A Phased Approach to Unified Communications

The charity's existing communication platform was hindering its hybrid work model. With diverse departments spanning operations, fundraising and veterinary services, each operating in very different ways, the organisation urgently needed a more flexible and efficient system. The legacy phone system in particular was not equipped for modern remote work, which had become an increasingly important part of how the charity operated post-pandemic.

The contact centre, crucial for fundraising and support, operated on a separate, outdated platform. Although the wider team used Microsoft Teams for messaging and collaboration, voice services sat outside that environment entirely, meaning staff worked across multiple disconnected tools to do what should have been a single, integrated job.

The challenge was clear, but it came with significant constraints. Operations across the charity could not be disrupted, calls relating to animal welfare, veterinary care, and fundraising are sensitive by nature and have to keep moving regardless of what is happening in the background. The main task was to integrate voice services into Teams without disrupting any of the charity's vital operations along the way.

Recognising the sensitive nature of the charity's operations, Formation Tech designed and delivered a careful, two-phased migration rather than a single switch-over. The phasing was deliberate, it gave the charity room to absorb change in manageable steps, with confidence built at each stage before moving on to the next.

Phase 1 focused on moving the head office and contact centre to Microsoft Teams. A crucial aspect of this stage was retaining the contact centre's analytics and monitoring call volumes using Microsoft Teams Reporter, ensuring that the operational visibility the fundraising and support teams relied on day-to-day was preserved through the transition. The legacy platform supporting the communal area phones and critical veterinary services remained operational throughout, but was configured to allow seamless communication between the two systems. Staff could continue working as normal, with no operational gap during the cut-over of the first wave of users.

Following the success of the initial migration, Phase 2 commenced. This involved retiring the legacy platform in a controlled manner and transitioning the entire organisation to Microsoft Teams. By the time this phase ran, both the charity and Formation Tech had a strong, evidenced understanding of how the new platform performed in the real environment, turning what could have been a risky cut-over into a managed completion of work that was already proven.

This gradual, two-phased approach gave the charity the reassurance and peace of mind it needed throughout the project, and protected the critical contact centre and veterinary services that could not afford any disruption.

Formation Tech's phased approach was more than a technological upgrade, it was about building trust and fostering a true partnership. For the charity, collaboration with partners who share its values and understand its unique needs is paramount. Formation Tech, with its focus on personal connections and tailored solutions, proved to be the right fit for an organisation where the work being supported genuinely matters.

The trust and strong rapport between the two teams were key to the seamless migration onto a single unified platform. Acting as an extension of the charity's IT team, Formation Tech leveraged its expertise to simplify a complex project, making the entire process more manageable for an in-house team that was carrying significant operational responsibility alongside the migration.

By prioritising people at the core of the project, Formation Tech ensured a successful transition to a modern communication system designed to support the charity's hybrid work model. Today, the organisation benefits from an efficient, unified communication platform that enhances collaboration and productivity across operations, fundraising, veterinary services and kennel management, closing the gap between voice and the rest of the day-to-day toolset, while protecting the critical services that the charity exists to deliver.