Rowanmoor Pensions, the UK’s largest independent small self-administered scheme (SSAS) provider, has saved over £200,000 since installing a unified communications platform in 2006.
The company implemented an offering from virtualised IT and unified communications vendor Intercept. The telephone system plugs into Rowanmoor Pensions’ computer network, which feeds into a server hosted by Intercept. Using this technology has resulted in free calls between local offices, while international calls cost the same as national calls.
Rowanmoor can now make free conference calls, reducing the need to travel to and from meetings. Remote working is also now possible; calls can be routed to a mobile phone if the worker is away from the office.
David Seaton, joint managing director of Rowanmoor Pensions, said: “Since adopting this strategy we have really streamlined our communication processes. I am confident that since Intercept has implemented our unified communications, we have saved at least £200,000.”
Intercept chief executive Ian Readman said that more and more companies are embracing unified comms as a way of improving business processes and employee productivity as well as enabling remote working.
“We’re seeing a growing trend across the UK that clients are wanting to improve user performance and increase their business agility. The smartest and most efficient way to do this is to consider UC as an integral part of your business IT strategy.”
Recent research from Forrester suggests that 71% of North American and European businesses are interested in or are already using managed unified comms.
Other players with unified communications offerings include Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Nortel and Avaya.