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At Theatre Sites we run, we specialize in running web sites for theaters. So I think
this is a really interesting industry, because it's very creative, very exciting. Plus, we're
in big show here's on Saturday, a huge demand for interest for tickets. So their websites
see a lot of traffic. So technically, it's quite difficult keeping their sites working.
Okay, so originally a couple of years ago as a consultant working from home, an office
at home and a BT line that was just fine but as the business grew, I started to need to
take on employees, needed bigger phone system. One of the consultants I use recommended an
IP phone system because that was the modern way to go and he said that would handle expanding
very easily. So, I looked online and got myself, I signed up with a provider he gave me and
I bought myself a handset.
And started playing with this solution which was great. It worked okay but I found that
it didn't have some of the features that I really needed. One of the things that I use
a lot as a consultant was a Hunt group facility, where if I didn't answer the phone I could
get it to try another number and so it would get through to my mobile.
If I didn't ask my mobile to go through to a call answering service. And surprisingly
the first IP phone system that I tried didn't support that facility. And so then I looked,
but I also found it frustrating because it was difficult trying to work out how to make
the system do what I wanted. But again to Foehn, the thing that they offered was a technical
team that would, rather than me trying to work out what I wanted for a phone system
and set it up myself, I could describe to them what we needed and what we needed long
term and they would help recommend a system that would do that. And also, critically for
me, configure it and make it work in the way that we want it and that worked really well.
So I described I needed a system where I could have multiple handsets, multiple extensions
over my office at home and the office in town.
I wanted a hunt groups facility that would work in certain ways including operating in
different ways at different times of day because I have obviously different people that work
in evenings and weekends, the ones during normal business hours. I've described this
whole configure and action scenario to Foehn and they created and configured the system
to do exactly what we wanted which is ideal.
I chose Foehn because it looked like they had enough people, they'd be able to give
me a decent level of support. For me, having a supplier that gives me really good support
is one of the key factors. One of the most impressive things they did originally was
as soon as I made contact with them they sent me a physical handset to play with at no cost
which was really impressive.
And then they helped me get the trial handset working. So, I think it is their kind of support.
Anyway, if their support was that good even before I signed up, they were the sort of
people I needed. So, one of the things that Foehn will give us or one of the best things
the Foehn do for us is they provide the whole solution for us so we get bank of numbers
and a hosted system which they configure which provides us all the features that we need.
And then really good support. So it has been grow they add extensions and features and
reconfigured the system all for us which is just perfect. Obviously as we grow our requirements
actually become more complicated but we don't have to then have to work out how we can figure
our phone system to grow with us, we got the support from Foehn to do that which is ideal.
Yes, one of the best things about the fact that the phone system is hosted in the Cloud
is that all of our phone numbers in the phone books is also stored in the Cloud and all
of our phones on all the systems irrespective of where they are physically pick up the same
phone book which means that every handset we have knows all the numbers of all of our
customers and it all just works without having to do anything which is really good.
And to give you an example of the sort things that it helps with, if we were all in a meeting
in the meeting room using a phone handset that we don't normally use very often, if
one of our customers phones, because even the meeting room phones has got all the caller
id numbers in it, you can see in advance who is calling, and jump out of meeting and take
the call. It's really good.