ICM says that rollout of the IP-based telephony system across 7,500 end points and 14 business continuity centres began in September and will be complete by the end of the year.
As part of the multi-million pound three year agreement, IT and communications provider BT Business will replace the current standalone Nortel phone systems by virtualising the telephony across the 14 ICM Continuity Centres to create a single feature rich IP telephony architecture based on Avaya Aura Communication Manager.
Should an ICM customer suffer a disaster or outage the upgraded IP local area networks (LANs) will reduce the time for ICM customers’ voice and data to be reinstated and individually configured from hours to minutes. The Avaya architecture allows multiple customer sites and incidents to be managed and provisioned under the single virtual telephone system, making it quicker and easier for calls to be diverted to either an ICM alternative workplace, or home user, allowing business to continue as normal.
Having beaten three other IT suppliers to preferred supplier status, BT Business will provide data switches for voice calls between sites and Avaya Aura Communication Manager to deliver flexible inbound call routing options. The new systems significantly enhance functionality at all 7,500 end points and will support demands on the company’s key voice applications, particularly complex call centre capability and enterprise resource planning. The solution is also expected to save ICM in excess of £1m in telephony system administration and network costs.
“In today’s global environment downtime can mean lost customers, lost profits, and perhaps total business collapse. Properly planned business continuity enables an organisation to continue functioning even after the most extreme event”, said Mike Osborne, managing director, ICM Continuity Services.
John Dovey, director, ICT BT Business said: “Business continuity is a critical service for businesses, especially in the run up to the end of the sales year. We’re delighted to support ICM in giving its customers peace of mind.”
Jeremy Butt, vice president, Worldwide Channels, Avaya, added, “When your company is the last line of support for its customers you need to be sure that you have the technology in place that will support their position, each and every time. Fast and fail safe access to business as usual voice services are why customers choose ICM and why, in turn, ICM has chosen to work with Avaya and BT.”
The new system comprises Avaya telephony software and servers, & Extreme LAN equipment and management systems, plus call centre management and AIMS system administration software. Nice Voice Recording plus network analysis and optimisation services from BT Business will also be deployed.