InterSystems Corporation

Founded in 1978, InterSystems Corporation is a global software company. Its advanced database and integration technologies enable enterprises to speedily create, deploy, run, and connect applications. The company specialises in sophisticated, large-scale systems used by tens of thousands of people, running billions of database transactions a day. However, its systems also support smaller needs. Headquartered in the U.S., InterSystems has a worldwide presence with offices in every major geographic region and customers in over 88 countries. The company’s U.K. office, which employs 50 people, is near Windsor in Berkshire, England.

“I’m well satisfied with the ShoreTel solution so far, and its implementation has been straightforward with no lost calls.”
— Alex Needham, IT Manager, InterSystems.

With the high maintenance costs of its existing PBX system becoming increasingly apparent, InterSystems decided it was time to adopt a new phone system for its offices in Eton. The company decided to focus on achieving cost savings by converging telephony and data over its existing IP infrastructure. The decision to migrate from the existing Nortel option11 PBX to ShoreTel IP phone system was based around three key drivers: the ability to leverage the existing corporate IP network, the ability to failover to the U.S. system, and — as the choice of InterSystem’s corporate parent in the U.S. — the system’s proven business benefits.

“We had our U.S. head office for reference, which was already using a system from ShoreTel. A demonstration in the U.K. office by a local ShoreTel channel partner was enough to convince us that benefits could be realised similar to those already achieved in the U.S.”
— Alex Needham, IT Manager, InterSystems.

The implementation of a ShoreTel IP phone system began in November 2006 and included the deployment of one ShoreTel 120 and two ShoreTel 60 Voice Switches, a ShoreTel E1 switch interfacing to BT PSTN, a ShoreTel E1 integrating the ShoreTel system to the legacy Nortel PBX, a distributed voice services server, and over a dozen ShoreTel IP 230 phones. After the initial deployment and a phased migration from the Nortel PBX, an additional three dozen IP phones were added to the deployment in order to support all of the company’s users. Benefits include:

• Seamless integration with Nortel legacy equipment allowed for a gradual migration to the new system.
• System management time and call charges have decreased 50 percent, as internal calls now flow as IP traffic.
• Ability to dial inter-office between U.K. and U.S. and other features improve internal and external communications and enhance productivity.
• Distributed architecture and applications, and N+1 redundancy provide five-nines (99.999 percent) availability.

“We’ve certainly reduced system management time, and lowered call charges as 50 percent of internal calls now flow as IP traffic.”
— Alex Needham, Information Technology Manager, InterSystems.