Dutch School Makes the Educated Decision to Choose Sangoma
The Customer
The Atrium is a world-class, public, educational institution offering secondary and higher vocational training in the city of Amersfoort, Netherlands. They offer several program options for students, including exciting bilingual opportunities. They were previously named a TTO School for the excellence of their bilingual curriculum, an honor less than a third of Dutch schools have earned. The Atrium strives to not only create and maintain a culture of educational excellence but also to contribute to the broader personal development of students.
Business Challenges
The school was struggling with a legacy phone system after more than a decade of heavy use. The aging Panasonic equipment provided very poor audio quality, making phone calls difficult and frustrating. Their system was still using exclusively ISDN lines uncomfortably close to the projected 2020 ISDN switch-off. Additionally, their existing installation had no VoIP capability, unified messaging, or any of the other functionality of modern phone systems. And, as with most academic institutions, budget was a concern; in this case, they were overpaying for underperforming, outdated technology.
Solutions from Sangoma
The Atrium knew they needed a change. Their system and network administrator Robert van Rootselaar has extensive experience with FreePBX, so he knew the value of the Sangoma product ecosystem. Working with Sangoma distributor Com8, he set to work designing and deploying the perfect solution for the Atrium. Van Rootselaar opted for Sangoma’s PBXact, the revolutionary Unified Communications platform designed for ease of use and quality of service. For the heart of the new phone system, Van Rootselaar decided on the Sangoma PBXact 300. To provide the instructors with phones, 35 Sangoma S500 IP phones were connected. For the receptionist and administrative staff, 2 Sangoma S700 IP phones were equipped with Sangoma EXP100 expansion modules, which provide an additional 40 speed dials and programmable features.
The Results
The Atrium is very pleased to have found the tools to communicate with clarity. Teachers and staff rave that calls which were once a difficult and frustrating experience are now easy conversations. Phone users at the Atrium are also thoroughly enjoying the rich functionality PBXact provides. Unified messaging makes managing multiple streams of communication simpler and much faster for busy instructors. And the IP phone apps allow for quick access to modern features. One feature used extensively by teachers and staff is the Do Not Disturb app, which allows status to be set on and off ‘Busy’ with the touch of a button. They are able to perform functions like these with ease, both from their desk handset and from their mobile phones. Van Rootselaar has found the new PBXact system much easier to configure and maintain. One revolutionary difference from the old installation for him is the inclusion of a user-friendly interface that makes routine maintenance and administration much less complicated. The upgrade to PBXact also solved concerns about the upcoming ISDN switch-off. Their new phone system runs completely on SIP data lines, the new standard for voice communication worldwide. Finally, even with the massive upgrade in communications they experienced, their monthly operating costs were reduced by over sixty percent. For a fraction of what their old setup cost to operate, they enjoy exponentially more connectivity and functionality.