The Benefits of Upgrading

RedDOT is a global supplier of heating and air conditioning systems, components, and aftermarket parts for heavy-duty vehicles and equipment. RedDOT's customers include: JCB; CAT; Atlas Copco; Volvo Construction; MACH trucks; to name but a few and have also fulfilled orders from the UK and USA Military.

After many years of using the Samsung Compact II telephone system, maintained by APR, James Irvine from RedDOT Europe in Ipswich, finally reached the point where the company's growth required a more capable, scalable platform.

"It was an easy choice for us to call APR. They have supported our telecoms for years with great service, which included a regular visit from our account manager. I reviewed the specifications of the new Officeserv 7200s and was impressed with how much more it could do it help to deliver actual benefits to our clients and staff." James Irvine, RedDOT Europe.

The solution provided was an IP enabled Samsung Officeserv 7200s with voicemail to email, Connect Executive, Xchange, and using some IP handsets for remote areas served by a wireless Cat5 bridge, along with retaining the existing digital handsets it was a real cost effective hybrid.

"With the range of products and manufacturers in the market place, it is important that we deliver a clear, truthful analysis of the customers' requirements and then set about fulfilling those needs quickly and efficiently" Matt Coe, Head of Account Management, APR Telecoms Ltd.

The Xchange product allowed RedDOT Europe to have presence management across the site along with integrated Outlook. With this installed, staff would be able to re-act more efficiently to clients calling in, along with finding contact details across multiple databases and dialling customers more efficiently.

The Connect Executive licenses provided key personnel with the ability to take calls on their mobiles, ensuring that every client who needed them got through first time.

"A big thank you to the APR engineering team and project managers, who made sure the system was delivered on time and to budget. One of the biggest concerns when undertaking these projects is the impact and cost to the business, so you hold off as long as you can. With APR there was no need - their guys are real professionals, so downtime was really minimal." James Irvine

APR Telecoms has been providing telephone systems since 1994 and has established itself as a reliable, professional organisation capable of delivering both large and small projects with the same attention to detail and dedication to achieving the right result for the end user.

LMC Partnership was established in 2002 in Dereham, Norfolk, to meet a need for a specialist practice to act in the capacity of Alternative Procurement consultants and Partnering Advisors.  Its staff offers strategic management and financial advice to clients, amongst which are several housing associations and city, borough and county councils.  The Partnership's sustained growth has necessitated a recent office expansion.

LMC Partnership selected APR Telecoms, one of East Anglia's leading telecommunications equipment suppliers and maintainers, to carry out the installation of an expanded telecoms system, and to overhaul its IT systems.  APR Telecoms has an enviable reputation, supported as it is by highly competent teams of customer service personnel and qualified service engineers.  It is a Platinum Certified partner of Samsung Business Communications; solving telecommunications problems is one of the APR Group's strengths.

Andy Rackham, Managing Director at APR Telecoms commented:  "We were called in to discuss the Partnership's telecom and IT needs, which we did in detail and at great length, taking into account both their immediate and future requirements.  This consultation period is a most important part of the exercise.

"We identified the scalable and IP-capable Samsung officeserv7030, with integral voicemail that allows callers to leave messages for their dedicated consultant, as the telecommunications system that would most exactly meet their needs.  We also brought to their attention the fact that they were paying far too much for their calls and line rental.  Now transferred to APR, LMC is experiencing a saving of 40% on their past bills."

Andy went on to say: "While we were undertaking this exercise, we transferred LMC's web hosting and supplied them with an infinitely better Firewall and web monitoring package."

A spokesperson from LMC commented:  "Everyone within APR whom we have dealt with have been most accommodating and professional in their approach.  It's good to have direct contact with someone local."
 

APR Telecoms based in Wymondham, Norfolk, is one of East Anglia's leading telecommunications equipment suppliers and maintenance companies, and is a Platinum Certified partner supplier of Samsung telephone systems. 

APR operates in many marketplaces including healthcare, and in particular, GP and health centre practices and dental practices. APR's Chief Executive, Andy Rackham, comments: "In light of the changing practices within healthcare, with emphasis on preventative care and the coming tendency for one's appointment with the GP to be a telephone appointment, an efficient and reliable communication system is essential. Also, the forthcoming right to choose your GP, possibly out of your local area, will make good telecommunications even more essential. A telephone system which is, or has the potential to be, integrated into a practice's computer network is vital to all those working in and using the health care system."

One of APR's biggest clients in this sector is Malling Health, which has been providing GP services to the NHS since 1948. From its roots in West Malling in Kent, Malling Health has, over the past sixty years, expanded throughout the UK.

The relationship between APR and Malling Health began in Norfolk, when the company was instructed by Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT to provide a voice solution for the Equitable Access centre in Yarmouth. Andy Rackham says: "Malling was so impressed with the installation and the level of support and training we offered that they also called us in to its sites in Telford and Sandwell in the Midlands, which were experiencing a number of telecoms difficulties. We solved their problems, and thereafter, they were very happy to be dealing with a company that not only removed the headache of dealing with individual telecoms suppliers, but knew how the system worked and managed all of the end users and contacts for them."

APR is currently project managing Malling Health's new site at St Neots, due to go live on 1st November, and is undertaking further installations within the Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT.

The phone network installed in Gresham's School, a private day and boarding school in Holt, by APR Telecoms has saved the organisation a massive £10,000 per annum. Gresham's pre-prep, prep and senior schools are split between three sites and dozens of different buildings, and with each site having its own phone system [around eighty incoming lines in total] phone calls between sites had to be paid for. It also ran a complex data network that connected all the data for the campus via fibre optic cables and direct IP connections.

APR Telecoms, based in Wymondham, Norfolk is one of East Anglia's leading telecommunications equipment suppliers and maintenance companies; as such, it was asked to provide a modern, simplified phone system that would be more efficient and less expensive to run. 

Faced with updating such a complex and costly network, APR's solution to Gresham's problem was to install a phone system in the main admin office running traditional digital handsets, with other buildings connected via the existing IP network using VOIP handsets. Having completed this, the end result was that number of incoming phone lines was reduced from eighty to ten and that all internal calls became free of charge. Incorporated in the network is call management software that enables staff to run off reports on phone usage for every phone connected to the system.

APR Managing Director Andy Rackham comments: "To ensure that the project was delivered seamlessly, APR firstly carried out a full VOIP audit across the school's complex network by sending random IP traffic around the system and collating the data to highlight any potential weak spots. We identified two on the first audit - two old hubs that would slow voice calls down. Once these were replaced by up-to-date data switches, the system underwent further tests.

"When we were satisfied that we could successfully run VOIP across the network, APR firstly installed the main phone system into the senior school administration office with digital extensions attached. This meant that the hub of the system would continue to work in the event of a data network failure. We then rolled out the IP handsets to the other locations as required."
 
Gresham's new phone network brings multiple benefits. Not only do all three schools benefit by being connected by one phone system; the return on the initial investment is less than four years, and the school can now use the annual savings of £10,000 to invest in other, more valuable areas within the school.