Immediate benefits have included free calls between the club’s two sites and a dramatic reduction in maintenance costs to less than a tenth of the previous £12,000 annual contract. Using an Alcatel-Lucent IP-telephony system, maintenance costs have been slashed. Sites now enjoy free inter-site calls and hot-desking benefits and the management of the telephony system has been simplified.
After a review by Phil Everitt, IT and Special Projects Manager for WBA, the club decided to abandon an expensive legacy telephone switch in favour of IP-telephony. Everitt discovered Freedom after asking IT managers from other leading football clubs for recommendations on experienced integrators. Freedom has delivered Alcatel-Lucent Omni PCX Office systems at both WBA sites at The Hawthorns stadium and at its training ground where the majority of the club’s staff are based.
The bulk of the system administration such as new additions, movers and leavers are now carried out in-house by Everitt. Staff moving to new desks can simply unplug and re-plug their phone at their new location without any interruption to their service.
Freedom has also helped WBA manage dramatic fluctuations in call volumes, such as new match tickets going on sale, through establishing a network Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system to give callers relevant information, current queue position as well as call routing to the most appropriate agent. The IVR is managed on-line by Phil Everitt.
Phil Everitt at WBA commented: “Freedom has really understood the challenges our club faces, whether it is reducing costs, increasing efficiency of call handling or simplifying system management. Freedom delivers on all counts.”
Tom Perry, head of marketing, Freedom, said, “We took a total solution approach for WBA, as well as equipment they also benefit from Freedom Connect - our least cost routing minutes offering. For instance, with line rental we are now the sole supplier instead of five suppliers previously. Throughout the process we have saved costs, simplified operations and increased efficiency.”