Columbia Southern University Saves More Than $115,000 the First Year With Toshiba VoIP System

About Columbia Southern University
One of the nation’s first completely online universities, Columbia Southern University (CSU) was developed to meet the demand for alternatives to the traditional university experience. Its degree programs are offered completely online, giving students the flexibility to fit their educational pursuits around career and family commitments. At CSU, associate, bachelor, master, doctoral and certificate programs are available in a variety of fields including fire science, criminal justice, business management and administration, information technology, human resource management and occupational safety and health. CSU is headquartered in Orange Beach, Alabama.

Mission: Enable On-Site System Admin, Improve Customer Service, Enhance User Experience
Pam Dickinson, technical support supervisor, specified a system that would:

• Improve customer service with efficient handling of the university’s 20,000 weekly incoming calls and 10,000 weekly outgoing calls;
• Deliver an IP contact center solution with IP phones for 200 agents in 19 ACD groups;
• Provide the ability to manage the system on their own — on-site or remotely — including management of auto attendant;
• Improve the overall user experience with Unified Messaging;
• Support the university’s fast growth, including addition of new employees; and
• Save costs.

CSU’s IT team turned to Southeastern Telephone of Birmingham, Alabama, an Authorized Toshiba Dealer.

Curtis Cantrell, CEO of Southeastern Telephone, recommended Toshiba’s Strata® CIX™ IP business communication system.

Dickinson was already sold on Toshiba as the university had used Toshiba telecom systems since 2004. This installation was a migration from its older Toshiba DK424i system.

Solution: Toshiba Strata CIX Exceeds University’s Goals
Installed by Southeastern Telephone, Columbia Southern University has a Toshiba VoIP business telephone system that includes:

• Strata CIX1200 IP business telephone system with 400 ports and two remote fiber cabinets;
• Network eManager® on-site/remote management tool;
• Strata Media Application Server;
• Strata ACD IP contact center solution with more than 200 agents using the Strata® Call Manager application in 13 ACD groups;
• TASKE contact center reporting solution;
• Toshiba Unified Messaging; and
• 275 Toshiba IP telephones and 150 digital telephones.

Result #1: Remote Administration for More Control
Using Toshiba’s Network eManager remote administration tool, Dickinson can now manage the entire telephone system from her desk or remotely from her laptop. She can make adds, moves and changes as the university adds employees and can also troubleshoot issues more effectively since she has more control over the system.

Dickinson said, “With Network eManager, I am in control of the system from virtually anywhere I have Internet access. This has eliminated $850 in monthly service fees while allowing me to make changes quickly and easily, without waiting for a service call.”

Dickinson also appreciates the ease of administration for the automated attendant, which enables her to change or customize outgoing greetings and greeting schedules quickly and easily

Result #2: Call Manager and TASKE Improve Call Center
CSU’s IP Contact Center receives more than 20,000 incoming calls every week, and its agents place more than 10,000 outgoing calls weekly. CSU uses Microsoft Exchange and Outlook®. Using the Call Manager application, agents are able to click-to-dial and utilize Chat and Presence features to communicate with supervisors or other agents.

Using TASKE, contact center supervisors have a full suite of reporting capabilities, including more than 150 different reports on call statistics, agent performance, queues and much more.

Result #3: Unified Messaging Improves User Experience
With Toshiba Unified Messaging, university personnel can receive all their communications in a single mailbox, including emails, voice messages and faxes. Using Unified Messaging, the university is able to increase efficiency, improve privacy and reduce costs by eliminating fax machines.

“With Unified Messaging, communication is faster and easier for our employees, which helps them be more efficient,” Dickinson said.

Bottom Line: $110,000 Savings the First Year; $10,000 Savings Annually Thereafter
Toshiba’s Strata CIX1200 IP business telephone system has helped CSU meet its goals of improving user experience, moving the contact center to IP phones, allowing them to manage their own system and reduce communication costs.

CSU’s cost savings include:

• $100,000 savings by migrating from an older Toshiba Strata DK424i system, which allowed them to reuse existing station and telephone cards as well as digital telephones;
• $10,000 annual savings by performing routine maintenance themselves, eliminating service calls;
• First-year total savings of more than $110,000; and
• Ongoing annual savings of $10,000 per year.