VoIP can get tricky when it comes to remote workers. Some
choose to go the Skype route, others just rely on cell phones or
their home phones for communications.
But WorldWinner, a Newton, Mass.-based online game and
competition service and a subsidiary of FUN Technologies Inc.,
needed to get VoIP and collaborative abilities to its
ever-expanding remote employee base, which is scattered across the
country.
From teleworkers to traveling employees, WorldWinner was in need
of an
economical yet flexible solution with little management
overhead. And, according to WorldWinner vice president of
operations Mike Frank, the company's IP solution had to integrate
with its commonly used desktop business applications to improve
productivity and efficiency. Essentially, a softphone option would
let end users manage and control calls from their PCs regardless of
location, creating seamless access to the corporate voice services
at company headquarters.
"We needed a fast solution for our smaller offices and remote
workers," Frank said.
In the past, remote workers relied on cell phones, but spotty
coverage made that option unacceptable, especially when
communication is a vital part of business.
"Communication is of the essence, and timing is of the essence,"
Frank said. "We don't have the luxury of waiting around for someone
to have service."
WorldWinner hosts online competitions for popular games, among
them Solitaire and Scrabble, in which players compete for cash and
other prizes. The company has more than 30 million global players
and hosts 20 million tournaments per month. To keep up with that
pace, Frank realised, WorldWinner needed communications that were
beyond the scope of a traditional
PBX.
WorldWinner had a 3Com installation that was suitable for
headquarters, Frank said, but it would require too much management
to be viable in remote office locations.
"Moving 3Com into a smaller user base wouldn't have been cost
effective for us," he said.
WorldWinner also evaluated remote VoIP solutions from Cisco and
Shoretel but worried that those solutions would require too much
on-site management, Frank said. With limited IT staff in each
remote location, that could prove troublesome.
Instead, Frank went with BlueNote SessionSuite. He said
scalability and richness of features played a strong role in the
decision. Another factor, he said, was that SessionSuite uses SIP,
which allows WorldWinner to choose from a variety of SIP phones for
employees to use as their office desk phones.
"We needed an efficient and cost-effective answer to connect our
distributed workers to the voice and data applications that are key
to running our business," Frank said.
BlueNote software runs on industry-standard servers and was
quick to install, he said. And the desktop application integration,
coupled with leveraging both WorldWinner's existing infrastructure
and the Internet, freed up resources, allowing the company to
concentrate more on core business needs than deploying and managing
a complicated VoIP system.
Sally Bament, vice president of marketing and product management
for BlueNote, said the SessionSuite family uses real-time
interactive communications and integrates them with business
applications and processes. It comprises an open, modular software
architecture that can be incrementally deployed alongside existing
PBX systems.
SessionSuite offered key features that Frank was looking for in
order to connect the distributed workforce -- softphone
capabilities, three- and four-digit dialing from any location, and
simple administration.
So far, he said, the ability to reach workers in remote
locations has improved dramatically, and the ability to spark an
impromptu conference call has come in clutch when problems
arise.
"Our time to resolution for any topic that might come up in a
pinch has improved greatly," Frank said. "We can now get an
immediate response."
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