With a complicated mix of suppliers for their calls, lines and broadband, the school received multiple bills and suffered from having no direct point of contact.
The school had two communications systems in operation, one with BT and the other from a third party supplier. The setup caused them problems and they were also spending over £500 per month on calls - including internal calls between the two systems.
Without a modern communications system, the school was unable to handle parents’ calls effectively. They were kept on hold while the right department was reached, impacting upon the school’s reputation.
Alex Davis, a BT Local Business representative, noticed the school’s current set-up was far from cost-effective and hindering their communications. After visiting the premises and conducting an account review, he demonstrated how customer service could be significantly improved with a new communications system.
Several suppliers were considered before BT was chosen. A big factor was the helpful, friendly contact the school had already experienced through working previously with its BT Local Business team. As Alex had shown how much time and money the school could save by consolidating their communications with one trusted supplier, the school also decided to bring their calls and lines to BT.
The service was installed during half term in February 2011 to prevent any disruption to day-to-day operations.
Everything went really smoothly and the support we received from both BT Local Business and the engineer was fantastic. They were both very helpful and approachable.
Sue Williams, Finance Manager, Churchfields School.
With a single system the school is no longer charged for internal calls and communication across the school is far less restricted. External call costs have also been reduced as calls to UK landlines and mobiles are included in a fixed fee per line. This has lowered the school’s monthly bill from around £500 to just £90 per month.
Having consolidated their communications through bringing their broadband, calls, lines and communications system to BT, the school will benefit from estimated savings of over £5,000 per year. With one supplier, they have just one invoice to manage, making life easier for the Finance Manager.
The new communications system re-routes calls to the right department automatically and calls can even be forwarded to an employee’s mobile phone. Not only does this reduce the pressure on staff but it also gives parents and other callers a smoother experience when calling – resolving problems quickly and improving Churchfields’ professional image.
With software monitoring their call traffic, the school can now identify missed calls, respond appropriately, and be better organised. This reporting is used to show Ofsted that measures have been introduced to ensure communication with parents is as effective as possible.
Churchfields School purchased a Mitel 3300 communications system with 65 handsets. They added software to monitor call traffic, unlimited online training access to enable changes to be made in-house, music playing while on hold and a studio-recorded welcome message to give a more professional image. With a five year Prompt Care maintenance agreement, Churchfields are guaranteed a response within four hours for any faults reports between 8am-5pm Monday to Saturday.
They also now benefit from a single supplier and single invoice to process after bringing their calls and broadband to BT.
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