Often responsible for managing huge, distributed workforces on a global scale, non-profit organisations know how important the right communication tools can be. These passionate groups are reliant on unified, efficient, and flexible tools, capable of aligning workers wherever they are.

Unfortunately, in the past, many groups have found themselves struggling with legacy equipment and inefficient tools, unable to effectively unify their volunteers and staff. Michigan Humane, for instance, one of the oldest and largest non-profit animal welfare organisations in Michigan, found itself struggling with an outdated communication stack.

The team needed to modernise its approach to collaboration, while still keeping costs low, and prioritising excellent user experience. Fortunately, with help from Microsoft Partner Apex Digital Solutions, Michigan Humane was able to find the perfect solution in Microsoft Teams.

Updating an Old-Fashioned Communication Stack

Before 2022, Michigan Humane was reliant on a third party company for all of its communication and collaboration services, and was constantly facing challenges. Its distributed sites were plagued with outages, affecting both internet and telecommunications services. These failures made communication difficult, and often damaged the staff’s ability to provide support to individuals trying to adopt pets, access veterinary care, or contribute to food banks.

The group turned to Apex Digital Solutions, a Microsoft Solutions partner, for help. Prior to updating their communications strategy, Michigan Humane had already worked with Apex on a range of managed services solutions. The company had already introduced the non-profit to Microsoft OneDrive and Microsoft Teams, but Michigan Humane decided it was time to go a step further.

Apex jumped into action, delivering the “Ignite” solution for Microsoft Teams calling, available on the Microsoft AppSource marketplace. They migrated the communication services the non-profit was already using from their third-party provider into Teams, deploying a redundant ISP solution, a hosted VPN solution, and a comprehensive toolkit for calling.

Now, Michigan Humane leverages the full Microsoft Teams communication and collaboration suite to their full advantage. The group has access to Five Teams Rooms across sites, for efficient, user-friendly meetings, and also leverages cloud storage solutions within the Teams space, to protect against potential data losses.

Enhancing Collaboration, Communication and Security

Through the adoption of technology built into the Microsoft Modern Work & Security Suite, Michigan Humane was able to significantly improve its collaboration capabilities, supporting better staff productivity, while reducing communication expenses. It has also seen an improvement in its customer service strategy, and now has the tools required to better engage its community.

Since expanding its adoption of Teams, Michigan Humane has experienced a massive increase in communications, with greater stability and call quality. The non-profit saw a 281% increase in in-channel messages, and a 69% increase in effective one-to-one calls. What’s more, with Microsoft Teams Phone, the group has lowered its communication expenses, ensuring it can put more of its resources back into its animal care programs.

For Michigan Humane, the help of Apex Digital Solutions and Microsoft Teams has been invaluable to ensuring it can continue on its quest to support and protect animals throughout Michigan.



from UC Today https://ift.tt/sOhMmub