Design Within Reach

Design Within Reach (DWR) is a rising star in the retail world, catering to the underserved market of business and residential customers seeking stylish, well-designed furniture and accessories. In 2004, the company was growing at an exceptional 40 percent a year in terms of opening new store locations. Yet, as positive as that expansion was for the bottom line, it was tough on the IT department, which was tasked with managing 35 retail locations.

“We wanted a system built on today’s technology.”
- Joe Martins, Director of Information Services, Design Within Reach.

Design Within Reach was opening 20 new store locations a year. With 35 retail stores already in place, each with separate and expensive-to-maintain Nortel phone and voicemail systems, the retailer needed a cost-effective alternative that could be centrally managed, easy to deploy, and simple to maintain.

"We wanted a system we could implement ourselves and that anyone on my help-desk team could manage.”
- Joe Martins, Director of Information Services, Design Within Reach.

A successful pilot at just one store convinced Design Within Reach that ShoreTel was the way to go. The ShoreTel system’s ability to interface with legacy phone systems allowed for a phased approach to deployment, avoiding disruptions in customer service. The first site was operational in less than a day. In each new location, DWR installed a ShoreTel 40 Voice Switch. A ShoreTel T1 Voice Switch went in at corporate headquarters, with ShoreTel 530 and 560 IP Phones rounding out the hardware component. Employees use ShoreTel Call Manager for calls, access to voicemail, and to set up conference calls. In the field, 10 mobile employees use the softphone feature, enabling them to place calls using their laptops and mobile devices. Other benefits include:

• Significant costs savings, with the ShoreTel system costing less than half the price of Nortel thanks to streamlined maintenance and its ability to scale and grow with plug-and-play ease as new stores are added.
• ShoreTel Director unifies all deployment and management tasks into an easy to-use Web-based interface, saving both time and money. After the first site was up and running, DWR handled all of the additional deployments with no outside help.
• Four-digit dialing among locations is simple, saves money and time, and improves communications between individual stores and corporate headquarters.
• Advanced mobility options let traveling area managers sign into a phone in another office. Their phone calls now follow them, and they no longer miss important communications while on the road.

“The studios that don’t have the ShoreTel system can’t wait to get it.”
- Joe Martins, Director of Information Services, Design Within Reach.