ABC Cellular is a Houston-based company that acts as a wholesale and retail dealer for cellular phones. The company´s target market is aimed at retailers all over the USA and business operations are promoted by the different departments and company head outlined in Table 1

Table 1: Overview of Company Structure and Requirements 

ABC Cellular´s Communication/Telephone Service Requirement

The need to have an uninterrupted flow of communication between all parties was an important factor in choosing a telecommunications solution that would connect its Houston-based and remote employees to their respective callers. ABC Cellular wanted to implement a Unified Communication System for its business operation and in the process address three main preferential communication areas:

•  Direct phone number for the CEO.
•  Ability to have one phone number for the office which could be routed to any of the department by the caller.
• A unified faxing solution was also
  required.

Communication/Telephone Service Solution

After careful study, UStelekom formulated the following plan according to ABC Cellular’s specific requirements:

1. Created an IVR for ABC Cellular
2. Created a DID and pointed it to the IVR
3. Created 12 extensions with breakdown as follows for each department:

• CEO: 1
• Sales Department: 2
• Customer Service: 4
• Billing: 2
• Technical Support: 3

1. Created a separate DID for the CEO

The first DID points to the IVR which in turn distributes the calls to the respective departments as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Communication Flow

Extensions were grouped and calls were queued for Customer Service, Houston Office, and Technical Support. This guarantees that all phones ring at the same time and are answered on the first pick up. When all the extensions are busy in a department, the next call is queued until an extension becomes available.

The geographical diversity of the employees did not limit the system. The Tech Support team has no problem answering phones as all three phones ring simultaneously when dialed. This is perfect for ABC Cellular as the three techs are located in different time zones and someone is available from 8:00 am until Midnight.

For the Sales Team members, extensions were pointed to their respective cell phone numbers as they only receive calls on their cell phones.

The second DID points to the CEO’s extension. This enabled the CEO to receive calls via PBX and also calls on his dedicated DID.

The PBX was programmed with the last name of each employee in the Dial-by-Directory option. This gave the caller the option to reach any individual in the company by pressing the first three letters of the last name of the required individual.

Each department was assigned with a voice mailbox where callers can leave a voice message after business hours. The voice message is delivered to respective employees of each department as an email attachment.

FAX Solutions

The company already had a fax machine which worked on the analog lines of the previous carrier. The choice was made to keep the fax machine with USTelekom service and also have a unified fax service.

For the existing fax machine, UStelekom attached a special ATA to it. This made it possible for ABC Cellular to send and receive faxes using its fax machine with over 99% accuracy.

The existing fax number was ported with USTelekom and configured to receive faxes on the designated email account. This ensured that the company did not miss a fax and could easily keep track of fax records by logging into USTelekom’s server account.

ABC Cellular had initially been sending fax using the fax machine it previously had with the previous carrier. With most of the documents required for faxing being on employees´ computer, the existing system presented the following inefficiencies:

• Excessive printing of documents to send fax using the machine;
• Wasted man-hours and paper during printing;
• Frustration with  paper jams and waste time in resolving the issue, and;
• Inexistent fax record.

With USTelekom’s email to fax application, the employees can now simply attach documents to the email and send to recipients. The whole process takes only a fraction of the time compared to the previous system. Additionally, this considerably eliminates excess wasted paper and saves money in the process. The application also allows the company to keep a record of all faxed documents in its Fax Account with USTelekom.

Conclusion

The use of a Unified Communication System gave ABC Cellular the added advantage of connecting all employees in different geographical locations while meeting the needs of its clients on a consistent basis. With the implementation of the e-mail and fax application, sending a fax is no longer an arduous task that requires concentrated effort.  The company is now better able to track its fax history and guarantee bespoke customer service without missing a call or fax. Without the need of a receptionist to forward calls to the respective departments, ABC Cellular is still able to keep the number of employees within budgetary limits and still remain a technologically up-to-date.

Abbreviations

DID- Direct Inward Dialing or also known as Telephone Number

IVR – Interactive Voice Response System or call routing system.

PBX – Private Branch Exchange which is an alternative name for IVR

ATA – Analog Telephone Adapter