Hosted Case Study--FC Stone

FCStone is a broad-based commodity risk management and trading company with 13 offices in the U.S., plus four international locations. Many of FCStone’s commercial clients are involved in the production, processing, storage, sale distribution or end use of commodities in their normal course of business. Provides the platforms, instruments, information and strategies that enhance the profitability of their customers and increase the value to their stakeholders. Net revenues in excess of $125 million Employs approximately 425 people Serves more than 4,000 global clients

Before Hosted:

Before Hosted---Had Avaya and Nortel
Hosted for 2 years now
Number of employees  450
Number of Hosted Seats  85
Number of locations 4

Chicago - AVAYA Legend         – Lease with Maintenance $5,000 monthly – System was maxed by incoming lines – Limited features – Timely change requests – Costly onsite technician visits Sales process with the hosting vendor – Looking to leverage network with VOIP – Vendor had to insure quality and reliability – There was no competition in our situation PBX reseller – Capital expense – Old technology – Maintain equipment at remote locations

Key Driving Factors to Switch to Hosted:

Need for new PBX Existing PBX was inadequate Easier management of users Easier phone moves, adds and changes Centralized feature upgrades Calls roll to multiple locations Find me Follow me, simultaneous ring, email voice mail Ext. dialing and zero LD cost between locations No large capital expenditure Not locked into a specific PBX

The Unexpected Results:

Not unexpected, but we did have to work through some issues. They were resolved.

The Expected Results

No large capital expenditures No onsite service calls Features Multiple locations on same phone system Ability to use software solutions VoIP provides more options: --Voice Bridge --Soft Phone --Interactive with applications

The Report Card

System Reliability   A
Sound Quality   B
Features    A