Business Challenge
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Addison Lee needed an improved IT backbone to help run its Sybase booking platform in its call centre
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The company wanted to improve its customer service levels and business efficiency through an investment in new technology
Solutions
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Addison Lee consulted with BT Engage IT to help evaluate several options available for the new platform through discovery workshops
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BT Engage IT recommended two IBM Power™ 570 Servers for improved processing power and increased business impact
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Incumbent servers used as a test and development platform for user interface testing
Benefits
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Booking platform runs three times faster on new IBM servers
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Reduction in time spent taking minicab bookings by 40 per cent
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Call centre costs are decreased with more efficient deployment of resources
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Foundation for future 30 per cent year on year growth initiatives
Key Relationship Features
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BT Engage IT provided valuable knowledge and support to help Addison Lee make the correct business decision
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Valuable workshops hosted by BT Engage IT help simplify the decision process
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Addison Lee is able to leverage its long term relationship with BT
As a London based minicab company fielding over 18,000 calls a day, Addison Lee relies heavily on an efficient IT infrastructure to help enable business productivity. With a client list spanning the inner corridors of the M25 around London, and over 300 employees in its call centre, the company relies on leading edge technology to maintain an efficient service for its customers.
Recently Addison Lee looked to develop a more superior IT backbone for greater processing power to support its Sybase database booking platform after recent performance issues. Peter Ingram, IT Director at Addison Lee explains; “We needed a flexible IT platform to cope with 30 per cent year on year growth which our incumbent solution did not offer us. There were several options open to us for this project including IBM and Sun solutions but we needed some guidance on the best route to choose.”
Trusted advice from BT Engage IT
Addison Lee invited IT services and solution provider BT Engage IT to demonstrate the benefits of the two different vendor options. BT Engage IT set up a benchmarking and evaluation study and advised Addison Lee that two IBM Power™ 570 servers would provide the best performance and processing power for its business needs especially in its business critical call centre.
“The expert consultancy that BT Engage IT provided was of real value to us as their team offered excellent business advice to help us come to the right conclusion. We also have a long term relationship with BT for communications and network support so we knew we were in safe hands,” adds Ingram.
Deployment took just over a month and Addison Lee also kept its old server network for a research and development structure to allow user acceptance testing. This gave the company a more flexible, stable IT environment to build upon.
Improved business offering
The new IBM server infrastructure provided the platform that enabled Addison Lee to continue to provide an improved service offering to its customers from its call centre. “Our Sybase booking platform is now running three times faster on the new IBM Power server infrastructure which helps us increase the efficiency in our call centre. We handle such large volumes of calls each day that any improvement such as this gives us a massive competitive edge,” adds Ingram.
Call centre operators can now process appointment bookings in 1.25 minutes rather than the 2 minutes it took on the previous system. This enables the entire call centre to run more efficiently and helps Addison Lee deploy its staff resources more effectively.
“When working on such a mission critical application that is as vital to our business as this, we need a trusted advisor with sound business knowledge. BT Engage IT provided the extended support we needed to make the right decision which was a great formula for success,” adds Ingram.
Looking to the future
This project has provided the foundation Addison Lee needs for future growth objectives. As expected from such a forward thinking company, Addison Lee are already thinking about how they can extend the platform further.
“There are a number of new projects we are looking at which will enhance our business even further and we will look to carry on the successful work we have already achieved with BT Engage IT for these,” concludes Ingram.
