Horizon helps the APM Group move to a fully hosted Horizon phone system
The APM Group is a global accreditation, certification and examination body, committed to excellence. They set, enforce, maintain and improve standards and appreciate the benefits of accreditation and independent verification of organisational processes.
They have over 100 users across their two UK sites, with their head office in Buckinghamshire.
The Benefits
- Increased network speeds, making the APM Group more efficient and productive
- Benefited from a reliable network solution that was fully resilient and feature-rich
- Eliminated UK call charges
- Helped transition the APM Group from a Capex to Opex model
- No need for ongoing system maintenance and update costs
The Challenge
The APM Group were using a traditional PBX based system, which required a separate system at each site. This was not an ideal solution because there were expensive PBX maintenance costs and no disaster recovery and business continuity as a standard option. If something were to go wrong it could have a potentially devastating effect on the company, time would be lost resolving a situation that could be avoided.
They also had a leased line in place at both sites, with a further point to point leased line between the two. The APM Group also had expensive backup connections in place, however being dependent on a manual switchover rather than an automatic solution was problematic. Additionally their connectivity was not designed to support a flexible, easy to manage hosted telephony
system.
A lack of flexibility in the old system meant that getting numbers changed, adding new extensions, moving others and replacing or upgrading hardware was a slow and time consuming process.
The APM Group needed a solution that would:
- Reduce costs
- Move towards hosted telephony
- Review all their data connections and upgrade their infrastructure to make it resilient
- Gain more control with the flexibility to make system changes as required
100
Users
2
Sites
The Solution
Solution IP wanted to provide a flexible solution that would deliver a better experience for customers and allow staff to collaborate more effectively. Their expert engineers carried out a full review of the current infrastructure to see where improvements could be made. Horizon the hosted IP solution is the platform they chose.
Horizon delivers an extensive range of fixed and mobile communications capabilities through an easy-to-use web portal. The solution met all of the APM Group’s challenges and gave them total confidence in using one supplier for all their communications needs.
Horizon offers the APM Group enhanced control over their services, making the management of their estate less complicated and time consuming. It also enables staff to adopt a more flexible approach to working, allowing them to continually deliver the quality of service their customers expect.
The Results
Solution IP carried out extensive on-site training for the APM Group, which ensured all users were comfortable with the features of Horizon. This ensured the process was seamless and people could continue with their day jobs with minimal disruption. A post-installation review also took place to determine any potential issues. Having a dedicated Account Manager ensures that the APM Group are pro-actively taken care of and always have the support available for help with the Horizon system. Horizon has provided all the necessary elements that are required for the APM Group to sustain long term growth.