Finally, a Lync solution that works...
After trying numerous internet service providers to get its Microsoft Lync unified communications services operational, an Auckland-based IT services provider turned to Kordia for its Microsoft Lync certified OnKor offering.
As a result, what was a struggle to achieve enterprise grade telephony was solved in less than a day, says XSYS IT managing director Simon Rowan.
“Before we engaged with Kordia, the problem was as simple as it was frustrating: our phones didn’t work reliably,” he points out.
XSYS IT provides a range of IT services, including cloud, unified communications and disaster recovery solutions. After moving its telephony to Microsoft Lync, Rowan says the anticipated benefits were frustrated by inadequate connectivity.
“We got sick of trying to deal with SIP providers which wanted to supply Microsoft Lync SIP trunks, but just couldn’t get it right.”
SIP is an acronym for Session Initiation Protocol and it underpins multimedia communications on internet protocol connections. Rowan makes the point that the situation meant XSYS IT could not use its Lync services as intended.
“This was a big issue as our phones are our lifeblood,” he stresses.
“All that changed, however, when we went to Kordia. It literally took only a phone call to the channel manager to explain the situation. Within a couple of hours, the lines were provisioned, we flicked the numbers over and it was up and running.”
As Kordia operates its network it has the ability to offer control over data carried by the network.
Only products and vendors that meet Microsoft’s rigorous and extensive testing requirements and conform to Microsoft specifications receive Lync-certification, confirms Paul Dolley, senior technology strategist – Voice & Unified Communications at Microsoft New Zealand.
“Any advanced Unified Communication service needs appropriate connectivity. To ensure an end-end Microsoft supported solution, it is necessary to ensure that the SIP trunking services are optimised.
Kordia’s OnKor is fully qualified by Microsoft and that means customers can expect predictable, reliable and dependable performance,” Dolley says.
The Lync Server 2013 gateway is built into Kordia’s fully-converged OnKor network which currently provides services to corporate customers throughout New Zealand and Australia.
Matt Kirke, channel manager at Kordia New Zealand says OnKor takes the risk out of converged networks that combine voice and data.
“Microsoft Lync is easy to use and delivers ground-breaking advantages for communication. However, unless your network is appropriately configured, those benefits could prove elusive.”
Rowan says XSYS IT’ outstanding Microsoft Lync deployment problems were all attributed to SIP connectivity. “The resolution was immediate. From an emergency provisioning point of view – because for us this really was an emergency."
The stakes were particularly high, concludes Rowan, as his company is using Lync internally and is also taking the service to market. “We were looking for a reliable SIP provider to enable us to provide Microsoft Lync to our customers. Until we engaged with Kordia, this was holding us back from a sales perspective.”
Rowan says any concerns over connectivity are put to bed. “With a certified Lync connectivity provider, our internal lines are performing as they should – and we can take Microsoft Lync to market with confidence,” he says.
