Case Studies
Refuge is given a full communications overhaul
Background
Refuge is a national charity for women and children experiencing domestic violence. Since it was established in 1971 Refuge has grown to become the largest provider of emergency accommodation and emotional and practical support in the UK.
With headquarters in central London Refuge run a 24 hour helpline Refuge as well as a network of safe houses from the South Coast to the North East, which provide emergency accommodation for women and children when they are most in need.
Challenge
As with any charity, Refuge needs to scrutinise every cost but also requires the technology that helps any business deliver higher levels of efficiency and enable greater cost effectiveness.
Refuge’s Head of Technology was spending a lot of his time dealing with multiple telecom suppliers, billing and maintenance issues and was genuinely unconvinced that his current providers were offering the best possible deals available.
Solution
Voicenet Solutions’ Centre of Excellence IP Solutions approached Refuge with the view to analyse the market to find the best possible tariffs, deal with current providers, give them independent advice and implement the best technology solutions available for both mobile and landline solutions.
Landlines
Refuge has over 150 phone lines servicing their headquarters, external offices and Refuge Centres. However, in the eyes of their telecom provider these lines were viewed as 150 separate businesses, with 150 individual bills but none of the scales of economies that should be associated with an account of that size.
IP Solutions used their expertise in the market to find the most cost effective solution from an alternative provider. All the lines were brought onto one account and one phone bill, resulting in huge cuts in administrative work and a financial saving of over 30%.
Hosted VoIP
Furthermore on moving to new offices, it was recommended Refuge implement a Voicenet Solutions hosted VoIP solution for landline calls. Refuge opted for VNcomplete the all-in-one hosted package with 7911 Cisco phones, which is offered with no upfront capital costs and paid for on a monthly fee with additional free on-network calls.
All that was needed in the Manchester and London offices to install the hosted VoIP solution to over 60 employees was two Cisco routers, which were implemented within in a day. Together with the IP Phones, which were part of the VNcomplete package and a Receptionist Console, which enables easy distribution of calls to any phone, Refuge’s national headquarters and home workers now had a fully functioning single telecommunications network.
As well as all the benefits of a hosted solution including ease of call transfer, soft phones for home working and the ability to dial-in and pick up voice mail, Refuge have indicated that they have made substantial monthly savings as well as whole new phone system.
Benefits
With 30% reductions in telecommunications costs Refuge have certainly benefited financially. However the combined service from IP Solutions and Voicenet Solutions is more than just savings, they have taken control of the administrative issues involved with dealing with telecom providers and the organisation of maintenance issues, thus saving the Charity much needed time and resources.
“All the admin and hassle of dealing with multiple suppliers and bills has now gone. It’s like outsourcing it without actually paying for it. I now have one company to phone if there are any issues. We trust Voicenet Solutions and IP Solutions to continue to deliver knowledge and give us the most cost-effective solutions for years to come.”
Ben McGrath Director of Finance and Technology, Refuge
Halcrow, Large Multinational Engineering Firm
The background
Halcrow is a large engineering consultancy, which specialises in the provision of planning, design and management services for infrastructure developments worldwide.
Halcrow is one of the UK's leading engineering consultancies, with a pedigree stretching back to 1868. With interests in transportation, water, maritime and property, the company is undertaking commissions in over 70 countries from a network of more than 70 offices.
The Challenge
The Engineering Consultancy wanted to install a fully hosted VoIP telephone system into a new site at its premises of 400 employees in Glasgow. With the new site, they had carte blanche and were able to design an architecture that would fit in ideally with their communications needs. With this in mind they were able to look at new technologies such as hosted VoIP, which would enhance communications as well as offering cost efficiencies.
After implementation the engineering company would look at expanding the VoIP network into other offices and the rest of the corporation as and when necessary.
Halcrow, by its nature, had a very sophisticated approach to risk and due diligence – they build airports, bridges, nuclear power stations – and so they insisted on scrutinising all areas of Voicenet Solutions systems, and wanted to understand what was possible, what redundancy systems could be put in place in the case of a fall over, to name but a few.
The Solution
When invited to demonstrate the hosted VoIP product at the old offices, Voicenet Solutions instantly impressed. No other supplier was able to come onto the existing site, plug in a phone and immediately demonstrate the services on their own desk within minutes of entering the building. The Voicenet Solutions phone system works over the internet and all that is needed is Ethernet connection and a user is able to log onto their profile, over the network, regardless of location.
Furthermore no other provider was able to offer the heavily bespoke, robust and secure requirements such as a fully designed PSTN back-up system as a security measure in the case of system fall over.
To do this Voicenet Solutions worked in conjunction with one of the largest accredited Cisco suppliers for the PSTN back up system, and the designated Connectivity supplier to ensure the correct feeds and customer satisfaction was delivered.
The Results
Voicenet Solutions successfully installed the 400 handsets into the Glasgow offices. When this initial seeding programme is completed Voicenet Solutions look forward to demonstrating and implementing further VoiP products and connectioncs into additional Halcrow sites. There is a view to start looking at other hosted VoIP products such as VNiMobile, the FMC convergence solution which brings mobile phones onto a hosted VoIP network.
Forum Events
The Background
With over 10 years experience in offering events to 1000s of customers, Forum Events is one of the UK's leading business-to-business event organisers, specialising in targeted events that connect like-minded clients and suppliers together.
Forum Events’ overriding aim is to offer high quality and rewarding events to all guests and participants at the best possible venues. Each attendee’s time is maximised by matching the interests of buyers and suppliers in advance; ensuring that people only meet those who have a genuine interest in each others business.
By hosting the Forums in excellent surroundings, business partners can be assured that their experience will be of real value, productive and friendly.
The Challenge
As with any sales and customer servicing focussed operation the telephone is business critical to Forum Events. With a 40 strong and still growing telesales team its s not unusual to have 30 + concurrent calls on the go therefore they needed a solution that could support this without a shudder and have the flexibility to grow to 10 x times that number is a must.
On moving offices Forum Events felt it was the ideal time to look into acquiring a new telephone solution that fitted with their business operations and their ambitions.
Prior to moving the company was prohibited by the solution offered by their serviced office. They had no choice in what type of phone solution they could use, the phones they had were basic but despite that they felt were paying grossly over the odds for the service.
The Solution
Forum Events decided to find a new solution and sourced advice from three companies, offering different products and systems.
1RedCube, a Voicenet Solutions dealership offered hosted VoIP with Cisco 7941 phones and free UK landline calls. Forum Events, with a philosophy of choosing the highest standards in technology, were initially attracted to the advanced hardware provided, but the offer of free calls interested them, though they were not certain what proportion of UK landline calls the company made.
Forum Events decided to conduct an audit of it own telephone usage and call patterns. After 3 days of logging and scrutinising each call they realised that the whole office called UK landline numbers 76% of the time, a substantial proportion. In choosing the Voicenet Solutions service Forum Events would have the chance of taking three-quarters of all company calls off the balance sheet thus offering the company the opportunity to make significant savings.
Benefits
The effect of having a new phone solution has transformed communications at Forum Events. As well as the substantial savings realised, the company is now using features the previous system simply didn’t offer. Features such as Hunt Groups, Pick-up groups and Follow Me are being employed which enables Forum Events to answer more calls and service their customers more effectively.
Furthermore Forum Events is beginning to make use of remote working, one of the major features of a hosted VoIP solution. They are able to use a soft-phone at separate events thus having a virtual front desk for customers to easily contact partners at specific forums and events.
“1RedCube has given us a high level of service since the day we got in touch. Their support combined with Voicenet Solutions technology and pricing has given us an enhanced communications solution with significant savings.” Ciaran Pugh, Forum Events
The Multiple Sclerosis Society and Hosted VoIP
The Business Background
The Multiple Sclerosis Society is the UK's largest charity for people affected by Multiple Sclerosis. The Society, whose mission is to help enable people suffering with MS to live their lives to full potential, funds MS research, runs respite care centres, provides grants, education and training on MS.
The MS Society, which was founded in 1953 and has 350 local branches across the UK with a central office based in London and regional headquarters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, is a large charity that in terms of its operations should be viewed to have the same needs as a large corporation. Furthermore Many MS sufferers work for the society whether from home, central or regional offices.
As a charity, the MS Society need to make sure they are getting the best possible service in terms of cost and quality, every cost is accountable. Any expenditure that isn’t bettering their company or their cause is deemed wasteful. Having the most cost effective technology that enhances communication is therefore an essentiality.
The Challenge
Unique industry with unique Business Needs
The Multiple Sclerosis Society has unique business and personnel needs. MS is a debilitating disease and the most common disabling neurological condition affecting young adults. The MS Society makes it their mission to employ MS sufferers, either within their offices throughout the UK or as home-workers. These home-workers need to be able to be a part of the larger office network and contactable at all times within the communications system, be it currently via office email and phone and in the near future by video conferencing.
Furthermore The MS Society had needed to cut down their constant travelling for meetings between the four regional locations throughout the UK. As a Company that need to look at every outgoing cost they needed a solution that would enhance inter-company communications with such features as video conferencing and therefore reducing the need to meet in person. Furthermore to have a communications solution, which enabled home-workers to be contactable by a simple extension code, as well as appearing on the larger network was ideal.
Understanding the Clients’ Needs
Previously, each home worker would simply use their own home phone, on their own home phone number. Not ideal, and almost impossible due to the preparations of conducting conference calls and transferring calls.
Put simply The MS Society needed a new phone system that would support their status of a forward thinking and well-resourced organisation. The existing phone system at the head office was thought to be at least 12 years old and was prohibitive in that it would not scale up to accept any more users. Furthermore the lack of features was also becoming restrictive to the Society’s work so the decision was made that a new, modern, scalable IP phone system was needed. Furthermore The MS Society needed a cost-effective and future-proof communications infrastructure that would allow the sharing of important information via voice, data and ultimately video conferencing across all four regions.
With many home workers suffering from MS, and with some unable to get online or able to efficiently use a softphone, a bespoke IP solution was essential. Furthermore for the MS Society workforce to get full usage from the solution one-to-one management, site installation and individual training was essential.
The Solution
Innovative Solution for Greater Productivity
The MS Society needed a new telephone system and asked their communications consultancy, IP Solutions, to source a provider. IP Solutions invited Voicenet Solutions, a leading UK hosted VoIP supplier to tender and were then contracted to implement the system.
Voicenet Solutions could have simply given MSS and their 4 main offices a shiny new phone system and left it at that.
Instead, however after extensive consultation gathering information on the needs of all employees and their communication usage and the logistics around the many locations including home-workers, Voicenet Solutions were able to devise a rollout of the product that would enable the MS society to gain as much from their new communications solution as possible.
Implementing the Hosted VoIP Solution
What MSS wanted to see from its selected VoIP provider was a fully operational product that was not only cost effective but was at the forefront of modern telephony technology and offered features that would enhance employee connectivity. Furthermore The MS Society stipulated that the product be ready to go straight away, it should have full QoS, and that the level of servicing and support was crucial.
Training
Voicenet Solutions employ a dedicated training team to give thorough training in the use of the Hosted VoIP software as well as the features available on the Cisco handset. All training is delivered to the end users at the customer’s premises. Prior to training, each customer is involved in a training needs analysis where Voicenet Solutions ascertain their training requirements, identify the features they have provisioned and identify any additional features or products they may benefit from. The training delivery then encourages the user to use more features, increasing revenue, and provides an opportunity to demonstrate and recommend any missing products or features identified.
Bespoke One to One Training
The MS Society’s requirement were more specific than most companies. Quite simply they could not use the IP solution to the best of their ability if certain members of staff couldn’t make the training day and go against the point of installing a new phone system.
So it was felt that members of the team that couldn’t make it to headquarter training days due to their disabilities and specific travelling needs were given one-to-one training in the comfort of their own homes.
These training days took place all over the UK including Scotland and Northern Ireland in the employees homes. Once an engineer had set-up routers and the Cisco phones the training would commence.
Within minutes, the MSS employee was on their office network and part of the greater communications infrastructure, a benefit previous networks had not been able to offer.
Cisco user guides
Voicenet Solutions have produced online VoIP phone user guides available to all customers to use after their training days. These interactive guides are available to anyone at the Voicenet Solutions website http://www.voicenet-solutions.com/ip-phones/application-guides for everyday trouble shooting and self-teaching.
However, some of the MS Society home workers were unable to easily use a computer or go through the user guides online. At no extra cost Voicenet Solutions reproduced all guides, in a easier, more manageable way for all employees to use independently.
MPLS Network
Voicenet Solutions also oversaw the implementation of an MPLS data network so as to share information via voice, data and ultimately video conferencing throughout the four main regions of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This IP backbone sits on the same VPN to converge voice and data and enables new developments for the organisation’s communication needs for the future.
Contact Centre
Voicenet Solutions are already looking at running out a contact centre for the Multiple Sclerosis society based on a hosted VoIP network. This should be complete by the end of 2008.
The Outcome
It is only since the system has been in full use that MSS is able to fully understand the benefits of the Voicenet Solutions hosted VoIP solution both in costs and enhanced connectivity.
Conference calls are now a natural part of the day for all employees. Members of staff who work in regional offices, at the HQ in London or at home can now all talk as one unified business. Before coneference calls were expensive and difficult to organise.
Furthermore many regional meetings would be held at any one of the regional offices. Having a more enhanced communications solution cuts down airfares and the company’s carbon footprint.
The main benefit of this solution, with the training, the effect of being on one single network via hosted VoIP, is that all members of the MS Society can now feel part of the entire network, working and communicating together as one entity.
Entec International connect to Hosted VoIP
19/02/2010
Supplier: Voicenet Solutions
Product: Hosted VN Complete, 7941 Cisco Phones, Free UK calls.
Customer: Entec International
The Business Background
Entec International, formed in 1989 specialises in the procurement and distribution of mechanical and electrical spare parts throughout Europe.
Entec has experienced consistent growth in its 21-year history, expanding its services to West Africa and North America. With central offices in the West Midlands servicing up to 50 full-time staff, Entec is a large thriving business, which utilises effective technology to aid its ongoing expansion.
The Challenge
Entec is comprised of several departments all reliant on robust communications. Without a dependable telephone system, Entec would not be able to function the way it does. Entec also has a dedicated telesales and customer servicing team who are on the telephones daily to clients and suppliers in the UK, Europe, Africa and America.
The previous telephone system supplied by a large UK provider was a Panasonic PBX. This solution did everything that it was supposed to, but in the four years that had passed since its installation, business needs evolved and the commercial advantages derived by new technology had advanced dramatically. In short, the features available were rudimentary and old. For example, Entec had several home workers who were never able to be a part of the office network and simply used their home land lines or mobile phones. This was not ideal for the employees, whose flexible working options were not matched by their communications system.
Furthermore a lot of calls were being made to Eastern Europe on poor connections. Entec were therefore interested in a high quality alternative telephony provider, with capacity to deal with many outgoing calls and cost effective international calling.
The Solution
Telecoms Consultancy Firm, Synkronicity were aware of Entec’s situation, and the markets it served. Based on Entec’s business profile, Synkronicity presented an appropriate short-list of providers with like-for-like products. Each offered reliability and additional benefits along with cost efficiencies.
Synkronicity recommended Voicenet Solutions hosted VoIP package - VN Complete - with free UK calls on advanced Cisco 7941Gs IP phones. This solution presented a new level of flexibility, removing the requirement for standard ISDN lines and greatly enhancing communications.
Furthermore the provider offered a strong IP backbone with guaranteed Quality of Service, which meant a heightened resilience against potential fall-down. Two additional voice ADSL lines provisioned to enhance this reliability, with 1:1 contention and traffic management.
The Outcome
As well as all the benefits of a hosted solution, including ease of call transfer, soft phones for home working and shared central directories and reporting, Entec indicated that they have made substantial savings too. It is estimated that Entec now save 10% month on month on all communications, all with absolutely no upfront expenditure or investment.
Perhaps more important than the costs however is that hosted VoIP offers remote working, allowing a large proportion of staff to seamlessly work from home or abroad as if they were in the office, on their usual extension number. This aids greater office flexibility enabling the team to work the way they want to more easily, wherever they are.
Furthermore Synkronicity were able to complete the installation very quickly. Data lines were operational within a couple of weeks and transition was seamless for both customers and staff. Voicenet Solutions and Synkronicity took all employees through the telephony features onsite in a full, dedicated day’s training course. Furthermore, home-workers and front desk managers were given additional training ensuring everyone was able to get full benefit from the new system.
Quote:
“The new system from Voicenet Solutions and Synkronicity has given us substantial savings with no upfront outlay and no disruption during implementation. It has helped to enhance our company communications network and enables all employees to be a part of the greater system wherever they are.”
David Colley Head of IT.
London Overground Rail Operations Ltd
Background
London Overground Rail Operations Ltd (LOROL), which is a 50/50 joint venture between John Laing (owners of Chiltern Railways) and MTR of Hong Kong, was selected in November 2007 by Transport for London (TfL) to run trains and 35 stations in and across the capital. Both MTR and Chiltern Both MTR and Chiltern Railways, have a reputation for delivering top quality customer service, and their intention for the
London Overground, on TfL’s behalf, is to continue delivering that service and make staff, passengers and London feel proud.As a newly established company LOROL needed a new phone system implemented quickly and cost effectively in its new headquarters in Swiss Cottage,
"Voicenet Solutions were able to give us a cost effective, flexible and straightforward solution fully equipped with the very latest VoIP features and with extremely high resilience."
North London with a view to install further systems at a depot in Willesden and other offices in Camden and its 35 other stations.
The Challenge
LOROL has over 100 staff, at their main offices in North London, and communicating on the phone to other
departments as well as third parties and suppliers such as Network Rail and Tfl is a major aspect of the work. LOROL is an expanding, innovative company offering a service based on efficiency, customer satisfaction and reliable technology. They required a scalable, cost effective communications solution that both mirrored and enhanced those attributes. Additionally the system should seamlessly interoperate with other departments’ current and future solutions.
Furthermore due to requirements from the rail industry, LOROL required a call recording facility that automatically recorded all incoming and outgoing calls at the Control Centre. So if any incidents were to occur, LOROL could easily review, store and share any calls that were made on any particular date. Most importantly however, the rail firm needed the solution to be installed and ready to go as quickly as possible. LOROL spoke to selected telecoms providers to ascertain the time and cost that was needed. These included a large national telecommunications provider and Jeran Technology, a Voicenet Solutions reseller.
The Solution
LOROL quickly decided to go with Jeran Technology and Voicenet Solutions’ fully hosted VoIP solution VNcomplete. This is an all in-one pure VoIP package which is priced peruser, per-month over the entire contract. There were three significant reasons for opting for this solution. Firstly it was soon felt that the traditional option of a PBX was cost prohibitive and systems with upfront hardware costs were deemed far too expensive. Plus the cost for Call recording was within the budget. A quote given to LOROL by another telecoms company was deemed uncompetitive and the difference from Voicenet Solutions quote was a “significant amount”.
A quote given to LOROL by another telecoms company was deemed uncompetitive and the difference from Voicenet Solutions quote was a “significant amount”.
Secondly the installation time was a major factor in making the final decision. Again the other large telecom companiescould not compete on this aspect offering more complex installation procedures and taking a much longer period over it. Voicenet Solutions offer was regarded as straight forward and cost effective. Once the external BT line was secured in the new offices, Voicenet Solutions could get on with the full installation. The start to finish was about 6 weeks, with the critical tasks being the installation of the leased line and the fail-over ADSL. Thirdly LOROL was impressed by the level of technology and the array of features available, as standard. The flexibility and enhancement of workforce communications with the solution really stood out. Employees were given the ability to be more flexible with where they worked either within the office (hot desking) or at home, whilst still taking calls on their office system.
The Outcome
LOROL now has over 100 Cisco phones and a fully operational Hosted VoIP telephone solution installed in their headquarters. Due to the nature of Hosted VoIP more phones can be added as the company expands, and new features can added when they are required or become available. Call Recording, Web Portal and control over where the user can listen to his voicemail were all features highlighted of great benefit.
Customer Comment
"Voicenet Solutions were able to give us a cost effective, flexible and straightforward solution fully equipped with the very latest VoIP features and with extremely high resilience. LOROL now has a telecoms solution that enhances employee communications and enables us to therefore work smarter. We are looking at the possibility of expanding the communications network offered by Voicenet Solutions into other departments, depots and across our stations in London. I would definitely recommend Voicenet Solutions and Jeran Technology to any other business."
Gareth Murphy Head of IT, London Overground Rail Operations Ltd Oxford
EC1 Case Study
The Business Background
EC1 New Deal for Communities (NDC) is one of thirty-nine NDC partnerships across England that has received government funding over a ten-year period to kick-start the regeneration of deprived neighbourhoods. EC1 NDC was awarded £52.9m for the period from 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2011. The NDC covers an area of around 4,800 households in the southern-most part of the London Borough of Islington, near the border with the City of London.
The Challenge
Their previous phone system was with them when they moved into their old offices in 2001 and were basically "phones on desks" with set numbers and a system that made it difficult to transfer calls and most importantly did not easily allow for number porting and scalability. Due to the nature of EC1 NDC's work they wanted to be able to operate a policy of hot-desking, where employees can in theory change desks every day easily. They have a very fluid, busy office, which is open five days a week and some weekends. There are project-based staff, home-workers, full-time and temporary staff. Much work is done on site and many staff would spend a fair amount of time on their mobiles and would regularly have to be called using separate numbers. EC1 NDC needed a phone solution that would fit in with their changeable working structure, be both scalable and highly flexible. The system also needed to work within a strict budget and be easily maintained.
The Solution
When moving to new premises a fact-finding mission was set upon to find the most appropriate providers. As with most businesses EC1 NDC do not have a dedicated telecom specialist and therefore relied on the providers to give all the information in an understandable way. After talking to a few well known telecom providers, a Voicenet Solutions Centre of Excellence, was then contacted and impressed EC1 NDC enough with the hosted VoIP offering to be awarded the account: They offered EC1 NDC the following:
A full demonstration highlighting beneficial features and products that were pertinent to the needs
Full support throughout the implementation period and beyond, for office, mobile and home workers
A reliable FMC solution - VNi Mobile Users the ability to log in to their laptop and nearest phone, which would then be ready to go for that person's extension, thus allowing hotdesking.
Achievable cost savings for the first quarter and then ongoing for the next 12 month
A hosted VoIP solution which was maintained remotely
Power over Ethernet solution to cut down electricity usage
A competitively priced solution
The FMC Solution
Voicenet Solutions gave a full demonstration of VNi Mobile to the team. This Fixed Mobile Convergence solution enables users to make and receive business calls on their mobile, in any WiFi area, over their business's VoIP network. VNi Mobile works by using VoIP compatible GSM Nokia E61 and E65 via WiFi access points over the Voicenet Solutions hosted VoIP network. Calls will be guaranteed within the workspace as each site has built-in QoS facilities. Whether they are at home, work or onsite, they only need one phone. If colleagues need to contact them or transfer a call they just dial the extension number. When outside a WiFi network the call gets transferred automatically to their mobile network, this is via VoIP, thus cutting even more costs.
The Outcome
With the hosted solution, WiFi routers, VoIP over WiFi mobile handsets, Cisco IP phones and softphones on laptops, the Voicenet Solutions phone system has enabled EC1 NDC to work the way they want to more easily. The old system was inhibitive and had to be worked around. This new solution gives greater freedom and flexibility and means employees can work at any desk in the office, at home or on site and still be contactable on their single office number.
Customer Comment
"The integrated system means our mobile users can make wifi calls from both the home and office enabling us to work at maximum capacity at either location."
"Not only do we expect substantial savings but we have an office phone system that gives us greater flexibility, working the way we want." Danielle Roberts, Office Manager
Jisc Case Study
The Business Background
JISC is an organisation, which was set-up to support higher and further education and research by promoting innovation in new technologies. They do this by managing licences for online resources on behalf of further and higher education and research councils.
JISC manages research and development programmes in the use of ICT in teaching. It also funds initiatives and services to provide expertise, independent advice, guidance and resources to the UK FE and HE education sectors to promote the effective and innovative use of ICT.
Based in Bristol, London and Nottingham, as well as various other locations around the country, JISC is committed to offering superior value to its members by providing affordable and highly relevant online content.
When JISC decided to relocate its London offices to a new building it decided it was the perfect time to implement a new telephone system. This communications solution had to accommodate 52 members of staff who needed to be connected to the network whilst at home as well as travelling internationally.
The Challenge
JISC wanted a reliable, flexible and scalable option that would allow them to deploy a modern, feature rich telephony solution throughout their new offices in London to connect staff both in the office and for them to use seamlessly whilst away from their desks.
It was felt that the traditional option of a PBX was cost prohibitive and systems with hardware costs of as much as £50,000 were deemed far too expensive. Hosted VoIP became the preferred option not just for its cost effectiveness and leading technology but for its remote servicing and ongoing support.
JISC decided to send out the service for tender. They selected four VoIP service providers, with a mixture of offerings, based on a consultant's advice, to respond.
What JISC wanted to see from the VoIP providers was a fully operational product that was not only cost effective but was at the forefront of modern telephony technology and offered features that would enhance employee connectivity. Furthermore JISC stipulated that the product be ready to go straight away, it should have full QoS, and that the level of servicing and support was crucial.
The Solution
Voicenet Solutions were awarded the tender for a number of reasons. Firstly it was Voicenet Solutions ability to demonstrate a fully working solution using the current infrastructure within 10 minutes of entering the office. Also Voicenet Solutions were more than willing to arrange further meetings to demonstrate the system with core members of the JISC team, talking them through all available features and how they could help with their communications.
Secondly these demonstrations were supplemented with a two week pilot scheme. Members of JISC were able to use the IP phones and soft-phones to get a real understanding of the product before a before full implementation. Members who knew they were going to work at home were able to use the soft phones on their own PCs or laptops and simply make and receive a call as if they were in the office.
Thirdly the level of technology and the array of features available were superior to the other offerings proposed.
Once the decision was made the solution was fully operational within half a day of receiving the hardware. All that was need was the delivery of the Cisco 7940 IP phones, and once they arrived all employees were allocated their extension numbers and the software was fully operational within hours.
The Outcome
It was felt that if the product could work that effectively in demonstration and to the standard required it was the system JISC could feel confident about.
It is only since the system has been in full use that JISC is able to fully understand the benefits of the Voicenet Solutions hosted VoIP solution both in costs and enhanced connectivity.
Due to the nature of work involved at JISC, employees rely upon and make a large number of conference calls. It is thought that purely on these types of calls the organisation is already saving almost £1000 every month. Plus there is a further monthly saving of over £600 on basic call charges. This saving of course is in addition to that made on opting for a hosted solution negating the need and the expenditure for a propriety PBX.
Over a five year period the estimated savings will be: £60,000 (conference calls), £36,000 (call charges) and £40,000 (hardware).
Total Savings, 60 months: £136,000.
Customer Comment
"The cost effectiveness and the savings speak for themselves. But there are certain costs that we simply can not measure. Members of JISC can travel to America, use their Voicenet Solutions soft phone whilst in a hotel and make and receive calls as if they were in the office. They do not need to worry about connectivity or hotel charges. They can speak as if in the office still utilising all the features and making the most of the technology. In this instance, cutting costs does not mean cutting standards. This is a leading technology solution which has enhanced our organisation's communication connectivity and enabled us to therefore be more productive." Yogi Patel, Financial Director, JISC
NAPA, Charity saves 66% with hosted VoIP
Mainstream business could learn from charities who are leading the way in adopting new technology, such as VoIP to help save money and increase efficiency.
NAPA, the charity that promotes activities for older people, has installed a new hosted business VoIP telephone solution from VoIP provider Voicenet Solutions, and almost straightaway they have seen costs cut by 66% and greater efficiency in their day-to-day workings.
Earlier this year they changed premises and thought that an ideal time to install a new business telephony solution. "On moving offices we wanted a cost effective integrated phone / pc system" Said Sylvie Silver, Strategic Director.
They said goodbye to their BT Business Highway system and brought in the all-in-one business VoIP package from Voicenet Solutions which was ready to go within 24 hours of moving in.
Gary Pryor from Voicenet Solutions, said
"The cost savings, though obviously important to any business especially charities, is not the only benefit experienced hosted VoIP solution. The advanced features of the business VoIP package, VNcomplete can help enhance inter-company connectivity and add to overall efficiency".
NAPA offer an advice and message service to the public, since adopting the business VoIP solution the benefits are obvious; More reliable remote access from home calls and messages are handled much more effectively and therefore many more people can be re-contacted.
And when asked what will be done with the newly available cash achieved by the cost savings it's no surprise NAPA are looking to the future. "Well continue to invest it in better IT support systems" Says Sylvie, yet further enhancing that charities like this, regardless of their 'market' see the advancement of new technology as the way to create greater effectiveness and make substantial savings.
Kent Enterprise Trust
Kent Enterprise Trust see great benefits in a Hosted Solution
Kent Enterprise Trust is a charity and social enterprise looking to promote and create innovative ways to support and develop 3rd sector organisations based in Kent.
They provide employment, work skills and training opportunities for disadvantaged people, taking pride in the individual’s needs. Services are provided at a local level to benefit the community and employers, particularly in areas of deprivation and growth regeneration.
The Challenge
On moving into new offices, Kent Enterprise Trust needed a flexible telephone system that offered a fully functional business solution, to provide to its tenants, with multiple extensions on a single outside line that was ready to go as soon as possible. They also needed a system that would require little ongoing in-house maintenance and attention.
Kent Enterprise Trust tenants run busy offices where employees are quite often on the phone receiving and making calls for most of the day, calling businesses and partners across the region.
They needed a high quality telephone system with a capacity to deal with many incoming calls that could be easily logged and transferred to other landlines and mobiles.
The previous system was rudimentary and prohibited growth insomuch as it did not allow for new phones to be added to the system without significant investment in further hardware and rack space. Kent Enterprise Trust reached their line capacity two years previously, so if they had a new employee, that person would have to share a phone and the system could not be updated easily to record this. With hosted VoIP there is no real limit, all that is needed is more data, which can be easily added.
Furthermore individual users did not have direct numbers, just extension numbers, plus there was no ability to leave a message for employees, and so messages were left on a central voicemail, which was not ideal.
The Solution
IP Solutions, who were recommended by an IT consultant, were approached along with various other providers to offer a new communications solution. There were offers from PBX resellers, but it was not felt that these systems provide any more than the current system, with perhaps the exception of updated handsets. Furthermore it was felt that the learning curve and general ongoing support from the IT team would be too resource sapping.
There were also offers from VoIP providers, but IP Solutions recommendations were both the most cost effective and of the highest specification.
“We were impressed by IP Solutions ability to explain every feature and possible solution to us in a jargon-free way. Not only was their recommendation the most cost effective, but they filled us with confidence that this was the ideal solution for our business, both now and for the future” Paul Danvers, IT Coordinator.
Kent Enterprise Trust opted for a fully hosted solution from Voicenet Solutions, with two switches and routers on site. Together with this the Cisco 7911 was the chosen handset with a further two operator consoles. These consoles give the front office greater usability and many more options in being able to transfer calls. The operators are able to see all the calls that are currently in use throughout the office enabling greater efficiency and accountability for each call.
Business Benefits
Kent Enterprise Trust now makes significant savings
With a hosted solution no upfront hardware investment is needed, cutting the cost even more
The hosted VoIP solution means the IT management can add new phone lines for new users in minutes, previously the old system had reached its capacity – so this was impossible
Has allowed the IT management to concentrate on IT rather than having become specialists in telecoms
All maintenance to the system is done remotely, off-site saving time and cost
All employees have their own direct numbers and IP handsets enabling everyone to use all features, including Follow me, Voicemail, conference calling
Flexible Telephone System that easily accommodates future expansion and growth and the ability to offer managed telephone services to serviced office clients
“IP Solutions and Voicenet Solutions stood out from the competition. They helped us every step of the way and the result is a telecommunications solution that has enabled us to work more effectively and given us significant savings.”
Helen Deeson, Project Manager, Kent Enterprise Trust.
