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Case study • Energy and Utilities SøSTAù New network infrastructure energizes İGDAŞ with better customer s e rv i c e , i m p r o v e d c o m m u n i cat i o n s and e asie r managem e nt Turkey’s leading natural gas distribution company completely rebuilds its voice and data communication network using Alcatel-Lucent technology A public utility company thrives on good communication. To optimize both voice and data communications with staff and customers, Turkey’s biggest natural gas distributor, İGDAŞ, decided to build a completely new IP network and call center using Alcatel-Lucent’s innovative products. Case study • Energy and Utilities C ha lle ng e s Get rid of multi-brand installed equipment base that makes infrastructure hard to manage Ensure the same service in every node Increase accessibility to customers Improve telephone infrastructure efficiency S o l u t io n IP telephone and data network based on İGDAŞ (İstanbul Gaz Dağıtım AŞ) is Turkey’s leading natural gas distribution company. Approximately 13,500 kilometers of pipelines bring fuel to about 3.7 million domestic users and 1,300 industrial customers, making İGDAŞ one of the world’s biggest natural gas distributors. About 2,300 employees in 77 locations serve customers in both the European and the Asian sides of the city. The company’s ambition is to succeed as a national leader and a world-renowned brand, thanks to its knowledge and experience. In addition to its energy distribution responsibilities, İGDAŞ is also concerned with social and environmental issues. For example, the company wants to dramatically improve the air quality in Istanbul – a priority that is clearly demonstrated by the motto ‘Sky Friendly’. Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise Guaranteed uptime thanks to high redundancy level Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista 4760 to facilitate management of the telephony system Possibility to use Unified Communications systems New contact center based on Alcatel-Lucent Genesys technology Microsoft Dynamics CRM B en e fit s Efficient voice and data network leads to efficient communication Voice communications costs are reduced with IP telephony High level of accessibility ensures high level of customer service Centrally-managed system allows better management and maintenance Wireless data and voice communications in a number of sites increases staff mobility Significant room for growth Towards a harmonious network Since its start in 1986, İGDAŞ has grown expansively. Its IT infrastructure continuously developed over the years, but without any real consistency in the technology used. All 77 nodes used equipment (e.g. PBXs, switches and hubs) from different brands, resulting in a disarray of solutions that did not work well together. “Our telephone network really needed to be optimized,” says Avni Cebi, IT Manager at İGDAŞ. “For example, to call other offices of our company, our employees had to use the public telephone network. Furthermore, it was very hard to manage the telephone system because there was no central application that could control the PBXs and network switches. On top of that, there was hardly any back-up equipment.” What’s more, there was no proper call center equipment available. Customers had difficulty contacting İGDAŞ, and the management system used was outdated, making it impossible to track even basic data, such as the number of missed calls. To solve all these problems, İGDAŞ decided to start afresh with a completely new and harmonious IP network and call center. “What matters most in a big project like this, is bringing the right companies and the right products together. If you can’t do that, the project will fail no matter how good the individual products or people are. With Alcatel-Lucent, Sistaş and Microsoft we had the perfect partners to deliver results.” Avni Cebi, IT manager İGDAŞ 2 Alcatel-Lucent İGDAŞ, Istanbul, Turkey Case study • Energy and Utilities E x t re me ly fas t im ple m e ntatio n İGDAŞ had already used Alcatel-Lucent equipment in the past, and was very satisfied with those solutions. However, as a subsidiary company of the municipality of Istanbul, İGDAŞ was required to issue a tender for this large-scale project. Many suppliers submitted proposals, but Alcatel-Lucent gave the best guarantees for both the quality of the solution and for the timing. “Sistaş, Alcatel-Lucent’s local Business Partner, promised to complete the roll-out of the new infrastructure in just four months,” says Avni Cebi. “This is very impressive, especially when you consider that just shipping the equipment to Turkey takes up half of this time. But Sistaş and our own IT staff collaborated extremely well, and after a lot of hard work they managed to install the system within the agreed period.” R e d u n da n t s ys tem guarantees ma x i mu m u p t i me The heart of the telephony and data network solution consists of the Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX™ Enterprise. Data network consists of 2 backbone switches and 4000 ports PoE edge switches as well as 200 wifi access points. Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX™ Enterprise system installed for the telephony solution has a capacity for 3000 IP phones and 100 wifi phones. This reliable communications system allows İGDAŞ to use IP for both voice and data traffic throughout the company. To assure the highest level of uptime, İGDAŞ chose to upgrade the Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise solution with 4 redundant Appliance Servers and 43 Passive Communication Servers. The system is also future-proof thanks to enhanced Unified Communications The Alcatel-Lucent equipment dramatically improves communications at İGDAŞ. capabilities, including the Telephony Services and Teamwork Services applications. Furthermore, Alcatel-Lucent also delivered the network switches, telephones and even the wireless access points that have been introduced in a number of sites. “This project was a big challenge for us, because the tight timeframe required a perfect planning,” says Mehmet Gülen, Technical Coordinator of Sistaş. “But thanks to the excellent cooperation with both Alcatel-Lucent and İGDAŞ we managed to deliver the solution in time. One of the big advantages of working with Alcatel-Lucent is that they offer a portfolio of high-quality data, voice, WiFi and contact center equipment that can be easily combined. This considerably facilitated the implementation.” To complete the implementation, an Alcatel-Lucent Genesys Call Center solution was implemented, in order to meet the customers’ demands for better accessibility. It consists of 45 inbound and 5 outbound connections, a 30-port Genesys Voice Platform Server and a 30-port Verint Voice over IP Recording Server. To facilitate the work of the operators in the contact center, İGDAŞ decided to expand the possibilities of the Genesys Call Center with Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM. “The real-time integration of Microsoft Dynamics CRM with the Genesys Alcatel-Lucent İGDAŞ, Istanbul, Turkey 3 Case study • Energy and Utilities telephony solution maximizes the productivity of each agent,” says Cetin Ipecki, Group Manager of Microsoft Business Solutions, Turkey. “With a single agent desktop that ‘screen pops’ detailed customer information, agents are better prepared to easily and seamlessly handle customer interactions. In addition, the direct integration between Microsoft Dynamics CRM with email, fax and SMS further supports improved customer communications.” Bet t e r c u s tom er s e rv ice , ea si e r m an ag e me nt The Alcatel-Lucent equipment has dramatically improved communications in İGDAŞ. “With the old infrastructure, we had a hard time contacting employees at our company’s various sites. Now, every employee has a 4-digit number that identifies him or her individually,” says Avni Cebi. “We don’t need to use the public telephone network anymore. This has considerably decreased our communications costs.” The introduction of wireless access points at some of İGDAŞ’ sites has also increased mobility. Some employees use WiFi handsets and notebooks to experience total freedom of movement within the companies’ premises. In this way, they can be reached at any time. The new implementation has facilitated management and maintenance of the voice and data infrastructure with the OmniVista™ 4760 Network Management for Enterprise IP Telephony, which allows central control of the IP network. All PBXs now work together like one big exchange, thus making updating easier. It isn’t only İGDAŞ staff who benefit from the Alcatel-Lucent equipment, but the customers as well. The contact center and the ‘Gas Emergency Line’ can now be reached more easily and offer better service, thanks to additional features such as conference calls and increased tracking possibilities. “This streamlined way of working results in better customer service with less staff,” says Avni Cebi. “We handle an average of 3000-3500 customer calls every day. Before we had a proper call center, it was impossible to handle this amount of calls in a structured way. Now it’s not causing us problems anymore. The most common reaction I have heard from our employees is: ‘This system greatly facilitates communication, why didn’t we use it sooner?’ This demonstrates the enthusiasm existing in the company for the Alcatel-Lucent solution. In fact, what matters most in a big project like this, is bringing the right companies and the right products together. If you can’t do that, the project will fail no matter how good the individual products or people are. With Alcatel-Lucent, Sistaş and Microsoft we had the perfect partners to deliver results.” B ig growth potential Avni Cebi sees a lot of growth potential in the new infrastructure. “We are only starting to discover the possibilities of the equipment. Every day brings us new insights into its use. We began by sticking to our old habits, but now we’re starting to evolve. The system actually exceeds our expectations. Unified Communications possibilities are a good example: we have seen that combining voice, fax, email and other communication media dramatically improves our way of working, but it will take quite some time to train all our people – both technical staff and other employees. In the near future, we want to explore the video features. As we are one of the world’s biggest natural gas distribution companies, quite a few people visit our sites to learn from our infrastructure. Thanks to the Alcatel-Lucent equipment, we shall be able to give them an interesting tour.” SøSTAù B usiness Partner info Alcatel-Lucent Premium Business Partner Sistaş is one of Turkey’s prime telecom vendors and installers. For over 25 years, Sistaş has been offering telecommunications consultancy and full project implementation services to a wide range of customers, from government and educational institutions to hotels, call centers and large multinationals. From its offices in Ankara, Istanbul, İzmir and Antalya, Sistaş offers industrial and business telecommunication solutions, including integrated voice and data networks, IP Telephony, unified communications and contact center solutions. www.alcatel-lucent.com Alcatel, Lucent, Alcatel-Lucent, the Alcatel-Lucent logo are trademarks of Alcatel-Lucent. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Alcatel-Lucent assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information presented, which is subject to change without notice. Pictures : Alcatel-Lucent – Design: Living Stone – Content: Living Stone 04/2008 – All rights reserved © 2008 Alcatel-Lucent. 4 Alcatel-Lucent İGDAŞ, Istanbul, Turkey