THECOMMSISSUE
27
RETAILER MAKES VOICE AND DATA
COMMS CONVERGENCE DREAMS A REALITY
D
reams, the UK specialist bed retailer that the vital bed delivery processes remain
wanted to update its communications uninterrupted in case of a head-of½ ce outage
systems to provide more ¾ exibility and or non-availability of the wide area network
the ability to communicate easily between the (WAN) link.
many different parts of the business. A subsequent CC audit of Dreams’ existing
CC, the convergence integration specialist telephony service providers allowed Dreams
and Avaya platinum business partner, began to reduce outbound telephony call charges by
work with Dreams in 2003 to design and 40% per annum and to reduce line rental costs
implement an internet protocol (IP) virtual by a further 10%. The Avaya Communications recognition access for common customer
private network (VPN) solution with leased Manager telephony solution allowed CC to enquiries, such as the nearest store location,
lines for head of½ ce and the satellite distribution design and deliver a single, centrally managed, opening hours and delivery status. Also, as the
centres (home delivery depots) and asymmetric resilient telephone system, which offered the Dreams business and the number of locations
digital subscriber line (ADSL) connectivity for same functionality to all Dreams locations. continues to expand rapidly, the importance
the branches; plus a hosted enterprise resource The addition of an Avaya CSCM call recording of resilient business communications becomes
planning (ERP) system and internet access within solution across both contact centres meant that paramount. To that end, Dreams will shortly be
the multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) cloud. Dreams could bene½ t from improved agent installing an Avaya Enterprise Survivable Server
A MPLS-based network was chosen in order to training leading to increased customer satisfaction, (ESS) in the network “cloud” to ensure that
provide advanced routing and capabilities. improved dispute resolution leading to reduced all their remote locations have “any-to-any”
CC designed and implemented a compensation payments and importantly, via communications available in the event of any
single, virtual yet distributed, resilient Avaya integration with the Dreams Navision ERP head of½ ce or data centre disaster scenario.
Communications Manager based enterprise system, compliance with Payment Card Industry Lee Felton, Dreams central services director
wide telephony solution, which uses VoIP and (PCI) and Data Protection Act (DPA) guidelines commented: “CC provides Dreams with a very
IP telephony throughout their network with IP concerning storage credit card payment details. strong account management team who cares
phones at every retail location providing “free” Future plans for expanding the Avaya about our network as much as we do. This is
internal calls. The solution includes a virtual telephony solution at Dreams include the essential when you have a third-party managed
contact centre spread over two locations in centralisation of retail store communications. network, and the managed support CC gives
Birmingham and Buckinghamshire, which act This will remove the need for separate phone integrates seamlessly with our own project
as failover sites for each other. Each of the ten numbers into each store and free up valuable managers. This level of communication allows
satellite distribution centres has Avaya LSP and sales resources by allowing Avaya Voice Portal Dreams to meet its objectives, ½ rst time, every
local media gateway capabilities, which means interactive voice response (IVR) and speech time.”
COCA COLA COUPONS DRIVE MOBILE COMMS
This summer Coca-Cola Great Britain (CCGB) carried out a popular and effective mobile coupon campaign.
Powered by digital voucher specialist i-movo, and using the PayPoint network, hundreds of thousands of bottles
of Fanta, Sprite and Dr. Pepper were distributed free, using secure digital vouchers delivered to mobile phones.
Branded signage used at PayPoint kiosks encouraged consumers to send a text message with the word
‘YES,’ followed by their date of birth to redeem their free drink. Valid voucher requests received a text message
reply within a few seconds that included a unique voucher code, which was validated by the retailer using the
PayPoint terminal.
Because voucher redemption was performed in real-time, vouchers could not be used twice, eliminating
the risk of fraud. Another immediate bene½ t was that brand managers could monitor the campaign’s progress
store-by-store, bottle-by-bottle, eliminating the risk of over-subscription.
By the conclusion of the eight-week campaign, over 200,000 drinks had been given away to nearly 100,000
consumers across the UK and the campaign had delivered the unprecedented redemption rate of 87%.
Ed Knight, CCGB head of communication said: “We always strive to engage our consumers in an
appropriate and exciting manner and this campaign has achieved exactly that. PayPoint and i-movo have
created a national marketing network that allows us to activate promotions for speci½ c products in speci½ c
stores. In addition, this system allows us to run sampling campaigns across thousands of retailers simultaneously,
without any additional staf½ ng costs or impact on the supply chain. The feedback we have received from retailers and consumers alike has been
relentlessly positive and the campaign itself has been both a commercial and technical success.”
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2009 RETAIL TECHNOLOGY
23-32 The Comms Issue.indd 27 18/9/09 9:07:00 am
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