Hosted VoIP Phone System - Case Study

August 2020

This is a Hosted VoIP Phone System Case Study.

INTRODUCTION

The Institute of Risk Management are based in Fenchurch Street , London EC3 and employ over 30 staff.

The IRM is the leading professional body for Enterprise Risk Management. They help build excellence in risk management to improve the way organisations work. The group also includes the Institute of Operational Risk.

They provide globally recognised qualifications and training, publish research and thought leadership and set professional standards, which define the knowledge, skills and behaviours today’s risk professionals need to meet the demands of an increasingly complex and challenging business environment.

THE CHALLENGE

The IRM had been using an old Samsung OfficeSERV phone system for some time which badly needed updating. IRM had no ability to make system changes so it was difficult to administer.

They had had little or no contact from the supplier that installed it and had been maintaining it so there was no relationship as such and zero proactivity from the supplier.

Although they used a SIP trunk for their lines, ideally they needed to move to a fully hosted system and this had been nudged up the priority list due to COVID 19 and the need for staff to be working remotely.

The internet connection they used was also too slow for their needs and needed improving.

THE SOLUTION

tecwork established that there was already direct BT Openreach fibre in their building by visiting the basement there to identify it.

tecwork then installed a new Gamma Direct Fibre Internet connection (100Mbps download and upload – much faster than the previous connection – a 15Mbps EFM connection).  A Talk Talk tail was used to make use of the BT Openreach fibre already present. The fibre was then extended up to the IRM office- these Excess Construction Charges were just a few hundred pounds but were covered by the Government subsidy so there was zero cost to the IRM.

The connection was installed on a Gb bearer meaning that the IRM can upgrade easily to a maximum 1,000Mbps at any time.

A new Draytek router was also supplied and configured with an unlimited DATA 4G SIM which will act as a resilient back-up for maximum redundancy.

tecwork set up a new Hosted VoIP phone system and migrated all their published phone numbers to a new hosted Gamma Horizon VoIP phone system seamlessly and provided comprehensive on site and remote training.

THE RESULT

Their users were now able to work from any location either on PC Soft Phones or Smart Phone apps.

All existing numbers were retained. New Polycom HD Voice handsets were provided Free Of Charge.

New system features became available to the IRM and all programming is done through a cloud based Admin portal.

Much faster internet connectivity has been a very welcome improvement.

tecwork provides very fast responses to all issues and tickets raised along with proactive account management.

Director of Finance, Antony Cox commented:

“It was a seamless transition! All our users came in on Monday morning and were able to work straight away. Using apps for working from home or from mobiles has been extremely useful.

Plus our costs did not increase by that much. We now have an internet connection that is 6 times faster than before with a 4G failover – so more resilient. Plus, much better functionality, new phones and features etc. Service and Account Management is also much better than our previous company who we very rarely heard from.   Very pleased with the outcome indeed….”