YSG Door Security Consultants

YSG Door Security Consultants provides customers with architectural hardware and security solutions. The Monroe, NC, company markets, sells, and supports some of the most well-known brands of locks and door products in the world, including Yale, Corbin Russwin, Norton, Rixson, and Ceco. In addition to its corporate headquarters, YSG operates multiple locations including five manufacturing plants, a warehouse/distribution facility, and branch offices in the U.S. and Canada.

 “The company originally started as a series of individual businesses that didn’t have a lot interaction between them. Over time, the lines have blurred to where the different manufacturing locations don’t work independently anymore. They work with each other and with corporate headquarters, and there’s a need for a lot more interaction.”
- Pete Wheeler, Director of Technical Support, YSG.

Managers at YSG realized that the company’s existing Avaya PBX system was not going to support its growing communications requirements and the need for greater call center functionality. They decided that a move to an IP-based telephone system would deliver the features and capabilities the company needed. Among YSG’s priorities for the new system were its complete support of IP telephony, its cost-effectiveness, and the system’s ability to provide standard file formats for call accounting records.

“We wanted to make the business more transparent, so if someone calls the customer service center we can send the call to a plant floor, technical product support, or elsewhere without the customer being aware of the different locations. That was just about impossible with the older system, but is now a reality with the ShoreTel products. We can now provide better customer service in every sense.”
- Pete Wheeler, Director of Technical Support, YSG.

After careful research, in October 2004 YSG began deploying equipment from ShoreTel at several locations; it continues to roll out systems in its locations around the country. Currently there are two facilities that are fully equipped with ShoreTel systems. Employees are using a total of 500 ShoreTel IP Phones, and other hardware products installed at company facilities include five ShoreTel T1 switches, ShoreTel 24 switches, and two voicemail servers. YSG relied heavily on ShoreTel’s local partner for help with the implementation, to move cleanly from a traditional system to an IP-based system. Benefits include:

• ShoreTel’s Workgroups allows YSG to set up a call center without the need for help from an outside vendor.
• ShoreTel Call Manager’s single interface enables employees to manage communications using their ShoreTel desk phone, computer, mobile phone, or home telephone, increasing productivity and easing collaboration.
• The ability of YSG’s staff to maintain the system in-house with ShoreTel Director has resulted in savings of $300 to $400 per week.
• The new system presents a seamless front to customers. It also looks and behaves like a single, unified platform, scales with plug-and-play simplicity across sites, and can be managed from anywhere on the network.

 “We wanted customers to call an 800-number and be able to get to any place in the business. We don’t want them to realize that the company is geographically distributed. We want to present a single company to customers.”

- Pete Wheeler, Director of Technical Support, YSG.