Hire company that wanted to improve communications
Mark 1 Hire is an independent access and tool hire firm that was established in the early 1980s. Covering Essex and the South East, it provides equipment to local businesses and organisations. In the late 1990s, the firm experienced a period of rapid growth which resulted in a new workshop being acquired to service and store equipment. Expansion continued for Mark 1 Hire with the opening of its new Chelmsford depot in 2005
Issues
3 sites operating different telephone systems, resulting in a lack of uniform user features
Difficulty locating staff due to limited telephone coverage on large sites
Previous equipment was limited, antiquated and not user-friendly
Managing telephony services over 3 sites was difficult
Solutions
Installation of Siemens HiPath systems at each site set up and programmed in a uniform way
Staff provided with digital cordless handsets
State of the art equipment that is flexible, and easy to manage
Provision of telephone equipment and management of services at all 3 sites by one telecoms company
Results
Improved service to customers due to more efficient inter-site call handling by staff familiar with system functionality
Staff can be easily contacted, further enhancing the service given to customers
Changes to system programming can be undertaken at each site by the customer, or done remotely by Dataphone
One point of contact for all telephony needs makes multi-site management easier
“We were, and continue to be, very impressed with the service Dataphone provides to us. One point of contact for all our telephony makes it easier for us to manage. I have no hesitation in recommending Dataphone to anyone who needs a new ‘phone system or to reduce their call costs.”
Clive Potter (M.D.) Mark 1 Hire
Rapid expansion meant that a telecoms review was needed
Giving outstanding customer service has always been a key goal for Mark 1 Hire, together with providing quality equipment. The success of the firm resulted in rapid expansion and this involved them acquiring additional premises. They then found themselves with a mix of telephone systems which resulted in service inconsistencies at each site. What Mark 1 Hire needed to do was to implement a range of uniformly set up and easy-to-manage systems at each site and whilst doing so, to think about how new technology could make the firm even more efficient.
Clive Potter looked at a number of telecom suppliers, and selected Dataphone after a series of meetings to assess our ability to provide durable systems and a robust after sales service. Clive also liked the idea of having one company look after all of his telephony services and appointed us to manage his lines and to route calls.
New technology to improve customer service
Mark 1 Hire decided to install systems from the Siemens 3000 range because they felt that the functionality offered by them would help to streamline the business and further enhance the service to their customers. In addition to easy-to-use desk handsets, each site was set up with voicemail for message taking and digital cordless handsets to make it easier to contact staff working in warehouse areas.
To complement the new telephone systems, Smartphone software was also installed. This is a computer telephony integration (CTI) interface to enable a telephone system to communicate with a customer’s database. Mark 1 Hire uses this to great affect, with their customers receiving an even more attentive and personalised service. Smartphone features include being able to indentify incoming callers by matching their telephone numbers against a customer database. It also provides a record of missed calls; callers who are not answered can then be easily called back - therefore ensuring that customers are not lost.
Mark 1 Hire is committed to providing quality customer care, and in turn, they need their suppliers to do the same. Dataphone was quick to prove that they too offer a high level of service when they provided the customer with an emergency telephone set up when BT failed to install their ISDN lines on time.
“The work we did during the installation went beyond the normal call of duty to ensure that Mark 1 Hire didn’t lose connectivity. This is the level of service that Dataphone prides itself on. We provide ongoing telephone call rate reviews and regular customer service reviews to ensure that we continue to provide a high level of service”.
Joe Anastasi, Dataphone Account Manager
