Ferrier Hodgson

When leading insolvency specialist Ferrier Hodgson relocated to new offices in central Sydney, a refresh of its PBX system to voice over IP (VoIP) seemed like the right call. For years, the company had leased a Samsung PABX system and Ferrier’s IT manager, Mustafa Mohabbat, felt that it was time to make the transition to a leading-edge IP telephony technology platform. 

“The audio quality of the ShoreTel UC system during the demonstration was a standout. This feature alone sets the ShoreTel offering apart from Samsung and Avaya.” 

— Mustafa Mohabbat, IT Manager, Ferrier Hodgson.

Ferrier Hodgson wanted a new system that would require minimal time for maintenance and administration, reduce the number of calls to incorrect numbers and improve call routing throughout the organization.

The system also had to be easy and efficient to deploy, help reduce cabling costs, and easily scale as the business continues to grow.

“Deploying the ShoreTel UC system was as easy as simply placing handsets on desks, connecting them, doing a bit of configuration and up it went. Compared to a traditional PABX, implementation was a cinch.”
— Mustafa Mohabbat, IT Manager, Ferrier Hodgson.

Ferrier Hodgson also engaged PTS Communications to deploy the ShoreTel UC system. The solution included a ShoreTel E1 voice switch, which interfaces over an ISDN network to its service provider Primus, and two ShoreTel 120 voice switches, which can support up to 240 ShoreTel IP Phones. ShoreTel IP Phones 560 and 230 also were rolled out to 105 users at the company’s new offices. Benefits include:

• The ShoreTel system allows more employees to work from other locations, such as client sites, and use the same robust features as if they were sitting at the corporate office.
• The ShoreTel UC system scales easily, which means Ferrier Hodgson can continue to add users as the company grows.
• With ShoreTel’s least-cost routing, Ferrier Hodgson is saving on interstate calls, with call costs between its offices being completely free.
• Because of ShoreTel’s rich feature set and each of use, employee productivity has skyrocketed.

“The administration side of the system is easy. The software was rolled out to client sites with minimal effort. We configured it centrally using a Web interface. In addition, all the phones can now be controlled centrally and we have an upgrade path should we need to expand into other offices.”
— Mustafa Mohabbat, IT Manager, Ferrier Hodgson.