How often have you led or participated in a conference call where a technician had to come in to set up the call or troubleshoot? Because many conferencing systems are not intuitive enough to be operated without some training and practice, they often go underutilized and the company doesn’t fully reap the productivity and cost-saving benefits that the systems are meant to provide.

Konftel has made this problem a thing of the past with its sophisticated yet easy-to-use conferencing solutions. Here we present a customer success story that demonstrates how Olsson Associates has been using its Konftel platform to improve and simplify the communications among almost 1,000 employees across some 30 offices in seven U.S. states.

Customer Success Story Provided by Konftel

Olsson Associates is a nationally recognized engineering and design firm that employees almost 1,000 people across the USA, creating and delivering infrastructure projects for the public and private sectors from planning stage to completion.

“Remote meetings are an important and natural part of business life for our consultants. They can work from everywhere: home, at the construction site, with customers and of course at the office. Our conference room is basically always booked, which is why it’s important to have technical equipment that is easy to use,” explains Randy Miller, Head of IT and Media at Olsson Associates’ regional office in Kansas City, Missouri.

Irritating problems a thing of the past

He recalls a number of irritating problems they had with previous conference phones. “The sound wasn’t always that good and there were a number of other issues so I decided to try something else. I chose Konftel 300Wx and the portable Konftel 55Wx. I’ve been doing this for 15 years and I must say I am pretty overwhelmed. A key detail is how user-friendly these phones are, despite their high level of technical specifications. Our consultants already have plenty of other things on their minds so it’s great they only need to push a button to get started. It’s pretty much plug and play. And that’s the way it is with Konftel! I haven’t had a single complaint since we installed Konftel in the offices I work with.”

Strict travel policy

Olsson Associates has some 30 offices in seven states, primarily in the Midwest. It always has a number of projects being run simultaneously by experts spread throughout the company. That’s why trips and meetings are a necessary part of the process and can sometimes even lead to having to charter the company’s own airplane. “We have a strict travel policy and within IT and Media it’s our mission to constantly improve communication between our various offices. By cutting down on trips we save money and, even more importantly, time. We’re building a shared database so that our experts have access to information about projects they are working on regardless of where they are in the country. Of course the conference telephone is also an important and flexible work tool, often used in combination with Skype for Business.”

Konftel 55Wx – a portable communications hub

Randy Miller also sees exciting new possibilities with the portable Konftel 55Wx. “Right now I’m putting together a
portable ‘conference kit’ built around the flexible Konftel 55Wx, which acts like a hub for wireless microphones, speakers and cell phones. When someone’s out in the field and needs to make a presentation or hold a meeting it’s often difficult to know what technical equipment they’ll have access to. But with Konftel’s superb Bluetooth function they can connect wirelessly to pretty much any device and conduct their presentation or meeting with great sound quality.”

Practical recording function

“I have also noticed that staff with legal questions on the agenda appreciate Konftel’s ability to record conversations to an SD memory card. In-depth meetings and discussions are saved and can be analyzed afterwards,” says Randy Miller. “It’s the future to integrate communication into the IT environment. The great thing about Konftel’s 300Wx is that it doesn’t really matter what type of sound is coming in: analog, mobile or VoIP. It connects conversations and delivers amazing sound regardless of where the calls come from. As someone responsible for IT, I just love these kinds of products! In my job I often get feedback when things don’t work, but in the case of these phones it’s been really quiet. That can only mean these conference phones are doing their job."

About Olsson Associates 
Olsson Associates is a nationally recognized engineering and design firm that creates public and private projects throughout the United States. The company was founded 1956 by John E. Olsson. Olsson Associates offer comprehensive design and consulting services in water/wastewater, water resources, land development, landscape architecture, urban planning, environmental resources and compliance, transportation, technology, municipal, geotechnical, and mechanical and electrical. The firm employs almost 1,000 people at 28 offices in seven states. Olsson Associates is employee-owned through a stock bonus program and Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). More information: www.olssonassociates.com.
 

This customer success story was first published on Konftel’s website. Click here to read the original article, where you can download the story in PDF format.

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