CallXpress Case Study
Historic Salisbury Leaps into the Future with CallXpress®
BACKGROUND
Halfway between Charlotte and Greensboro, North Carolina sits Salisbury, a charming town known for its civil war history, grand old houses and railroading past. Yet its city government proved to be remarkably forward-thinking when planning a new unified messaging system that allowed them easily transition to VOIP. Mike Crowell, Technology Services Manager, and Merenda Overcash, Operations Manager, were way ahead of the curve when they chose CallXpress.
CHALLENGE
Mike Crowell has a knack for staying ahead of the technology curve. Even back in 1996, when they were replacing their “green screens,” he ordered PCs with sound cards – a decision that stumped their counterparts in other cities.
So when he and Overcash decided to implement a new voice mail system, they didn’t implement the reigning system. They decided to leap straight into the future of communications when they replaced their PBX. They sent out an RFP for a new system, specifying that it had to offer a unified messaging solution and be compatible with the RightFax™ server. They ultimately chose a CallXpress system to work with a Mitel® PBX.
THE SOLUTION
The city government purchased a 16-port CallXpress Unified Messaging system, and rolled it out on Microsoft® Exchange®. Currently, approximately 340 employees have access to unified messaging. The system has proven to be flexible, reliable and long-lived.
While the original system ran on an OS/2 platform, both the hardware and software have consistently been upgraded to stay current. The City subscribes to the XpressCare® maintenance program, which has kept the software up to date. This has allowed the system to deliver new features and more productivity without being replaced.
More recently, the city decided to migrate to IP telephony. The migration was performed over an eight-month period. Because the CallXpress interface remained the same, users didn’t have to be retrained and in fact never knew the change took place.
THE RESULTS
CallXpress delivers many features which are popular with employees and residents alike. For example, the Automated Agent allows Salisbury residents to access their water bills and tax bills over the phone and pay them with a credit card. Residents can even call in to get an announcement if bad weather spoils a ball game. The Locate feature has proven important as well. The captains of the police and fire departments often receive calls which have been forwarded to their cell phones on off-duty hours. Because these are critical calls, the system’s stability and reliability have been perfect for the application.
The city employees have also gained extra productivity from the text-to-speech capability of CallXpress. “When I’m at a conference, I like the fact that I can call in from a remote phone and have e-mails read to me, as well as voice mail. I use that all the time, and so do many of my employees,” says Crowell.
Overcash appreciates the simplicity of the system. “It’s really simple to add a user. Even installing the system was easy – it took maybe a day to install. Some systems take much longer.”
Because of the longevity of the system, the City government has been able to maximize their investment. Yet they still make new productivity gains with every update. Says Crowell,” It’s been chugging along for years now and has never obsoleted. It does everything we want.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For over 20 years, AVST has been shaping the evolution of communication, with more than 35,000 customers. Our award-winning CallXpress solution has been unifying communications for companies all over the world. So as the world of enterprise communications advances, you can rest assured that AVST has your future covered. To learn more visit www.avst.com or contact us at +1.949.699.2300.
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