CASE STUDY

“ It took a long time to do simple tasks and users were frequently logged out of their accounts ,” said Michael Ives , IT Manager at Ellisons . “ It might only have been for five and 10 minutes at a time – which doesn ’ t sound much – but when you add that up over a week or a month , it ’ s a lot of wasted time . By contrast , employees now have a single pane of glass that allows them to talk to customers , message each other and share files – all of which make life easy for them .

“ We are a modern , forward-thinking business when it comes to IT . Indeed , 99 % of our IT infrastructure is cloud-based and we see that as key to delivering efficiency , scalability and sustainability across the company . For example , we can now make much more use of reporting and business analytic tools . This helps employees be accountable , set and manage sales targets and make sure leads are followed up .”

Delighted with the positive impact across the business , Ellisons subsequently commissioned Node4 to deliver an MPLS Private WAN solution to connect each of its sites . This improved resilience and provided automatic failover across the company .

“ We ’ re delighted to have provided Ellisons with a fully integrated voice and data solution : one that has delivered marked improvements in efficiency and flexibility ,” added Richard Buxton , Director at Node4 .

Ellisons , whose customers range from independent hair and beauty consultants and salons to some of the country ’ s best-known spas , wanted to move to a more reliable platform that required less day-today management and administration . Specifically , the company wanted a voice and data solution that could automate some of the most time-consuming admin processes and directly integrate existing systems . The organisation also wished to improve inter-site connectivity .

Node4 initially provided Ellisons with a cloud-based managed Microsoft Teams platform and Enghouse Interactive Contact Centre . The platforms were connected by Node4 ’ s carrier-grade , SIPLink , which provided PSTN call access . This enabled the use of MS Teams for external calls and standard internal communications . The solution also supported Ellisons ’ email system and its customer-facing web chat application – all integrated on a single screen .

We caught up with Lee Farmer , IT & Operations Director at Ellisons , to find out more about how Node4 has enhanced the customer ’ s capabilities .

Can you tell us about your role at Ellisons and what this looks like day to day ?

My key responsibility is inspiring and heading the team , which – within a fast-paced environment – provides a great opportunity to watch and ask why , something I believe is fundamental to continue improving business processes .

Usually , the first part of my day is spent checking in with the management and supervisor team which allows us to ensure that any critical issues are dealt with efficiently . The greater part of my day is then spent reviewing ideas and aligning them with the business strategy .

Can you outline Ellisons ’ core values and how they align with your strategy for IT innovation ?

Ellisons has seven values that underpin everything we do : supportive ; honest ; innovative ; passionate ; professional ; and ethical . Our focus on innovation in

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