{"id":466776,"date":"2021-03-19T15:36:32","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T14:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/?p=466776"},"modified":"2021-03-19T15:36:33","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T14:36:33","slug":"fa1-dll-building-a-workplace-for-the-workforce-of-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/transform-en\/na\/fa1-dll-building-a-workplace-for-the-workforce-of-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"DLL: building a workplace for the workforce of the future"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt took some courage to do what we have done with our workplace\u00a0and telephony system.\u00a0At times\u00a0this\u00a0was not an easy\u00a0ride\u00a0and our perseverance\u00a0was\u00a0tested more than once. But looking at where we are now, we can\u00a0confidently\u00a0say we\u2019ve\u00a0laid a strong foundation for the future workplace.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For Ronald\u00a0Majoor, an important part of his role as\u00a0Senior\u00a0Vice\u00a0President\u00a0of IT Infrastructure\u202fat\u00a0global\u00a0vendor finance company\u00a0DLL is having the determination to see\u00a0what\u00a0opportunities\u00a0a workplace\u00a0transformation will offer employees in the future.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The company has\u00a0worked tirelessly over the past\u00a0three\u00a0years to implement a\u00a0telephony\u00a0solution that allows DLL to connect its\u00a0business critical\u00a0call centres across the world.\u00a0And as the company\u2019s workforce has been forced to work remotely due to COVID-19, the newly launched\u00a0solution\u00a0immediately\u00a0proved\u00a0its worth.\u00a0\u201cOur call\u00a0centre\u00a0workforce\u00a0has remained\u00a0connected\u00a0with\u00a0our\u00a0customers\u00a0throughout the year,\u201d says\u00a0Majoor.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe solution we have in place with\u00a0Anywhere365\u00a0and Microsoft Teams\u00a0made sure that\u00a0our call centres can\u00a0continue to\u00a0operate in the same way as they did before\u00a0COVID-19,\u201d he adds.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A complex company\u00a0structure\u00a0in need of a unified solution<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Headquartered in Eindhoven,\u00a0the\u00a0Netherlands, DLL is the world\u2019s leading vendor finance partner,\u00a0<\/span>providing\u00a0sustainable and effective finance solutions to\u00a0industries including\u00a0<\/span>agriculture,\u00a0food,\u00a0healthcare,\u00a0construction,\u00a0transportation,\u00a0industrial, and\u00a0technology. With\u00a0EUR 35 billion in assets and\u00a0more than\u00a05,000 employees working in over 30 countries\u00a0and even more locations\u00a0around the world, it is a\u00a0large\u00a0operation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started\u00a0as\u00a0Senior\u00a0Vice President of Infrastructure,\u00a0the program to\u00a0implement this new solution was already underway, but there were still some fundamental choices to be made,\u201d\u00a0says\u00a0Majoor. \u201cThe security and scalability of the roll-out, as well as\u00a0the\u00a0overall scope and priorities\u00a0needed to be\u00a0determined<\/span>.<\/span><\/i> But it was clear\u00a0that the model we were working in,\u00a0internally\u00a0and\u00a0with customers, needed to be\u00a0improved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u00a0he\u00a0found was a company\u00a0restricted\u00a0by a centralized approach to workplace deployment.\u00a0\u201cOur people needed to be\u00a0better\u00a0able to buy and setup their own workplaces from the countries they worked\u00a0in without\u00a0being heavily dependent on a central service.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had many different\u00a0products\u00a0being supplied by\u00a0various\u00a0partners\u00a0who were all key and could make or break the availability of our service,\u201d he continues.\u00a0\u201cBut together they didn\u2019t make a\u00a0consolidated whole,\u00a0which\u00a0made our IT landscape complex.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The company needed a unified, cohesive communications platform that would bring everything\u00a0together under one umbrella\u00a0\u2013 to the extent that\u00a0was possible \u2013\u00a0and phase out\u00a0the\u00a0use of these older technologies. With the\u00a0help of\u00a0ICTeams,\u00a0that is what DLL\u00a0have\u00a0achieved.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Creating\u00a0a\u00a0unified communications\u00a0platform in the cloud<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cWe had already been working with DLL for several years before the Teams telephony implementation,\u201d says\u00a0Harold\u00a0Speeks,\u00a0Business Consultant\u00a0at Microsoft partner\u00a0ICTeams. The initial role of\u00a0ICTeams\u00a0had been moving the organization to Microsoft 365 and introducing other collaboration tools like SharePoint\u00a0as part of DLL\u2019s Future Workplace strategy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But once that infrastructure had been established, the focus turned to implementing an integrated cloud-based\u00a0telephony system\u00a0that would give DLL\u2019s workforce greater flexibility and access to remote working possibilities. \u201cWe started that project\u00a0nearly three\u00a0years ago,\u201d says Speeks. \u201cAnd I think almost in parallel,\u00a0we introduced\u00a0Microsoft Teams.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Initially,\u00a0ICTeams\u00a0began implementing the telephony system through Skype for Business, but they soon realized that a more future-proof solution would\u00a0be to\u00a0connect the telephony system Anywhere365 through Microsoft Teams.\u00a0Anywhere365 is a\u00a0Cloud\u00a0Contact Center certified for Microsoft\u00a0Teams. It allows\u00a0Microsoft Teams\u00a0to\u00a0become the hub for customer engagement.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By consolidating\u00a0their\u00a0IT infrastructure into one platform\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Microsoft 365\u00a0\u2013 DLL would be able to improve\u00a0the\u00a0user experience by\u00a0providing\u00a0access to all\u00a0the\u00a0tools their employees\u00a0needed\u00a0from one application.\u00a0It would also allow the team to\u00a0save time by using one hub for teamwork and customer experience instead of multiple solutions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

DLL\u00a0began testing\u00a0its Microsoft Teams\u00a0solution\u00a0in the summer of 2019, and by January\u00a02020\u00a0they were ready to launch.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The benefits of\u00a0cloud\u00a0telephony<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

DLL and\u00a0ICTeams\u00a0launched the\u00a0telephony system\u00a0right before the pandemic hit,\u00a0at the beginning of 2020,\u00a0and\u00a0initial\u00a0feedback from users\u00a0highlighted\u00a0how much insight sales-reps and customer service operators now have into their calls through Power BI dashboards.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUsers\u00a0now\u00a0get insights\u00a0into\u00a0how many calls they\u2019ve\u00a0missed, how many times\u00a0their\u00a0customers have called,\u00a0and\u00a0how many interactions\u00a0the company has\u00a0with those customers,\u201d says Speeks.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn\u00a0addition\u00a0we now have insight into\u00a0how many people are waiting in the queue,\u00a0which\u00a0can\u00a0support\u00a0staffing decisions. These are insights that the legacy solutions DLL\u00a0previously\u00a0used\u00a0did not\u00a0provide.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And the benefits have been amplified by the company-wide move to remote working. \u201cTraditionally, there would be 10-50 people in\u00a0a contact centre sitting next to each other in the US office, making and receiving customer calls,\u201d says Speeks.\u00a0\u201cIn that setup, a\u00a0supervisor\u00a0had\u00a0oversight of that group,\u00a0seeing\u00a0who\u00a0was\u00a0present,\u00a0and\u00a0who\u00a0wasn\u2019t. They\u00a0could\u00a0sit next to an agent who\u00a0was new for training\u00a0purposes,\u00a0or\u00a0jump into a\u00a0call.\u201c<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the new solution,\u00a0they\u00a0can do the same, but virtually. So, although people are not physically in the office,\u00a0supervisors can still\u00a0see how many agents are available, how many are logged in. They can\u00a0even\u00a0whisper to an agent,\u00a0listen to the call and give advice for training purposes. Or if there’s a\u00a0difficult customer\u00a0situation\u00a0and you need the supervisor to join, they can join the call remotely.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It has all led to the business continuity that DLL\u00a0had been hoping to achieve\u00a0during a year\u00a0when COVID-19 has presented challenges for\u00a0every company.\u00a0\u201cIn these times, ensuring business continuity is the primary focus,\u201d says\u00a0Majoor. \u201cAnd that\u00a0is what the solution we now have with Anywhere365 and Microsoft Teams allows us to\u00a0do.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Building a foundation\u00a0for the future<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cThere is a\u00a0big lifecycle management component\u00a0to\u00a0this program,\u201d says\u00a0Majoor, reflecting on the new solution DLL has in place\u00a0and how it meets the standards of the company\u2019s Future Workplace strategy.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe invested heavily in the current workplace and by doing so we are now able to again follow the heartbeat of the industry. With Microsoft 365 we have the foundation in place to embrace and leverage new technologies\u00a0as they become available and continue to build on our platform.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt took some courage to do what we have done with our workplace\u00a0and telephony system.\u00a0At times\u00a0this\u00a0was not an easy\u00a0ride\u00a0and our perseverance\u00a0was\u00a0tested more than once. But looking at where we are now, we can\u00a0confidently\u00a0say we\u2019ve\u00a0laid a strong foundation for the future workplace.\u201d\u00a0 For Ronald\u00a0Majoor, an important part of his role as\u00a0Senior\u00a0Vice\u00a0President\u00a0of IT Infrastructure\u202fat\u00a0global\u00a0vendor finance company\u00a0DLL is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":665,"featured_media":466779,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-466776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","specials-transform-en","stories-how-can-i-make-my-company-more-innovative","stories-innovation-en","businessPriorities-digital-transformation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466776"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/665"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466776"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":466827,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466776\/revisions\/466827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pulse.microsoft.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}