Woods Equipment Company

Woods Equipment, based in Oregon, IL, manufactures attachments and replacement parts for agriculture, landscape, and light construction industries. The company has 1,100 employees at 14 sites coast-to-coast, including offices, warehouses, and two call centers. The company has plans to open additional warehouses in various locations in the near future.

“We had no central management of the phone system, which the CEO wanted.”

— Jim Reeves, General Manager of IT, Woods Equipment Company.

With a legacy telecom system in place that was not only inconsistent, but also nearing the end of its lease, the team at Woods Equipment Company knew that it was time to upgrade and update their voice system. The focus was on finding a solution that was not just economical, but that would allow for the central management that the company’s CEO demanded. Although initial research revealed that a ShoreTel IP Phone System would cost no more than a traditional phone system, the team was skeptical that a ShoreTel system would truly be less work to deploy and maintain.

“I would go to the ShoreTel meetings and think, this is way too easy. It just can’t be this simple.”
— Jim Reeves, General Manager of IT, Woods Equipment Company.

Although price was a driver in their decision-making, ShoreTel’s flexibility, ease of installation, and feature set — specifically the Microsoft^® Outlook^® integration — sold the Woods Equipment team on the ShoreTel solution. The team allowed three days for the installation of the first new system at Woods’office and warehouse in Rockford, IL; in just three hours, they were done. The installation of ShoreTel 24 Voice Switches, ShoreTel T1 Gateways, and ShoreTel IP phones supports 23 employees, and was followed by the installation of a similar ShoreTel system in the company’s La Mirada, CA, office.  Benefits include:

• A gratifying and speedy return on investment at the Rockford location. After paying $30,000 per year on their old Avaya system, the new ShoreTel system paid for itself in just over a year.
• With ShoreTel Director’s Web-based interface, any needed moves, adds, and changes can be made internally, saving Woods about $10,000 per year at the La Mirada site, as well as $3,000 in Rockford.
• Powerful voice messaging system, including user-configurable call handling options, find-me routing, and much more. The voice messaging system can be accessed visually from ShoreTel Call Manager or from the user’s Outlook inbox.

“The new system paid for itself in just over a year.”
— Jim Reeves, General Manager of IT, Woods Equipment Company.