Public sector efficiency: Ashghal reaches more people with Microsoft Teams Phone

Established in 2004, Ashghal, the Public Works Authority, is the cornerstone of Qatar's infrastructure growth. It oversees planning, design, procurement, construction, delivery, and asset management of infrastructure projects and public buildings. "Our workforce consists of employees working at the office, site engineers working on location, and teams handling roads and drainage maintenance,” elaborates Dr. Abeer Faleh S F Al-Hajri, Information Systems Department Manager at Ashghal. “We also collaborate with an extensive network of consultants both domestically and offshore in Europe or the United States."

With such a complex network of consultants and employees, establishing smooth communication channels was a key strategic objective for Ashghal. “For example, if an engineer was called to a site with a drainage issue, they would need to keep in touch with the headquarters on any device," shares Mohamed Ibrahim Omran Hamed, Senior Voice Specialist at Ashghal. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this challenge, driving Ashghal’s search for a solution that would enable its staff and consultants to collaborate and meet online freely.

Ashghal already had a handful of solutions in place that enabled internal and external communication, but they were not interconnected. “Sometimes engineers would send files via a social messaging mobile app, which is not an enterprise solution,” Hamed explains. This resulted in disconnected data and communications—a far cry from the seamless connectivity the organization wanted.

Ashghal addressed these issues by deploying Microsoft Teams Phone. The adoption began in 2019 after a successful proof of concept by Ashghal’s IT department, which subsequently rolled out the solution across the organization. Initially, Ashghal staff were resistant to change. "People were accustomed to using the old technology,” recounts Hamed. “We needed to show them the value of the solution, so we integrated our Cisco phone system with Microsoft Teams Phone. So, if someone calls from a landline, it will ring on the desk phone, Teams on mobile, PC, or laptop simultaneously. This flexibility and convenience prompted user acceptance.”

Despite the complexity of the Teams Phone integration, it was accomplished within a few months. “We even conducted training sessions for staff in Arabic and English, which Microsoft had prepared,” adds Hamed. “Today, we have a 93 percent adoption rate within the organization.”

The shift to Teams played a major role in facilitating Ashghal's staff communications in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Calls were quickly routed to the right people, even when they were not in the office. “Teams went live at the right time,” recalls Dr. Al-Hajri. “Ashghal was even recognized by various organizations for our successful handling of the pandemic.”

Beyond communication, Ashghal has facilitated a more collaborative environment for its staff. “There is less friction when it comes to employee collaboration. Previously, the IT team had to configure everything for meetings,” Hamed explains. “Staff would send us requests to set up online meetings for them, and then we would have to send the meeting details and login instructions back. It took some time. With Teams, users can immediately send invitations and record meetings themselves.”

Data and project management also became easier. “Our team can create a new channel per project, and they have a centralized point of communication for each one. With SharePoint, we have even centralized our files and documents, and our staff can collaborate on the same files simultaneously,” Hamed adds.

Most importantly, Ashghal is now able to engage with larger audiences. “With our previous online teleconferencing solution, the meeting limit was 300 people. With Microsoft Teams, we can have up to 1,000 attendees in a meeting. If we create a Teams Event, we can even invite our entire staff of over 3,000 employees,” highlights Hamed. "As a government organization, we now better serve all Qatari citizens and expatriates. Microsoft Teams has opened a new communication channel for us. It has been instrumental in ensuring our operations continue without interruption."

Looking towards the future, Ashghal plans to enhance its utilization of the platform. Hamed shares, "Given our multinational environment, we're using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to translate meetings for our users. We plan to use Teams to better organize meetings and manage action items for project management. We're also starting to implement Viva Insights to enhance employee productivity with data."

Reflecting on the journey, Hamed advises patience and empathy when introducing changes. "If you can show people that change is for the better, they welcome it. If you can understand the struggles of your staff and address their issues, they will be part of the adoption process, and make it even better for everyone," advises Hamed.