RightNow Deploys Cisco Unified Communications at New Headquarters with Skyline Advanced Technology Services

January 8, 2007

Customer-focused businesses such as British Telecom, Nikon, and John Deere depend on RightNow Technologies for its customer relationship management (CRM) solutions. The company has 575 employees and offices around the world. However, in constructing a new headquarters building in Bozeman, Montana, RightNow was faced with some real issues in expanding its existing private branch exchange (PBX) communications solution. Having worked with Skyline Advanced Technology Services, a Cisco Silver Certified Partner, since 1999, RightNow again looked to Skyline for solution ideas.

"Skyline had already shown us the advantages of unified communications," says Tom Jinneman, director of IT at RightNow Technologies. "With our range of office locations, we knew that unified communications would serve us better and lower our telecom costs."

Skyline is headquartered in California's Silicon Valley, but in the late 1990s, the company saw an opportunity with the underserved, more rural areas of the Rocky Mountain States. Brent Davies, a Skyline veteran of 20 years, made the move north and, as director of new business development, opened a Skyline office in Bozeman.

Skyline prides itself on providing "start-to-finish" support typically found in larger markets, and its expertise as a full-service partner includes design, deployment, and training. As with nearly every customer scenario, Skyline embarked on the critical prospect of understanding RightNow's needs, assessing existing technology, and determining what was needed to move the company forward as it grows.

"It was easy to see how we would save money by going with VoIP technology," says Jinneman. "Some of the telecom rates that we were paying were outrageous. We would also save with lower maintenance costs and ease of administration." Since new data lines had to be installed in the new building, it seemed the perfect time to take advantage of a converged network.

Skyline's technology assessment showed Davies that RightNow had done a good job installing end-to-end Cisco router and switching solutions, as well as swapping out a competitor's Layer 2 switching infrastructure for Cisco Layer 3 switching.

"RightNow has a very capable IT staff, and I have always thought they have a clear vision of where they wanted the company to go as regards technology," says Davies. "My function is helping them see how to get there."

This included clearly understanding RightNow's priorities such as high system availability and security, and showing Cisco Unified Communications advantages versus the Avaya solution that they were also considering. Skyline recommended a Cisco Unified Communications system with redundant CallManagers, Cisco Unity for unified messaging, Cisco Unified IP phones, and a Cisco 6513 switch to support the large amount of RightNow's networking equipment. Ultimately Cisco Unified Communications will completely replace the Avaya solution at all of RightNow's locations, so additional Cisco switches were deployed for uniformity and to support continued deployment.

"This was a high-profile, visible situation for RightNow," says Davies. "It involved a new building with a very high-level business administration moving in." Skyline employed a very methodical approach to deploying Cisco Unified Communications and in integrating with the existing Avaya PBX, making the weeklong deployment very smooth. This included careful pre-deployment planning and pre-staging the solution off-site. It also set the stage for additional IP deployments such as at new, larger offices in its Sydney, Australia, branch. Skyline is pre-configuring, staging, and testing the gear locally, then shipping it to Australia and sending some Skyline employees to Sydney to set it up.

"The pre-deployment planning and equipment staging save time and avoid problems during actual deployment," says Brad Williams, senior network consultant for Skyline. "We have many customers who are unhappy with previous deployments handled by other companies that did not make sure that the current infrastructure would support what they wanted to do. It goes back to the IT adage of pay up front to do it right, or pay twice later."

Skyline engineers trained RightNow IT personnel as they planned the installation process, and Jinneman reports that experience with other Cisco devices helped his IT staff get up to speed quickly. On-site training for the rest of RightNow's employees shortened the learning curve with the new phones, and they were quickly enjoying the new features like unified messaging and the ability to customize forwarded calls.

RightNow is enjoying the benefits of its Cisco Unified Communications, including low cost of ownership, ease of maintenance, and smooth integration with existing systems, as well as anticipating major savings in long distance. For instance, with the new Sydney office converting to Cisco Unified Communications, all the international calls from that office will now go over the data network.

It gratifies Davies to see companies of all kinds taking advantage of new technology.

"Out here in rural Montana we are still upgrading the old networks that are in the most need, but we are seeing more companies invest in their IT infrastructures," he says. "There is a lot of emphasis on wireless and VoIP - technologies that make connectivity accessible but that are not hardwired." And Skyline does not want to just sell equipment; its staff works closely with its customers, helping them leverage their existing technology.

"We are committed to a long-term relationship with Cisco," says Davies. "We utilize Cisco products across the board, and voice fits right in with what businesses want."