Connecting World Vision anytime, anywhere
Case Study
Connecting World Vision anytime, anywhere. World Vision is an international aid agency recognised as a leader in terms of child-focused humanitarian, community development and advocacy work. The New Zealand team works both at home and abroad, addressing issues relating to education, health, economic development and social justice, in nearly 100 countries. The organisation also provides emergency relief in times of disaster, including the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
The Telecommunications Challenge Eighteen months ago, World Vision New Zealand’s telecommunications structure was widely accepted as a “management nightmare”. Its three regional offices each had their own local provider for internet, landline and mobile phone services. This gave WVNZ little power to negotiate competitive pricing or query inconsistent billing. It also meant offices and personnel in the field could not share core systems and files. “Rain would intermittently cause the local exchange to fail, knocking the contact-centre offline, impeding communication with our supporters,” adds WVNZ’s Head of ICT Christi Moller. “A complete overhaul was needed, one with a particular focus on efficiency and affordability – that’s where CallPlus came in”.
The Solution
The Outcomes
Following a comprehensive review, a phased approach was adopted to consolidate all of World Vision NZ’s telecommunications with a managed Wide Area Network (WAN) solution.
“Managed WAN has greatly boosted our bandwidth, increasing our upload and download speeds. In addition, we now have voice and data on the one network which makes management much easier,” Moller explains.
CallPlus recommended the product due to its highperformance, cost-effectiveness and the fact it was designed specifically for medium to large-sized organisations with multiple sites.
Managed WAN combined with SIP trunking is a major step forward in terms of technology as it allows true convergence of voice and data networking. It provides fast and cost effective data transfer between sites, with the network’s infrastructure managed externally by CallPlus. Kelvin Hussey, CallPlus General Manager The new solution provided SIP trunks, dedicated internet, managed WAN, and centralised telehousing in the CallPlus Auckland data centre. Furthermore, all mobile phone connections were transferred and tired handsets replaced with smartphones to enable the entire organisation to sync their locations, internet, emails and calls. “Through the clever, sustained roll-out, CallPlus was even able to ensure minimal disruption during the change-over period,” says Moller.
The technology provided by CallPlus allows WVNZ employees to access information regardless of location, and the ability and bandwidth to create, develop, and house their own websites. With staff now operating on smartphones and able to use tablets in the field, there has been an increase in productivity and response time. “World Vision is a global organisation. Our team is responsible for maintaining development projects abroad and providing relief in times of crisis. Ensuring staff are connected to a reliable communications network is essential,” says Moller. World Vision’s ICT infrastructure is now housed in the CallPlus data centre, a secure, cost-efficient, reliable and managed environment. The CallPlus data centre has environmental control features and guards against threats to World Vision’s network including power outages, surges and fire. This has brought stability to critical business systems and driven down the costs usually associated with housing and maintaining such infrastructure. “Our team is now connected through one central, reliable system” Moller says. “The best part about it is we don’t have to worry about our Telco anymore. We can put all our energy and the highest proportion of funds towards overcoming poverty and injustice.”
Connecting World Vision anytime, anywhere. World Vision is an international aid agency recognised as a leader in terms of child-focused humanitarian, community development and advocacy work. The New Zealand team works both at home and abroad, addressing issues relating to education, health, economic development and social justice, in nearly 100 countries. The organisation also provides emergency relief in times of disaster, including the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
The Telecommunications Challenge Eighteen months ago, World Vision New Zealand’s telecommunications structure was widely accepted as a “management nightmare”. Its three regional offices each had their own local provider for internet, landline and mobile phone services. This gave WVNZ little power to negotiate competitive pricing or query inconsistent billing. It also meant offices and personnel in the field could not share core systems and files. “Rain would intermittently cause the local exchange to fail, knocking the contact-centre offline, impeding communication with our supporters,” adds WVNZ’s Head of ICT Christi Moller. “A complete overhaul was needed, one with a particular focus on efficiency and affordability – that’s where CallPlus came in”.
The Solution
The Outcomes
Following a comprehensive review, a phased approach was adopted to consolidate all of World Vision NZ’s telecommunications with a managed Wide Area Network (WAN) solution.
“Managed WAN has greatly boosted our bandwidth, increasing our upload and download speeds. In addition, we now have voice and data on the one network which makes management much easier,” Moller explains.
CallPlus recommended the product due to its highperformance, cost-effectiveness and the fact it was designed specifically for medium to large-sized organisations with multiple sites.
Managed WAN combined with SIP trunking is a major step forward in terms of technology as it allows true convergence of voice and data networking. It provides fast and cost effective data transfer between sites, with the network’s infrastructure managed externally by CallPlus. Kelvin Hussey, CallPlus General Manager The new solution provided SIP trunks, dedicated internet, managed WAN, and centralised telehousing in the CallPlus Auckland data centre. Furthermore, all mobile phone connections were transferred and tired handsets replaced with smartphones to enable the entire organisation to sync their locations, internet, emails and calls. “Through the clever, sustained roll-out, CallPlus was even able to ensure minimal disruption during the change-over period,” says Moller.
The technology provided by CallPlus allows WVNZ employees to access information regardless of location, and the ability and bandwidth to create, develop, and house their own websites. With staff now operating on smartphones and able to use tablets in the field, there has been an increase in productivity and response time. “World Vision is a global organisation. Our team is responsible for maintaining development projects abroad and providing relief in times of crisis. Ensuring staff are connected to a reliable communications network is essential,” says Moller. World Vision’s ICT infrastructure is now housed in the CallPlus data centre, a secure, cost-efficient, reliable and managed environment. The CallPlus data centre has environmental control features and guards against threats to World Vision’s network including power outages, surges and fire. This has brought stability to critical business systems and driven down the costs usually associated with housing and maintaining such infrastructure. “Our team is now connected through one central, reliable system” Moller says. “The best part about it is we don’t have to worry about our Telco anymore. We can put all our energy and the highest proportion of funds towards overcoming poverty and injustice.”
