Uptime Technologies

Uptime Technologies is an independent ICT infrastructure company, founded in 2001. Headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium, Uptime’s services cover the whole life cycle of an IT environment: architecture, implementation, and operational management. When it comes to IT expertise, Uptime, part of leading e-business integrator Cronos Group, sets very high standards. To maintain its competitive advantage, a high level of constant communication is essential.

“Our business depends on us being at the cutting edge of IT. Without a communications system that reflects today’s advanced technology, we can’t do our jobs properly and our customers don’t receive the best service possible.”
- Henk Van’t Net, CEO, Uptime Technologies.

Facing a fast-growing customer base, Uptime was looking at ways to scale communications quickly and easily to maintain quality service and productivity. The old telephone system was based on an aging Alcatel Omni PCX 4400 and Belgacom Forum 700. Because Uptime’s different offices each had different phone systems, repairs were costly and difficult. The time spent on the old system affected productivity, and ultimately, revenue. In addition to a system that was easy to deploy and maintain, Uptime’s priority was the ability to integrate the system with existing applications such as the Microsoft CRM and Microsoft Exchange email systems.

“The deployment was very thorough, from the readiness checks which made sure we’d have zero issues when deployed, to the office-by-office set up. We were able to leave our old system in place, which meant we had no downtime.”
- Joeri Liekens, Technical Engineer, Uptime Technologies.

The company compared different VoIP vendors in Belgium, but ShoreTel was the only one to provide a demo kit before full installation. With a team of four, ShoreTel deployed its UC system in each of the six office buildings and two support call centers,  for a total of 350 ShoreTel IP Phones. The system integrated seamlessly with the existing Microsoft Exchange Server, minimizing the need for a rip and replace on the core system, and enabling employees to set up phone calls with a single mouse click. Once the engineers were up to speed as well, online support was easily accessible at anytime. Other benefits include:

• With a high call volume from customers, ShoreTel’s auto-attendant feature streamlines call management and helps eliminate bottlenecks. Customers can easily select a destination or search the directory by name.
• ShoreTel’s distributed architecture and Web-based management tools enable Uptime staff to manage the system remotely and to make moves, adds, and changes from anywhere on the network.
• The system, which looks and behaves like a single, unified platform, scales with plug-and-play simplicity across as many sites as Uptime needs, allowing them to meet changing business needs without having any downtime in customer service.
• Uptime estimates that the ShoreTel UC system has reduced network costs by 27 percent, including call costs and support.

“The ShoreTel system solved a significant business problem by reducing call costs and support by 27 percent.”
- Henk Van’t Net, CEO, Uptime Technologies.