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Steel Construction Institute.
Industry: Professional Services.
Introduction
SCI (The Steel Construction Institute) is the leading, independent provider of technical expertise and disseminator of best practice to the steel construction sector. SCI work in partnership with clients, members and industry peers to help build businesses and provide competitive advantage through the commercial application of their knowledge.
The objective of The Steel Construction Institute is to develop and promote the effective use of steel in construction. Their multi-disciplinary staff of over 40 skilled engineers, architects and IT professionals are experts in their specific fields. They work on both onshore and offshore projects, funded by industry, members, UK national and local government and the EC Commission.
The challenges
SCI recognized that since implementing their last system there had been a quantum shift in the design and development of telephony products. In a new digital world, SCI believed that traditional circuit switched manufacturers were struggling to adapt their hardware-based products to embrace the flexibility and functionality offered by software based IP solutions. “What we needed at SCI was a software-based product that had been designed as an IP based telephony solution from scratch not as an afterthought.” said John Moran. “We have a high performance data network and communications and saw no reason not to use this for combined data and communications. This would take us away from having to consider two networks and towards integrating computer and audio communications use.”
The solution
Atia Communications have installed a Swyx IP Telephony solution at The Steel Construction Institute (SCI) headquarters in Ascot Berkshire. The new telephony system is expected to improve customer service, provide better interaction between SCI and members and deliver considerable cost savings.
The Solution – A customer-driven telephony system that could be tailored to meet the growing demands of the SCI Members.
The results
The SCI are now exploiting many benefits of the Swyx solution, all designed with members in mind, including:
- The ability to offer its employees the opportunity to work seamlessly from home.
- The means to drive both its incoming and outgoing calls from the normal mail system (in SCI’s case Microsoft® Outlook).
- The ability to analyse peaks and troughs in terms of calls received so can ensure sufficient personnel available to manage enquiries (through the use of Swyx reporting tools).
- The ability to record any missed or abandoned calls and call back later
- An open platform with the ability to integrate into other business applications like SCi’s Advisory Blue Forms System and back office systems.
- The introduction of ‘Fax to the desktop’ for instantaneous delivery and receipt of faxes to all professionals and support staff.
- A conferencing facility included with SwyxWare which has opened up communications for SCI’s LiveMeeting based meeting and events system. It particularly useful for communications between SCI and business partners and has driven down tome out of the office and travelling costs.
- Personalised greetings for different organisations detected through call identification.
The Results – A more customer-focused and productive operation
It is possible to direct calls according to the type of enquiry and relevant division. For example the call might be relating to a ‘legal’ question, and using simple call routing tools, calls will be sent to the appropriate department or individual. In some areas of the business, it is critical for us to respond very quickly. For example, a caller might be on site and need to urgently speak with someone for an immediate answer, the Swyx system will allow SCI to direct calls to the relevant team quickly and automatically.
Summary – A platform for the future
Swyx is based on a software licence model, growth will not be restricted by any hardware limitations, one of the main reasons why Swyx fits perfectly with the SCI business model. John Moran, of SCI concludes;
“We have been delighted with both the Swyx solution and the support and training we have received from Atia. They have pulled out all the stops to assist us in achieving our business objectives and we feel we are only scratching the surface with what we can do in the future.”
The future
Swyx is based on a software licence model, growth will not be restricted by any hardware limitations, one of the main reasons why Swyx fits perfectly with the SCI business model. John Moran, of SCI concludes;
“We have been delighted with both the Swyx solution and the support and training we have received from Atia. They have pulled out all the stops to assist us in achieving our business objectives and we feel we are only scratching the surface with what we can do in the future.”
