Greg Rashbrook, Managing Director of the Lindacre Land Rover Service Centre, was faced with a challenge that has caused problems for many businesses. He needed to move his entire operation from the Farthing Road Industrial Estate to a new home at 1a Olympus Close, IP1 5LJ. And he was very well aware of the potential difficulties.
‘I’ve had experience with this with previous companies,’ said Greg. ‘You worry most about maintaining contact with customers and ensuring they can get hold of you without changing numbers – so the most important thing is continuity.’
Lindacre’s day-to-day operation is totally reliant on its internet-based management and accounting systems, so it was vital to ensure a smooth transfer between the two premises. ‘We needed immediate broadband access at the new address – and we had to be sure the various different access programs were set up on individual computers.’
Why choose Foxhall?
In Greg’s words: ‘I’ve worked with Graham in the past and built up a good and trusting relationship where his advice has been very helpful. I wanted to make sure that whoever handled this process sat down with me and discussed it in detail, well in advance of the move.’
‘There were two things we had to consider. Obviously we wanted to keep the budget as tight as possible, but we had to be sure we had robust equipment that could do the job, and keep on doing it. Graham understood the business, our level of usage, and the capacity we required – so he put together a package at what we saw as a reasonable and affordable price. It gives us what we need now, but with the capacity to expand both our phone and our IT systems if we want to.’
How were the new systems chosen?
At their old premises Lindacre had kept a number of computers on the Windows XP operating system, mainly because that was necessary for connection to some of their cloud-based systems. Since XP is no longer supported by Microsoft, an upgrade was essential – but there were some challenges to delivering it. ‘Most of the companies we tend to do business with use software that was originally set up on an XP base. That includes; Land Rover, Car Care (who deal with our registered warranties), our Dealer Management System and our Parts system. And most of them have only just caught up with Windows 7!’
Even so, many of the team were using Windows Vista, which Foxhall had set up for them in 2009. On Graham’s advice Greg took the opportunity to upgrade from Windows Vista and Windows XP (which is no longer supported by Microsoft) to Windows 7. The choice was carefully considered, as he felt Windows 8 was not a suitable operating system for his team and there were issues around connecting it to the internet-based dealer management system. ‘We had mainly new hardware, with the exception of one or two people who were using laptops, but we needed to replace a lot of POS terminals and desktop computers so we thought it best to start with everything new.’
What was in the package?
The package agreed with Foxhall included the provision of three phone lines and three broadband services to carry both voice and data to and from Lindacre’s new offices. One broadband service would be reserved and isolated for exclusive use by the workshop. ‘This line isn’t just for normal business use – many vehicles have on-board modules that need software upgrades, which we take directly from Land Rover via broadband. And our diagnostic systems are updated regularly overnight via wireless upgrades, so that broadband line must be exclusive to our system-driven diagnostics.”
Using the remaining two broadband services Foxhall would provide SIP trunk channels, creating virtual telephone lines at a fraction of the cost of ISDN services and allowing Lindacre to have several new contact numbers. The existing telephone numbers would simply be ported across to the new premises, ensuring complete continuity of service for Lindacre’s growing customer base.
Much of the new equipment would be housed in a central cabinet. It was designed to accommodate the ICT cabling, routing and switching equipment providing the hub for Lindacre’s phone and computer systems, with a 4TB data server providing safe storage for Lindacre’s common-access company data. This cabinet would also incorporate an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) which would keep the company’s phones and WiFi systems up and running during short mains power outages.
Before the move
The ‘new’ premises were, in fact, in an 8-year-old building which needed complete re-cabling. However, the offices had been built, so Foxhall were able to come in ahead of time to get everything set up. The cabling runs had already been pulled in by the electrical contractor, so Foxhall were able to terminate some 50 cat.5e cabling runs at the users’ desks and at the cabinet, ready to support computers, printers, wireless access points and telephones.
At the heart of the new system was a Draytek V2820 IPPBX, a multi-role unit that provides a fully featured VoIP telephone system and broadband routing for e-mail and web-browsing services. The IPPBX component supports 15 Yealink T41P desk phones and W52H DECT cordless phones, catering for both fixed and roaming needs on the site.
An important element in preparing for the move was to decide how incoming calls would be routed. As configured, when ‘reception’ phones are busy incoming calls are allowed to ‘overflow’ to secondary groups of extensions. As the business grows it will be possible to set up new direct dial numbers for particular departments and individuals, as required.
In the offices, Foxhall supplied and installed ten new core-i5 PCs running Windows 7 and Office 2013. The PCs were then configured to access existing e-mail accounts. Foxhall transferred all necessary email and company data from the old Windows XP and Vista computers used by each member of staff.
The team also installed WiFi services for the service bays, making sure that a separate WiFi connection was available to staff and visitors in every part of the site.
The plan was to eliminate any interruption to the business – Greg and his team would be able to come in on the Monday morning and simply pick up where they’d left off on the Friday.
What was your experience when the move actually came?
‘Foxhall arranged for the phone numbers to be moved during the weekend – and we needed someone with Graham’s skill set to ensure that everything happened at the right time. The important thing with Foxhall is that they keep you in touch with what’s going on. That’s essential – after all, I had a million other things to worry about. I was quietly confident that they had it all under control, despite knowing from experience how things can go wrong – and my confidence was entirely justified by the outcome.’
‘The wonderful thing was that we finished business on a Friday, moved most of the bits and pieces across over the weekend, we were live on Monday – and everything worked, with no break in customer service. It was all very well planned.’
‘The phone connection is spot on. Our old phone system should have been on Antiques Roadshow – it was hugely limiting in terms of the number of lines we could have available. Now we have the ability to add more lines, and the move has given us more lines, more handsets, more extensions, and greater capacity. And the digital system is so much better!’
‘We prefer dealing with smaller businesses like Foxhall, where you can talk to the people who make the decisions. We’ve been very fortunate that all the people we’ve dealt with during the move have been first class – it’s been a real pleasure to work with them, and they’ve all worked well together. So it went well for us.’
How long did it take your staff to get to grips with the new systems?
‘We didn’t have any issues with this. Most of our people had experience with Windows 7, all the terminals had been set up with their familiar icons, and all the passwords stayed the same. There were one or two small issues where people had to advise a change of IP address, but that was it. In the workshop we had vehicles in from day one, one, and most of them needed minor software upgrades direct from the provider. Foxhall were aware of the importance of that, and ensured the service could meet our very stringent requirements.’
Briefly, how would you describe your experience with Foxhall?
‘Good planning and advice plus good execution led to a trouble-free delivery. We’d happily recommend Foxhall to any other business.’
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