Telecoms and Infrastructure Upgrade

What was the Challenge? ​

This client was operating in a fast-paced changing marketplace and was moving forward with a channel shift programme. The core elements of this programme were the delivery of a new CRM solution, advanced telecommunications, and a customer self-service portal. The existing supplier of their telephony infrastructure was in financial difficulty and the business was looking to move to a new alternative. Additionally, the solution in place was severely outdated with limited functionality available to support their future needs.

Further, their programme was part of a wider digital transformation programme so the emphasis was migrating to cloud technologies where ever possible. The predominant issue we faced was the state of the existing infrastructure was not suitable to support multiple cloud-based solutions, especially those that are reliant upon QOS (Quality of Service) divisions being placed over the feed.

The client was looking to introduce a new telephony solution that would complement their CRM solution and open new channels to their customers allowing them to interact in ways which suited them. The solution would need to be cloud-based, have a high degree of resilience and support flexibility of registered users. This was important as a number of the businesses core functions fluctuated seasonally.

What did the Crown Consulting Group do?

In the first instance, we collectively met with the existing supplier to discuss options and understand timescales for migration and what support may be offered during that period. We discussed the alternative solutions they could offer and negotiated a support contract that would enable the migration and save on licensing during that period.

We worked closely with the already formed CRM delivery team to understand the capabilities of the new solution in addition to the desired functionality the business was looking to realise through integrating. We worked across the business to understand the wider requirements for a solution, working with multiple departments all with different use cases. Gaining this high degree of understanding was critical so we could form ideas and options that would address not only the immediate needs but also the wider issues.

Core to the success of the project was ensuring the infrastructure offered suitable resilience to support the technology. This required considerable re-design to establish an MPLS network to support the client's multi-site operations. Additionally, when considering the KPI’s an industry best practice we soon established that the existing internet pipe was not sufficient, this was a prominent issue at the time as the CRM solution was having considerable speed issues.

Once we formed a clear understanding of the clients business, their objectives and issues we looked at the current market for potential solutions. Having found a number of options that could meet the requirements we facilitated a number of sessions between the client and potential partners to establish suitability.

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What was the Outcome?

When considering the infrastructure elements we worked with the client to understand their future objectives and devised a plan and helped them design a network that would meet their ongoing needs. The short-term solutions were implemented shortly after which solved the CRM speed issues and enabled a telephony proof of concept to happen over multiple sites.

Working collaboratively with the client and partner we delivered in a series of stages a full telephony replacement solution. This met all the requirements that had been documented and provided the business with multiple options to roll the solution out further in terms of functionality at a later date.

Working with the client we helped to map out the end-to-end processes and, where required, re-engineer these to compliment the new solution. Additionally, we worked in very close proximity to the CRM delivery team to deliver a seamless solution that removed multiple instances of inefficient double keying exercises.

The business expressed initially that they wanted to reduce the overall solution cost by 20%, together we managed to bring this in closer to 30%. Additionally, call waiting times had reduced by half and average call duration dropped by a third. Despite the issues, we highlighted with the infrastructure the careful planning allowed us to resolve these issues and deliver the complete telephony solution on-time.