Business challenge
This supply chain management firm provides end-to-end logistics solutions for a range of major household brands in the retail space. All of its clients operate from large, multi-site distribution centres which each have separate wireless infrastructures and legacy low-functionality analogue phone systems. The main aims of the firm were to streamline its communications and Wi-Fi infrastructures across its interconnected sites. In turn, this would lower costs, simplify management and improve flexibility. Such fast-moving environments ideally require a single, centrally managed unified communications (UC) platform, running seamlessly on a standardised, reliable Wi-Fi network.
The company needed to find a supplier that truly understood integrated voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), wireless and digital enhanced cordless telecommunications (DECT) networks, which could design, implement and support a campus-wide solution with minimal ongoing input, and therefore chose Prodec.
The solution
Prodec produced a ‘proof of concept’ document based on a proposed implementation at a test site. Two vendors were selected by Prodec for the implementation of this solution – Mitel’s MiCloud Connect for the UC platform, and HPE Aruba for Wi-Fi. Mitel came out as a clear leader because of its straightforward and scalable licensing options, as well as its exceptional pricing and total cost of ownership. HPE Aruba was also selected because its products are able to provide an excellent mobility experience that is simple to deploy, maintain and manage.
Prodec implemented a UC telephony solution across multiple sites, providing a simple distributed architecture, with one single image system that was easy to use. This was supported by Aruba wireless solutions that unified the organisation’s legacy wireless systems into one standardised network across all sites.
The results
Prodec designed a secure, scalable and robust communications platform covering all areas of the business. The ability to answer all calls from one site reduced the need for multiple call operators across the sites, and a presence indicator provided the facility to see, in real time, which employees were available and where. The solution enabled users to remain connected to essential communications via a combination of warehouse mobility and IP-DECT, allowing them greater flexibility to roam. Prodec also implemented automated call distribution groups (‘workgroups’), composed of workload distribution, call queue options and monitoring software, coaching tools and reporting.
The improved wireless capabilities have helped the organisation win new major clients, as the service allowed them to be slicker, more flexible with their offerings and more competitive overall. It also lowered support costs, made it easier to move hardware from site to site, when required, and most importantly, standardised the network across the entire estate. In addition, coverage across sites was improved by adding resilient Wi-Fi access points to cold storage environments. Finally, Aruba software solutions allowed the firm to embrace a bring your own device (BYOD) policy and guest access, by monitoring and managing all devices on the network.
The company and its clients now enjoy significant cost savings as a result of employee productivity improvements, as well as benefitting from the ability to provide extended last order times for next day delivery to customers.
