Newfound Networks VoIP Case Study

Tower Interiors

Newfound Networks helps Tower Interiors deploy a state-of—the-art “Voice over IP” (VoIP) telephone system and data network, thus lowering their monthly operating costs and their total costs of ownership, while building a true client-consultant relationship.

From the initial “listening phase” engagement, Newfound Networks Inc has developed a true relationship with Tower Interiors of technology and solution consultant, designer, and start-to-finish integration.

The Client

Tower Interiors has been a leader in interior design solutions and products in Halifax Regional Municipality for more than 8 years. The company was operating out of the home basement office of Pam Tower but had outgrown that location and it was time to move into a new building. That new location is a new retail showcase located at 592 Bedford Highway. This new location would also see the hiring of more staff. Tower Interiors needed the new building wired for phones and computers, a new telephone system, and a new data network that would also allow employees to occasionally work from other locations. Pam Tower was concerned about buying old technology phone systems, their limited features, and owning something that “the world will soon leave behind”. She also wanted to take advantage of what new technology could do for them, yet of course not pay a fortune for it.

The Solution

After our careful research with various telephone companies and vendors of equipment, and consultation with Tower Interiors, the client decided it was best to ‘walk away from traditional Centrex, and PBXs’. The solution was a VoIP based PBX telephone system, integrated onto a new switched inline powering Ethernet/IP network with a VPN capable router connecting to the Internet. It was also the responsibility of Newfound Networks to order the right products and services, and see them installed and cut-over during the move. All major tasks went without a hitch, and when one small problem occurred, Newfound Networks took charge of the whole thing. Pam Tower writes; “from start to finish, from old to new, Vaughn helped us make the right decisions, and took that whole headache off my shoulders. We now enjoy powerful features and costs reductions of our new VoIP based telephone system. His company Newfound Networks Inc is worth every penny and more”.

The Benefit

Because the telephones and the computers use the same CAT5 cable the number of required cables was cut pretty much in half. Since the telephones get their power inline from the Ethernet switch, there was no longer a need to have those little AC adaptors all over the place. Since the telephones are fundamentally an “IP device”, the client can add/move/change the business telephones without having to pay a service charge. Since voicemail are now stored on an IP based operating system, the client can now visually pre-view voice mail calls via the web browser, quickly delete the ‘spam calls’, click “listen” to the important calls, and basically get through the voice mail process much quicker. Later if they want, they can turn on a feature that will send their voice mail messages via an email. Since the router is VPN enabled, and the telephone system runs on the Internet Protocol (IP), Tower Interiors does not have to pay to have business extensions installed at remote locations. As long as they have a VPN capable router and high-speed Internet access at the other location, they can self-provision business extensions and phones on the fly just by clicking a few ‘add buttons” on a web browser. They do this without paying anyone a dime, other than the time of their employees. Powerful stuff!!

As we said earlier, new technology wasn't the only thing evaluated. Older telephone technology was evaluated too. Says consultant Vaughn Munden “Tower Interiors was using traditional Centrex lines for their business when located at the old site. Since they were much smaller at the time, and VoIP was not around, Centrex made perfect sense. However had they grown that solution, the monthly costs would have been way too much. In fact by moving from Centrex and going with a multi-line trunk solution, the line savings alone will pay for our fees and the new VoIP system in three years. We even helped them evaluate who they were getting their services from, and as a result they switched to another provider and saved some more money. The real neat thing to see is that when you add up all the “little savings” the VoIP system is cheaper in the long run.

Tower Interiors Web site

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