EN1358A_Case_Study_PAYWORKS PAYWORKS Case Study Responding To Customer Calls Quickly Is Critical Net Vanta UC

User Manual: PAYWORKS Case Study - Responding to customer calls quickly is critical - NetVanta UC

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Real People

With over 35 years of industry experience,

Payworks processes more than 24 million pay

slips annually. In addition, with offices located

throughout Canada, constant and uninterrupted

communication is key to daily operations.

Real Networks

“As a call center-driven company receiving

300-400 calls per day, I can’t have my phone

system going down,” said Kevin Sokolowski,

Payworks’ vice president of information technol-

ogy. “A VoIP phone system that was easy for my

team to manage with Active Directory was

critical. But we also wanted something that

would enable the company as a whole to work

more effectively.”

Ultimately three companies were selected

for evaluation – Mitel, Asterisk, and ADTRAN’s

suite of NetVanta Unified Communications

(UC) solutions. Mitel was the incumbent PBX

vendor, and Asterisk was an open-source, Linux-

based solution while the NetVanta Enterprise

Communications Server delivered a Microsoft®

Windows®-based UC software solution.

“With Mitel, the cost/benefit ratio was too

low to justify the high price,” said Sokolowski.

“To be frank, Asterisk was an IT administration

gong show.” Both Mitel and Linux solutions

require businesses unfamiliar with either the

inner workings of a PBX system or the Linux

operating system and Asterisk to invest in sub-

stantial professional services to deploy and

manage the system. Neither Asterisk norMitel

could deliver a solution that would

meet Payworks’ needs.

As a services

company operating

a large call center,

responding to cus-

tomer calls quickly

and professionally is

critical to Payworks.

Real

People.

Real

Networks.

Real

Value.

“With NetVanta Enterprise

Communications Server,

my team can roll out tele-

phone assignments of new

hires into our IT checklist

without having to manage

a separate ‘phone system’

as we had done previ-

ously. Further, remote sales

employees can access email,

voicemail, and other mes-

sages from the road.”

Kevin Sokolowski

Vice President of

Information Technology

Payworks Payroll Services

Real People

Based in Winnipeg, Canada,

Payworks Payroll Services is a

midsize company committed to

providing a superior and flexible

payroll solution aimed at building

lasting customer relationships.

Real Value

Payworks set out looking for a solution

that was reliable, easy to manage and

integrated with Microsoft platforms,

offered good post-sales support as

well as a high cost-to-benefit ratio.

Real Networks

At their previous office location,

Payworks used a Mitel system,

which required employing a full-time

person to manage, maintain and

integrate new employees to the sys-

tem. Payworks’ existing PBX system

was difficult to manage and it did

not provide productivity applications

and features for end-users. What

Payworks needed was a reliable,

easy-to-manage VoIP solution that

the IT staff could manage without

adding headcount, coupled with

modern unified communications

(UC) features for its employees,

while providing a low total

cost of ownership.

Payworks

Payroll

Services

After evaluating the three solutions, Sokolowski’s

team selected NetVanta Enterprise Communications

Server to deliver a VoIP-enabled UC solution that

integrated Payworks’ multiple office locations, with

existing Microsoft applications. Specifically, the

NetVanta Enterprise Communications Server delivered

Active Directory, and existing third-party hardware

with a single low-cost, flexible solution that his team

could administer easily. The company selected three

main offices to roll out the solution – two in British

Columbia and one in Toronto.

Using the NetVanta Enterprise Communications

Server solution, Payworks is now experiencing ease

of maintenance and integration down the road with

Microsoft Exchange Server. Additionally, the integrated

visual service builder assists Payworks in building new

software-based applications such as customer self-

service. The NetVanta Enterprise Communications

Server also allows “Just in Time” setup for new hires,

which reduces backend costs and time associated with

a traditional PBX and improves turn-around for getting

equipment up and running. With NetVanta Enterprise

Communications Server, Sokolowski’s team can deploy

a new user in about 15 minutes, a fraction of the two

to four hours associated with setting up a user with a

traditional PBX system.

“With the NetVanta Enterprise Communications

Server, my team can roll out telephone assignments

of new hires into our IT checklist without having to

manage a separate ‘phone system’ as we had done

previously. Further, remote sales employees can access

email, voicemail, and other messages from the road.”

NetVanta UC Lowers

TCO with Key Changes

With NetVanta Enterprise Communications Server,

Payworks has successfully lowered its total cost of

ownership in several key ways. For instance, Payworks

is now saving long distance charges with the solution’s

built-in VoIP capabilities. “Looking at our last phone

bill, the long distance charges were about $1,400 per

month so that cost would be saved each month,” said

Sokolowski. “NetVanta Enterprise Communications

Server will eliminate 85-90 percent of our long distance

charges.” With many businesses looking to cut costs on

long distance, and with three satellite offices driving up

long distance charges, Payworks determined that VoIP

was the right solution.

NetVanta Enterprise Communications Server is

also providing everyone using the system with a local

extension. Calls are converted to data packets, and

then the packets are exchanged like any other data

over a LAN. There isn’t a “charge” associated with

transferring files over a LAN from the phone company,

and with VoIP, the same principle applies. This will

help Payworks save up to $16,000 per year, and even

more as the company expands and opens new offices.

In addition, Payworks doesn’t have to hire another

professional to manage the phone system. Anyone in

Sokolowski’s team can easily manage new employee

activity with the phone system, such as moves, adds

and changes, via Active Directory and the NetVanta

Enterprise Communications Server. The company

estimates that the salary for a full-time employee hired

to maintain only the phone system would cost about

$36,000 per year. ADTRAN provided Payworks with

a solution that was low-cost upfront, easy to deploy

and administer, and one that fit with the resources

Payworks already had.

“Price itself was not a factor in our final decision. We

bought based on value,” said Sokolowski, “Asterisk is a

Linux-based solution and we are a Microsoft shop. We

would have to hire someone that had Linux knowledge

to maintain this system.”

NetVanta UC Delivers

“NetVanta Enterprise Communications Server has

saved us money without having to compromise on

functionality,” added Sokolowski.

NetVanta Enterprise Communications Server will

save Payworks up to $52,000 per year in operational

expenses from long distance and maintenance, alone.

It will also allow Sokolowski’s team to spend more

time on other business critical projects. With the cen-

tralized, single-point administration that NetVanta

Enterprise Communications Server provides with

Active Directory, Sokolwoski’s team will save up to one

hour for every user, every year. With 100 employees,

that saves his team up to 100 hours per year which

can be devoted to other projects.

Based on the immediate benefits already

resulting from the deployment of the NetVanta

Enterprise Communications Server, Payworks plans

to extend the relationship and use the company’s

ODBC-enabled call flow capabilities to build an IVR

system. This will allow customers to obtain self-service

over the phone. Since the business is call center driven,

there are many repetitive calls each day that could be

managed/handled by an automated system rather

than place the call in a queue to wait for a live agent.

“An IVR application will provide quicker response time

for the customer and increase productivity for the call

center staff. They’ll have more time to manage high-

impact calls instead of looking up data like status of

a check being submitted or remaining balance. That

streamlines the business processes and affects produc-

tivity for the whole organization,” added Sokolowski.

A phone system is a long-term investment for

most businesses, and post-sales technical support

and service was also very important to Payworks. “I’m

very familiar with the after-sales support available

from other vendors. I have to tell you, we’ve been very

pleased and impressed with the high-level of service

and support from ADTRAN,” Sokolowski adds. “The

product is excellent, and ADTRAN’s after sales service

and support has been fantastic. From our account

manager, to the implementation and support manager,

the only other company that provides this level of sup-

port to their clients is Payworks.”

Copyright

©

2010 ADTRAN, Inc. All

rights reserved. ADTRAN believes

the information in this publication

to be accurate as of publication

date, and is not responsible for

error. Specifications subject to

change without notice. ADTRAN

and NetVanta are registered

trademarks of ADTRAN, Inc. and

its affiliates in the U.S. and certain

other countries. All other trade-

marks mentioned in this document

are the property of their respec-

tive owners. Five-year warranty

applies only to products sold in

North America.

ADTRAN products may be

subject to U.S. export controls

and other trade restrictions. Any

export, re-export, or transfer of

the products contrary to law is

prohibited. For more information

regarding ADTRAN‘s

export license, please visit

www.adtran.com/exportlicense

EN1358A February 2010