Case Study - Lopian Gross Barnett & Co

Longevity is not something you associate with many companies in the current fast-moving online business world. Older companies sometimes struggle to cope with the rapid rate of change in their business environment and in particular fail to see the benefits of adopting new technologies to make their existing customer service better. The ones that do not only survive but can offer a much richer service than newer organisations.

Lopian Gross Barnet & Co (LGB) was founded more than 60 years ago. Since then, their core principle, of being a passionate and trusted advisor to their clients in the areas of accountancy and business advice has not changed. However, the technologies and methods used to achieve this aim have evolved greatly during the same period.

Now, with over 60 professionals working from their office in Central Manchester, the company is keen to embrace new technologies to better serve their clients. This includes the use of enhanced telecommunications, with phone
calls still being the primary method of client communication.

Maximise employee productivity

This desire for an enhanced telecoms system led them to partner with Alfonica in 2015. The company was looking to find a telecoms partner that was able to respond quickly to their requirements and provide a high level of support.

The hosted telephony (VoIP) solution proposed by Alfonica’s consultants is designed to maximise employee
productivity for any size of business. It is flexible, scalable and will help improve customer service.

High functionality

The ability to only pay for what you need on a per-user basis, makes this type of hosted solution an attractive proposition, for organisations of all sizes, in the current uncertain economic climate. But it was not only this reason that LGB chose it, as Daniel continued. “The functionality is high, and it is pretty intuitive to use, with the handset menus being very easy to navigate.

“In particular, I find the email connection to voicemail to be very useful. If I am working from home or travelling, I can quickly listen to the voicemail message that has been forwarded to me and respond via email. I know this functionality is also useful for some of our technical staff who can be out of the office for periods of time at client sites.”

No calls missed during office move

LGB have grown their fixed line requirements from an initial 50 to over 75 Polycom handsets during the last few years and the flexibility and speed of the service provided by Alfonica has always impressed them. “We had a major office move a few months back”, said Daniel. “Alfonica made it easy for us by helping with the switchover and setup of the system to ensure we had minimum downtime.

“We also used their Virtual Receptionist (VR) service to ensure we did not miss any calls during the period of the actual move. It worked so well that we now employ VR to seamlessly deal with any overflow we get on day-to-day operations.”

Partner for fixed line and mobile

Alfonica also deal with the day-to-day support of LGB’s hosted phone system, and here again they score very highly in Daniel’s eyes. “They are always very reactive to our problems and move quickly to find a resolution. Following the office move we experienced a problem with call quality, and they were able to diagnose and fix the problem within 48 hours. This involved a personal visit by one of their engineers to look at the setup of the equipment as following the relocation, It transpired to be a local issue with the phone system itself, and this was quickly addressed.

“It is this level of commitment that makes me feel as if they are a true partner, rather than just a supplier. I have no doubt that they will be able to help us with our telecoms requirements for both fixed line and mobile for many years to come.”