Case Study - Royal Agricultural Society of England
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The Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) upgraded its aging telephone system to a ShoreTel unified communications system implemented by Voyager Networks. The new system provides significant cost savings through improved efficiency, customer service, and easier administration. It takes only 10 minutes to install new lines for exhibitors compared to the previous 75 minutes.
Case Study - Royal Agricultural Society of England
- 1. Following a review of it’s communications infrastructure The RoyalAgricultural Society of England (RASE) decided the time was right for UC and ShoreTel. After a successful demonstration, Voyager Networks was selected to design and replace their ageing telephone system in favour of a feature rich UC solution across its four locations. The new ShoreTel system has delivered significant cost savings to the organisation, improved its customer service and RASE has seen a huge improvement in terms of efficiently amongst its employees. The Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) plays a leading role in the development of British agriculture and a vibrant rural economy through the uptake of good science, the promotion of best practice and a co-ordinated, impartial approach to wide-rang- ing rural issues. Today their work includes support for business and social welfare in rural communities, education, and a wide portfolio of shows and events. Case Study: Royal Agricultural Society of England MARKET: NON-PROFIT SOLUTION: UNIFIED COMMS Voyager and ShoreTel have reduced the time necessary to deploy a new extension by 75%. It now takes only 10 minutes to install a new line for exhibitors. Its proven to be a highly reliable, scalable and above all cost efficient solution” Stewart Page, Assistant Director of ICT, RASE Royal Agricultural Society of England Gains a Cash Cow with ShoreTel “
- 2. From fields of primroses to cottages of cream teas, the English Countryside continues to inspire poets and horticulturalists alike. It’s also an important resource for agriculture and related industries throughout England. Since 1840, the Rural Agricultural Society of England (RASE) has helped support farming and the rural industries by spreading information about the best in research, development and practice. Today this means bringing the best of British agriculture to the attention of members and the wider rural industries through shows, events, conferences and awards. “ Case Study: Royal Agricultural Society of England Solution Provided in partnership with The Challenge Upgrade an aging digital telephony system to a Unified Communications (UC) system in time for an office relocation. The new RASE exhibition venue required a flexible telephony system with modern communication features to help improve the society’s services. The Solution The 230-user ShoreTel deployment at RASE includes ShoreTel Voice Switches, and ShoreTel IP telephones. Applications and features include ShoreTel Call Manager, using workgroups, hunt groups and Microsoft Outlook Integration. ShoreTel Softphone & ShoreTel Office Anywhere, keeping mobile workers reachable, anytime, anywhere. The Benefits > For the first time RASE can measure call volume and set targets in line with business objectives. > ShoreTel’s ease of deployment and use resulted in timely and efficient implementation and employee training. > ShoreTel’s distributed architecture & single-image deployment enable RASE IT staff to centrally manage the system. > Switchboard operators can respond to many enquiries independently and without external support. > ShoreTel Call Manager improves customer service helping to ensure missed calls are easily monitored and returned. > The time to deploy a new extension has been reduced by 75 percent, and it now takes only 10 minutes to install a new line for exhibitors. Ensuring the right information is shared with those who need it, and events are efficiently managed depends on reliable and effective communications. However, the society’s old digital Philips telephony system was rapidly approaching its end of life, and required an increasing amount of technical expertise for routine tasks, such as moving around phone lines and adding users. Sometimes technical difficulties had to be resolved with outside help which proved time-consuming and costly. The Society also was planning to relocate, and needed a new systeminplacewhenmovingtothenewoffices. Migration to unified communications was viewed as a long-term communications strategy at RASE, & Stewart Page, Assistant Director of ICT, took the opportunity to familiarise himself with the UC market when attending a UC tradeshow in London. ShoreTel makes UC a reality for nonprofits When we first starting hearing about UC, we assumed it was beyond our budget and resource capabilities,” Mr Page explained. “After comparing different product demos, however, the ShoreTel solution proved to be more cost-effective and easy-to manage than we first believed, and certainly more so than their competitors.” The RASE IT team decided the time was right for UC with ShoreTel, and introduced Voyager Networks, as ShoreTel partner to design the solution to be deployed across four locations at RASE’s 250 acres Stoneleigh Park. Because of the rural location, RASE also needed analogue functionality for extensions to remote areas around the site. 8 MARKET: NON-PROFIT SOLUTION: CONTACT CENTRE
- 3. “ “ “ “ The Voyager team designed the ShoreTel solution with all the components we needed and room to grow,” Mr Page said. “The project management team guided deployment very smoothly through to completion within the timeframe planned. We had to make the transition over one weekend and the switch to the new system worked excellently thanks to our team effort with ShoreTel and Voyager Networks.” Staff improves efficiency with ShoreTel’s ease of use All RASE users attended a two-day training session and Voyager Networks provided “flaw walkers” on-site during the first few days to ensure smooth migration and speedy troubleshooting. Our employees love the new system. Despite the varying levels of IT literacy, they have all embraced ShoreTel technology due to its ease of use,” Mr Page said. Usersareparticularlyimpressedfromthe integrationwithMicrosoftapplications.One majorbenefittoRASEusershasbeenthe collaborationtools,byintegratingtheShoreTel solutionwithMicrosoftOutlookstaffcannow managetheirvoicemail&contactsfromtheir inbox,allowingthemtolistentovoicemail messagesstraightfromOutlook. Anotherimportantfeatureofthisintegration nowallowsRASEemployeestocallcontacts rightfromtheirMicrosoftapplicationswhilst alsoshowingtheirpresencestatus.Thishasbe- comeparticularlyusefultothosestaffmanaging theincomingcallstotheorganisation.Staff handlingtheswitchboardcanmanagethose callsmoreefficientlybeingseeingthe availabilityofothermembersofstaff,making theentirecommunicationexperiencefar quicker,whilstsavingRASEtimeandmoney. Building teamwork RASE staff are also taking full advantage of features such as Workgroups, Office Anywhere and Huntgroups to improve efficiency and get more done. Workgroups helps them monitor and return missed calls, which is especially valuable in busy periods during exhibitions. Office Anywhere lets them assign their extensions to any phone for when they’re working remotely, and hunt- groups routes calls to multiple extensions to help ensure no calls are missed. ShoreTel also has reduced the time necessary to deploy a new extension by 75 percent,” Mr Page added. “It now takes only 10 minutes to install a new line for exhibitors, thereby improving the flexibility of RASE customer services. By eliminating the old system, we’ve taken back a whole equipment room, thus saving on space and cooling costs by having one less air conditioner.” In-house system management saves time and money Users of the ShoreTel system are spread out across Stoneleigh Park where immediate access to buildings is often restricted. Remote administrative management and troubleshooting through a Web browser help save time and reduce costs. Thanks to the system’s single image architecture and the ease of system management, switch- board operators can solve many issues independently without external support. The ease of management of the ShoreTel system has now allowed administration of the telephony and communications for the exhibitions far easier as well. Not only has the setting up of new extensions for events becomeeasytomanagebutthebillingreports forthoseexhibitorscanbegeneratedquickly and accurately at the end of each event, something that was very time consuming and difficult to operate previously. The return on investment of the ShoreTel deploymentwasrealisedwithinafewmonths of migration. The new system also allows RASE to improve management of the RASE salesteam’sperformance.Salesrepresentatives are given key performance indicators based on the number of calls they handle, and for the first time the organisation can measure call volume and set targets in line with business objectives. The ShoreTel solution represents an excellent platform for further development to meet the Society’s long term strategic plans. Together with Voyager Networks and ShoreTel, RASE is developing a customised CRM solution which will be integrated with the current system. RASE is also planning to deploy the ShoreTel solution at its on-site hotel, which is currently still using the old system. We’re very pleased with the performance of the ShoreTel UC solution,” Mr Page said. “It’s proven to be a highly reliable, scalable and above all cost efficient solution that has improved our customer service and employee efficiency. We’re confident that ShoreTel’s powerful combination of product excellence and highly responsive support through Voyager Networks will help us improve communications and member services” we assumed UC was beyond our budget and resource capabilities...the ShoreTel solution proved to be more cost-effective and easy to manage...” Stewart Page, Assistant Director of ICT, RASE Contact us www.voyager.net.uk or call us on 02476 417 417T Images from The Royal Show “ 9
- 4. Network Infrastructure From consultancy and design through to implementation and management. Professional Services An addition to your IT department offering you flexible, highly professional Network specialists. Managed Network Services Complete management of your Communications. Network giving you the time to manage your business. Unified Communications Simplifying and integrating all forms of communications in view to reducing response times and increasing efficiencies. Security Securing your entire network at every level for piece of mind and protection to your critical network. Mobility Seamless integration across all your communication devices allowing real mobile working. Our strategic partners. The value to our customers is our expertise. We have invested heavily in our people so they become experts in the UK’s leading IT vendors products and services. Our established and trusted partnerships along with the highest vendor accreditations ensure our customers receive the highest levels of support and advice with the most advanced and innovative solutions. Voyager Networks helps organisations achieve growth, operational cost reduction and increased staff productivity through advanced communications technologies. The Unified Communications Experts. VOY|MAR‘10 Voyager Networks Limited Voyager House, Sir William Lyons Road, University of Warwick Science Park, Coventry, CV4 7EZ. 02476 417 417 02476 414 817 info@voyager.net.uk www.voyager.net.uk © Voyager Networks Limited. This document is the Intellectual Property of Voyager Networks Limited. Its contents should not be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior permission of Voyager. T F E W Voyager has implemented a variety of solutions, many of which are pioneering in their sector. For more information on these projects please contact us using the methods below. Talk to our team today on 02476 417 417 Or visit us online at www.voyager.net.uk