Solutions Enterprise partners with SMBs and corporates in India by providing them with IT services and technology. It specialises in cost-effective support and infrastructure management solutions that offer a comprehensive range of customised solutions specifically designed to meet the needs of its clients who range from verticals such as pharmaceuticals, automobiles, banking & finance, ITeS and the travel industry in India, UK and USA.

In order to manage critical IT infrastructure of their clients, it was very important that Solutions Enterprise had reliable and secure communication links between its regional offices and customer sites. The key requirements from the communication network were Internet connectivity, telecommunication and mobile connectivity.

Initially, Solution Enterprises used SIP-based IP phones and analogue phones that were connected using a combination of Cisco ATA/Linksys PAP2/Vega Analog gateway and soft PBX (Astrix). The offices in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and partner companies in Britain were connected over Internet/VPN. However, the voice quality between these offices was unsatisfactory, therefore they considered using Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) or International Private Leased Circuit, but the cost of deploying international MPLS circuits was significantly higher.

The other challenges included high cost of system maintenance as the solution required technical resources with good working knowledge of Astrix, voice and Linux. In addition, as needs for add-on features grew, calls were missed and could not be traced. Another factor was that engineers missed urgent messages because they were on support calls.

At the managerial level, the director also missed calls because he could not always be seated at his desk, and using an analogue cordless phone did not solve the problem either as both the voice quality and battery life were unsatisfactory.

Integrating the new system with an existing non-Cisco IP enabled PBX system at an associate office was a technical challenge as this required configuring and reassigning extension numbers. Moreover, a control for dialling external numbers had to be implemented.

Cisco thus offered a complete solution of network infrastructure, communications devices and software that provided Solutions Enterprise with a seamless collaborative workspace experience. To begin with, the company decided to install a small box with an eight-user capacity and after testing out the product with satisfying results, the full Cisco solution was implemented.

“Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business as a solution eliminates multiple servers and combines voice, data, voicemail, automated attendant, video, security, and wireless capabilities. It also integrates with existing desktop applications such as calendar, email, and customer relationship management (CRM) programs. It is an easy-to-manage solution that supports up to 50 users in flexible deployment models based on the client needs,” says Pratik Patel, Director, Solutions Enterprise.

Benefits

The UC500 system provided Solutions Enterprise with a new way to communicate, enabling secure access to information anytime and anywhere, while helping its employees to work together more efficiently and effectively. The company now operates with more flexibility and ease due to efficient pickup and incoming call features. As a corollary, clients and co-workers can leave important messages while engineers are on support calls. Conferencing is being used effectively for group discussions/support calls, giving users better control over outgoing calls. Overall inter-office communications have improved resulting in improved efficiency and productivity.