Case Studies
Corporate Software/Professional Services (Banking/Financial Industry)
Customer Profile
Xeon Financial Services is a multi-million dollar Irish company that specialises in the implementation of Oracle’s banking software suite in banks around the world. Founded in 2006, it comprises mostly of Professional Services experts who have worked with banks, the big four consultancy companies and corporations such as Siebel, IBM and Oracle.
The Situation
With projects in the UK, US and Turkey, the company needed a way for staff, management, its partners and potential clients to discuss projects and monitor progress. For internal meetings they had tried Skype conference calls, but found that the quality was poor with more than 3 callers.
The Solution – 247meeting’s Conference Call service
Company Director Fergus White said “With operations across three continents, we needed a communications solutions that could be set up and maintained with zero cost and effort. We did not want to pay exorbitant prices for complex solutions. For internal calls we had tried Skype Conference Call, but found the quality deteriorated significantly with more than 2 callers, so we looked around and found 247meeting. Their conference call service has local dial-in numbers at the locations where we operate in Dublin, Turkey, the UK and the US, so we can keep updated without having to make expensive international calls. Quality and reliability have been excellent”.
Benefits
Using 247meeting’s ‘Anytime’ service, company executives can hold calls at any time of the day or night without having to reserve in advance. This has proved useful with locations spread over 10 time zones and keeps client projects and company business on track with simple regular conference calls.
Voluntary Sports Organisation
Customer Profile
The Irish Orienteering Association (IOA) is the national governing body for the sport of Orienteering in the Republic of Ireland. It is responsible for 22 clubs with 1,200 active members. It is a voluntary organisation – the Executive Officers are not paid for their work.
The Situation
Like many voluntary or non-profit organisations, the IOA’s Committee must meet on a periodic basis. Previously meetings were in the evenings with venues spread around the country, meaning that all Officers had to drive a considerable distance to most meetings. Scheduling meetings was difficult as they required many people to take time off their own jobs to attend and give up time with their families. According to Marcus Geoghegan, IOA Chairman “we found that attendance at quarterly meetings was a real imposition on the Executive Officers. Most have full-time jobs and families, and to drive 150 miles to attend a 2-hour meeting in the evening was too much”. The IOA trialled a number of conference call providers, but found service and reliability to be poor.
The Solution – 247meeting’s Conference Call service
The IOA signed up online for 247meeting’s free trial conference service and tried it with a meeting – “there was no problem, better than previous facilities we were using. We had callers from all over the country, including Northern Ireland, there were no dropouts and call quality was excellent”.
The Benefits
In addition to the ease-of-use, the IOA will benefit in terms of time and money – “we reckon that for an average 6-person meeting, we save 30 hours of driving time between us, and that’s before we count the savings in travel costs. Compared to the small fee for a conference call, the financial, environmental and time benefits make it an easy choice for us”
Large Retail
Customer Profile
Tile Devil is the latest in low-cost, high efficiency online tile delivery services. The parent company was founded in 1987 and boasts over 20,000 feet of warehouse and showroom space.
The Situation
Dealing with multiple staff in multiple locations there are always new product lines to be discussed and operational affairs to be dealt with. Add to the mix suppliers and couriers and varying customer demands, the need for an easy-to-use communications solution was evident. According to Chief Executive Graham Grumley “for exceptional orders chasing stock around various warehouses and amongst various couriers would take several sequential calls. I’d make 3 or 4 calls in a row to the same 2 people”.
The Solution – 247meeting’s app
Graham trialled the 247meeting Mobile Conferencing app which allows you to call 3 or more people in one call. He downloaded it from the App Store and was able to make a call within 2 minutes.
“I couldn’t believe how easy it was. I just clicked on the 3 drivers’ numbers, they got a text message and all pulled in to take my call. Within 2 minutes I’d found out what had been said to the customer and was able to sort out their query. It was a major customer at the time and has become even bigger now”.
The Benefits
Operational efficiency is key to Tiledevil’s success. Every 10 minutes saved for a customer is a happy, repeat customer. “It’s saved me time but also made kept customers happy. Within 30 seconds I can have every single shop, driver and warehouse staff on the one call – the operational efficiencies are incredible”.
Web Conferencing for Education and Distance Learning
Customer Profile
Milford Care Centre provides a comprehensive range of Palliative Care services to terminally ill patients and their families throughout the Mid Western Region. With a 30 in-patient bed unit, it is one of the largest and most advanced such centres in the area.
The Situation
The Centre has an Education, Research and Professional Development Department, which is a major provider of palliative care education across the HSE Mid-Western Area. It offers a Certificate in Essential Palliative Care for Allied Health Professionals via Distance Learning. As part of an intensive 8-week course, participants from a variety of backgrounds (Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Dietitians etc) are required to do 80 hours of study and submit a portfolio for final assessment.
With participants from all over the country (mostly working in demanding careers), travelling to Limerick on a regular basis after work would be an onerous task and off-putting to participants.
The Solution
The Web Conferencing solution from 247meeting was chosen to deliver lectures remotely. Participants from as far as Belfast could log in to attend a lecture. Not only did they save time travelling, but they were able to do all the things they’d do in a conventional theatre setting – see slides, video and ask questions.
According to ICT Officer, Pauline McCarthy “we looked at a number of different solutions, including the big well-known names, but chose the solution from 247meeting in the end. We were impressed with how easy it was to setup and use, and the Support we received was fantastic – even out of hours”.
Benefits
With 25 participants on the course, each component delivered by web reduces total driving by over 2,500 miles and saves 125 hours of driving, allowing Milford Care Centre and its participants focus on the learning, not the logistics. Because of this saving, the attendance rate has remained high and future courses are over-subscribed.