Manutencoop

Challenge

Manutencoop, one of the leading groups operating in Italy in the Integrated Facility Management and Environmental Services sectors, developed an IP-based communication solution with VEM Sistemi in response to business continuity and mobility needs for its employees.

The growth of the Group’s companies made it necessary to seek highly flexible technological solutions. The need emerged with the opening of the third site in Zola Predosa, for which a common architectural system was designed to ensure integration and centralized management. But there’s more, as emphasized by Lucia Bernardini, Head of Network Infrastructure and Information Systems at Manutencoop:
“We were opening an average of two new construction sites—small to medium-sized offices—across the country every month.”
The issue therefore went far beyond simply choosing a telephone switchboard.

“Implementing a flexible solution that would allow easy network integration of new branches could lead to significant cost reductions in traffic, as well as savings during startup and network management.”
There were also issues with the existing infrastructure: the analog PBX in place, though equipped with advanced features, was underutilized and required continuous external support.
“We had to relocate offices multiple times in recent years, and reconfiguring the patches to maintain the same phone numbers was always done via external interventions.”

Solution

The company’s growth required simpler management of these kinds of operations, and only by integrating telephony into the IP network could it be handled internally—thanks to the high-level expertise of the Information Systems division of Manutencoop Facility Management S.p.A., which provides IT services to all Group companies.
To meet these needs, Manutencoop turned to VEM Sistemi, the Group’s trusted technology partner that had previously designed the company LAN and again delivered a prompt solution by recommending a migration to VoIP technology.

“Together with VEM, we identified areas for intervention and developed a project and ROI calculation, considering it essential to amortize a centralized investment that also benefits branch offices and remote users.”
The project involved the implementation of a Cisco Unified Communications solution, supported by Cisco CallManager, a software PBX that adds innovative functionalities to the features of traditional systems.
The IP telephony migration initially involved the three sites in Zola Predosa and continued across new branches and in offices where, instead of repairing an outdated PBX, the company chose to adopt a new technological vision: equipping itself with a multi-service network, thus enabling the implementation of a virtually unlimited range of value-added services.

“The PBX team has seen a significant productivity boost thanks to Voice Mail: calls to unreachable users are forwarded to their mailboxes. All users can also view the history of missed or received calls, allowing them to follow up with clients or colleagues—something unimaginable in a PABX environment.”

Manutencoop also provided employees with an online company directory, integrated with Active Directory, with number categories accessible based on permission levels.
Last but not least, conference calls, previously limited to one meeting room, are now available on all devices connected to the IP network—regardless of location—with a simplified access and activation process.

But that’s not all.
“With VEM, we’ve also enabled VoIP services with a mobility focus, replacing DECT devices with a Wi-Fi network and integrating dual-mode Nokia phones.

Many of our employees work off-site: having a single device capable of acting as a fixed phone, internal mobile phone, and external mobile phone was seen as a major benefit.”
Business continuity was also critical for Manutencoop’s in-house Call Center, a customer support service that evolved with the VoIP environment into a 24/7 service with a solid backup infrastructure.
“In the event of a network outage, calls are redirected—thanks to an enabled service—to either physical or software-based internal phones (Cisco IP Phones), depending on whether agents are working on-site or remotely, with no difference perceived by the caller.”

Benefits

A success on all fronts, especially because the network infrastructure provided by VEM Sistemi enables internal management of the telephony component—under the IT Systems department—ensuring immediate intervention times and, of course, cost reduction.

“Our goal is to migrate all branches to VoIP: after one year of production with the new system, we’ve already seen a significant cost reduction.
The ability to scale the migration is truly important to us: we’re not replacing technology all at once because the associated costs must be distributed. In a company like ours, the development process is necessarily driven by specific needs.”

Manutencoop has also planned to make video conferencing over IP available—a new frontier for modern companies that can combine efficiency with greater environmental awareness, allowing employees to travel less by leveraging modern communication technologies.