The previous telephone system was no longer adequate as the agency modernised, said Managing Director Richard Merrin: “We moved to our current office in 1993, installing an analogue Meridian phone system. But over time we realised that simply bolting on new lines for fax, conference calls, and ISDN had come at a huge cost – both financially and for staff morale.”
“Line rental and call charges remained unacceptably high, and staff were complaining that the noise of the open plan office was too disruptive to take conference calls or press briefings at their desks,” Merrin continued.
Merrin had already decided to migrate to a teliqo VoIP system when, in November 2012, nearby building works caused power outages that twice blew the Meridian system’s motherboard. “With staff forced to use their personal devices, inbound calls halted, and a 24-hour wait for the old system to come back on line, we had to move quickly. The whole switchover was completed by teliqo in 48 hours over one weekend, so as not to disrupt the working week – I have to say I was very impressed!”
Benefits of the move to the teliqo system have ranged for increased ease of access to incoming calls to cost savings and productivity improvements, said Merrin: “Everyone now has one dedicated number that links their desk phone, mobile, and computer, whether they are in or out of the office, so we need never miss a call. And thanks to automatic email notifications, we can access voicemail messages on the move from our smartphones.
“Call charges are down by over 40 per cent in the first month alone. Even more importantly, for the first time we can bill our clients for phone calls with total accuracy, easing their concerns about invoicing. Integrated headsets mean background noise is no longer an issue and the demand for meeting rooms to take conference calls has significantly diminished,” Merrin continued.
Ultimately, it is the business continuity benefits of the new system that are crucial, Merrin concluded: “The system delivers against one of our key objectives for our IT infrastructure: a fail-safe solution to keep mission-critical systems functioning in the face of disaster. After all, what is the point of a communications agency that can’t actually communicate?”