HONG KONG, February 28, 2008 - Cisco® today announced that SWIPE (Hong Kong) Ltd, the exclusive local agent for the well-known SWIPE brand of home-cleaning products from the United States, has deployed a Cisco® Unified Communications (UC) system to replace its traditional private automatic branch exchange (PABX) telecommunications systems, providing a transparent connection between its employees, offices and customers. The comprehensive and cost effective Internet Protocol (IP) combined data and voice UC system will help SWIPE address its escalating business demand.
SWIPE, a sister company of Champyear (Hong Kong) Ltd, is one of the first local small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the trading industry to deploy an IP-based communications system to support its customers' voice communications needs. The Cisco solution helps the company enhance customer services, while also improving operating efficiency and business competitiveness.
"We are keen to upgrade our phone system with new technologies in order to keep ahead of the competition. The traditional PABX system could no longer support our business development and growth, and we needed to seek an IP-based replacement that could also meet our future needs. The industry-leading IP-based Cisco solution helps us improve return on investment, lower total cost of ownership, increase staff productivity and raise the bar for customer satisfaction," said Timothy Cheung, marketing manager, Champyear (Hong Kong) Ltd. "The Cisco solution was chosen largely because it offers scalability and flexibility for future upgrades. Cisco's leading market position was also an important consideration."
Implementation of the Cisco UC architecture in SWIPE's premises was completed at the end of last year, with the support of system integrator Cypher Martin Systems Ltd. The IP-based backbone comprises Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express with T1 (PSTN), Cisco Unity Express with voice mail, Cisco IP Communicator with Cisco IP SoftPhone, Cisco Unified IP Phones, Cisco Unified Video Advantage with VT Camera, Cisco Dual-Mode Phone software and license, Cisco Wireless Access Points, Cisco Catalyst® 3500 Series Power over Ethernet switches, and Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances with virtual private network.
The Cisco UC platform integrates hardware, UC applications and system-management tools, which together provide voice, data, video, security and wireless capabilities. As one of Cisco's UC solutions, Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express can be tailored to create a cost efficient solution enabling more effective ways of communicating with customers and employees for SMBs like SWIPE.
The Cisco solution enables the company to enhance its customer responsiveness by directing enquiries about different products to the responsible managers. It also increases staff productivity by allowing employees in various offices to communicate using the integrated IP solution with the VT Camera. In addition, the solution offers effective internal communication and interdepartmental collaboration. For instance, staff can arrange conference calls with other colleagues simply by pressing a hotkey on the Cisco IP Phone screen.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express, which provides 23 in and out telephone lines with 100 extension numbers for the SWIPE office, helps SWIPE meet its expanding business demand and cut its voice network maintenance cost by approximately 30 per cent.
SWIPE is planning for an upgrade to a full-featured Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express solution, enabling the company to transmit its sales and inventory figures to the Cisco IP Phones in order to make day-to-day monitoring of operations easier and facilitate instant decision-making by management.
"We are delighted to work with a forward-looking company like SWIPE, helping it maximize its business efficiency and improve customer satisfaction. The service and support needs of SMBs are becoming more sophisticated, and the network has become the platform that helps increase business agility and market competitiveness for enterprises of all sizes," said Fiona Siu, manager, commercial sales, Cisco Hong Kong.
About Champyear (Hong Kong) Ltd
Champyear (Hong Kong) Ltd, established in Hong Kong in 1992, is involved in the business of marketing and distribution of household consumer products in Hong Kong and Macau. The company's aim is to provide top quality products and efficient service to customers, as well as value-added services to multi-national brand owners. Champyear is the local distributor of leading brands including SWIPE (the mega household cleaning brand), SLICK 50 (the world's No.1 brand of engine treatment), Ambi Pur Car perfume (the leading brand of household and car perfumes) and Meguiar's (the No.1 car care brand in the US).
