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23 March
2009 -
Chorleywood,
UK:
SpliceCom,
the IP
convergence
company
whose award
winning
maximiser
Unified
Communications
platform
combines
voice,
video, IP TV
and web
enabled IT
applications
at the
desktop,
today
announced
that it had
helped ITW
Delfast, a
leading
supplier to
the
automotive
industry, to
reduce its
telecom
costs by a
third when
compared to
the
company’s
previous
Siemens
HiPath PBX.
A leading
international
business
corporation
with close
to 100 years
of history,
Illinois
Tool Works
Inc. (NYSE:
ITW) is a
diversified
manufacturer
of advanced
industrial
technology.
This
includes the
design and
production
of an array
of highly
engineered
fasteners
and
components,
equipment
and
consumable
systems, and
specialty
products and
equipment
for
customers
around the
world.
Comprising
of 750
decentralised
business
units, with
operations
in 49
countries,
ITW employs
approximately
55,000 men
and women
who are
focused on
creating
value-added
products and
innovative
customer
solutions.
One of these
business
units is the
ITW Delfast
Group, which
designs and
produces
engineered
plastic and
metal
fasteners
for the
automotive
industry.
The Group’s
number one
objective is
to create
solutions
that save
money and
deliver
value to
their
customers
through
innovation
and product
development
in the area
of clips,
watertight
fasteners,
sound seal
screws and
multi-blow
products.
Some of ITW
Delfast’s
highest
profile,
value driven
parts
include:
trim clips,
hole plugs,
hot melt
plugs, brake
and fuel
line
routing.
Telephony
Background
In the UK
ITW
Delfast’s
headquarters
are located
in
Basingstoke
with a
satellite
sales office
and design
centre in
Coventry.
The company
had been
running a
Siemens
HiPath 3500
PBX with
Optipoint
handsets at
Basingstoke,
with DECT
handsets on
analogue
lines at
Coventry. As
John Burt,
Business
Unit Manager
for ITW
Delfast
explains,
“The DECT
phones that
had been
deployed at
Coventry
offered us
no business
functionality.
There was a
data link
between the
two sites,
but
telephone
calls
couldn’t be
transferred
between
Coventry and
Basingstoke.
We’d have to
ask callers
to re-dial
rather than
being able
to transfer
the calls
internally.”
Finding The
Right
Solution
For ITW
Delfast, the
driver for
change was
the fact
that the
existing
lease term
for the
Siemens
HiPath
telephone
system in
Basingstoke
was coming
to an end in
January
2009.
“Ideally, we
were looking
to reduce
our rental
and
maintenance
costs,
whilst
unifying the
service
between our
two sites,”
said John
Burt. “At
first we
considered
that hosted
telephony
was the way
forward for
us, we
weren’t
looking at
systems at
all. By pure
coincidence,
we received
a cold call
from Intech
Telecom, who
persuaded us
to look at
SpliceCom’s
maximiser
Pure IP
platform. It
was the
first and
the only
demonstration
we saw. My
management
team were so
impressed,
particularly
with the
functionality
it delivered
and how easy
it was to
use.
SpliceCom
Telephony
Platforms
ITW Delfast
solved the
transfer
problem at
their
Coventry
site by
installing
SpliceCom’s
5108 Call
Server
locally to
provide a
complete
on-site
solution.
Handling up
to eight
extensions,
the 5108
provides the
same
features and
facilities
as its “big
brother” the
5100 Call
Server,
which was
installed at
the
Basingstoke
site.
Currently
operating as
two discrete
stand-alone
systems,
employees no
longer have
to ask
callers to
re-dial when
they call
the Coventry
site as they
can now
transfer
calls
between
sites across
the BT
network.
However, as
there’s only
likely to be
one or two
concurrent
calls
between the
two sites,
the plan is
to link them
at a future
date using a
standard
broadband
connection,
allowing the
two
maximiser
Call Servers
act as a
single
company wide
telephone
system.
Employees in
Basingstoke
will be able
to see who’s
available to
take a call
in Coventry
– as well as
being able
to transfer
calls and
pick up
parked calls
across
sites.
There’s also
a single
Unified
Directory
for external
contacts,
employees
and
departments,
which will
make
dialling
numbers both
easier and
quicker
whilst
eliminating
incorrectly
dialled
digits.
SpliceCom at
the Desktop
The Group
chose to
deploy
SpliceCom’s
latest PCS
570 IP
phones and
PCS 520
analogue
display
phones. Both
have been
installed
over Cat 5e
structured
cabling
allowing a
totally
flexible
approach to
desktop
deployment.
The PCS 570
offers a
large full
colour
graphics
display,
eighteen
intuitive
multi-functional
context
sensitive
keys, and
bold
instantly
recognisable
icons. It’s
the
combination
of these
features
that help to
deliver the
“Ease of
Use”
identified
by John
Burt’s
management
team during
the
demonstration
by Intech
Telecom. The
PCS 520 is
also
extremely
easy to use
thanks to
its clear
display,
internal
directory
and ten
pre-programmed
keys for the
most
commonly
used
business
telephony
functions.
It was
selected to
deliver cost
effective
display
phone
functionality
for those
ITW Delfast
employees
requiring a
hard working
“every-day”
business
telephone,
but not
needing the
extended
functionality
provided by
the PCS 570
IP Phone.
"Many staff
chose to run
SpliceCom’s
PCS 60 Phone
Partner
application
on their
PCs, in
conjunction
with their
desktop
phones. As
well as
giving
employees
access to
all the
advanced
system
features
that
maximiser
can offer,
it also
provides
Caller
Display
information
on the PC
screen in a
“floating
text”
format. This
lets an
employee
know who’s
ringing them
– and what
number their
ringing –
without
interrupting
the current
task or
application
that they’re
working on.
And to
enable staff
to still
take calls
when they
were away
from their
desks new
DECT
handsets
were added
to the 5100
Call Server
at
Basingstoke,
whilst the
existing
DECT
handsets
were
re-deployed
on the 5108
Call Server
at Coventry
. As well as
protecting
the existing
investment
and saving
costs, this
also meant
that PBX
features are
now
available to
users of
these DECT
phones.
Making a
Difference
The deal
clincher for
ITW Delfast
was the cost
of the
maximiser
solution.
“Despite
providing
far more
benefits to
our
business,
employees,
customers
and
suppliers
than our
existing
Siemens
HiPath PBX,
the
SpliceCom
system also
provides 33%
cost savings
in terms of
both rental
and
maintenance,”
said John
Burt. “It’s
also way
more
flexible. We
can choose
to route
calls based
on the
caller’s
number to
ensure that
they get
answered by
the correct
Department
or
individual
every time.
I can also
make changes
to the
system
without the
need for an
engineering
visit and
the
resulting
costs. We’re
only just
starting to
scratch the
surface of
what its
capable of,
but as an
example,
because of
its open
architecture
we will be
integrating
maximiser
with our
Microsoft
Dynamics NAV
enterprise
planning
resource
application
in the
future,
which will
be a major
benefit to
our
operation.
The handsets
look so much
better then
those we had
before and
the system
performs in
a way that
suits our
operation.
The
introduction
of maximiser
was seamless
and all in
all we
couldn’t be
more pleased
with our new
telephone
system,’
concluded
Burt. |
