Belfor UK

Belfor

Belfor achieved the best of all worlds with cost reductions, service improvements and higher levels of customer service with their latest IT deployments. Part of a structured IT strategy that continues to evolve.

The Business

Belfor started as an awnings and construction company in Germany in 1946. Work on restoration services started in Europe in 1989 with a UK presence from 1995. Entry into the US and Asian markets followed in 1999. Belfor became the market leader for restoration services in the US just two years later in 2001.

In the UK Belfor are now headquartered in Tamworth and have a total of eleven locations. Working with most of the UK's larger insurance companies Belfor specialise in the restoration of premises and property following fire and water damage. Their directly employed specialists bring a wealth of expertise and knowledge to clients who are often faced with uncertain and complex situations. They aim to resolve any circumstances with Care, Confidence and Commitment.

The Challenge

Belfor are one of Mason Infotech's longest standing clients. Initially contracted by Belfor in 2004 for the delivery of call centre services, the relationship has steadily grown as the number of services we deliver into the business has increased.

Belfor started to review the extent and use of the connectivity between the various UK locations and in turn, how these communicated back to and accessed applications in Germany. Costs for these services seemed out of proportion and the lack of information as to what and how services were being provided by the incumbent provider was hindering progress.

Alongside the network project it was becoming clear that the current call centre technology was reaching the end of its usable life and becoming harder to support without the manufacturer's warranty. As Belfor were expanding at this time and required services the current technology could not provide, the call centre infrastructure needed an urgent review.

The Solution

Information on the current network infrastructure was scarce and hard to decipher from the incumbent supplier, so we took on the task of reviewing needs and designing a network from scratch that would cater for current and future requirements. High availability, security and resilience were all key requirements in the design as all voice and data requirements, including business critical applications hosted in Germany would be accessed via the network.

A design was finalised and delivered into all locations over a four month roll out plan. Using a combination of internet access methods and the latest Cisco Meraki MX range of firewalls we created a secure 'wide area network' or 'SDWAN' across all the UK locations.

There were a number of options to consider for the replacement of the existing call centre technology; The current solution could be upgraded, or a totally new facility could be developed using hosted services. After a review of the options available our Broadsoft hosted solution was chosen. Implemented just prior to the Christmas break the changeover has gone as planned with little variation from our original design.

We were delighted with the savings achieved across the network project and further impressed with the wealth of information and advice Mason Infotech are now able to provide to ourselves. A massive step change in the way we were operating.

Jason Williams, IT Services Manager

Achievements

Belfor were able to drastically reduce the costs of their network infrastructure. As importantly, information is now available to ensure the network is managed and delivering the services required in a secure manner. The whole of the network, users and network performance can be monitored on one screen or 'pane of glass'. Using the Cisco Meraki MX firewalls provides Belfor with total flexibility when it comes to adding or moving locations served by the network.

Utilising BroadSoft's hosted telephony platform, Belfor have complete visibility of their 50 agent contact centre facility. All inbound calls are efficiently routed to the appropriate call handler and agents can control their availability, providing them with the ability to manage their time and focus on the complex scenarios they manage. Real time information presented on wall boards and supervisor monitors aids the management team in the day to day operation of the centre. Historic reporting confirms centre performance over time and provides insight into agent and centre performance.

We were able to see and contribute to the configuration build of the new hosted call centre solution before it was bought live. Working this way provided us with a greater understanding of how it would all work before it went live. Being able to manage the cutover to the new solution whilst keeping the existing solution remained in place meant we could roll back if we hit problems. The implementation went as planned and we are now seeing a significant improvement in both performance and the management information available.

Jason Williams, IT Services Manager

Belfor achieve great results through strategic approach

Working at a strategic level with Belfor has enabled us to deliver some great results across the whole business. The approach means Belfor can focus on their core business and apply their expertise to help their clients through complex and uncertain situations.