CCR World Magazine

Aspect, a global provider of unified communications and collaboration services and software, today announced it has been selected as a finalist for the Microsoft Partner Awards in the Information Worker Solutions, Communications and Collaboration Solution Partner of the Year award category.

This nomination is in recognition of Aspect's system architecture and network planning services for a unified communications deployment at the State of Arkansas' Department of Human Services (DHS) that empowered the agency's 7,500 employees in more than 125 office locations and in the field. The new capabilities include integrated voice and email, instant messaging, presence, voice over IP (VoIP) telephony and integrated audio conferencing to better connect the widely dispersed team and enable them to productively serve more than 700,000 constituents across the state.

"This recognition from Microsoft further validates that we are providing significant benefits to help our customers see the significance and value in not only unified communications, but all Microsoft-related solutions," said Kevin Schwartz, executive vice president of global professional services, Aspect. "The State of Arkansas' enthusiasm and willingness to welcome new technologies and ideas has presented tremendous opportunities for them as they have experienced cost savings and improved employee productivity. We look forward to their exploration of new capabilities, always with our continued support."

Awards have been presented in a number of categories, with winners and finalists chosen from a pool of almost 3,000 entrants worldwide. The Information Worker Solutions, Communications and Collaboration Solution Partner of the Year Award honors partners with proven expertise in the planning, implementation, and management of solutions to provide a unified platform for business productivity and make it easy for users to communicate and share critical information. This award recognises Aspect for providing its customers with an extensible, unified platform that transforms the way people and organisations work together to speed market responsiveness, foster innovation, and/or streamline communications and collaboration.

"Congratulations to the 2010 Partner Award finalists for delivering such creative and superior Microsoft solutions and services," said Allison Watson, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group, Microsoft Corp. "It's incredible to see the level of expertise our partners continue to exhibit as they create and deliver innovative solutions and services to grow their businesses, meet customer needs, and drive down costs."

With the help of Aspect's end-to-end consulting and implementation services, the State of Arkansas DHS developed a comprehensive unified communications strategy, and conducted an expedient and cost-effective roll-out. Today, all employees are using a communications solution that provides presence and IM capabilities. Approximately 100 people in the field office and central office take advantage of other features like voicemail, unified messaging, voice portal and response groups, and 725 field workers use video conferencing. 

Following implementation, the Arkansas DHS began to realise initial return on its investment with dramatic cost reductions in phone charges and equipment, maintenance, and video and audio conferencing. Marked increases in productivity were quickly achieved both as a result of dispersed and hearing-impaired workers enlisting video conferencing, IM, and screen and application sharing to assist each other, and because of the availability of desktop support to troubleshoot problems for remote workers.

The Microsoft Partner Awards recognise Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered exceptional Microsoft-based solutions over the past year.

(Source - Aspect Press Release)