"Generation-e identified and addressed our business issues then came up with a solution based on a core, robust infrastructure that we can easily self-manage and keep a lid on our IT costs." Hayden Castle, General Manager – IT

Challenge

TEAC is a leading consumer brand in digital entertainment.  Its Australian Head Office was situated in Melbourne CBD, with offices in Sales and Service in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.  The Victorian Distribution Centre was located in Melbourne's docklands, with TEAC warehouses in Brisbane and Perth.

As a first step, TEAC sought to consolidate their Victorian head office, sales, distribution and service in their new Tullamarine premises.  This site was to house 50 staff.

IT Environment

TEAC were moving but their old phone system was not able to expand or adapt to the new infrastructure.  They had reached capacity with their existing phone system and were unable to make changes to it themselves, having to outsource this function to external providers every time. They chose a true IP telephony system over a traditional phone system so that it would be easier to manage and it would be something they can build on when upgrading their other sites.  They will easily be able to accommodate changes and will be able to link their multiple offices later down the track.  The solution would serve them for the next 5-10 years, and would grow with them.

Solution

The Generation-e solution built a core IT infrastructure including: IP Telephony (3Com NBX) and a new network, power over Ethernet switches (to provide redundant power), firewall for security and servers for the online Internet services.  The phone is a 3Com NBXV3000 IP Telephony system.  This provided them with 60 handsets, at the consolidated Melbourne location.  Phase 2 will connect their Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth offices using IP Telephony.

Business Impact

Immediate benefits are reduced costs and flexibility

• They can self-manage system and don’t need to rely on costly third parties for moves, adds and changes.
• Easy to expand- if they want to add another handset, we just ship it to them and they plug it in.
• Internal calls are free between sites

Ongoing & future benefits

• Reduced costs when connecting their offices
• Reduce phone bill (less lines, no cost calls between sites).
• Centralised reception – they would only need one receptionist- this means better customer service and freeing up a staff member for more productive tasks
• Increased sales & improved competitive position-  TEAC’s Total Care service offers consumers advice regarding the installation and operation of TEAC products.  Future plans for this call centre are to expand it to a Multimedia Contact Centre.  This will allow the agents to manage all customer interactions such as calls, faxes, emails, web chat etc rather than just the current phone calls only.