The Swedish Church
Lars Lundglen, Registrar, at the Swedish Church says:
“The installation went smoothly, and we are using the features of the new system to great effect. We like working with Dataphone, and are very happy with the level of service provided”.
The Client
One of Dataphone’s most valued and long-standing customers is the Swedish Church. For nearly 300 years, the Swedish Church in London has acted as a focal point for Swedish residents and businesses, and offers a comprehensive range of community-based services to its parishioners and visitors.
The relationship between our companies was formed in 1994, when a telephone system was installed in the main Church site in Paddington. In 2008, needing to expand in size and scope, a new system was installed in Paddington, and a second system was installed in the Seamen’s Church in London’s Docklands.
Upgrade issues
The Swedish Church decided to upgrade its existing telephone system which was no longer able to meet its needs. Issues identified included:
• Main system at Paddington was not able to support a sufficient number of extensions to cater for an increase in staff
• Poor communication between the Paddington and Dockland locations
• Problems relaying messages to staff
• Difficult to locate staff in a large building
• Charging visitors for calls made during their stay was difficult due to a lack of call information
• Keeping telephone overheads to a minimum proved difficult due to the number of direct BT lines installed in visitor rooms
Selection of supplier
The Swedish Church has always been impressed with the service delivered by the staff at Dataphone. However, following 14 years using the original Siemens system, they needed to improve their telephony infrastructure. After researching the market, they once again selected Dataphone as their preferred supplier because Dataphone were able to provide them with an effective and competitively priced solution, supported by an experienced and customer-focussed organisation.
Solution - one contact for all telephony needs
Siemens HiPath 3000 systems were provided at both locations. The Dataphone installation team worked closely with the customer to ensure that their operating requirements were fully met by employing best use of the HiPath feature set to improve both internal and external communication.
• New system has capacity to support 50% increase in the number of extensions
• Systems at each location programmed to enable fast connectivity of internal and external calls
• Allocation of voicemail for staff members and for visitors
• “Twinning” of extensions with the customer’s own mobile ‘phones
• Direct dial numbers with itemised billing feature set up for visitor extensions meant that direct BT lines could be disconnected
Dataphone manages the customer’s telephone lines and call routing, which, together with improved line efficiency, has significantly reduced telephone overheads. Our experienced customer service team provide the Swedish Church with one point of contact in the event of any issues with their telephony service at either location.
Result
The installation of the new systems has significantly improved communication whilst adding many useful features:
• Staff can be contacted more easily and there are more extensions from which to make calls
• Excellent level of communication between locations for both staff and callers
• Reduced amount of time spent relaying messages offers callers an improved service
• Staff can be contacted easily when they are away from their desks
• Cost of calls made by visitors can easily be assessed using Dataphone’s online billing service
• Significant reduction to the telephone bill due to improved line efficiency, with calls being routed at better rates
Installation and implementation
Dataphone have installed many systems in listed buildings, and the installation at the Swedish Church required our engineers to carefully plan cabling routes, whilst also being sympathetic to working in a place of Worship. Each Dataphone customer is assigned an Account Manager to oversee their system installation, and to then provide ongoing support. Tony Butler, Account Manager for the Swedish Church says:
“The new system has significantly improved internal and external communication and has helped to reduce running costs. It has also given the customer the expansion capability they need”.
