Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. Telecommunication Systems Division

Greg Lathum, vice president of NewWave Communications, oversees the customer care and communication systems as well as a staff of system administrators.

He said, “In choosing a new system, our goals were to network all 24 locations over IP to help save money on telephone service costs. We also wanted a call center that would allow us to easily manage remote agents. Very importantly, the system had to be reliable and very durable to handle 80,000 incoming calls every month.”

Ben Alcorn, sales manager of ESI.comm, worked closely with Lathum to design a system that would not only meet but exceed NewWave’s goals. Alcorn said, “To accommodate NewWave’s goals, we recommended Toshiba Strata® CIX™ systems. All seven main locations would have IP systems; plus, we recommended IP telephones for the 17 smaller stores, all of which would be networked over IP.”

Prior to installing the new Toshiba system, NewWave had a variety of telephone systems, including three Strata CIX100 systems and Toshiba digital telephones that could be re-used in the new system.

Solution: Toshiba Strata CIX Systems Network 24 Locations Over IP
Installed by ESI.comm, NewWave Communications now has a Toshiba Strata CIX670 IP business communication system at its headquarters in Sikeston, plus six Strata CIX100 systems at its larger stores, all connected via IP. Seventeen smaller stores are connected strictly by IP using Toshiba IP telephones. Altogether, NewWave has nearly 350 telephones at its 24 locations and uses a mix of IP and digital telephones at its larger locations. It uses solely IP telephones at its smaller sites and for remote call center agents.

The Strata CIX670 has five expansion cabinets to deliver a myriad of applications, including Toshiba’s Strata ACD Call Center Solution, TRACER, TASKE, and eManager® administration program. The other six systems also have expansion cabinets. The system also utilizes Toshiba’s Stratagy® iES32 Voice Processing solution in a 64-port configuration. All of the applications run on the Toshiba Strata MAS (Media Application Server). NewWave opted for Toshiba’s seven-year manufacturer’s warranty, the longest available warranty in the industry, to protect its investment.

Result #1: IP Improves Efficiencies While Reducing Long Distance Costs
“Having all 24 of our locations networked over IP allows us to improve the efficiencies of our call center and call routing to all the locations,” said Lathum. By using IP telephones at 17 stores instead of having individual systems, NewWave saved more than $45,000 in system costs and eliminated $59,000 in costs to network each site.

Re-using the three existing Strata CIX100 systems and accompanying telephones saved NewWave an additional $24,000. In addition, networking all locations over IP helped reduce monthly long distance service costs by $3,400 per month, resulting in an annual savings of $40,800. The Toshiba IP system also helps improve call routing to and from the individual stores. If a store is overloaded with calls or it is after hours, then calls are routed to the centralized call center.

Result #2: Increased Call Center Efficiencies
By using Toshiba’s Strata ACD Call Center Solution, NewWave was able to greatly improve the efficiencies of its call center. Lathum said, “Our Call Center is entirely IP-based now, with 50 remote agents and 112 agents at the headquarters.

Moving to IP has allowed us to have remote agents, change ACD group routing on the fly, and manage our 10 ACD groups at a level that was not possible previously.” Using the TRACER application allows NewWave’s six call center supervisors to listen to calls, monitor calls for quality, and improve training.

The supervisors also use the TASKE application for real-time monitoring of the call flow at the call center. Using TASKE, the supervisors can check availability of agents, call flow, call status, productivity, and more. They can also run reports using virtually any set of parameters. Lathum said, “Using TASKE, we are better able to identify peak periods and call volumes, which helps us improve our staffing and increase the efficiency of the call center overall.”

Result #3: All Applications on a Single Server
Using Toshiba’s Strata MAS (Media Application Server), NewWave has all its communications applications on a single server, including the ACD solution, TASKE, TRACER, voice processing, and more.

Lathum said, “Using a single server for all our applications saves money over having multiple servers and makes it easier for us to administrate the programs.”

Result #4: Remote Administration Saves Time and Reduces Travel Costs
Toshiba’s Network eManager provides remote management of the entire telephone system for all locations from the manager’s desktop or laptop computer.

Lathum explained, “Using Network eManager, we can check the status of all the telephone systems and remote IP-based offices from virtually anywhere we have Internet access.”

“We can remotely set up voice mailboxes and even change call center parameters, such as adding or changing queues, without having to leave our desks. This saves us a lot of time and reduces travel costs, especially since our stores are located across many states,” he added.

Bottom Line: $100,000 Savings by Using IP, Plus Increased Reliability, Easier Management, and Improved Customer Service
Toshiba’s Strata CIX IP business telephone system with IP networking across 24 locations has saved NewWave more than $100,000 over buying and networking separate systems for each location.

Utilizing IP for the Call Center has enabled the company to benefit from the use of remote agents and has improved call flow for the company’s 162 call center agents regardless of location. The system’s TASKE and TRACER applications have improved the management of all the call center agents, enabling the manager to predict busy times, reroute groups on the fly, and more.

Having a networked IP system allows for remote management of all locations. Using Toshiba’s Network eManager, all devices and applications are under one umbrella and can be remotely managed from a laptop or desktop computer from virtually anywhere there is Internet access.

Lathum said, “We rely on our Toshiba Strata CIX IP business telephone system to deliver superior customer service and manage thousands of incoming calls every day. Together, Toshiba and ESI.comm have helped us improve our customer service and increase efficiencies, all while saving us more than $100,000.”