Heifer International

Heifer International is a global nonprofit with a proven solution to ending hunger and poverty in a sustainable way. Heifer helps empower millions of families to lift them out of poverty and hunger to self-reliance through gifts of livestock, seeds and trees and extensive training, which provide a multiplying source of food and income.

For more than 65 years, Heifer International has provided gifts of livestock and environmentally sound agricultural training to improve the lives of those who struggle daily for reliable sources of food and income. It has helped more than 12 million families--62 million men, women and children--through training in livestock development and livestock gifts that multiply, relying on communications across its network of offices to help collect donations and coordinate efforts.

“Since 1944, Heifer has helped more than 50 million people, and now works in more than 50 countries. ShoreTel’s UC system keeps our employees and volunteers connected; the low total cost of ownership helps us do more with our donations. ShoreTel also helps us further our green initiatives as a good role model.”
— Cedric Lambert, Director of Infrastructure Solutions, IT

Heifer International wanted to improve communications between its headquarters and smaller offices on a cost-effective system that offers advanced features. However, budget restraints prevented the organization from replacing aging and costly phone systems across all office and regional sites at once—a system that would integrate with its existing network infrastructure was essential for this fiscally prudent nonprofit.

ShoreTel’s feature-rich unified communications solution across four offices, using ShoreTel IP Phones, models IP 230G, IP 260G, and model IP 565 with color screens.

Benefits for Heifer:

• The ShoreTel easy-to-scale and easy-to-deploy UC system can be rolled out gradually across offices, letting Heifer expand and improve its phone system as budget and time permits.
• Integration with legacy equipment lets Heifer leverage existing infrastructure investments while accessing new efficiency-enhancing communications features.
• ShoreTel “green” energy saving features is a perfect fit with the theme of the new headquarters building.
• ShoreTel’s ease of management means Heifer can support the system using in-house IT staff, saving on budget and time for third-party services.