With it, employees can access instant messaging, VoIP telephony, Web conferencing, and a unified inbox for e-mail, voice mail, and faxes. In addition, the unified communications solution will help Mercer to cut costs and provide for greater levels of collaboration, online learning, and mobility.