Case Study: Splash
International design agency adopts unified communications to support growth
Introduction
Splash is an international design and production agency headquartered in London with offices in New York and Portland Oregon in the USA. The company works with leading brand owners and agencies helping them to create, produce and manage global advertising campaigns across multiple channels. Splash was founded five years ago and now employs around 70 people.
Challenges – Expensive, inflexible phone system was hampering business growth
In the fast moving design and production business, maintaining contact with both clients and suppliers is critical to the success of the business. When expansion forced Splash to move to a new larger office in the City of London it also gave them the opportunity to completely review their communications policy. According to Splash’s Technical Manager Phil Hunnisett, its old analogue PBX system delivered a rigid communications structure that was very inflexible. He commented“We are a dynamic and progressive company therefore we needed a communications system that reflected and matched the needs of our business, and our future ambitions. Our existing circuit switched system was inflexible, expensive to operate and provided no opportunities to integrate with other communication applications such as video, voice conferencing or mobile phones”.
The company was also expanding internationally and had an ultimate ambition to integrate its overseas offices into a single communications infrastructure. This would improve the overall efficiency of the organisation, make their staff more available more often, and reduce costs.
How a new Unified Communications solution based on IP telephony addressed key challenges
GP Network Solutions (GPNS), one of the UK's longest established gold partners of unified communications supplier Swyx, introduced Splash to the concept of an IP based PBX that was hardware independent and would integrate directly into their existing IT infrastructure. Phil explains, “We carried out an extensive review of the market, and the Unified Communications package from GPNS, a combination of the SwyxWare IP PBX and broadband connectivity, ticked all our boxes. It offered a high degree of flexibility, meeting what we needed today and what we would need in the future, with options to add on additional applications such as voice, video and web conferencing, and it had the ability to unify our desk-top and mobile phones. It also promised a significant reduction in our call costs.”
Proof of concept - moving from pilot to full deployment in 1 week
As Splash’s business depends on reliable internal and external communications it was essential that the new system was robust and offered clear high quality voice communications. Phil explains, “Although the SwyxWare solution offered by GPNS looked very good on paper, we had some concerns on whether IP telephony would offer the clarity of calls and Quality of Service (QOS) that we demanded.”
To overcome this issue GPNS helped Splash to set up a pilot system, initially with just a few phones so that Splash could try it out in their own working environment. Phil continues, “The test system provided us with the proof of concept we were looking for. We were really impressed by how clear the calls were compared with the old system and how simple it was to use. Before, if we wanted any configuration changes or a new user added we had to call the vendor, but now we could do it immediately with just a few mouse clicks”.
Once the pilot was complete Splash and GPNS took one week to deploy the new system throughout the organisation and then on the Friday of that week they went live.
The impact on the company’s efficiency and running costs
According to Phil, after a short period of ‘bedding in’ the SwyxWare system has proven to be very reliable and it is having an immediate impact on the company’s efficiency and costs. Phil explains, “Initially, like any new project there were some small teething problems, however GPNS sorted any problems very quickly and we have been very impressed with the level of support we have received since the installation. Furthermore, the wealth of the features offered by Swyx has helped organise our internal communications far more effectively, for example we can use the call routing functionality to provide independent telephony services within the office if required.
Furthermore, our receptionist can immediately see who is logged in or on a call, regardless of their location, and transfer calls accordingly. The result of this is that we can provide a higher level of contact to our clients, making key members of staff more available, more often.”
He continues, “Other features, such as voice messages, that are sent directly to an individual’s email box is very useful in our business as our staff can pick-up voice messages remotely using their mobile phones. This feature together with ‘call diverts’ allows staff to be reached more easily all of the time. Another benefit that impresses our clients is the ability to host conference calls without using a third-party.”
Return on investment – how Splash reduces its costs
Splash are also using a call logging platform specifically developed by GPNS for the Swyx solution. This is a feature that they did not have on their previous system. This allows them to keep a close track of the costs and phone usage and according to Phil they are already enjoying a significant saving on calls (via SIP) since the system has been installed and would expect to see a positive return on investment within the first twelve months.
Looking ahead – How the new solution handles growth
One of the key reasons that Splash selected the SwyxWare product from GPNS is that, unlike traditional systems that are based around proprietary hardware, the SwyxWare solution is purely software, which means that it provides a technology platform where new features and users can be added without any hard-wired restrictions.
Phil explains, “The SwyxWare solution is license based, therefore if we want to add new users it is a simple case of just adding additional licenses. Also we are still getting to grips with what is possible with the system, for example we are considering a move from Blackberrys to iPhones in the near future and we will look at implementing SwyxMobile which will integrate our out-of-office staff into the main system. This means they can use their mobile as if it was connected to the PBX allowing us to transfer incoming calls to them as if they were in the office. It also is another way of reducing our costs”
Phil is also interested about Swyx’s integration with the Netviewer web conferencing technology, which enables full scale online meetings at the push of a button and plans to take advantage of this functionality in the near future.
Summary of benefits
According to Phil Hunnisett, Splash is realising the following benefits:
- Greater flexibility – all moves and changes can be handled in house
- Full integration with the existing IT platform – it's just another server application
- Much reduced support costs
- Reduced call costs
- Ability to host conference calls without using a third-party
- Staff can be contacted anywhere as long as they are 'logged in'
- Voice mail integrated with email has improved internal and external communications
- Can integrate its overseas offices into a 'Unified Communications' solution
- Option to integrate with mobile phones
- Option to hold web-based conferences
Phil summarises his experience with SwyxWare so far, “The new solution has been a complete revelation compared with the old system, and we now have control of our corporate communications on a platform which we can continuously develop to meet the dynamic needs of our future business growth.”