Upgrading the Telephone System

The problem

Following on from our successful upgrades to Gowrings’ core systems, we were invited to present our proposal for a new telephone system, as their aging BT system was coming to the end of its lease. Support costs were rising every year, and long delays in getting an engineer to programme even simple moves, additions and changes meant that the system was no longer meeting the company’s basic operational needs.

The nature of Gowrings’ business means that telephone conversations are usually lengthy, so the company was keen to learn whether recent advances – especially VOIP (voice communication over the internet) – could be useful.

Our solution

We recommended a new internet-based telephone system using the Mitel MXe 3300 platform. This consisted of:

 
• Mitel MXe 3300 mobile twinning  
• wireless IP (internet protocol)  
• call recording  
• call monitoring

Implementation

We began by accompanying directors of Gowrings Mobility on a demonstration and fact-finding visit to Mitel’s European headquarters in Gwent. At this meeting, after establishing Gowrings’ exact telephony requirements, Mitel demonstrated how their products could benefit Gowrings and their clients.

Following this we arranged for an on-site demonstration by our partner, Oak Telecom, of two products: AiOffice and ProVoice. These provide full auditing of all telephone traffic in and out of a building, as well as internal calls, along with call recording on specific handsets, for monitoring and training purposes.

Once the final strategy had been agreed, we assembled a dedicated team comprised of a project manager, technical data manager and telephone technician, who then compiled a detailed project plan and roadmap. They also worked with Mitel’s installation team and Gowrings’ IT consultant to produce a detailed document dealing with technical issues, plus a spreadsheet of current speed dials and frequently dialled numbers, ready for importing into the new system.

A refinement in the overall solution was to replace the current Cisco infrastructure with an HP Procurve solution providing Power Over Ethernet (POE). This enabled handsets to be powered remotely, so that there was no need for any extra power blocks or electrical sockets.

Finally, we arranged comprehensive training for all staff on the day before the new system went live, and made a floorwalker available on the first operational day to help any members of staff needing assistance.

Client’s comments

“We saw several contenders for the phone system but no-one instilled the confidence, nor met the excellent pricing, that we received from Micropoint. They organised an excellent visit to the Mitel suite enabling us to make a fully informed choice on the equipment and systems we bought. Our Account Manager came with us to guide and support us and ensure he heard it all first hand and get the specification correct. The implementation was smooth with full training taking place prior to installation. This was all around a moving deadline to fit in with our business needs and resources.”

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