SoftwareOne case study

Unified Communication empowers Welthungerhilfe to follow its vision

Welthungerhilfe is one of the largest private aid organizations in Germany. Following its vision “Zero Hunger by 2030“ the organization needed cross-border, short and reliable communication lines to ensure seamless communication and collaboration anytime and anywhere. As disparate communication systems limited its productivity and flexibility, Welthungerhilfe opted for a unified communication solution based on Microsoft Skype for Business, implemented and fully managed by SoftwareOne’s UC solution. Gaining a modern, responsive workplace and meeting room environment Welthungerhilfe has been enabled to more easily focus on its aid projects to combat hunger worldwide.

Client: Welthungerhilfe
Industry: Nonprofit
Services: Migration of legacy telephone system and Cisco video conferencing infrastructure to Skype for Business and Teams and Skype Room Systems; Enterprise Voice & Conferencing fully managed by SoftwareOne’s Managed Services for Unified Communications
Country: Germany

Especially during times of crisis, communication has to be quick. But in our daily work to combat hunger, we need cross-border and short and, above all, reliable lines of communication that can also be used on the move. Skype for Business has convinced us with its rich features and the simplicity of easily setting up and hosting audio and video meetings anytime, anywhere.

Linda Szelag
IT Director, Welthungerhilfe

About the client

Welthungerhilfe is one of the largest private aid organizations in Germany. Politically independent and nondenominational, it is fighting for „Zero Hunger by 2030“. Since it was founded in 1962, more than 8,900 overseas projects in 70 countries have been supported with 3.53 billion Euros. Welthungerhilfe works on the principle of help for self-help: from fast disaster relief to reconstruction and long-term development cooperation projects with national and international partner organizations.

The challenge

Improve the global communication and collaboration processes
Kick-off an All-IP and modern workplace strategy
Smooth migration from ISDN to IP
Smooth migration from legacy telephone system to Unified Communications
Installation of a new, state-of-the-art conferencing solutions, replacing the existing conferencing infrastructure
Eliminate audio & video media discontinuity due to heterogeneous technologies
Improve user experience and adoption
Build a modern, responsive workplace and meeting room environment

A group of women in a field with the word software on it.

The result

Welthungerhilfe has chosen Microsoft Skype for Business, and respectively Microsoft Teams, to be implemented as their unified communications and collaboration solution, thereby retiring the legacy telephone systems, as well as, the standalone Cisco video conferencing infrastructure. Integrating Skype for Business/Teams in the meeting room, alongside easy-to-use devices for every employee, is an additional aspect of the solution. Deep integration with SAP CRM, which supports incoming caller identification for the charity hotline, will also be part of this migration.

Our UC experts enable the smooth migration of the legacy telephone system to Skype for Business and sets up of worldwide Skype Room Systems with Polycom Group Series and Eagle Eye Director 2, incl. PANO, worldwide. To ensure seamless communication and collaboration, “Welthungerhilfe” is also taking advantage of our full-circle Managed Services as part of our UC service portfolio relying on our vast experience in Enterprise Voice and Conferencing.