Testimonials

Integra ICT is proud to have received many testimonials from satisfied clients across a wide range of business sectors. We have summarised some of these testimonials in the following customer approved case studies. Just click each logo for further information:-

Alexandra Limited approved case study

Alexandra ltd is a leading International provider of corporate clothing. Acquired by US giant Men’s Wear House in August 2010, the UK contact centre infrastructure urgently needed to be updated to accommodate a business growth target from £30-100m as well as seamless integration with a sister company, Dimensions Clothing ltd. As well as being under-capacity and incapable of managing the customer’s growth expectations, the legacy contact centre provided no facility for detailed knowledge and statistics management. Staff supervision and training using the existing Contact Centre technology were impossible and as a result, the company experienced high staff turnover and lower than optimal productivity. Over 600 faxes were being received per day which required manual distribution and there was no facility for inter-site calls to be routed via the corporate VPN. As a result of non-optimization of its network resources, the company was also paying more than was necessary for its lines and call connectivity.

Integra ICT supplied a Mitel 3300 solution with 230 extensions and a 70 seat Contact Centre at the Alexandra Bristol HQ with Liquid Voice call recording and silent monitoring facility; this is linked to 26 extensions situated in Yaffy, Scotland run and managed remotely from the Bristol core switch. The Bristol site is networked to a second Mitel switch in Castle Doddington, to which 3 Avaya switches from the sister Dimensions organisation are connected. Full network overview and interoperability were required for this solution as well as the ability to migrate the Avaya switches to Mitel over time.
Elimination of inter-site call costs generated a substantial cost saving of approximately 20% of the company’s monthly call charges. Integra’s UC Fax to email facility immediately eliminated the requirement for manual management of 600 faxes daily, removing administration overhead and speeding up the order processing time. Order process capacity was also increased enabling the number of orders per agent to be increased.

The solution is designed and on-track to deliver the required reduction in staff turnover and increase in performance/customer satisfaction – this is a key factor in the company being able to hit its business growth targets. The company has been able to implement KPIs to its business around staff retention/training/performance and customer satisfaction which were impossible with the previous solution.

Timescales were extremely challenging for the completion of this project. Contracts were signed on 1st April and the required go-live date of 20th May meant that thorough planning and close customer co-operation were essential. Integra operated a full Prince2 project management facility and ensured dedicated resource to ensure any margin for error was eliminated.
Ed Grigg, Head of Customer Operations for Alexandra commented “Alexandra ltd is a company enjoying significant growth and has set itself challenging targets for the future. We expect our suppliers to share and meet these challenges to ensure our mutual success. From the outset Integra ICT, through its consultative approach, displayed a keen interest to understand fully our business requirements. Our project had a number of particular challenges so our partner selection was vital to the success of the installation. We required the new systems to integrate with existing legacy PABXs as well as giving a seamless technology migration, while demonstrating the ability of the solution to “scale” to meet our growth expectations. Time-scales were challenging and it was essential that the project was delivered on-time and at the agreed price with no hidden “extras”. Integra ICT’s professionalism and attention to detail gave us confidence that these objectives would be met and we are satisfied that they delivered on their commitments to us. In particular, their go-live and post implementation support was exemplary”

England Marketing Limited approved case study

England Marketing ltd is a Cambridgeshire-based specialist in Market Research, Business Development and Marketing. Since 1994, the company has provided a range of methodologies to gather the most meaningful market research. As well as excellent project management, England Marketing’s talented team of experienced marketing professionals offers clients a fast, flexible and responsive approach. The company has a proven track-record in delivering intuitive, insightful research outcomes and business development solutions for clients across a broad range of sectors, including Environmental, Agriculture, Business, Food, and Heritage.

The company’s continued growth and diversity had presented challenges to the existing telecommunications infrastructure however. Fiona Tarpey, Director of England Marketing explained “we conduct most of our customer interaction via the telephone so clear and effective communication is essential. Our mantra is that our customers “Expect More” so the solutions we deliver must be transparent.”
Following a detailed consultation process to understand England Marketing’s requirements, Integra ICT supplied and installed a Record ’09 call recording solution with Smartphone CTI from Oak Telecom. Integra ICT had previously supplied the company’s Siemens HiPath 3550 telephone system, so was well-placed to manage the seamless integration of the Oak product. Integra ICT’s PRINCE2 project management capability ensured that the solution was delivered on time, with no business disruption. Commenting on the project, Fiona Tarpey commented “Initially we purchased the call recording software as a ‘nice to have’ rather than as an essential but we have now come to regard it as a very useful tool with quite a few applications for our business. Call recording gives us greater capability to comply with our ISO9001 requirements as well as an excellent vehicle for staff coaching and training.”

The Record ‘09 call recording solution and Smartphone CTI are supported by Oak in conjunction with the existing maintenance contract with Integra ICT so England Marketing is sure to receive excellent ongoing support. Fiona Tarpey concluded “Integra ICT is a very personable company to work with. When we need to call for support, we speak directly to an individual who knows our business.”

CS Healthcare approved case study

CS Healthcare has been providing low-cost health insurance to all parts of the Civil Service, Public Sector and not-for-profit organisations for over 80 years, offering unrivalled service and highly competitive premiums. As a friendly society, run for the benefit of its members, CS Healthcare prides itself on delivering the highest levels of personal care and attention. “We look after our members and it makes a difference. Our latest members survey shows that one in four join as a result of recommendations from existing customers,” says Information Systems and Website Manager, Jerome Harper. “Our old system had reached the end of its life for various reasons. There was no product support so we felt this was an ideal opportunity to move up to a new level,” said Jerome. Around 60 people use the phone system each day; the company’s frontline communication tool to deliver the highest levels of customer support.

In April 2011 CS Healthcare introduced the latest telephone technology from Siemens Enterprise Communications - as part of a close working relationship with Integra ICT, an award-winning specialist in the strategic management and maintenance of integrated communication systems. Integra ICT installed a sophisticated HiPath 3800 system and OpenScape Office unified comms application suite at CS Healthcare’s Kingston-Upon-Thames office. “Functionality wise it’s a lot better system than before,” Jerome explained. “Integration with Microsoft Outlook stands out for me. The ability to log in and out of call queues and record conversations is also extremely beneficial. The system automatically e-mails voicemails. This is very valuable in speeding up the communication process. The HiPath 3800 is a lot more advanced than the previous technology, ensuring a much smoother running operation and enhancing our customer service objectives.”Jerome says staff have quickly embraced the new phone system. “There was a little bit of a learning curve at the beginning as the old system had been in place for many years, but overall there’s been universal praise,” he said. Jerome also highlighted the “incredible importance” of the phone system, declaring: “We insure close to 40,000 people and many of them will be calling us, whether to discuss a claim or place new business. Therefore customer service is vital to us; it’s all integral to our reputation and one of the key ways we get measured. “Whilst many members join to save money with our low cost health insurance, it’s the excellent levels of personal service that ensure they stay. According to our latest customer survey, an impressive 98% of new members rate our overall service as excellent or good.” He pointed out: “All claims are handled promptly; we don’t keep our members waiting. They speak directly to a member of our UK-based team who help them over the phone – so our telecoms system is a crucial part of our business.” CS Healthcare’s exceptional customer care ethos is shared by Bedfordshire based Integra ICT where in the last 12 months, nearly 70% of its business was generated from existing clients and nearly 20% from referrals.“Integra are very good at the consultative element. They came on site, looked at our requirements and then delivered the most effective solution. They respond very quickly if we need any support. They recommended the new technology and we are very happy with their advice.”Jerome concluded: “There’s no room for complacency in our industry and this new phone platform puts us firmly at the forefront of modern communication methods, creating a powerful, reliable and resilient infrastructure that meets our business needs not just for today but also in the future.”

Greenfield Software Limited approved case study

Based in Swavesey, Cambridge, Greenfield Software Ltd are the leading supplier of labelling and Nursery Management Systems to nurseries and garden centres. As the UK’s leading OKI partner specialising in the horticultural market, Greenfield faced the challenge of relocating to accommodate growth as well as ensuring their communications system worked seamlessly with the company’s IT infrastructure. Managing Director Daniel Harris explains “We needed to upgrade and unify our communications system to ensure we continued to meet our customers’ high expectations. That meant investing in the latest technology, so we issued an invitation to tender to a number of firms specialising in this field.”

As Greenfield’s incumbent telecoms provider, Integra ICT were in an ideal position to understand the client’s precise business needs, and were awarded the contract to install a new Siemens Openscape MX platform. This solution was chosen by Greenfield as it provided a complete Unified Communications appliance suite within a single controller as part of the purchase price. The need to closely integrate the telephony solution with Microsoft Outlook © enabling “click to dial” functionality was satisfied, as well as giving the company flexibility for growth and expansion of its ICT needs in the future.

Integra ICT also managed Greenfield’s ISND30 line reallocation required by their relocation as well as providing a full maintenance support service for the new Siemens system. Summarising, Daniel Harris commented “We were impressed with the level of functionality that comes within the Siemens “My Portal” facility, for example screen-based voice messaging and the “Call Me” feature which gives us a flexible mobile or home worker solution. Integra’s PRINCE2 project management also gave us the confidence that we would experience a minimum of business disruption during the relocation and installation process.”

Pro-Tech Recruitment Limited approved case study

Based in Hemel Hempstead, ProTech are specialists in technical recruitment. The company places people in contract and permanent jobs across the electronics, mechanical, engineering and computer industries. ProTech was formed in 1988 and plans to continue its growth objectives with the creation of new satellite offices based in Bromsgrove and Chertsey. As ProTech has grown, its broader communications requirements coupled with the company’s ethos of efficiency and professionalism presented specific challenges. Antony Cox, Managing Director of ProTech explained “We strive to ensure that all communication with clients and candidates is clear and effective but with our existing infrastructure we found this difficult to achieve. We couldn’t monitor telephony usage levels by individual extension number and since we had no facility to listen to calls, it was hard to manage, coach and develop our staff.”

Integra ICT recommended a LiquidVoice Business Call Recording and Management solution for ProTech. This operated seamlessly with the existing Siemens HiPath 3550 telephone system also supplied and maintained by Integra. In order to accurately capture ProTech’s requirements, Integra deployed its pre-sales consultancy team who then worked closely with the customer and specialists from the equipment manufacturer. Throughout the project, Integra applied its PRINCE2 project management capability to ensure the solution was delivered to specification and on time.

Commenting on the LiquidVoice Business Solution Antony Cox said “We are very happy with our LiquidVoice system; it has proved useful in several ways. It is important to our business that we can monitor telephone activity levels and Liquid voice provides good reporting tools for this purpose. The ability to be able to play back calls for training purposes has also proved useful to us. Finally, knowing that in the unlikely event there was a dispute with one of our clients it is reassuring to know that we would have the necessary information and evidence which may be required to deal with the situation.” Summarising, Antony Cox said “We like the fact that when we call Integra’s support team, we speak to an individual who knows who we are, not just an anonymous call centre.

Woodford County High School approved case study

Founded in 1919, Woodford County High School is a Grammar School for girls between the ages of 11 and 18. Housed in the former Manor of Highams which was built in 1768, Woodford boasts extensive and beautiful grounds designed by Humphrey Repton and is the only school of its type in the London borough of Redbridge. The school aims to recognise and develop the potential of each student, to foster care and concern for each other and to prepare students to fulfil, with confidence, their role as members of a community.

Reviewing the 20-year old existing telecommunications system, the incoming head teacher Ms Jo Pomeroy, MA concluded that the school would benefit from a more modern form of communications infrastructure in keeping with the demands of staff and parents. Senior Administrative Officer Christina Thompson commented “we had no ability to leave voicemail messages for members of staff or to directly dial extensions, so communication was rather labour-intensive.”

Integra ICT was selected from 7 companies bidding a variety of telephony solutions. The Siemens MX system installed by Integra stood out from the competition by virtue of its seamless integration with Microsoft Outlook. Christina Thompson remarked “With the Siemens MX solution, every member of staff has a voicemail facility so the need for written messages has been eliminated. As the system automatically generates an email every time a voice message is left, the recipient has the choice of picking up messages from the phone or a PC.” Additionally the handsets chosen met the practical requirements of a school environment. More recently, the school has routed incoming calls via the “My Attendant” portal to individual Key Stage Administrators, reducing administration and call handling time. Overall, the Integra ICT solution has increased communications efficiency to the extent that the school has been able to rationalise its administration overheads.

Woodford School is located in a Listed Building so Integra’s PRINCE2 project management capabilities were relied on to ensure a problem-free installation in challenging timescales. Christina Thompson concluded “We were particularly pleased with Integra ICT’s project management; we held a number of detailed meetings with them prior to the installation to ensure they fully understood our requirements. The training provided to familiarise us with the Siemens MX system gave us the ability to gain maximum use of the system and their help-desk support is always professional and courteous.”

Regal Chambers approved case study

Regal Chambers is a GPs’ surgery based in Hitchin, Hertfordshire serving the needs of 12,000 residents. The Practice, which takes its responsibilities for patient communication very seriously, was experiencing problems with its booking system. While patients could book appointments up to 6 weeks ahead, this was not their perception, as even with 6 members of staff phone access between 8.15 and 9.00am was extremely difficult; lines were constantly engaged and complaints were numerous.

The Practice management team, headed by Nigel Sweeney knew the problem needed to be addressed and consulted Integra ICT which has a well-established reputation for advanced telecommunications solution design.

Having listened to the surgery’s problems Integra ICT proposed the installation of its “Patient Partner” automated telephone booking system, providing a 24hour/365day booking service for patients. Patients phoning into the system hear a series of recorded messages and are asked to submit information in order to proceed. At any stage of the process the patient is able to access the surgery reception. Appointments can be booked from midnight for the same day, and patients may choose to cancel or re-arrange appointments at any time of the day or night.

To ensure the smooth deployment of the project, Integra ICT deployed its PRINCE2 project management capability. Communication with all 12,000 patients was critical prior to system going live so letters and leaflets were sent out and posters were displayed in the surgery waiting-rooms. The system pivots around patient date of birth and phone number details so over 7000 forms were dispatched for completion which were nearly all completed and returned, allowing the new solution to start on the right footing.

To increase the challenge for Integra ICT, the system went live on the Tuesday after May Day bank holiday, traditionally a busy day for GP surgeries. While 6 members of staff were allocated to the reception desk, by 8.30 it was apparent that only 2 were required. The reduction of incoming calls was both instant and dramatic.

Nigel Sweeney commented “In my 25 years’ experience, this was the best investment ever considered. The biggest problem was people not listening properly to the recorded instructions. It was important to consider the process and flow of booking, to make sure the wording was correct.”
Regal Chambers’ appointment booking system is now so specific that patients have the choice of the following:-
•   The next available appointment
•   Specific named GP appointment
•   Selection of male or female GP
•   Same day or advanced booking

This flexibility of choice and the ability to book appointments at any time of the day or night has gone down well with patients. It became clear to the management team that cancellations with re-arranged appointments increased, leading to a reduction in the number of unattended bookings.
For ease of administration, the solution incorporates a management tool that provides visibility of where in the process the booking failed, for example if the date of birth or phone number was entered incorrectly.

Concluding, Nigel Sweeney stated “the technical support and back-up provided by Integra ICT was excellent. They responded to us immediately and if they were unable to provide a remote fix an engineer would attend within 40 minutes”.
A Regal Chambers patient survey recently revealed that 86% of people were satisfied with their ability to get through to the surgery on the phone. This was very satisfying and a useful addition to the Quality Outcome Framework (QOF) measurement system.

Radbrook Green Surgery approved case study

Radbrook Green Surgery was established in 1989 and serves approximately 9500 patients. It lists as its core values excellence in communication and high satisfaction levels for patients and staff. The surgery had upgraded its telecommunications infrastructure in 2008 with a Siemens HiPath switch but needed to improve efficiency of its booking system, use technology to optimise staff performance and meet the regulatory demands of the Quality Outcome Framework. Like many surgeries the Radbrook Green practice found it difficult to match resources with uneven demand patterns and be able to cater for unusual circumstances such as flu epidemics. Patients complained of an inability to see their preferred GP and during peak hours it was extremely difficult to get an appointment without constantly re-dialling.

Integra ICT proposed its “Patient Access” solution based on VoiceConnect Patient Partner technology. Using a consultative approach which ensured all elements of the Surgery’s requirements were accurately documented and formed a core schedule of requirements, Integra ICT eliminated any risk of misunderstanding over project scope. As is the case for all technology installations, Integra ICT deployed its PRINCE2 certified Project Management team and worked closely with VoiceConnect project managers and the Radbrook Green Surgery to ensure the project was delivered on time with no snagging issues.

Staff Benefits:
•   Improved reception capacity
•   Team no longer behind with clinical tasks such as repeat prescriptions and referrals
•   Reduced stress levels
•   Staff morale at an all time high
Patient Benefits
•   66% of patients found appointment bookings were speedier
•   86% found they were offered more convenient appointment dates and times
•   56% got to see the specific doctor/nurse they were after
•   59% could speak to a doctor or nurse over the phone immediately

AJC Marriott, Practice Manager at Radbrook Green commented “After having had little to no experience with this kind of system before we were amazed at how quick and easy it was to master. Patients can now book the right appointment with the right doctor, with minimal fuss, while no longer having to listen to the dreaded dial-tone or even worse being put on hold. On top of that, our staff were at a great deal more liberty to help patients with their needs with a lot more care and less strain. For staff this has been an unprecedented success, and has immeasurably improved the working environment. As time goes on we are looking at developing the system further still, building in the ability to order repeat prescriptions, and a new Smart Mail System, allowing patients to receive appropriate mail, further assisting staff efficiency.

Gleadless Medical Centre approved case study

Gleadless Medical Centre in Sheffield serves patients in the Gleadless Valley area of the city. With just under 9,000 registered patients and 30 Partners and staff, efficient communications is essential for the effective running of the Centre. To manage the large volume of incoming phone calls the Centre’s telecoms provider Integra ICT installed a Siemens OptiPoint 500 phone system supporting 32 extensions within the Centre.

While the phone system provided excellent call management, there were issues with understanding calling patterns as Stella Crookes, Business Manager for the Centre explains. “The NHS conducts regular surveys to ensure that we are meeting our patients’ needs in all regards. A recurring issue in the surveys was getting through to the Centre by phone and the time taken to answer. The trouble was that the phone system could not provide me with the data needed to understand calling patterns, so I asked Integra ICT if they could suggest a solution.”

Integra ICT recommended the Akixi hosted call management and contact centre reporting service. Because Akixi is provided as a remote hosted service, it does away with all the costly set-up costs normally associated with call management reporting. There’s no capital expenditure on hardware, no implementation and upgrades to worry about and no commitment to ongoing support fees.
“We wanted to achieve a situation where no caller to our main 0845 patient line was waiting more than three minutes for an answer. By analysing the calling patterns using Akixi we have been able to achieve that without increasing the number of reception staff. It’s allowed us to use existing resources more effectively.” Stella confirms.

Akixi offers ‘cradle to grave’ call tracking, with comprehensive reporting allowing users such as Stella to scrutinise and analyse usage in real time, using the Akixi 1000 Business Dashboard. “I can display the system on my PC system and see the calls in real-time. If it takes more than three minutes for a call to be answered an alarm sounds in my office so that I know a queue has overrun. The reporting analysis also allows me to check the exact time taken to answer, if a patient comments that we have taken an excessive time to answer.”

By providing the Centre with full reporting on calling patterns Stella has been able to develop strategies to better manage calls. “We can let patients know when the quieter periods are to call. If a patient has a lengthy enquiry we can ask them to accept a call-back and log the nature of the query, so we can respond with the right information. Basically we try to move calls off the reception as efficiently as possible, so that the main 0845 patient line does not become engaged.”

As the Akixi system is hosted remotely it’s always up to date. It can also be accessed from anywhere, with a variety of operating systems and devices supported, including mobiles. “As part of the NHS we have a duty to manage our costs closely and with Akixi we only pay for the functions we use, so there’s no wasted expense”, says Stella.

In conclusion Stella believes that the Akixi system has improved the Centre’s telecoms provision. “We get good and proactive support from Integra ICT, our telecoms provider, and Akixi hosted call management has met our needs balanced with reasonable ongoing costs. Employing more staff to answer phone calls was simply not an option, so Akixi has allowed us to use existing resources more effectively to meet patient needs.