Episcopal Diocese of Washington Improves Internal Evangelism with Messageware

Situation

Religious organizations are not commonly thought of as being on the forefront of technology, but like all service organizations today, IT plays a critical role in achieving their goals.

For the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, support, productivity and being highly available to their 93 congregations is an utmost priority. However, like most organizations today, demanding travel schedules, remote employees and increased utilization of contractors and part-time employees can often make meeting these priorities difficult. This necessitates having tools that will allow all employees to collaborate efficiently whether they are in or out of the office.

When an increasing number of their employees began working from home and their utilization of contract employees increased, the Diocese knew they needed a way to share the Bishop’s calendar along with calendars of other employees across the enterprise so that meetings could
be scheduled easily by everyone, whenever and wherever needed. The organization was using Microsoft Exchange Server and Outlook Web Access as its email platform, but Peter Turner, the organization’s IT Director, quickly determined that OWA’s calendaring functionality was not
sufficient for their heavy reliance upon calendaring. After an extensive search, the Diocese selected Messageware CalendarShare to enhance OWA calendaring.

Solution

The only calendar enhancement software for OWA, Messageware CalendarShare makes it easier for people to view and schedule meetings when accessing calendars through Outlook Web Access. Using Messageware CalendarShare, OWA users can view multiple calendars side-by-side, view
side-by-side calendars in day, week and month formats, track meeting attendee requests and book resources such as conference rooms and equipment at a glance. In addition, OWA users can share their calendars by using the Messageware CalendarShare delegate permissions feature to give other users the right to view and manage calendars on their behalf, all within OWA. Users can set permission levels for both public and private appointments, as well as send a message to delegates informing them of their permissions.

– Peter Turner, IT Director

In the last five years, we and other religious organizations have come to the realization that not only can we not ignore technology anymore, but that technology like Messageware can help us to better achieve our goals

Results

“In the last five years, we and other religious organizations have come to the realization that not only can we not ignore technology anymore, but that technology like Messageware can help us to better achieve our goals,” said Turner. Turner also had praise for the additional benefits that Messageware enhanced OWA provided to its mobile employees, “Messageware makes it possible for us to save money on staff and recruiting. We are able to retain our employees longer by allowing them to work at home and hire more cost-effective contractors and part-time employees.”

About Messageware

Founded in 1993, Messageware develops and markets solutions that secure, enhance, and customize Outlook Web App. A trusted Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a Global Exchange ISV for over 15 years, our applications give com-panies of all sizes a greater return on Microsoft Exchange. Messageware products are used by over 2,500 enterprises and 4 million users worldwide, from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses, in every industry including banking, education, financial services, government, healthcare, and legal services.

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