Barrons is one of the largest outdoor retailers in the UK with seven retail sites across the UK. Communication between the central locations was costly as call transfers, using a Nortel Meridian Optimum PBX, were made over the PSTN. Barrons wanted to reduce internal communications costs whilst leveraging the investment in the existing equipment by connecting the PBX to the IP network. An option to SIP-enable the Nortel PBX was quickly discounted due to a proposed cost of over £20,000, which is when Barrons turned to VegaStream for a cost effective solution to migrate the company to VoIP.
“ Like any business, communication is key to the efficiency of its operations but the high call costs on the network backbone between the two main sites needed to be addressed,” said Tim Ormrod, IT Manager, Barrons. “ IP enabling the PBX was simply prohibitive, but by choosing VegaStream gateways internal calls are now free which has realised reduced communication costs, in addition to continuing to utilise our existing infrastructure.”
Working closely with VCOMM, a UK value added distributor of IP Telephony products and services, a Vega 400 gateway was deployed at each of the main sites. Tim Ormrod continues, “ Easily configured, the gateways are the backbone of our network. Connected to the Nortel PBX, calls are simply and reliably directed over the IP network between locations, thus avoiding the PSTN. In use all day, every day, the VoIP call quality is excellent.”
Building on the success of the Vega 400 foundation, Barrons sought to expand the access to VoIP and further reduce communication costs by linking together the five remaining sites across the country onto the IP network. At these locations, Barrons was using PBXs from AYC Telecom and had a combination of analog and ISDN links. With these considerations, VCOMM had no hesitation in recommending the Vega 50 gateway which has been specifically designed for these environments.
Barrons has already deployed Vega 50 analog FXOs in three locations, and will shortly be installing Vega 50 BRI in the remaining two locations. “The Vega gateways have proven to be interoperable with our existing PBXs with no disruption to the network. This has allowed us to utilise our original analog investment, as well as the ISDN links in the remote offices and avoid a costly upgrade. Enabling VoIP company wide has given us more control and management over our calls,” commented Tim Ormrod.
The flexibility of the Vega gateways has also enabled Barrons to achieve additional communication cost savings with innovative uses for the products in the branch offices. Barrons wanted to phase out the 30 fax machines in the company and using the Vega 50 gateways, in conjunction with Altn’s Relayfax software, as a fax server has enabled fax over IP to become a new function and is leading to the removal of all of the company’s fax machines.
“VoIP Gateways enable enterprises to protect their existing communications investment whilst providing the immediate advantages of IP at a far lower cost and, most importantly, without any disruption,” said Steve Davis, VP Sales and Marketing, EMEA, VegaStream. “ As Barrons has witnessed, the gateways can be deployed rapidly and in a range of environments, allowing the company to profit from lower telephony costs across the company by taking advantage of the IP network.”