Resurrection Health Care
The Problem
Resurrection Health Care is a large metropolitan Chicago hospital system with heavy call volume. They had considerable problems with their previous call accounting vendor as their system did not have the capacity to store a single month’s worth of data from all sites. Selectively backing up, compressing, archiving, restoring, and decompressing files was a constant necessity …. and a constant aggravation.
The Solution
Apogee to the rescue … with its robust client-server Microsoft SQL Server database engine with a terabyte of potential phone record storage and Web access for all department managers.
The Results
During a parallel trial Apogee accurately recorded 10.6% more calls than the competitor’s system. In fact the improvement in data capture was even more dramatic during one period - the main PBX happened to be a Nortel Option 61 that had its SMDR port temporarily disabled for maintenance during the holiday. When SMDR was restored, the technician inadvertently requested a different SMDR format. Data collection then proceeded for over a week without anyone noticing that both call accounting systems had stopped processing calls.
Once the error had been detected, however, it was a simple matter in Apogee to select the correct configuration and reprocess the calls without loss of a single call record. As the competitive system only stored processed calls it was not possible to recover the improperly formatted information.
After replacing the previous system with Apogee (for less than the cost of the original vendor's maintenance), the telecom manager was able to fly his model airplanes again during the evenings and on the weekends! Contact SDT for an extensivereport detailing this Case Study.
Becton Dickinson
The Challenge
As a multinational leader in the medical technology field, Becton Dickinson has a complex telecommunications infrastructure and manifold telemanagement requirements to monitor and summarize for management purposes. Having implemented a previous telemanagement system with insubstantial power to harness the exacting BD telecom environment, a search was conducted for a system that would provide specific features required for their unique setting.
After reading a very favorable Gartner report on high end call accounting systems, a decision was made to trial the Apogee system for 60 days as a number of issues needed to be addressed. Could the Apogee system accommodate the extended SMDR format of their network of PBX systems? Could Apogee differentiate local and intra-regional traffic in Mexico from US traffic routed through Arizona? And in a manner that provided useful reports for local managers as well as meaningful corporate summaries for US operations? Could Apogee poll multiple regional sites in Puerto Rico from a central San Juan location with minimal supervision from corporate telecom managers?
The Solution
Within days of the request, SDT forwarded trial software for evaluation and BD technicians installed the system without assistance from SDT, Eventually SDT technicians logged via secure Internet remote diagnostics and made the appropriate “fixes” for BD’s unique SMDR configurations. SDT made free modifications to their polling software so BD did not have to purchase SDT buffers or travel to international locations to reprogram the various buffers that had been programmed per the previous vendors’ recommendations.
The Results
The trial proceeded flawlessly and BD eventually expanded the system beyond its initial scope. Worldwide Web reporting was added once its ease of use and the extent of Apogee’s reporting capabilities had been recognized. The PBX vendor responsible for installation of BD’s initial system even recognized Apogee’s simplicity of design and fail-proof operation and has recommended it for other large multi-national installations.
Ladenburg, Thalmann, & Company
The Challenge
In the often litigious world of New York brokerages, Ladenburg, Thalmann, & Company knew that it needed a reliable call accounting system to refute false client claims and support SEC audits. The challenge was to find a call accounting system that could track over 200,000 calls per day and keep over seven years worth on-line.
The Solution
Most call accounting systems were able to present data in a detailed, organized manner, but only over a few months worth of call records. The competition's products required routine archiving and purging to operate and searching for specific phone numbers over an extended time period was virtually impossible. For this reason, Ladenburg chose SDT's Apogee Enterprise mainly for its robust SQL Server database engine which provides unlimited call storage.
The Results
Ladenburg presently stores over 350 million call records available for ad hoc detail reporting in a New York minute! With SQL Server's true enterprise structure, unlimited network users can run their reports from their desktops, freeing the telecom manager to do his job. In addition to preparing Ladenburg for potential audits, Apogee has added some unexpected revenue building benefits. After reviewing the numerous reports available, Ladenburg began using Apogee as a coaching and assessment tool in their sales center. Every hour, Apogee posts a graphical call summary report to the corporate intranet which is displayed on a wall projector for all sales teams to see. This practice has fostered friendly competition amongst the sales team. "When dialing for dollars is your business, you need Apogee." Apogee is currently widely and successfully used by brokerages houses across the nation.
S.W. Bach
The Challenge
In the fast paced world of International trading, S. W. Bach required a system that allowed them to produce ad hoc reports quickly – in real time actually – and batch reports over longer time periods for trend analysis. In addition, they needed a system that would collect data from different countries, continents apart, and integrate data from multiple sites for certain departments spanning the globe.
The Solution
The Apogee Enterprise system maintains a current call record pool as well as an historical pool of data that is typically much larger. Any Apogee report can be generated from the data in either pool without restoring archived files. Typically reports over current data are produced quickly while historical results can take longer simply because of the sheer volume of historical data.
The Results
Working closely with SDT designers and utilizing Apogee’s open Microsoft SQL Server database schema, S. W. Bach was able to utilize standard Apogee reports and customized SQL queries to create a real-time web based dashboard for convenient access to anyone within their organization, worldwide, thereby giving them a technical advantage in the competitive trading world where time is money!
Colorado Sate University
As part of an overall initiative to streamline its internal businesses using the Web, Colorado Sate University (CSU) has implemented a new telecom chargeback system, SDT's Apogee Enterprise plus the Facilities Management System Option (FMS). CSU wanted a solution to manage their technician's work orders and trouble tickets, as well as consolidate and simply the allocation of telecom costs including: phone usage, equipment expenditures, monthly service fees, and work order charges.
In addition, CSU required their new charge back system to interface with their General Ledger (GL) and supply detail to support the GL postings that could be easily accessed by its employees and tenants. A combination of Apogee's email report distribution and web access met their exact needs.
The secure, web-enabled work order interface now allows technicians to log-on anywhere on campus for up-to-date information and immediate on-site bill printing.
According to Douglas Summer, the University's Telephone Services manager, CSU selected SDT's Apogee Enterprise plus FMS based on an extensive cost to performance analysis; however, what could not be evaluated by the literature and RFQ was the "...ease of implementation and use of the system ... nor the skill and knowledge of the installation team ... that always agreed to go that extra mile ..." Click here for full letter.
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State of Illinois
The Challenge
Governmental organizations have unique call accounting requirements that are not encountered in the typical business environment. The State of Illinois had various disparate agencies that needed call accounting for their day-to-day operations and they often had conflicting requirements. In addition, several agencies had controlled data center environments with little or no Internet, telephone, modem, email, or fax access and very few individuals who had the technical training to operate PC based systems. The State was on a tight budget and needed statistics about abandoned calls, hold times, transferred call efficiencies, and operator performance – reports normally found in a typical ACD package.
The Solution
The Apogee system has unique Segmentation Tracking capabilities to report on every portion of a call – such as placing a call on hold or multiply transferring a call – and includes a standard set of Call Center reports that fit their requirements. By working closely with State of Illinois PBX and Key System vendors, phone system installation and programming procedures were developed that enabled the phone systems to output the desired detailed SMDR information needed to achieve their management goals.
The Results
Hundreds of successful installations have been completed at a fraction of the cost for alternative solutions. The management reports have proven to be effective tools for employee evaluations and during labor negotiations. State technicians preferred Apogee to the countless other systems previously installed and request Apogee for all new installations.
Bank One
The Challenge
Bank One has regional processing centers throughout the country for handling IRS transactions. The recent bank merger boom caused their corporate telephone network to grow into an assorted array of legacy PBX systems and versions. Keeping track of call records for the entire corporate structure required a system with the versatility to handle disparate PBX systems in a rapidly changing environment.
The Solution
Peter Dzietus, the head of corporate telecom, had a number of telecom managers requesting to implement competitive call accounting products based on their familiarity and previous experience. His instincts, however, told him that while the individual choices might work well in isolated environments, Bank One needed an overall solution that could cross vendor boundaries and pull together data from a variety of sources in a reliable and secure manner. The volume of data also required a system hefty enough to handle a considerable call load and provide analysis tools for accessing, simulating changes, and making recommendations for future call trends and patterns.
The Results
Bank One implemented an Enterprise version of Apogee and has utilized SDT’s extensive technical support infrastructure to manage the rapid fluctuations in call volume and personnel experienced by his bank. When you experience the type of audits frequently encountered in his department, Peter rests assured that Apogee will provide the correct checks and balances.
Willkie, Farr, and Gallagher LLP
The Challenge
Willkie, Farr, and Gallagher LLP of New York, Washington, Paris, London, Milan, Rome, Frankfurt, and Brussels was founded more than 115 years ago and has a continually growing network of global resources and that includes more than 600 attorneys in addition to support staff across the U.S. and Europe. As their practice is globally integrated to meet the needs of their Fortune 500 clients, they needed an equally integrated call accounting system to meet their demanding needs – one to reliably integrate data from multiple sources, provide simultaneous access to call records for account / matter reconciliation, and provide accurate integration with their third party Time and Billing systems.
The Solution
Willkie et. al. enlisted the assistance of New York’s top telecommunication and system automation consultants to examine the field of potential vendors for a system robust enough to meet their logistical requirements yet flexible enough to meet their unique business practices and time-honored bill-back methodologies. After an exhaustive search, the firm suggested a trial to provide assurance that Apogee would live up to the consultants’ recommendations.
The Results
The standard Apogee call accounting system has proven to be more than adequate for the firm’s processing, pricing, and automatic daily updating of client and associate records. Apogee’s Professional Services Package has proven to meet the firm’s demanding requirements for editing, exporting, and accurate bill-back. Time is a lawyer’s stock and trade - and accurate recording, reporting, and analysis of time is Apogee’s.