Appleton Harley-Davidson Simplifies Call Management and Achieves Immediate Savings

The Customer

Appleton Harley-Davidson has been a family-owned business for more than 45 years in the Fox River Valley, Wisconsin. Founded on a passion for iconic Harley-Davidson motorcycles, it offers sales, service, apparel, parts, storage, and rider training. What makes this dealership so special to the Appleton community is the level of service and commitment that Terry Doughty and his son Josh Doughty (the company president) have provided over the years. The respect they inspire in the community will undoubtedly be felt for generations.

Business Challenges

The previously installed phone system was outdated and difficult to program, and advanced features were becoming increasingly essential. Operations Manager Shelley Draeger said: “When we looked at the Switchvox system from the outset, we saw significant savings and efficiency that would propel us into the future.” In addition to simplifying daily use and increasing efficiency, there were other requirements specific to their business. “With Harley-Davidson, we place great importance on our brand and want everything we do to reflect that; so, the ability to print our logo on all the phones, and even have orange handset cords, was an outstanding feature. When customers see a phone with the logo and color scheme, it reminds them of our iconic Harley-Davidson product,” said Draeger. When asked what kind of research they had done to find a solution, they said that everything and everyone was on the table, but the three main takeaways were the same for everyone: a phone system with advanced technology, easy for employees to use, and scalable.

Sangoma Solutions

“We considered the big names: Cisco, Mitel, and even RingCentral. Our concern wasn’t just the initial cost, but all the additional costs that might arise later. We wanted call centers, mobility options, the ability to program it themselves, and detailed call reports from the outset, along with the additional costs with other providers,” Draeger explained. After reviewing the options, Sangoma’s Switchvox E510 appliance was installed. New line services were delayed, so Unitel, Sangoma’s partner of the year, integrated the existing PRI with an ADTRAN Total Access 908 until the new services arrived. They also installed a Ubiquiti ES-48-500W to power the phones. The building across the street already had IP phones running on the old phone system, so the network infrastructure was already in place.

The network included a PC VLAN and a Voice VLAN configured by Harley-Davidson’s IT staff using a Meraki firewall and Meraki switches. They also extended the PC and Voice VLANs to the Ubiquiti ES-48-500W switch. Unitel then installed the Switchvox phone system, along with the ADTRAN and Ubiquiti switches, to test the network environment. When setting a cutover date, Unitel worked with the customer on a schedule that allowed installation of the new phone system without affecting Harley-Davidson’s regular business hours, while maintaining social distancing with limited staff on site. Shelley adds: “Unitel has always been very informative and direct about the best options. We trust their expertise.”

The Results

The immediate reaction after Switchvox was implemented was excitement. Staff were thrilled to see the touchscreen phones and were particularly impressed by how easy they were to use, adopting the Switchboard for its outbound calling capabilities. Harley-Davidson is a large company with a campus environment, so with employees physically spread out, the Switchboard made it feel as if they were all under one roof. The first major result was the significant impact replacing their current phone system had on reducing phone service costs. Harley-Davidson moved from a digital T1 to a SIP channel interface and was able to consolidate line services into the main building.

In early spring, Appleton Harley-Davidson was receiving about 750 calls from customers wanting to get their motorcycles out of storage. The Switchvox Switchboard was therefore a great help in handling the high volume of calls while streamlining office efficiency. In addition, being able to see activity across the company on the Switchboard saved them time and increased mobility, as well as staff efficiency. “The Switchboard, the touchscreen phones that look like smartphones, the call reports are extremely helpful, and the auto attendant feature is huge. There are so many features we’re still learning,” said Draeger. And with Switchvox, all these features are included at no extra cost.

Finally, when Draeger was asked why they chose Sangoma and whether she had any advice for others looking to make a decision about their next phone system, she replied: “Unitel provided free orange cords to go with the black touchscreen phones, matching Harley-Davidson’s color scheme. That showed us that Unitel had listened to what we wanted. They are very customer service oriented. 5 stars.” During the sales process, Sangoma provided an online webinar and digital training materials to ensure the installation went smoothly during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Unitel’s customer service representative, Haley, also led an in-person training session. These combined efforts helped Appleton Harley-Davidson understand the Switchvox phone system with ease. According to Draeger, they have already seen cost savings from being able to program the phones themselves. Staff have also been able to create hold messages and move employees’ desks without worrying about reprogramming their desk phones.

“The Switchvox system included all the features, so we knew from the day of purchase that we would be ready and would not incur additional costs later. We looked at the big picture rather than simply focusing on the phone system. Unitel assessed the system’s user interface, line and internet services, our infrastructure needs, and even built disaster recovery into the background. The holistic approach meant looking ahead with our new system, which would bring us huge cost savings and all the features we might need for years to come,” said Draeger.