Case Study
NBS V.o.I.C.E. Hosted Solution utilized in a Retail SMB Application
MAMIYE BROTHERS
COMPANY PROFILE
NBS is a fully-integrated telecommunications service provider.
NBS Services include:
- Data and broadband connectivity (Cable, DSL, T1, DS3, Ethernet, etc.)
- Hosted and IP voice solutions
- Managed network solutions (Private Line, MPLS)
- Integrated voice and data systems and related network devices
Mamiye Brothers (Mamiye) is America’s premier designer, manufacturer, and marketer of children’s tween, and teen fashion apparel brands for infants, girls, boys, juniors, missy and young men. Their brands are distributed to a wide range of customers representing some 13,000 retail stores in the United States and elsewhere. Established in 1947, Mamiye is known for its outstanding reputation for product quality and consistency, corporate integrity, fashion sense, and keen management. Located in the heart of New York's Fashion District, the company has an industry reputation second to none.
CLIENT NEEDS
Mamiye was in the planning process of consolidating two locations in Manhattan to a new and larger single location, also in the city. The consolidation was going to occur in two stages, with one of the smaller offices moving to the new location first, and the other location following suit several months later. Mamiye was analyzing whether a Hosted or Cloud based phone system could be implemented at the new site. At the existing locations, Mamiye utilized traditional TDM-based Private Branch Exchanges (PBXs). Mamiye’s IT director, David Cropper, wanted to evaluate if a hosted voice solution could better meet the current and future feature set and functionality requirements of the firm. He, of course, also wanted to see if cost savings could be achieved with the use of a hosted or cloud based platform.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Mamiye wanted to integrate an external paging system into the IP network at the new location. This is the type of system whereby announcements can be made through the telephone system using overhead speakers. They had been utilizing this type of system at both existing locations and wanted to continue its use at the new office as well.
NBS’ STRENGTH AND DIFFERENTIATORS
NBS has a long history of supplying telecom systems and services, both TDM and IP based, to small and large sized businesses and government organizations. Founded in 1984 as an interconnect, selling office telephone and PBX systems, NBS has compiled years of practical hands on experience with equipment and service installation and has an understanding of the needs of commercial clients.
NBS’ evolution as a service provider as well as ISP, CLEC and telecom carrier/reseller has armed the company with the expertise to create solutions customized to fit the requirements of virtually any client. Voice services are and always have been an NBS specialty. NBS, unlike many other voice providers, offers clients the benefits of IP telephony without being tethered to the Broadsoft or Alcatel-Lucent platforms. NBS’ V.o.I.C.E. platform was carefully and painstakingly developed in-house. This allows NBS the flexibility to build new functionality to fulfill individual customer needs rather than waiting for a platform provider to complete that work. Solutions are custom built, from the ground up, based on the individual customer's unique set of requirements. Features developed in response to one customer's needs may translate into a unique and valuable function that will be incorporated into the platform as a whole, in this way the service continues to improve and evolve as time goes on.
NBS’ hosted voice platform is size agnostic (i.e. appropriate for both Enterprise businesses and Sole Proprietorships alike). The company has hosted customers with as few as 1 phone/seat, and as many as 1,000 or more. Because NBS V.o.I.C.E. is a home grown application, there is an extraordinary amount of flexibility in how it can be deployed. While Mamiye’s application involved 175 seats, it could have been 17 or 1,750 seats, and the customer would have received the same great service, support, and functionality.
NBS is a Certified Polycom Voice over IP (VoIP) Solutions Reseller and offers the company's SoundPoint IP telephones and SoundStation IP conference phones, in conjunction with their own NBS Voice over Internet Communications Exchange (V.o.I.C.E.) platform. Together they make a powerful tool for reducing an organization’s total telecom spend and increasing overall business productivity.
INSTALLATION
After a lengthy examination of the different hosted providers and new PBX options, Mamiye decided on NBS’ Hosted V.o.I.C.E. product. Once that decision was made, Mamiye asked NBS for input regarding services for the smaller office that was to remain temporarily operational after the new larger location opened. After doing a site survey at that location, NBS suggested that Mamiye implement their Hosted product in both locations simultaneously.
NBS went to the new site and installed Polycom IP telephones and conducted training on the new phones for their users. NBS also made its personnel available for WebEx demonstrations as well as on site training. The installation of the NBS V.o.I.C.E. service was done concurrently with the installation of an NBS Ethernet DIA circuit. For the existing location, NBS simply reused Mamiye’s existing wiring infrastructure and internet connectivity and installed the Polycom phones directly into the corporate WAN. Typically, NBS recommends that customers install Category 5e cabling for NBS V.o.I.C.E. However, in an effort to accommodate the client, NBS was able to utilize the existing Category 3 cabling to save the client the cost of installing new cable at the existing location. Additionally, the overhead paging system was also easily integrated with the existing infrastructure and can now be accessed by dialing a specific extension on the IP phones. NBS also conducted onsite training with Mamiye’s employees at the remaining site as well.
CLIENT EXPERIENCE
In the end, NBS exceeded all of Mamiye’s expectations. Mr. Cropper commented that they were “just thrilled with both the install/conversion and the subsequent service provided by NBS’ Hosted V.o.I.C.E. platform.” He went on to say that they “were particularly impressed with the professionalism of the entire NBS team.”
NBS’ President, Russell Markman, found it extremely satisfying that Mamiye was so pleased with their product and service. Mr. Markman felt that perhaps the most validating comment by Mamiye’s IT Director, Mr. Cropper, was the following: “Although we had some initial fears about a PBX in the Cloud, after our experience with NBS it is obviously the way to go.”
SERVICE:
- NBS V.o.I.C.E. Hosted Service
- NBS Ethernet DIA
EQUIPMENT:
- Polycom SoundPoint IP Telephones
- Model 650
- Model 450
- Model 321
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