Exponential-e, the next-generation-network and applications provider today announced that it has deployed a premium IP telephony solution for its engineering client, Omitec. The new toll-quality voice service provides Omitec with a highly-responsive call centre facility and represents the latest in a series of cutting-edge deployments with Exponential-e over the last few years.
Omitec supplies automotive manufacturers and first-tier systems suppliers with pioneering diagnostic equipment and engineering services. The company designs and develops end-to-end automotive electrical systems as well as production line assembly equipment and exhaust emissions testing and diagnostic products for the global automotive aftermarket.
The engineering company were keen to move to IP telephony. David Rutherford, Head of Account Development at Exponential-e explains: “Omitec wanted to move away from their existing supplier as they didn’t feel they were getting the customer service they deserved. Omitec run their customer call centre from Devizes in Wiltshire and it’s the central function from which the company engages with its clients. The call centre and its voice service are therefore business-critical”.
Exponential-e provided a premium IP telephony solution using a SIP trunk on the same infrastructure in which Omitec had already invested. The additional voice service is a private dedicated voice solution which does not use the public Internet. Delivered over the same infrastructure, the service was securely insulated from the other services.
Mark Watkins, Group Systems Strategy Director, Omitec comments: “The cost savings have been extensive because we have stripped out our separate voice network which was built using expensive ISDN lines. The savings have been achieved without having to sacrifice quality. Exponential-e’s SIP voice solution gives us crystal-clear, toll-quality. It is a rock-solid, private IP telephony solution. Whilst we are using IP to transport voice on a converged network we’re not using the public Internet as do consumer-style VoIP products”. He went on to say: “The result is our customers get great service from a call centre based in the UK. Omitec get lower network costs, cheaper call tariffs and free intra-office calling”.
Exponential-e ported Omitec’s existing DDI range onto the new solution which meant that the company could retain its existing numbers. To underline the importance of the voice solution to Omitec’s business, Exponential-e attached a quality of service guarantee to its performance. Exponential-e’s media converter enabled Omitec to take advantage of a first rate IP voice solution even though they had an old-style TDM PBX.
Omitec has since extended the IP telephony solution to their Coventry office and are now considering using the transparent nature of their WAN to house their PBX and its full capabilities at a central point on their network to reduce overheads and to improve control.
Omitec now benefit from a call centre facility which can be spread over two sites for Disaster Recovery purposes but which effectively operate as one. So at times of peak calling, if there is spare capacity at the Coventry site, calls can be re-routed to staff there able to operate and access the same information in just the same way as the main call centre. This makes Omitec’s IT team highly responsive to the needs of their business which is one of their most important performance indicators.
Omitec first became an Exponential-e customer in 2007 and became one of the earliest adopters of Virtual Private LAN Services (VPLS) technology.
Mark Watkins concludes: “We’ve been impressed with Exponential-e. I really like the quality of their first-line support which gets you through to qualified engineers, well versed in the technology and with the ability and knowledge to take direct action themselves”. He added: “Exponential-e has consistently undersold its abilities and in particular the strength of its portfolio in supporting our company every step of the way during our aggressive growth”.
