Gowan Group

Telephony upgrade from Telcom puts the ‘vroom’ into voice for leading motor distributor 

Gowan Group

Business Challenge

The Gowan Group has undergone strong business growth in recent years, particularly following the acquisition of motoring giant, Opel.

An aggressive marketing strategy successfully captured increased market share with the result that its Peugeot marque now features in the top four in the country.

At its Dublin-based head quarters, Gowan Distributors Ltd are responsible for managing the Peugeot dealer network, national marketing and advertising campaigns, finance, aftersales service and vehicle distribution. Business telephony is the lifeblood of the company allowing it to stay connected to its customers and suppliers, nationwide.

A PBX system was installed a number of years ago and systems administrator Mark Shore was responsible for performing the management and maintenance on the system.

However, with an increasing workload, this had proven to be unwieldy at times. Mark and his team wanted to migrate to newer technology and a new partner, who could offer the flexibility of service his growing business demanded.

Following a competitive tender process involving two other potential suppliers, Telcom emerged successful and was chosen to complete the business telephony upgrade.

"We wanted business telephony technology that was reliable and that represented best-in-class in the industry. We also wanted a reliable outsourcing partner, who could absorb some of the internal administration of the system, given our strong business growth."

Industry:

Motor Distribution

Solution:

Hosted Telephony upgrade based on Avaya Technology for 60 users

Branded IP Desktop Phones

Mobile Soft Client for Remote Workers

SIP Trunks

Business Outcomes:

High-quality, reliable voice communications at a predictable monthly cost per user

Voicemail, unified messaging, programmable hunt groups provide a more streamlined customer experience

Reduced telecom costs

Reliable and responsive service from a trusted partner

Hosted Telephony Provides Predictable and Reliable Service

It was clear from discussions between Mark Shore and the Telcom team that the Gowan Group wanted the latest technology with maximum flexibility and minimum overhead. Enter Telcom’s hosted telephony solution, based on Avaya’s IP Office, a market leader in unified communications and contact centre systems.

The solution not only ticks the technology box but also the financial one, delivering predictable monthly payments per user that avoid the need to find capital investment for the upgrade.

High-quality voice communication is a given but features such as programmable hunt groups and interactive voice response allow calls to be directed to the desired department offering callers a streamlined contact experience.

Voicemail and unified messaging allow internal staff members to respond to callers in an efficient fashion, while presence provides information on the online status of users, facilitating much faster decision-making.

Avaya technology is complemented by the Telcom service wrap through our helpdesk, ensuring that Mark and his team can rely on fully certified Avaya engineers to make those all-important adds, moves or changes. As an Avaya Edge Diamond partner, the highest possible accreditation in Avaya’s partner program, Mark can rest assured that the most critical communications channel in his business is in a safe pair of hands.

Call reporting that offers in-depth insights into call patterns are generated quickly and easily, providing for efficient capacity planning and more streamlined communication.

"It's important that we have a trusted outsourcing partner so when we ask for something to be done, it's done quickly and efficiently. The Telcom team are excellent. If we log support tickets, they are always followed up quickly and overall they are very responsive to our needs."

Reduced Telecoms Costs Thanks to SIP Trunking

SIP trunking allows organisations to leverage the power of their data network for voice traffic. In this case, the Gowan Group could retire their existing telephone lines and connect to Telcom’s carrier-grade network via IP. SIP connectivity prepares organisations such as the Gowan Group for the eventual retirement of traditional PSTN networks and also significantly reduces telecoms costs.

"When evaluating the Telcom solution, the low ongoing costs would have been one of the things that attracted me to it. It's a cost-efficient solution. And Telcom's free handset promotion also helped us to reduce the cost of the overall solution."

And the issue of cost was also positively addressed through the deployment of Avaya Workplace, the soft client app that keeps staff connected, irrespective of their physical location.

The app can be installed on a mobile device or laptop computer with headset. In fact, each license allows the app to be installed on up to 10 different devices with a single number reach, recognising the fact that the world of work has changed forever, and we are now using multiple devices to stay in touch.

"The fact we don't have our PBX tied to the building or have physical infrastructure to manage and maintain is important to us. It's a real business enabler."

Solution Spotlight

Hosted Telephony Licenses for 60 Users

Based on Avaya technology and hosted in Telcom's secure data centre, the solution provides high-quality, high-availability voice services to 60 fixed and mobile users.

Feature-Rich Technology

The solution delivers all the features you would expect from an enterprise-grade solution including voicemail, unified messaging, call recording, call conferencing, auto attendant and interactive voice response. And with Avaya's commitment to software development, the Gowan Group are automatically upgraded to the latest version of the system.

IP Desktop Phones

Robust, reliable IP desktop handsets for each user, branded with the Gowan Group logo on each LCD screen

Mobile Soft Client

Employees are no longer tied to the office. The Avaya Workplace app provides a single app for voice, video, messaging, conferencing and calendar and keeps everyone productive on any device, from any location. This flexibility has proved to be exceptionally beneficial during the Covid-19 pandemic and periods of substantial business disruption.

SIP Trunks

SIP (Session Initiated Protocol) connections replaced traditional phone lines with all voice traffic running through Telcom's carrier-grade network via IP.