“ Since installing EIC, we’ve seen increased productivity, improved call quality, reduced infrastructure maintenance, and enhanced customer service.”

Case Study Introduction

THE PROBLEM

In late 2003, Access Technologies began a search to replace its existing Inter-Tel PBX. As a small business with half its employees working in the field or remotely, the company needed a more cost-effective, flexible communications solution that also provided a wider range of mobile applications, such as collaboration, conferencing and messaging. “At first we considered upgrading our existing PBX to get the features we needed, but we quickly discovered that it would’ve required a costly forklift upgrade, and we still wouldn’t have the all-Microsoft infrastructure, or open, converged communications architecture that was going to position us for optimal future growth,” says Access Technologies founder and chief executive officer, Lindy Antonelli.

Access Technologies reviewed products from other vendors, and while some met its feature requirements, none offered the interoperability it wanted, or the type of underlying architecture that proved sufficiently flexible, open, or easy to manage.

THE SOLUTION

That’s when the company found an IP telephony solution developed specifically for the Microsoft small to mid-sized business customer. The product was called Enterprise Interaction Centre ® (EIC) from Vonexus, a subsidiary of business communications software developer, Interactive Intelligence. EIC included SIP-based IP switching, a wide range of communications applications, pre-integration with Microsoft CRM, and a first-of-its-kind communications portal.

“We chose EIC, because it was the only proven IP PBX that was standards-based, had an all-software option for ease-of-use, and offered a voice-enabled portal tightly integrated with the complete Microsoft product suite—from Microsoft Exchange to Microsoft CRM,” Antonelli says. Access Technologies selected EIC’s all-software option, which uses Intel’s Host Media Processing software to eliminate the need for voice boards. According to Intel, this simplifies maintenance, and can reduce costs by up to 40 percent compared to board-based IP deployments.

The company also selected EIC's optional Enterprise Communications Portal developed by Ohio-based Interactive Solutions (www.int-sol.com), a Premier National Integration Partner of Vonexus parent company Interactive Intelligence. The Enterprise Communications Portal is a browser-based portal pre-integrated with Microsoft CRM, which takes advantage of EIC's call control features. The portal gives mobile and remote users screen pop functionality, along with applications such as unified messaging and presence management.

With the help of Interactive Solutions, Access Technologies completed its new deployment on schedule and within budget in mid-January 2004. Access Technologies is using EIC for SIP-based switching, auto-attendant, workgroup routing, conferencing, call forward/follow me, and reporting. The EIC product supports all 20 company employees, who are now equipped with Polycom IP phone.

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