Case Studies
Intech helps top school to manage telephone costs
When Bay House School, a top comprehensive in Gosport, Hampshire, was looking for a phone system that would squeeze the most out of its budget, Intech Telecom was drafted in to provide the solution.
Sharon Stepnitz, Purchase Ledger Manager at Bay House, said:
"We needed to invest in a system that would help us cut down on our telecoms expenditure in the long term."
"We considered a number of services, but in the end Intech’s Splicecom package had exactly what we were looking for."
The school was keen to address two particular issues, the first of which saw Intech’s experts pitted against an unexpected adversary…
An innovative solution to a wild issue
Bay House School teaches over 2000 pupils, but the picturesque grounds also play host to a less welcome type of visitor – the grey squirrel.
"The little monsters nibble on the telephone cables,” explained Sharon, referring of course to the squirrels. “The resulting faults can take engineers hours to find and fix."
Intech is implementing a rolling project to replace the hardwired BT cabling systems with Voice over IP technology, eliminating vulnerabilities associated with cables, such as animal damage.
Michael Scallan, Commercial Director at Intech, said: “It can take just one nuisance squirrel to cause a whole day of downtime.
"Along with the cost of fixing the problem, the school has to continue operating without the phone line while the repair is carried out. In a world where communication is such a big part of the working day, it’s incredibly frustrating."
The IP phone system will also address problems caused by spiders nesting in cable junction boxes in the grade two listed building.
The school estimates various critters have caused around £500 of damage to its phone cables in the last year alone.
Reigning in the phone bill
With every school's purse strings being pulled ever tighter, Bay House wanted a telephone system that would help to reduce expenditure on bills.
Intech recommended the reporting software package, which can restrict telephone usage by blocking calls to international or premium rate numbers and monitoring outbound calls from different extensions to identify malpractice.
Sharon said:"The call restrictions element has been brilliant. It enables me to easily set the limitations myself, whereas our old system required me to phone the provider every time I wanted to make a change."
"If someone needs to contact a member of staff who is abroad on a school trip, for example, I can temporarily unblock international dialling from any phone and change it straight back afterwards."
"The monitoring reports are also fantastic, as I can track where each outbound calls is made from, its destination, duration and cost at a glance. It makes it easy to identify areas in which we can save money."
Recommendation
Commenting on the services provided by Intech, Sharon added: “Intech’s engineers are friendly and very good at ringing me back when I contact them with queries.
"The systems installed are simple to use and offer a great level of control in managing telephony costs."
Testimonials
Age Concern – "The new Toshiba telephone system has helped us transfer important calls from the office to our day centres without asking the caller to re–dial, this helps reduce call backs which saves us time and money".
Southampton & Fareham Chamber of Commerce – "The installation of our new telephone system was quick, smooth and without disruption. Intech's project managers were professional, flexible and friendly throughout the installation".
Poole Arts Centre – "Their meticulous approach ensured a smooth changeover from our existing system to the new one. The Intech Telecom installation engineers and training team were first class and were excellent at explaining how to use the new equipment"
H.Young Transport Ltd – "As we have inbuilt expansion capabilities within the telephone systems, we anticipate growing the systems, with ease, as we grow. We shall also continue to enjoy the many benefits of Intech Telecom's telephone network which is giving us excellent savings on our calls as well as detailed management information on–line, free of charge".
Peter Cooper Volkswagen Group – "At the Peter Cooper Volkswagen Group, we have five sites across the south coast ranging from used car sales, a body repair centre and three Main Volkswagen Retailers. In–tech provide us with a single monthly invoice and point of contact for the whole of our telecommunication needs which provides us with support for our MPLS Network, Siemens telephone systems, call charges and line rental. We have always received excellent support backed up by a pro–active service, making life easier to deal with one supplier saving us time and hence money."
Festival Drinks – "With the help of In–tech Telecom we have improved the service levels we provide our customers through the implementation of the Splicecom Maximiser IP phone system. We are able to forward service calls to our on–call engineers at weekends when the office is closed and if they are unable to take the call, then a message is taken by the Splicecom system and an SMS is sent to the engineer with the details of the phone number and customer that has called in. This ensures customers receive a prompt response to their issues at all times."