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Business continuity and disaster recovery are both strategies companies need to implement to protect themselves in the event of a disaster. Most company leaders believe that while such planning is important, the risk of actually needing to execute the strategies is fairly low. For Israel Brokerage & Investments (IBI), the risk ended up being too high. Fortunately, the company had already invested in a contact center on demand solution. IBI, which offers a wide array of investment management and trading solutions, faced the potential of a complete shutdown in operations when the floor of their building below them caught fire. All employees made it out to safety, but the company infrastructure was at risk of complete destruction. With a contact center on demand solution from Tikal Networks already in place, IBI was prepared.

Captured in this case study, the Tikal Networks IP-PBX (News - Alert) and contact center on demand solution, Crystal Call Center, were hosted in a location offsite. Thanks to a unique feature, the “remote agent,” IBI could access all the features and capabilities from their desktop. As a result, users could continue to work without any change in operations or features, regardless of anything happening on the backend, or even at their location.

By hosting the telephony system offsite as well, IBI’s IT manage team was able to assure complete uninterrupted operation. This way, even a fire hitting the main business location couldn’t stall operations, eliminating the chance of a single event putting them out of business for even the short term.

Before the implementation of this contact center on demand solution, IBI was facing specific challenges, including the need to implement an online call recording feature, the addition of new agents to support business growth, and enabling all agents using an advanced VoIP management system. When the office building caught fire, the company then had to determine the best way to implement a disaster recovery program.

The Crystal Call Center contact center on demand solution from Tikal Networks provided a built-in call recording feature, access to scalability that allowed for the addition of an unlimited number of agents, the implementation of an advanced VoIP call center system, and a disaster recovery strategy that included hosting the telephony system offsite. 

Before the fire hit IBI’s building, the remote agent feature was simply available, but not used. When the disaster struck, the feature was explained and then used in mere minutes to get agents back online. The same day of the fire, agents were back on the system, working from home or local cafes without the need for additional support.

This example demonstrates the value the contact center on demand can bring to the business today. No one can predict a disaster, but every company needs to prepare for one. With the contact center on demand, the solution can be customized according to the needs of the organization, bringing the human element back to daily operations.

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