Devon-based tech specialists, Amulet Hotkey, are a prime example of a local company with a global reach.
Amulet Hotkey produces top-of-the-range technology systems for leading companies around the world. It has an impressive client list which includes government departments, financial institutions including 60 percent of all banks, along with media organisations such as the BBC, ITN and the American TV network, Fox.
Business drivers for the installation of Microsoft Teams included improving connectivity, reliability and efficiency of Amulet Hotkey’s global phone system and increasing collaboration amongst staff members. In addition, Amulet Hotkey wanted to streamline its operations and give staff the tools they needed to work effectively, without hindrance, wherever they were located.
The solution implemented pulls together global phone lines into one easy online platform supported by Microsoft Teams. Since the system was implemented, staff from the UK and the USA have been working with a much higher rate of productivity via Microsoft Teams.
This platform not only enables greater call quality, less interruption, greater efficiency and reliability but also allows increased collaboration across departments and international locations. This makes it easier and faster to access messages and files at any time. Microsoft Teams has also created improved visibility, amongst several other benefits.
David Holmes, Nexus’s IT Consultant, believes the success of Amulet Hotkey’s experience of the integration of Microsoft Teams paves the way for other businesses to explore how they can use digital technologies to help increase productivity and collaboration in the future world of remote working.
Challenge
- Sudden shift to remote working highlighted weaknesses in existing phone system’s reliability
- Need for more efficient multi-national telephone solution
- The requirement to deliver a digital phone system that is relevant and easy to use
In common with many other organisations, when the recent global health crisis struck, Amulet Hotkey quickly discovered that their telephone system needed updating to accommodate home working.
Carl Newton from Amulet Hotkey commented “We had an on-site telephone system which connected our offices in Newton Abbot, London and New York. The system worked well, and we had some remote capabilities with the mobile phone app. When Covid hit and we had users working remotely, it became clear that the telephone system could not deliver the same connectivity users had when in the office. The reliance on a VPN connection was a hindrance to some, and the scaling of the mobile app to all users was not reliable.”
Another consideration for Amulet Hotkey was that employees have come to expect straightforward, digital ways of working.
Carl added “We also found that handling incoming calls was causing an issue when trying to transfer to the remote staff. We often had to take the callers details and email staff to call them back. The decision was made to look for a better option.”
The existing phone system offered limited opportunities for collaboration and therefore reduced productivity whilst also increasing workloads, creating unnecessary time-wastage. There was no facility with the old phone system to keep all information in one place or share files.
Strategy
For Amulet-Hotkey staff, the unreliability and lack of efficiency of the original phone system caused frustration throughout the organisation. The requirement to find a straightforward platform that would allow greater collaboration and ease-of-use whilst being comprehensive and adding value to meet staff needs had to be at the forefront of this migration.
Carl explains “As part of the close relationship we had already built with Nexus through their successful Managed Service, we approached them as we needed assistance with our voice solution and we knew that Nexus are experts in providing Teams deployments for a variety of large organisations!”
After assessing all requirements, Nexus advised on the most suitable platform to meet their needs – Microsoft Teams. Nexus advised that Microsoft Teams could provide such benefits as instant messaging, audio conferencing, HD video calling and several additional benefits that enable increased collaboration, time and cost-efficient ways of working.
Once the new platform had been agreed by both parties, Nexus set to work ensuring that all of their systems were properly switched over and thoroughly tested, before providing live support for both their UK and US offices.
David Holmes, IT Consultant at Nexus commented “Amulet Hotkey had a requirement to implement a multi-national business telephone solution. Nexus were able to architect and implement Microsoft Teams, leveraging the existing Microsoft licensing and utilising the in-place SIP lines in Europe and North America. This served as both a great value and uncomplicated solution. It also allowed the business to start using the Microsoft Teams UC feature set and integration.”
Solution
Considering the initial challenges brought on by the pandemic and the need to adapt and accommodate increased flexible working arrangements, Microsoft Teams provides an effective solution in dealing with the problem at hand and future-proofing the business against further technical disruption.
The benefits were clear; a faster, more efficient way to communicate. A reliable, straightforward, integrated phone system that can be used wherever it is required. This global system offers new opportunities for colleague collaboration such as file sharing and a solution that allows better organisation at a reduced cost.
Amulet Hotkey are delighted with the results: “We have staff located in the UK, US, Germany and Australia and the new telephony system has greatly improved the communications across the company, especially for remote workers”, says Carl Newton.
With remote working looking like it is here to stay, it is essential that businesses adequately adapt to meet workers changing needs and the new shape of working life.
Carl continues “The cloud-based system now allows remote staff to make and receive calls without the need to connect to the corporate VPN. The staff managing the main number can easily transfer calls to all staff, no matter where they are. The Teams app can be installed on mobile phones, allowing remote staff to manage calls without having to log in to their laptops. And the sales and support teams have found the new system makes it easy to keep in contact with their clients, from any location.”
The results speak for themselves; since Microsoft Teams has been implemented, productivity and collaboration have greatly improved, whilst staff feel they are able to rely on an efficient, functional system with a new and time-efficient way of working.
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