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Case study - Charity
Client:
A nationwide charity offering crisis advice line and support line.
Objective:
To provide a nationwide charity with a leading edge telecommunications system achieving reduced call costs, minimal administration and the flexibility to grow or retract in line with the number of volunteers and advisors.
The story:
An independent crisis advice line and support line based in London and providing support for people with drug and alcohol related issues. Lines are manned by fully trained and committed volunteers on Mondays to Thursdays from 7.00pm to 10.30pm and on Sundays from 10.00am to 1.00pm.
Obviously, access by telephone is paramount and a move to new offices represented an ideal opportunity to replace the antiquated BT system. Flexibility was important too as the solution needed to be capable of expanding and contracting in line with demand as the number of volunteers and counsellors varies. The system would also be used by an outreach team and up to 24 crisis line volunteers who offer support and counselling.
As with all charities, any improvements in service needed to be justified to safeguard the interests of those donating and in this case the new solution needed to be virtually self-financing.
We first considered a traditional approach supplying either an Avaya or Samsung IP system which in itself would have offered many benefits over the existing system, However we felt these lacked the flexibility needed, especially in terms of the growing number of outreach workers who may need to be contacted on mobiles.
Having had great success with the hosted VoIP concept we felt that a telephony package combining Cisco technology with the very best feature-set would allow the phone and messaging system to be fully integrated with more general applications such as email and conferencing.
Having a hosted solution also meant not having to invest capital in PBX hardware which becomes outdated within months of installation. The host switch is always up to date and Morgan Brookes clients can add new, innovative functions such as call recording, conferencing, voicemail to email, etc. as and when they are required.
Further cost reductions come from the inclusive UK local and national call rate and of course the main benefit of free on-net calls. The charity has effectively created its own telephone network wherein call costs are reduced or in many cases eliminated completely.
“We rely on the help of volunteers to work non-fixed hours. The new phone system means everyone can now more readily work from home and we can ’hot-desk’ the phones. Taking calls has proven to be so much easier and enables us to offer an even better service.”
“We haven’t actually used everything the new system offers yet, but so far the hunt group feature has been extremely important, it means we don’t miss calls as they can be taken anywhere in the office. Furthermore messages are handled more efficiently out of hours and therefore many more people can be re-contacted.”
- Charity Operations Director