This solution scenario is a fictitious example of a how the Norstar* phone system from Nortel can help small businesses get on their feet and be prepared for the future.

• Business Demand Encourages SuperPets to Add a New Store
• Challenge
• Solution
• Results

Doug and Linda Jackson started their SuperPets franchise five years ago and have been tremendously successful. They began with a small store and only a few employees. Within two years, they outgrew their original location and doubled the size of their store. Today, business is booming, customers are happy and the Jacksons' SuperPets franchise has become known locally as the employer of choice. Customers travel from throughout the region to the Jacksons' SuperPets for the great values, always-available inventory, and great customer service. They now need to add a second location to better serve their clients.

The area serviced by the store had become so big that the Jacksons began to think about opening a second store across town. An additional SuperPets location would allow the Jacksons to offer their products and services to a larger customer base and build upon their hard-earned success.

Opening a second location gave the Jacksons an opportunity to revisit their Nortel communications solution and see how they could build upon their current investment while providing the same services at a second location. Because of the success they have had with the Norstar solution over the years, the Jacksons once again made a call to their Nortel channel partner to assist them with the communications needs of two locations.

The business was faced with trying to support its commitment of always-available inventory at the second location. In addition, the popularity of the grooming shop in the first store resulted in a huge influx of calls for setting up appointments, and the opening of a second store could double that load. The Jacksons were looking for a solution that would help them offload these scheduling calls so employees could focus on assisting customers in the store--instead of answering phone calls and scheduling appointments.

Another issue was the potential costs of communicating between the two stores. Although they were only a few miles apart, calls between the stores over the public network would incur long-distance telephone charges. Since the two stores would be in contact with each other many times every day, the toll charges could potentially hurt the company's bottom line. The Jacksons also wanted each location to offer the same communications functionality and accessibility to enhance business efficiency and employee productivity.

The Nortel channel partner suggested the Jacksons deploy the Business Communications Manager (BCM) converged voice and data solution. Because the BCM was built by Nortel, the features and functionality at the second location would be the same as the Jacksons and their employees were accustomed to at the existing store.

This was an important issue because it eliminated the need to train employees on a new communications system. Because the Jacksons had shown an interest in being able to manage the stores from either location--and because of the toll charges for each call between the stores placed over the public network--the channel partner suggested that SuperPets use this solution to tie the two locations together to:

• Ensure full accessibility at either location
• Provide fast access to data at either location
• Eliminate toll charges between the stores

The Jacksons immediately saw how this networking solution would quickly pay for itself. The Nortel channel partner presented the Jacksons with two deployment options; they could either tie their existing Norstar system to the newly installed BCM at the second store, or they could migrate their existing Norstar system in the original store to a BCM for tighter IP integration.

Although they were impressed with the benefits, they were concerned about whether they could continue to leverage their investments in the Norstar solution. The channel partner quickly showed the Jacksons how only the core unit of the Norstar would be replaced, and that all of the phones and peripherals could be reused on a new BCM. Because the phones and peripherals make up the majority of the cost of a phone system, this would allows the Jacksons to continue to leverage 75 percent of their initial investment in the Norstar solution.

The Jacksons decided to deploy BCMs in both locations, and the company benefited from many additional communications options. The channel partner linked the two BCMs over an existing IP data network, which allows the two stores to not only pass data, but also voice calls between sites with no long distance charges. Because the two sites were networked together, it didn't matter which store the Jacksons were in at any given time because they and their employees had full access to all data and voice features and capabilities from each location. The BCMs also allows the trusted Nortel channel partner to remotely access each location from his office to move voice mail boxes, add new employee extensions, and change extension numbers without the cost and delays of having to visit either store.

To increase the effectiveness of inventory tracking at both locations, the Jacksons installed a wireless local area network to support wireless barcode scanners. These scanners let the Jacksons keep the company's always-available inventory up-to-date. The Jacksons were impressed to learn they could use this new wireless IP network at the second store to carry voice as well using wireless Voice over IP (VoIP) telephones. The first store continues to use the Digital Mobility Solution purchased for Norstar years ago--on the newly installed BCM.

The Jacksons still needed to address the volume of calls coming into the grooming shop for scheduling at both locations. The BCM solved this by the use of the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) application on the BCM, which allowed the Jacksons to establish a single phone number for customers to call. Once these calls were answered by the IVR, the customer could input zip code information and be automatically directed to the most convenient store location.

The system now allows customers to schedule appointments themselves by easily inputting time and date information into the keypads on their phones. The IVR application lets them know the available times so they can book an appointment, and it reports on the schedule so the groomers can efficiently manage their time. The use of IVR has not only eliminated the need for employees to field these phone calls; it has also allowed the Jacksons to improve productivity and efficiently manage labor costs.

From establishing a business--through growing the business and expanding to new locations--small- and mid-sized businesses like this fictitious SuperPets franchise continue to turn to Nortel and its capable business partners for robust and scalable voice and data communications solutions. Solutions that meet current business challenges and can cost-effectively evolve to meet future communications requirements.