1. Microsoft Online Services
Customer Solution Case Study
Energizer Improves Voice Communication to
Enhance Productivity and Reduce Costs
Overview
Country or Region: United States
Industry: Manufacturing—Consumer
products
Customer Profile
Energizer Holdings is a major
manufacturer of dry cell batteries,
flashlights, and personal care products.
With global operations in 165
countries, Energizer has over 7,000
desktops in 81 locations worldwide.
Business Situation
At most of its worldwide locations,
Energizer had traditional PBX phone
systems that were expensive to
maintain and replace. Energizer looked
for a way to replace its PBX systems
and increase mobility for employees.
Solution
Energizer decided to take advantage of
hosted voice capabilities from
Microsoft to help improve productivity
for its employees and reduce costs.
Benefits
• Increased productivity
• Improved mobility
• Reduced costs
“Our goal in the long term is to replace many of the
PBX systems. The enhanced voice capabilities simplify
everything, cost less, and give people more
functionality. I don’t see a downside.”
John Tschannen, Director of IT and User Services, Energizer
Energizer Holdings is a global consumer goods company with
business operations in 165 countries. In 2005, Energizer
implemented the dedicated version of the Microsoft Business
Productivity Online Standard Suite, a suite of hosted
communication and collaboration tools and services. As part of
its ongoing commitment to creating a productive mobile
workforce, Energizer looked for ways to increase mobility and
enhance communication. Because so many mobile workers were
still dependent on desk phones for receiving calls and voice
messages, Energizer decided to consider new technologies that
would free them from their desk phones. Energizer decided to
deploy the voice over IP (VoIP) capabilities of Microsoft Office
Communications Online. Using the hosted voice capabilities,
Energizer expects to retire many of its aging PBX systems and
help its workforce to be truly mobile.

2. Situation
Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri,
Energizer Holdings manufactures dry cell
batteries, flashlights, and personal care
products. Its global operations span five
continents and it conducts business in
165 countries. The corporate IT division
at Energizer constantly looks for new
ways to get more out of technology and
believes that technology innovation can
help expand its reach and reduce its time
to market.
In 2005, Energizer partnered with
Microsoft to implement a
communication and collaboration
solution that would help it become a
more productive and responsive global
enterprise. Energizer deployed the
dedicated version of the Microsoft
Business Productivity Online Standard
Suite, which delivers a set of messaging
and collaboration solutions hosted by
Microsoft. By deploying a hosted
solution, Energizer provided its workers
with capabilities and applications they
did not have before, such as:
• Microsoft Desktop Management
Service. Energizer was able to
streamline the number of applications
that workers use from 300 down to 14
core applications.
• Microsoft Exchange Online. Energizer
deployed both Exchange Server Online
and Microsoft Office Outlook–based e-
mail, so that its employees could take
advantage of rich messaging
capabilities. It is currently upgrading to
Exchange Server 2010.
• Microsoft SharePoint Online.
Energizer has moved its file shares and
intranet sites to SharePoint Online,
reducing the burden on its IT team
and increasing information availability
for its employees. IT plans to upgrade
to SharePoint 2010 as soon as it is
available.
• Microsoft Office Communications
Online. Energizer employees use
instant messaging and presence
capabilities to communicate in a more
timely and effective manner.
Even with the benefits that Energizer
currently experiences with the Business
Productivity Online Standard Suite
deployment, the company continues to
look for innovative technology to help
expand its business and help its
employees be more productive. One area
where it believes it can improve is voice
communications. With 81 locations
worldwide, most locations have their
own private branch exchange (PBX)
systems; they have their own voice-mail
systems as well. The PBX systems are
expensive to operate and maintain, as
John Tschannen, Director of IT and User
Services for Energizer, explains: “PBX
systems cost a fortune to maintain and
even more to replace when they get old.
We have a number of systems that are
near the end, so we were looking at
alternatives.”
Besides the cumbersome PBX systems,
another challenge Energizer faces is the
constantly evolving mobile workplace.
With this culture shift, employees that
used to be located in an office with a
PBX system are now more mobile and
their demands for mobile
communication have increased. “The
office phone has always been a problem
for mobile employees,” explains
“We have been early
adopters for all of the
Microsoft Online
Services. We could see
that VoIP was the way
things were going in
terms of voice
communications, and we
were excited to learn
that Microsoft would be
able to provide this
capability.”
John Tschannen, Director of IT and User
Services, Energizer

3. Tschannen. “People can access their e-
mail and SharePoint sites from anywhere,
but they have no way to answer their
desk phones. They have to take calls and
check voice mail from their desk phones
and their mobile phones, which creates
extra work.”
Energizer wanted to find a progressive
solution to meet its voice
communications challenge. The company
could see that voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP) was the next wave for
office communication, so it turned to
Microsoft to see how it could best use its
current online communications services
while upgrading its voice communication
capabilities.
Solution
After determining that VoIP would be the
best solution to help address its aging
PBX systems and mobile workforce’s
demands, Energizer decided that it
would take advantage of hosted voice
capabilities from Microsoft based on
Office Communications Online. “We have
been early adopters for all of the
Microsoft Online Services,” says
Tschannen. “We could see that VoIP was
the way things were going in terms of
voice communications, and we were
excited to learn that Microsoft would be
able to provide this capability.”
Energizer enlisted Global Crossing to
enable VoIP connectivity for Office
Communications Online using Session
Initiation Protocol (SIP) Trunking services.
Global Crossing’s SIP Trunking service
portfolio was an excellent match for
Energizer’s requirements for providing
enterprise-quality VoIP services with
reliability and security while maximizing
savings on overall telephony costs.
Global Crossing SIP Trunking can provide
cost savings by helping to eliminate
gateways and costly ISDN facilities, and
by maximizing bandwidth utilization in a
converged IP environment. Global
Crossing worked with Energizer and
Microsoft to tailor and deploy a SIP
Trunking corporate solution which
included two services: Outbound Long
Distance service and Local Inbound
Direct Inward Dialing (DID) service, which
allows employees to receive calls from
outside the corporate network and
follows employees anywhere they have a
PC and IP connection.
The latest version of Business
Productivity Online Standard Suite
expands voice capabilities beyond peer-
to-peer to any public switched telephone
network (PSTN), meaning that Energizer
employees can make calls to and receive
calls from any phone through a VoIP
connection on the desktop. Because
Energizer has also deployed the latest
version of Exchange Online, employees
can also take advantage of rich voice-
mail features such as Voice-Mail Preview,
which converts voice-mail messages to
e-mail that workers can access and
respond to through Outlook on their
desktop or any mobile phone with
ActiveSync connection, or through a
browser using Outlook Web App.
Energizer can also enable employees to
receive calls through Microsoft Office
Communicator on both their computers
and their mobile phones.
Energizer will also provide employees
with the ability to conduct multiparty
audio and video conferencing, as well as
“We have a lot of small
sales offices with
expensive PBX
equipment for
salespeople who are
rarely in the office to use
it. Microsoft Unified
Communications with
softphone-based VoIP
makes more sense than a
traditional setup.”
John Tschannen, Director of IT and User
Services, Energizer

4. multiparty desktop sharing. “We think
the multiparty audio conferencing could
help us cut down on our current service,
at least. We already do many of our
meetings through Office Communicator,
and we use Office Live Meeting for
meetings with people outside the
company,” explains Tschannen.
Energizer will begin deploying the
enhanced voice capabilities to its
workers in the first quarter of 2010. It will
roll out the technology gradually,
beginning with specific sales groups, and
offer training to ensure a high adoption
rate.
Setting up for deployment of the new
voice capabilities was easy. “Microsoft
arranged the voice connection for us in
Seattle; we just set up a contract and
billing,” says Tschannen. “And we didn’t
have to do anything special with our
voice carrier to make the transition.”
Energizer plans to phase out older
technologies that are costly or slow
down communications. “Our goal in the
long term is to replace many of the PBX
systems. The enhanced voice capabilities
simplify everything, cost less, and give
people more functionality. I don’t see a
downside,” says Tschannen.
Benefits
By partnering with Microsoft and taking
advantage of hosted solutions, Energizer
has been able to keep costs to a
minimum while ensuring it has the latest
technologies that keep its mobile
workforce productive and satisfied. Using
the VoIP capabilities of Office
Communications Online, Energizer has
been able to increase mobility, reduce
costs, and reduce maintenance and
administration.
Increased Productivity and Mobility
Employee productivity has been the
main motivation for many of the
progressive changes Energizer has made
in the last few years. Enhanced
communication has been key to the
mobilization of its workforce. “We have a
lot of work-from-home and flex
programs,” explains Tschannen. “We
believe at least twenty percent of our
workforce will immediately benefit from
these enhanced voice services.”
By taking advantage of the hosted voice
service, the company can ensure that
employees are truly mobile, especially
with rich voice capabilities like Voice-
Mail Preview. “It’s a huge benefit that
people can read voice mail and respond
whenever they want and don’t have to
call in to retrieve messages,” says
Tschannen.
Reduced Costs
Although not a primary goal, Energizer
will use the voice service to further
reduce costs by replacing aging PBX
systems. It can also consolidate
remaining systems, reducing expensive
maintenance costs. “We have a lot of
small sales offices with expensive PBX
equipment for salespeople who are
rarely in the office to use it. Microsoft
Unified Communications with softphone-
based VoIP makes more sense than a
traditional setup,” says Tschannen. “We
expect to see long distance savings, and
savings on PBX hardware and
maintenance.”

5. As Energizer eliminates its PBX systems,
it will see a reduction in maintenance, as
many tasks are handled by Microsoft as
part of the hosted environment.
Eliminating outdated voice-mail systems
attached to each PBX will further reduce
the need for maintenance, because voice
mail will be provided as part of the
Online Service.
PBX systems require frequent
maintenance done onsite by local teams
and Energizer looks forward to retiring
its older systems and consolidating
others. “People move around all the
time, and with the PBX systems, we had
to have someone there to manage the
accounts. With a hosted voice service,
user moves are done in software rather
than requiring an on-site technician,”
explains Tschannen.
By taking advantage of Microsoft hosted
voice communications, Energizer
confirms its commitment to offering the
most progressive technology to its
employees, helping them expand their
global reach.
Microsoft Online Services
Microsoft Online Services are business-
class communication and collaboration
solutions delivered as a subscription
service and hosted by Microsoft. With
these offerings, customers can cost-
effectively access the most up-to-date
technologies and immediately benefit
from streamlined communications,
simplified management, and business-
class reliability and security features. For
IT staffers, Microsoft Online Services are
backed by strong service level
agreements and help reduce the burden
of performing routine IT management,
freeing up time to focus on core business
initiatives.
For more information, visit:
www.microsoft.com/online
For More Information
For more information about Microsoft
products and services, call the
Microsoft Sales Information Center at
(800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the
Microsoft Canada Information Centre
at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are
deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach
Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD)
services at (800) 892-5234 in the
United States or (905) 568-9641 in
Canada. Outside the 50 United States
and Canada, please contact your local
Microsoft subsidiary. To access
information using the World Wide
Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com
For more information about Global
Crossing products and services visit the
Web site at:
www.globalcrossing.com
For more information about Energizer
Holdings products and services, call
(800) 383-7323 or visit the Web site at:
www.energizer.com
This case study is for informational purposes only.
MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published April 2010
Software and Services
• Microsoft Online Services
• Microsoft Business Productivity
Online Standard Suite
Partners
• Global Crossing

6. As Energizer eliminates its PBX systems,
it will see a reduction in maintenance, as
many tasks are handled by Microsoft as
part of the hosted environment.
Eliminating outdated voice-mail systems
attached to each PBX will further reduce
the need for maintenance, because voice
mail will be provided as part of the
Online Service.
PBX systems require frequent
maintenance done onsite by local teams
and Energizer looks forward to retiring
its older systems and consolidating
others. “People move around all the
time, and with the PBX systems, we had
to have someone there to manage the
accounts. With a hosted voice service,
user moves are done in software rather
than requiring an on-site technician,”
explains Tschannen.
By taking advantage of Microsoft hosted
voice communications, Energizer
confirms its commitment to offering the
most progressive technology to its
employees, helping them expand their
global reach.
Microsoft Online Services
Microsoft Online Services are business-
class communication and collaboration
solutions delivered as a subscription
service and hosted by Microsoft. With
these offerings, customers can cost-
effectively access the most up-to-date
technologies and immediately benefit
from streamlined communications,
simplified management, and business-
class reliability and security features. For
IT staffers, Microsoft Online Services are
backed by strong service level
agreements and help reduce the burden
of performing routine IT management,
freeing up time to focus on core business
initiatives.
For more information, visit:
www.microsoft.com/online
For More Information
For more information about Microsoft
products and services, call the
Microsoft Sales Information Center at
(800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the
Microsoft Canada Information Centre
at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are
deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach
Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD)
services at (800) 892-5234 in the
United States or (905) 568-9641 in
Canada. Outside the 50 United States
and Canada, please contact your local
Microsoft subsidiary. To access
information using the World Wide
Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com
For more information about Global
Crossing products and services visit the
Web site at:
www.globalcrossing.com
For more information about Energizer
Holdings products and services, call
(800) 383-7323 or visit the Web site at:
www.energizer.com
This case study is for informational purposes only.
MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published April 2010
Software and Services
• Microsoft Online Services
• Microsoft Business Productivity
Online Standard Suite
Partners
• Global Crossing