In the airline industry, effective communication is critical. Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa) – which owns and operates multiple airlines, including Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Swiss International, as well as several aviation-related companies – knows this well.

For years, Lufthansa employees relied on Skype for Business to make voice calls. Near the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisation implemented Microsoft 365 to help enable remote working and increase collaboration. Mailboxes were migrated and employees began using tools including SharePoint, OneDrive and Microsoft 365.

This meant employees had to juggle between Skype for voice and Teams for video calls, which was a frustrating experience. Leadership decided to migrate all voice calling solely to Teams to improve the employee experience and reduce the costs associated with running both systems. At a time when so many projects were put on hold because of the pandemic – especially in the hard-hit airline industry – Lufthansa’s shift to Teams was cleared for takeoff.

The seamless migration to Teams supported all employees, from pilots using mobile devices to office staff. Teams was even enabled within flight simulators, as regulations require working phones within simulators in case of an actual emergency.

While we provided recorded training sessions and FAQs, the fact that employees were already familiar with the solution meant that the new voice capabilities were adopted with little turbulence.

Employees are now benefitting from the full value of Teams, giving them:

• Better visibility into the availability of colleagues
• A single calendar to manage
• Streamlined communication to help expedite workflows

Lufthansa will continue exploring how Microsoft technologies can benefit employees by offering more flexibility in the ways they work. The aviation leader looks forward to clear skies ahead.

Find out how Avanade and Microsoft Teams can help your people achieve more together.