Aecon, a Canadian leader in construction and infrastructure development,

Aecon Modernizes Collaboration

had an on-premises Skype for Business environment and wanted to migrate

And Communication Experiences

to Microsoft Teams. Microsoft partner VNEXT, a professional services and

With VNEXT Group’s Help

managed services provider, assisted Aecon with the project and set up Direct Routing, Audio Conferencing, Auto Attendants, Call Queues as well as advanced call center features via integration with a third-party Teams-certified solution.

VNEXT and Aecon then collaborated on Adoption and Change Management activities that were critical to the transformation and modernization path.

Now Aecon uses Microsoft Teams as a remote-work tool and has been utilizing Teams app templates, such as Company Communicator and FAQ+ for corporate announcements and support.

Aecon Customer Challenges: A Need For Hybrid And Secure Collaboration

Like many businesses, Aecon had been shifting away from face-to-face meetings, replacing them with video conferencing and phone calls. Aecon sought a simplified telecommunications platform on which users could communicate and collaborate securely, as well as consolidate tools.

Aecon also wanted to extend the use of Microsoft Teams capabilities to introduce a modernized corporate communications process and be able to create and send internal announcements to multiple teams, as well as to engage large numbers of employees in the office and out in the field over Microsoft Teams for important and time-sensitive corporate messages.

Microsoft Technologies And Services Provided By VNEXT Group:

To migrate the customer’s on-premises users to Microsoft Teams for unified communication, collaboration, and voice, VNEXT has helped Aecon by deploying and executing the following:

  • Microsoft Teams Enablement: Aecon’s unified communication and collaboration team not only enabled Teams with policies to govern, but also enable secure internal and external collaboration.
  • Skype for Business to Teams upgrade.
  • Phone System: Aecon migrated their Skype for Business enterprise voice users to Phone System. Also, decided to use a combination of Microsoft Calling Plans, Phone System Direct Routing to accommodate a diverse set of requirements.
  • Audio Conferencing: The organization set up Audio Conferencing service numbers that were hosted on their SIP trunk to their PSTN provider.
  • Auto Attendants and Call Queues: Aecon used auto attendants and call queues to manage incoming calls to their front desk’s phone number.
  • Delivered Teams Meetings, Collaborative Apps, Endpoint Management, and Modernize Communications Workshops to define and explore their key business use cases as well as to get a complete actionable plan and recommendations to implement.

Aecon Journey’s Key Outcomes And Results:

  • Completed transition plan and migration of Microsoft Team (Technical and business requirements).
  • Modernized their corporate and internal communication process and extended Microsoft Teams capabilities by leveraging Company Communicator and FAQ plus to modernize and digitize corporate communications and answer employee common questions.
  • Uncovered opportunities to empower frontline workers by leveraging Microsoft Teams Walkie talkie feature and frontline worker wearables.
  • Opportunity for user onboarding Platform using Office 365 and Power Platform.

Here Are Some Of The Key Outcomes To Highlight:

  • Complete planning and migration to Microsoft Teams.
  • Provided change management for a smooth transition and adoption of the new platform.
  • Developed a governance strategy.
  • Opportunity to explore devices for Teams Walkie talkie feature and frontline worker wearables.
  • Discovered the opportunity to standardize endpoint management for Corp and Joint Ventures.
  • Uncovered opportunities to empower Front Line Workers.

From that point, VNEXT Group has been helping Aecon gradually roll out other features available in Teams.

“We saw an urgent demand for Microsoft Teams with the move to remote working, and we were able to meet that demand by getting the continued support and tools recommended by VNEXT. Microsoft Teams enabled us to communicate and collaborate securely.”
James Hay: Senior Manager of IS Operations, Aecon