The Customer
Frederick Bird Primary School est un établissement prestigieux du Royaume-Uni nommé en l’honneur de l’Alderman Frederick Bird. Bird était l’un des rares chimistes dévoués au service public et est considéré comme le seul homme en Angleterre ayant servi sur un organisme d’éducation publique depuis sa création en 1870 jusqu’à son décès en 1913.
Frederick Bird Primary School est un établissement prestigieux du Royaume-Uni nommé en l’honneur de l’Alderman Frederick Bird. Bird était l’un des rares chimistes dévoués au service public et est considéré comme le seul homme en Angleterre ayant servi sur un organisme d’éducation publique depuis sa création en 1870 jusqu’à son décès en 1913.
Business Challenges
Pour accueillir une extension récemment construite, le système téléphonique devait être étendu. L’ancien système était coûteux à entretenir, nécessitant des frais de rappel spécialisés pour toute modification, comme le déplacement d’une extension. Les coûts d’exploitation étaient élevés, avec plusieurs locations de lignes ISDN et des frais d’appel ISDN. L’école avait besoin d’un nouveau système à la fois plus économique, plus simple à administrer et à déployer. En fin de compte, l’école devait moderniser son système téléphonique.
Solutions From Sangoma
Après une recherche approfondie menée par Danny O’Grady du Conseil de la ville de Coventry et Michael Cross, responsable informatique de l’École Primaire Frederick Bird, le système Switchvox a été choisi comme offrant le meilleur rapport qualité/prix grâce à ses nombreuses fonctionnalités. Avec l’aide de Daconi Ltd, revendeur local de Switchvox basé à Coventry, l’école a opté pour une connexion internet distincte pour le nouveau système Switchvox et un fournisseur SIP indépendant. Cela a permis d’augmenter le nombre de lignes entrantes de 3 à 5, avec la possibilité d’une expansion simple supplémentaire si nécessaire. L’école a choisi les téléphones IP Sangoma D-Series, facilement déployables via l’infrastructure CAT5 existante.
After extensive research by Danny O’Grady of Coventry City Council and Michael Cross, IT Manager of Frederick Bird Primary School, the Switchvox system was selected as providing the best value given its rich functionality. With the help of Daconi Ltd, a Coventry-based Switchvox reseller that implemented the Switchvox system, the school elected to have a separate broadband feed for the new Switchvox system and an independent SIP provider. This permitted increasing the number of incoming lines from 3 to 5, with the option of further simple expansion if required later. The school chose Sangoma D-Series IP phones which were easily deployed via the existing CAT5 infrastructure.
Three were deployed for the front-office staff as a ring-all pool to spread the incoming call load, and others were deployed for the rest of the school. “Having the ability to join the front-office pool (as an agent) simply by pressing one button”, said Tara Taylor, the school’s business manager, “was particularly useful especially during school holidays when front-office staff are on leave.” The school’s WiFi network was also extended by Daconi and integrated with the Switchvox system. “One of the best things about the system for me is its ability to converge phones”, said Mike Cross, IT Manager, “as I’m always moving around the school it helps to be able to make and receive calls via my extension on my smartphone.”
The Results
Following the rollout of the new system and initial training of front-office staff by Daconi, new features have slowly been introduced. The positive results were numerous, and the features and benefits of the new system have already been enjoyed. For example, staff can receive new voicemails as email attachments, utilize conference tools, make remote calls through their extensions, and much more. Changes to the phone system, such as adding new users and moving phones from one location to another, now take minutes, versus days or weeks. Plus, the changes can be handled in-house without having the high maintenance costs of paying a vendor to do the work. In the future, school administrators plan on extending the use of the Switchvox mobile app to other key staff, as well as making use of Switchvox.
Following the rollout of the new system and initial training of front-office staff by Daconi, new features have slowly been introduced. The positive results were numerous, and the features and benefits of the new system have already been enjoyed. For example, staff can receive new voicemails as email attachments, utilize conference tools, make remote calls through their extensions, and much more. Changes to the phone system, such as adding new users and moving phones from one location to another, now take minutes, versus days or weeks. Plus, the changes can be handled in-house without having the high maintenance costs of paying a vendor to do the work. In the future, school administrators plan on extending the use of the Switchvox mobile app to other key staff, as well as making use of Switchvox.