Alameda County New Collaboration Tools (Skype)

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

Alameda County implemented Skype countywide to improve internal and cross department collaboration. Traveling between sites for meetings can be an inefficient use of time and taxpayer money. The goal was to provide County employees a consistent, easy to use, feature rich tool to improve collaboration. The deployment of Skype as a central communications and collaboration tool allowed County employees to: conduct instant web meetings, share desktops, host/participate in telephone/video conferences and communicate real-time via instant messaging, no matter where they were in the County. The Alameda County Information Technology Department (ITD) selected Microsoft’s Skype for Business (previously Lync) platform to provide all of the functionality to conduct virtual meetings. This solution provides ease of use for the employees and deep integration into everyday productivity tools such as Microsoft Office. As a cornerstone in our mobility strategy, Skype allowed employees to participate from any device (desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile phone) anywhere. No VPN was required, making it easy for users to adopt. The elimination of redundant collaboration services has resulted in saving the county thousands of dollars a year. Skype has become a fundamental communication tool for thousands of County employees.