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Customer Case Study Business Challenge The Maggiore Group is one of Italy's leading car rental companies, with an 11 per cent market share. Its headquarters are in Rome and it has 140 regional offices – 14 directly owned by Maggiore and 126 independent franchises – that provide coverage of the whole country. The ability to compare prices and make reservations online has made the car rental industry more competitive. Customers now expect better value for money, combined with faster and more efficient service. Maggiore has always invested heavily in communications technology to support its business. For example, its IP data network, based on Cisco solutions, provides the means for employees to keep a constant check on the company's 13,000 vehicles. Inter-office communications are another essential part of its success because of the continual need to check the availability of vehicles in different locations before confirming a reservation. As part of its ongoing drive to improve customer service and reduce costs, Maggiore wanted to replace its legacy private branch exchanges (PBXs). The company typically opens and closes 15 to 20 offices per year and its analogue telephone systems were not flexible enough to cope with that amount of change. Maggiore's telephone bills were also escalating because high volumes of inter-office calls were carried over the public switched telephone network (PSTN) at normal rates. Looking ahead, Maggiore would need a telephony platform that was capable of supporting new applications such as unified communications, IP call centre, videoconferencing and video telephony. Italian Car Rental Company Gains Competitive Edge Maggiore Group installed Cisco Unified Communications to enhance customer service, improve agility and reduce costs EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Customer Name Maggiore Group Industry Car Rental Location Rome, Italy Number of Employees 600 Business Challenge Reduce operating costs in a distributed organisation Enhance customer service through improved communications Achieve greater operational agility Network Solution Centralised Cisco® Unified Communications Manager solution deployed over a multiservice network Business Results Reduced telephone costs by 40 per cent and significantly reduced operating costs Improved customer service by answering calls more quickly, reducing time 'on hold' and eliminating lost calls Provided a flexible platform to introduce new applications cost effectively that could further improve productivity and customer responsiveness All contents are Copyright © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 1 of 5

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Customer Case Study

Business ChallengeThe Maggiore Group is one of Italy's leading car rentalcompanies, with an 11 per cent market share. Its headquartersare in Rome and it has 140 regional offices – 14 directlyowned by Maggiore and 126 independent franchises – that provide coverage of the whole country.

The ability to compare prices and make reservations onlinehas made the car rental industry more competitive. Customersnow expect better value for money, combined with faster andmore efficient service.

Maggiore has always invested heavily in communicationstechnology to support its business. For example, its IP datanetwork, based on Cisco solutions, provides the means foremployees to keep a constant check on the company's13,000 vehicles. Inter-office communications are anotheressential part of its success because of the continual needto check the availability of vehicles in different locationsbefore confirming a reservation.

As part of its ongoing drive to improve customer service andreduce costs, Maggiore wanted to replace its legacy privatebranch exchanges (PBXs). The company typically opens andcloses 15 to 20 offices per year and its analogue telephonesystems were not flexible enough to cope with that amount ofchange. Maggiore's telephone bills were also escalatingbecause high volumes of inter-office calls were carried overthe public switched telephone network (PSTN) at normal rates.

Looking ahead, Maggiore would need a telephony platformthat was capable of supporting new applications such asunified communications, IP call centre, videoconferencing andvideo telephony.

Italian Car Rental Company Gains Competitive EdgeMaggiore Group installed Cisco Unified Communications to enhance customer service,

improve agility and reduce costs

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Customer NameMaggiore Group

IndustryCar Rental

LocationRome, Italy

Number of Employees600

Business Challenge• Reduce operating costs in a distributed

organisation

• Enhance customer service throughimproved communications

• Achieve greater operational agility

Network Solution• Centralised Cisco® Unified

Communications Manager solutiondeployed over a multiservice network

Business Results• Reduced telephone costs by 40 per

cent and significantly reducedoperating costs

• Improved customer service byanswering calls more quickly, reducingtime 'on hold' and eliminating lost calls

• Provided a flexible platform tointroduce new applications costeffectively that could further improveproductivity and customerresponsiveness

All contents are Copyright © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 1 of 5

“We were encouraged to find alternative solutions to traditional technology by the need to equip the Group witha modern, effective telephone management system,” explains Simone Saponaro, head of the IT division atMaggiore Group. “From the start we considered Voice over IP as the only technology that seemed able to offerefficient cost control.”

Network SolutionMaggiore carried out comparative evaluations of IP telephony solutions from all the main vendors. One of thosevendors, Cisco, offered Maggiore a value-added service that provided an important differentiator during theselection phase. “Cisco gave us the option of running a pilot project that would allow the company and its IT department to test the solution on the ground,” says Saponaro.

The pilot ran for about a month at the company's headquarters in Rome and at the regional office in Naples.This enabled the IT department to verify the technical capabilities of the Cisco solution as well as the businessbenefits that the company could expect after its introduction. The results of the pilot were extremely positiveand led the management team at Maggiore to confirm its decision to implement Cisco IP telephony throughoutthe organisation.

The solution is based on Cisco Unified Communications Manager software, which provides call processing toall sites from a centralised location over the company's existing Cisco data network. This means that, unlike thelegacy PBXs, the Cisco solution is easy and cost effective to manage. Inter-office calls can now be transportedover the internal network instead of the PSTN. The built-in scalability of Cisco Unified Communications Managermeans that there are no current capacity problems and it will be simple to accommodate future growth.

The roll-out was completed very quickly. After the pilot, Maggiore initiated the start-up process in January 2006.The central office in Rome was integrated into the project in June 2006 and, within a month, the entire installationwas complete and operational.

“The compressed timeframe for the implementation was a great advantage in business terms,” says Saponaro.“The other critical difference between the Cisco system and those of other vendors was the simplicity ofinstallation. Our IT staff ran the operation remotely from headquarters; telephones were delivered by courier andinstalled without the need for specialist technicians; and an innovative network was ready to use.”

Customer Case Study

All contents are Copyright © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 2 of 5

“The compressed timeframe for the implementation was agreat advantage in business terms. The other criticaldifference between the Cisco system and those of othervendors was the simplicity of installation. Our IT staff ranthe operation remotely from headquarters; telephoneswere delivered by courier and installed without the needfor specialist technicians; and an innovative network wasready to use.”

—Simone Saponaro, Head of IT Division, Maggiore Group

Customer Case Study

Business ResultsThe pilot demonstrated a strong business case for Cisco IP Telephony due to the increased efficiency of thesystem, which streamlines the IT organisation, and to the ability to transport inter-office calls over the company'sinternal network at virtually no cost. “Our telephone bills have fallen by 40 per cent since we transferred the callsmade to co-ordinate production work between operators in our regional offices and sales outlets to IP,”Saponaro explains.

The increased performance and capacity of Cisco Unified Communications Manager have enabledMaggiore to manage customer calls more effectively, improving service and satisfaction levels. Accordingto Saponaro, for example, calls are now answered more quickly and the amount of time that customersspend 'on hold' has dropped.

The company has also succeeded in reducing the number of lost calls to zero, thereby helping to ensure thatpotential customers do not take their business to competitors. Although Maggiore is continuing to use itsexisting call centre system because it is planning a staged migration to IP, the parallel introduction of CiscoUnified Communications Manager has also enhanced the call centre operation.

The IT staff at Maggiore particularly value the Cisco solution's flexibility and ease of use, which allow them torespond to changes in the business both quickly and cost effectively. When employees move to differentoffices, for example, there is no need for an engineer to visit either site; moves and changes are managedremotely from the headquarters. Entire offices can also be opened or closed much more easily than before. This capability ensures there is minimal disruption to the business, which boosts productivity, and it significantlyreduces Maggiore's operating costs.

The increased simplicity of a centrally managed system has also reduced the burden on the IT department. “A network linking several offices and sales outlets is constantly on the move,” says Saponaro. “That mobilityused to produce a great deal of work for the IT department, with consequent delays in system availability. Since we introduced the Cisco solution, there are no more costly delays.”

Another benefit is that all Maggiore employees are now using exactly the same system, with access to the samefeatures and information. This consistency improves internal communications and reduces the need for re-training when staff move offices. The Cisco solution also provides a standardised platform on which Maggiorecan continue to introduce new applications and services, such as videoconferencing, without incurring the costof replacing the core elements. This protects the company's investment and enables it to better support futurebusiness growth and to position Maggiore as an innovative, responsive organisation.

All contents are Copyright © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 3 of 5

All contents are Copyright © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 4 of 5

Next StepsThe integration of voice and data on one network has already helped Maggiore to eliminate lost calls and improvecustomer service. In future, the company plans to build on this integration by deploying applications such as CiscoUnified Contact Center. This is a centralised application that can be extended beyond the physical call centre inRome to any other location, which would create a 'virtual' call centre in which any Maggiore employee could act asan agent. This would give the company a competitive edge by enhancing its customer service capability.

Integrated voice and data will also help Maggiore to integrate more effectively the different channels that areused for customer reservations – for example, fax, Web and telephone. Better integration is likely to improveefficiency still further and to increase satisfaction levels by offering customers even better service.

Technical ImplementationThe Cisco solution was deployed over a Cisco multiservice network that connects each regional office andfranchise outlet to Maggiore's headquarters, giving complete control over the whole of the Italian network,including branches in cities and at airports and railway stations. The solution is based on two redundant CiscoUnified Communications Manager call processing applications. Maggiore is using around 500 Cisco Unified IPPhones 7900 Series, including 7911 and 7940 models on employees' desktops, the 7935 model for audioconferencing, and 7960 and 7914 models as consoles for switchboard operators.

A Cisco VG248 Analog Phone Gateway provides an interface between the IP telephony system and Maggiore'straditional fax machines. Maggiore has deployed Cisco Unity Unified Messaging as a voice mail applicationinitially, and the company plans to use Cisco Unity to provide employees with integrated voice mail, email andfax messages in the future.

The successful outcome of the project was achieved through the collaboration of partners such as TelecomItalia and Cisco partner Lutech, which gave their full support during the delicate implementation and start-upphase of the solution. Lutech's highly qualified systems engineers provided an effective, on-going contributionto the drafting of a migration plan, allowing Maggiore to benefit from the new technology as quickly as possible.

Customer Case Study

“Our telephone bills have fallen by 40 per cent since wetransferred the calls made to co-ordinate productionwork between operators in our regional offices and salesoutlets to IP.”

—Simone Saponaro, Head of IT Division, Maggiore Group

All contents are Copyright © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Printed in the UK 31603/ecoutez/0507

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Product List

Voice and Unified Communications• Cisco Unified Communications Manager

• Cisco Unity Unified Messaging

• Cisco Unified IP Phones 7900 Series

• Cisco VG248 Analog Phone Gateway

Customer Case Study